First off, to avoid confusion this course has two sets of tees, Silver, and an insane longer set called Gold. Thus, if someone refers to the Gold course, they mean this one. However, the gold tees are so much longer, it almost plays like a different course, which is scary considering that from the Silver tees this is already one of the 5 toughest courses I've played. Consider it two courses in one: Silver/Gold.
Mixed concrete and rubber pads (on silver) are mostly pretty good, and all holes have signs on silver pads, and on most of the Gold pads (will have all by Worlds) We were fortunate enough to play with Bart, a local legend and one of the course designers, and he gave us the inside scoop on both Silver and Gold.
This course is intimidating. The locals will warn you about it, and they're not just blowing smoke. This course was designed to be tough, and they succeeded. Not only is it long, but it forces an array of technical shots and very very tough risk reward choices to do well. We walked the Gold tees, and they are doubly so.
This course is full of legit par 4's and 5's, which I love, and according to our local guide, some holes will actually be listed as 4s and 5s, they just hadn't settled on which ones yet. I love this, and see this as the future of the sport, because making a super hard par 4 or 5 adds a whole new layer of richness and strategy to the game, instead of the "deuce or die" golf that IMO becomes all too prevalent on many courses I play.
This course does a great job giving you choices. It likes to dangle a tantalizing morsel in front of you, like a narrow route above the trees to cut the corner on a sharp wooded dogleg. However, they make these routes very tough and dangerous, with ugly outs if you don't hit them right, as I learned the hard way on several occasions. I still have the scratches all over my legs and arms to prove it.
This course is mostly in extremely thick woods, with an extensive canopy, and this course is chock full of tight canopy curves.
Many, many blind baskets, even on the open holes. It really helped to have a local guide, but without one, it would be even more punishing to play this course. You don't want to walk these holes to scout them out.
Another interesting feature about this course is the prevalence of ravines. Much of this course winds through thick woods, and those woods are perforated with steep hills and valleys cut by these trickles of water. Its like the White course, but on a much larger scale. Also, the clever course design makes great use of this terrain, in a take-no-prisoners (aka Highland Park) type of manner. Many baskets are downhill, blocked by a few trees, and the slope only gets steeper after the basket, making for some nasty upshots if you dont get the disc to stop on the slope. Also, many crosshill shots come into play, where the danger is to one side. The great part about these ravines is that the trickle of water that runs in them isn't enough to eat your disc, so though you may take a stroke for water OB, or at least have a very ugly out up the hill, you at least get your disc back.
This course throws wicked elevation at you for late trouble around the pins, on top of the tightly wooded fairways and protected baskets with a few trees, for very unforgiving holes, where playing it safe and laying up is a serious consideration in many cases.
Another good thing about this course are the open holes. The part of this course that opens up into a more prairie-like field (UW Parkside Prairieside-esque) is still interesting. Many courses get lazy on the long holes, and just make them open and boring. This course actually leaves trees and long grass strategically placed to force a considered shot, not just grip & rip. The long holes actually sometimes punish you for trying to take the most direct route to the basket at times, vs a safer route taking the corner more wide. Its nice to see risk reward on long, more open holes, because it keeps big arms more honest by throwing some control into the mix. Many of the "open" holes here are an open drive, and the basket is tucked into the woods at the end, or nestled between several trees. Again, late trouble is the word of the day.
If forced to pick one, I think hole 14 is the signature hole of the course. Right away, you are forced to choose between a left and right curving routes through the trees. They both meet up, into one wooded tunnel fairway, which goes about 200 ft further to a crosshill basket with a dropoff after it as well. THe tough part is, the left one is more direct, but narrower and easier to get in trouble on, and cost yourself at least another stroke. The right path plays about 250 to where it joins with the left side, and is a more sweeping curve, with a little wider tunnel cut through the trees. Pick your poison off the tee, either way if you dont make it to the landing zone where the curves meet up, you're taking at least another stroke. Sign says 225, but its more than 300 as the crow flies, and plays more like 400-430 depending on which route you take.
Its great that they have two tees for almost every hole, and several holes with alt pin placements. When its all done they plan on having alt pins on at least half the holes, including all the ones that only have one tee, which is a great thing, since the alt pins here really change the hole and are all tough, as they should be.
This course really challenges you and beats you up, but if you go in expecting it and prepared for it, there's a lot to like here.