Pros:
- Good variety throughout, plenty of interesting lines
- Good, if aging, baskets and great tee signs
- Part of a large, pay-to-play complex comprised of 4 courses and a clubhouse with pro-shop, concessions, and bathrooms
Cons:
- Tee pads are a bit too short
- Fairways run close together in multiple locations
- Lacks some of the hazard variety present at other courses on site (water, dangerous greens/fairways due to elevation change)
Other Thoughts:
Lemon Lake's Red Course continually vies with Silver/Gold for my favorite course of the complex. It lacks the distance and overall challenge of its big brother, but it brings almost as much shot variety, and its more manageable length results in a round that is fun for a wide variety of skill levels. Red is a mostly wooded course, but the fairways are generous enough to not beat you into the ground on an off day, and there are enough open and longer holes throughout to keep you from getting bored of technical golf. You will throw just about every shot and disc in your bag here, and the course never gets boring. With the exception of the fantastic, top-of-the-world type hole 14 there is little elevation here, but the smaller and sporadic rolling hills that are present are put to good use. Not every hole here is great, 3 and 7 tend to annoy me a bit, but I don't find them (especially 7) as objectionable as many others seem to.
On multiple occasions, fairways can run quite close to each other. Those preparing to throw on hole 3 are at risk of being hit by shots cutting in early from hole 2. Errant throws from Hole 14 can threaten people on holes 2, 3, and 15. There are a couple of other problematic locations, so keep an eye and ear out for stray discs, especially if the course is crowded. Navigation is generally fine, but the close placement of some holes can cause a little confusion, and I usually end up, at least at first, taking the long walk to hole 8 when I forget which way to turn from 7's basket.
Like all the other courses at Lemon Lake, the DISCatchers are getting older, but still catch fine, and it is a great touch that they are painted the same color as the course name. The tee signs for the red course are new since my last visit, and are among the best I have seen with a great, colorful picture of the hole geometry as well as the number and distance. I know Gold/Silver does not have these style signs yet, and was in a bit of a rush and did not see if White or Blue had been similarly upgraded. The tee pads are in good shape, but did not quite meet the needs of my tall friends and I. We found most of the pads to be a foot or so too short for our 6'+ frames to get in an adequate x-step or run-up. This issue was heightened by the fact that the ground behind and/or in front of the tee pads was frequently eroded away, preventing a comfortable run-up from starting behind the concrete pad.
The Red course is usually the first or second course I play every time I visit Lemon Lake. The fun factor is probably the highest of the course for me, and I wish I lived closer and could play all the courses on the complex more often. As it stands, my infrequent trips usually only allow me to play two, maybe three of the courses: Silver/Gold and Red usually being the two, as in my most recent visit. The clubhouse with discs and concessions adds great added value (when open), and helps make this a true disc golf destination. Do yourself a favor and take an entire day to play as much golf as you can at Lemon Lake, then drive over to Three Floyds brew pub for some great beer, and talk about all the awesome disc golf you just played with your buddies.
***2020 Update:
Upon my most recent trip to Lemon Lake I was slightly disappointed at the state of the complex. The tree loss around the complex has definitely been felt. The White Course was recently closed for re-design, and the Red Course has felt the loss strongly as well. In addition, the rough off the fairways was much thicker and thornier than I recall from previous visits and my group spent significant time looking for discs across the complex even when we had a really good idea of where they landed not far off the fairway. The temporary tee signs have also aged very poorly and are frequently completely illegible or displaying outdated information. The complex could definitely use a little more attention, though the grass fairways were all recently mowed and well maintained. My rating for the Red Course has dropped from 4.0 to 3.5.