Pros:
Ludington Park is BEAUTIFUL. Not just the disc golf course, but the park as a whole. The city of Escanaba has something special in this mile long lakeside park that easily could have been turned into expensive private lakeshore housing. Instead, this beautiful area is open to the public! When my wife and I first moved to Escanaba this summer, the wonderful park was the first thing we noticed.
This course is mostly open, which is a nice change of pace from other courses in the heavily wooded UP. Due to this openess and the reasonable length of the holes, Ludington Links stands as a great course for beginners. I've tried to take my novice wife to several courses, but she usually gets extremely frustrated and quits when she throws 5 feet into tree throw after throw. However, she'll play Ludington because it's only 9 holes and open.
The water is a challenging obstacle and comes into play, especially on Hole #6, which crosses over the water onto Aronson Island. Having 3 and 1/2 holes on an island is pretty unique and fun.
The cement tee pads are in good shape and are the appropriate length. Example: On 350 ft hole #4 the tee pad is long enough for a good run up.
Most people in the area are good about returning discs from this course. Half the discs I've lost here have been returned to me, and the other ones are probably still at the bottom of the lake. People generally return discs to The Beaten Path, a local store that sells disc golf equipment.
Though some of the holes are under 300ft, I wouldn't call this a pitch and putt course. The shorter holes generally make good use of the environment in order to keep them interesting. #3 stays interesting by throwing towards the lake, and #8, though short requires a hard left turn.
The course flows intuitively other than the jaunt between #6 and #7. I could see players new to the course not knowing where to go between these two holes.
Cons:
The wind out on the bay can get ridiculous, to the point that sometimes the course becomes unplayable. The wind in conjunction with the course being along the lakeshore leads to many a lost disc. Fortunately, the water is shallow along most of the course, so with some effort discs can be retrieved. Hole #7, however, is a disc eater. The water gets deep in a hurry on that side. The only two discs I've put in the water without me or someone else finding them were on #7.
More trash cans would be nice as well, especially given that the course is on the scenic Little Bay de Noc. I hate how much trash I've seen blowing around in this beautiful park, only for it end up in the lake.
#9 ends a good distance away from #1. I advise parking near the tee pad of #4 or the basket of #5 near the bridge. If playing in a group, leaving a car in the lot behind the beach house makes a lot of sense.
I know some of the other local players have begun playing the course in reverse after hole #9, which is a creative way to add some new shots to an otherwise repetitive course and to make the walk back to the car less tedious.
Other Thoughts:
The park gets a fair amount of traffic, so please represent the disc golf community well by being mindful of pedestrians and cars.