Pros:
There are 2 pads for each hole. I played this course from the blues and reds. The blues are challenging. The reds are not too easy and feel just right. The terrain has elevation and water. The fairways you can tell were a former golf course and are well maintained in the open areas. The elevated baskets were photogenic and placed on boulders. The signage is good and navigation was easy. The tee pads were Championship quality. The holes:
My favorite holes were Holes 1, 3, 5, 6, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17.
Our group included a 1000 rated pro, another pro who is a long distance bomber who can throw over 600 feet, and 3 other disc golfers that average between 930 and 960 rated rounds.
Some highlites from our round that were memorable:
Hole 3 was almost aced from the blue pad by the bomber. Hole 3 from the blue pad required a mental game plan for those of us that laid up and there was good score separation. My favorite hole from a mental game standpoint. (Hole 3 is a small green that is protected by water unless you can throw a massive drive). Hole 5 was fun from both blue and red. From blue it is a cool shot coming out of a tunnel into an open fairway. From the red it is a downhill ace run. Hole 6 was a good use of elevation and rocks and was my favorite hole from a photogenic standpoint. Hole 12 was fun from both blue and red. I liked red a little better, not because it was easier but it is fun to be able to see the basket from the pad and watch the flight over the pond in a straight run at the basket. Hole 14 was fun from both the blue and red pads, the distance seemed just right so that it would be a par 4 from the blue and a par 3 from the red, I don't remember what the sign had it marked but it was a good use of the open fairway into a nice green. Hole 15 an absolute distance hole from the blue and still a good pump from the red. I saw the bomber in our group 2 this hole twice from the blue pad, this will be a great spectating hole for a big tourney to watch these guys smash. And finishes on an elevated boulder. Love it. I was happy to just get a 4 on it, it's challenging to have to cover that much distance and have such a tough putt. I really like the line on 16, it's a good golf hole, but it deserves some constructive criticism. Hole 17 is a fun downhill line with a difficult green. It's a challenge from both pads, I was the only one that was able to keep one on the green and pocket a birdie, it's nice to see holes where you don't just have to hit the line but you got to have the exact right distance as well.
Cons:
A lot of the greens were not greens in my opinion. Most of the greens on the wooded holes had too many trees. I don't mind large trees around a green but not a fan off what we call scrub brush within 40-50 feet of the basket. Would provide much more of a Championship feel to get rid of saplings and low hanging limbs in the greens. Most of the wooded holes from the blues it was hard to understand what the line the designer has in mind, it truly felt like poke and hope. In some cases it seemed the blue pad wasn't just further away but was also not on the intended fairway. Also it seemed like a lot of the wooded holes there would be a tight fairway but than the basket and the green would be located off the fairway. To me a tight fairway should lead to the basket. The fairways for the red pads seemed much better in the woods. Notable holes that stood out in a negative way are as follows:
Hole 2, the green felt nonexistent. There was a great fairway but the green was inside the woods, I played the hole by staying in the fairway and had no access to the green from drives that stayed in the fairway line. The best shots on the hole were over the top Hyzers and tomahawks that we watched plinko down from the top. Hole 13 seemed to not have a fairway from either the red or blue pads. Pretty much the entire group either threw random rollers or just threw shots at the tree tops hoping to bounce threw. There was a range of scores but it didn't feel like golf. Hole 16 I loved the line and the use of elevation but the fairway just has too many trees in it. Hole 18 the tee pads are built in a way that you have to run uphill. Hole 18 was not a very exciting hole to finish on but I don't know how you could fix it.
Overall I saw a lot of Discs fly down fairways and hit their lines and end up with the same score as other who threw bad shots and didn't hit the line. Either it was because the good shots didnt have a putt at the green or there was no reward for landing in the fairway and the second shot from the fairway was the same difficulty as the bad shot from off the fairway. It definitly seemed like the fairways were not fair inside the woods...
Other Thoughts:
This was my first time playing a course with these types of baskets and I am not here to review baskets. I will just say I am not a fan of them, it felt like the cross chains pushed many good putts out that normally would stay. I will say if you hit the sweet spot which is dead center, not an inch right or left or low, they caught well. The baskets are brand new and they all match, that matters the most. And the choice of basket does not affect my review. After playing both sets of pads I would recommend a hybrid layout for a tournament. I would probably do the following: 1-Blue, 2-Red, 3-Blue, 4-Red, 5-Blue, 6-Blue, 7-Red, 8-Red, 9-Red, 10-Red, 11-Red, 12-Red, 13-eliminate(add a temp hole somewhere), 14-Blue, 15-Blue, 16-Red, 17-Blue, 18-Blue
I understand this a brand new course and a work in progress. I'm trying to give constructive criticism and I don't want all the negative to take away from how much fun we had playing the course from both pads. I think the blue pads will be excellent once there is more maintenance done. I can't wait to come back and play here again and I will absolutely make changes to this review as the course is further developed.