Pros:
What I personally like and how this course stacks up in my list of 18 hole courses:
1) Holes with good risk/reward. Fair, but harsh punishment for bad decisions or execution. == B
(For a mostly wooded course, there is far to little punishment for poor shots or decisions. It is very evident that a ton of work has been done recently in clearing as evidenced by neatly stacked piles of logs, saplings and underbrush throughout the course. Great work, great pride, but overdone for my taste. It is suitable for beginners though.)
2) Holes that have rewarding birdie opportunities for me. I'm a Blue level player (950ish skill) who throws 300' accurately, 360' max. == B+
(While half the holes are a perfect challenge to me, other holes are too long to make birdies even a possible hope. As stated, this course is wide enough for beginners and the lengths are long enough to make many holes legit par 4's for Red level players (250-275' drives). This course does not have the perfect mix of lengths for me, but is still quite fun!)
3) More wooded than open - lots of variety of shots required caused by hole shape and topography == B+
(Great care has been taken to provide a great mix in all categories of variety - well done! My one complaint is the excessive amount of uphill throws - as evidenced by the large number of downhill transition paths from basket to next tee. While uphill holes test certain DG skills, downhill holes add more to the course, IMO.
My favorite hole is steeply downhill #4. A large sharp boulder is strategically placed about 1/3 of the way down the corridor fairway forcing you to float your shot higher than you want, but tempting you to throw as low as possible risking an encounter with said boulder. A very fun touch shot with big punishment for poor execution.)
4) Natural beauty (Appalachian beauty preferred) and seclusion. == A-
(In the summer, the foliage will keep you from realizing you are in an urban park other than 11 & 12 where you pop out into the open and see the street and a garage. Overall the course is beautiful and secluded with a large clearing in the middle of the park that the course plays in and out of and around.)
5) Bonus points for multi-throw holes with defined landing zones, good risk/reward and multiple options to play them. == D+
(In my estimation, only uphill 420' #7 is a legit par-4. With a low ceiling and narrow gaps at the hole's mid point, it takes two good medium-power well-placed drives to achieve a birdie 3. A really good par-4....wish there were several more!)
Other Thoughts:
It's all about feeding the addiction, so I ranked this course subjectively based on my own "personal addiction factor". The grades above tell how well this course will draw me back to itself again and again and again. See my profile for specifics on my rating philosophy.
I fancy myself as a connoisseur of good course design and I am a competitive Blue level (950-ish rated) with mid-level power (accurate to 300' with max D of 360'). Since I have played a decent number of courses (150+ 18-hole, 90+ 9-hole as of late 2009), my hope is that players/explorers who have similar addiction tastes will find my ratings list helpful as they choose courses to play and explore.
I fully expect others with different tastes/philosophies to disagree with me.....and that's the fun of things here.