Pros:
- dual concrete tees for most holes
- new, full color tee signs
- great technical wooded challenge
- clean, well groomed fairways and significant natural beauty
- most holes have good next tee signs
- benches at every hole
- course is very clean and free of garbage
- limited garbage cans at select holes
- very straightforward navigation
- tee signs at both tees for each hole, not just one
- wooded area is solely for disc golf, very peaceful/quiet and without safety issues
- forces variety of shots and tests skills due to technical nature
- good mix of long and short holes, though tends a bit shorter
- excellent wind protection in woods
Cons:
- some of the concrete tees are TINY
- virtually no elevation change
- creek that runs throughout course doesn't really come into play as a hazard
- baskets have some really rusty chains in some cases
- no practice basket (ironic since the 9 hole Pirate's Cove on the same campus has one)
- some players might think certain holes (16 in particular) have ill-defined fairways and are too challenging
- 18 short tee is artificial turf
Other Thoughts:
I really enjoyed Gator Links. Situated on a college campus in Milton, this course along with Pirate's Cove make a great 27 hole round. The best part of Gator Links is how it is solely devoted to disc golf and you can almost get lost doing your own thing in the woods despite being so close to civilization. I appreciated the natural beauty, straightforward navigation, and high technical challenge of this wooded course. I routinely employed backhand and forehand drives, as well as some mid-power shots on shorter holes, and a variety of other shots.
In general, intermediate or better players will do pretty well here. The course is challenging but definitely not impossible, and can be rewarding. Plenty of shorter holes will reward you for hitting your line. A few fairways are really littered with trees, such as hole 16, but most have pretty open lines.
I was really impressed by the amenities here - dual tees, new full color tee signs, benches at every hole, etc. While the lack of a practice basket is unfortunate, the course was extremely clean which was cool to see. Too many courses, especially ones near college campuses, are littered with debris, and that is definitely not the case here. It is being maintained really well.
Hole 13 was about the only hole I noted with some uphill elevation change. There' s a bit here and there, but like other coastal area courses, this one is pretty flat. What it lacks in water hazards, elevation change, etc. is made up for with natural technical challenge and general fun factor.
For some reason, after all of these nice concrete tees, 18 short is artificial turf. Not a big deal, but it seems a shame there's one tee that doesn't match all the others.
On the day I came to play this course, we were in Orange Beach, AL and there were sustained wind speeds of 20-30 mph constantly. Milton, FL had similar extremely high winds, and I basically felt none of that on this course. It is very well shielded and it made a huge difference, as I was debating whether it was even worth driving out for - it was.
While this course is on a college campus, I had no issues playing and wasn't asked about it by anyone. If you are in the area I recommend checking Gator Links out. It might not be quite a destination course, but it's definitely worth a round if you're within an hour or two.