Pros:
-This course has some really solid amenities, great signs (with multiple basket placements), bag holders for when it gets muddy, and concrete pads that have held up impressively to the wear this course gets.
-Baskets are Mach X's, which are one of my favorite types. They are also yellow, which is super visible, especially in the trees. I'm sure that they used to be neon yellow, but these baskets look pretty worn down. Not that they don't function well, because they do, but because the rim and other parts are super worn.
-The fairway and rough are super nice out here. There isn't any underbrush that would hide your disc, which is great because hitting trees out at Pier Park is pretty much required. The other great thing is that what this course lacks in underbrush rough, is made up for with sheer quantity of trees.
-Elevation is a key component of this course. There are some great uphill/downhill shots, some downhill death putts, I mean, all the classic examples of great elevation.
-Another hallmark of this course is the trees. This densely wooded park is one tops those places where you could plop down a basket and have a great hole without any work. That being said, this course is designed effectively with both cool holes, and flow in mind.
-Navigation is a no brained on this course, as I just said, flow is great at Pier Park. Signs are clear, and it is almost guaranteed that you will find someone to follow.
-Once you dive into the woods, like for real, you will be amazed. It is a total wow factor. There are so many trees, but, the amazing part is, you aren't playing disc golf into a wall, there are different routes to take, that is amazing to me.
-One innovative feature on the course is the tree protection. Now that I think about it, innovative might be the wrong word because it is actually pretty simple. They have put wood sticks on certain trees to protect the trees from the constant onslaught of plastic. Super nice touch in my opinion.
Cons:
-This is a very well played course. Tons and tons of people come here to play, I played on a Tuesday afternoon, and there was still a line to get to the first hole. People have good reason to come play this course, because it really is a great course.
-Because of how crowded this course is, both with disc golfers and normal park goers, there is a rather high "garbage quotient" as my dad put it. Definitely not the biggest problem out here, especially compared to some other courses of have played. But nonetheless, there's some garbage laying around.
- I feel bad bashing this course for the amount of people that play it, but it is legitimately a little annoying to wait on every hole. This course is worth waiting for, but I would much rather not wait.
-This course also doesn't have much opportunity for those "hero birdies" a lot of times, to really park a hole you have to get lucky. It is one of those places where you can miss your line by a three feet and end up in the circle, but miss by an inch and end up 50 feet in front of the tee pad.
Other Thoughts:
Great course, swing by if you are in Portland, try to play on a less busy time, like early morning on a week day if possible. This course gets crowded.