Lots of fun, interesting, creative holes (mainly on the back nine).
Great variety: Holes range in length from about 180' to almost 600', and uses just about every available obstacle.
A river literally runs through it, and has been brought into play on a few holes in some imaginative ways.
Several long holes (such as 3, 14, 16 and 18) that are fun to play, and not just boring crushes.
Hole 2's tee is not where you'd expect. Most designers would have placed the tee in the area bounded by the park road, but the tee has been placed up on the riverbank, forcing you to throw back across the road to the pin (there are good sight lines and not a lot of traffic--I don't see this as a safety issue).
Hole 6, while short, has a well-placed young tree close to the tee that basically forces you to throw through a narrow gate of mature oaks if you want a legitimate deuce attempt. A very creative solution for a short hole.
Hole 10 is a real risk-reward gut-shot that forces you to make a hard decision: play safe or risk terrible punishment. There's more on that in the "Cons" section below, but I at least applaud the desire to bring some decision-making into our sport. If that makes this review sound indecisive, so be it, but I believe there can be both good and bad in the same hole.
Hole 12 is another hole where I'm conflicted--again, see Cons below for the flip side, but there are several quirky elements to this hole that I like, namely the crumbling brick wall, the boulder to the right . . .and the ever-present river to the left. Hyzer out here at your own risk.
There's a long, narrow, swinging, wooden bridge that you must cross twice to access several holes (it's perfectly safe). Great call to bring this element into the round. It gives you a close-up look at the greenish, slow-moving waters of the river. I'm guessing the green color might be due to algae, and it's probably not always this green, but it gives it a very unusual appearance.
Hole 14 is almost 600', which is open for the first half, then requires you to navigate some mature trees, an old wooden fence, and the road on the right for the approach. A very good hole.
Hole 16 is also a two-shot hole, with a cemetery on the right (hate to sound redundant, but see Cons below). The part I like about the hole is the second shot, which requires one to navigate a big old chain-link backstop fence that used to belong to a now-abandoned baseball field. All players will end up having to navigate around or over this thing. You'll need a delicate touch with that hammer throw, or perhaps enough creativity to even make up a new shot, to get over it . . .especially since the pin is only about 30 feet beyond it. A fun, albeit frustrating hole.
Hole 18 is the best hole on the course by far, which is exactly what you want for a finishing hole if the land will allow for it. The tee shot must go across the river, which is about 150 feet to carry the river and bordering vegetation--no biggie, just pretend it's not there (yeah, right). The hole then takes a sharp right turn and carries another 350 feet or so to the pin. The river parallels this last leg, and the vegetation is about 15 feet high, so you can try to cut as much of that fairway off as you dare. Play it safe and get a 3 or 4, or go for the pin and play for a 2 or 3 . . . but if you turn the disc over too much it will disappear forever in the greenish murky depths. Just a fantastic risk/reward hole, one of the best in central Illinois.
(By the way, there is a Rec-level tee on the other side of the river for those lacking intestinal fortitude. This is probably necessary for new players, but it definitely robs the hole of its glory. This tee should rarely be used, and certainly not by any self-respecting competitive player!)