Pros:
-Concrete tees
-DISCatcher baskets
-Solid, friendly local crowd supporting the course
-Tee Signs
-12 holes. Not 9, but not 18 either. An unused area of the park would probably nicely fit another 6 holes. This area has (small) trees, as well, which would be a welcome addition to the course.
Cons:
-No benches or trashcans
-No obstructions, risk/reward, or lines to follow
-Limited variety
-Could have utilized piece of property better
Other Thoughts:
Rose Park is a course situated on an undeveloped block in a developing part of Bozeman, MT. The course is mostly flat and is completely open, with one tree that sits next to a tee pad and therefore does not come into play. Some marshy areas exist toward the back half of the course, as well as a hill that rises about 10' high.
Being the only course in Bozeman proper, we were glad to see a good number of people playing the course and supporting the sport. That being said, I feel bad for the locals that have to call this their home course. It just does not offer that much of a challenge. On the bright side, it was like practicing in a field, only you were also playing a course in the meantime.
Fortunately, all of the holes varied in length. While nothing was posted, I feel that the range was from 150' - about 450'. I'm assuming everything was par 3.
A few hills and humps here and there were home to tee pads, and a couple of the baskets hugged the side of these hills adding some minor approach challenges. After playing the mostly flat first half of the course, these small additions of variety toward the end of the course were quite welcome.
The last few holes navigate some swampy areas with boardwalks crossing over them. If you fire a disc into one of these areas, I can imagine it would be an unpleasant experience retrieving it. These marshes represent the only obstacles on the course other than the large hill that plays on the last few holes.
If any hole on the course would carry the coveted 'signature' status, it would be hole 10. A quite long slightly uphill throw to a pin situated on the side of the largest hill in the field (I mean park) could make for a nasty roller ruining your putt.
Other reviews mention 'no shade,' and they are right. There is ONE small tree in the entire field, and it does not come into play on the course.I really hope this piece of land sees some tree planting and improvements over time. Sadly, it just felt like a yet-to-be-developed piece of land that happened to have some tee pads and DISCatchers scattered around it. The grass was long and unmaintained on our first visit, but fresh mowed grass and defined fairways pleasantly greeted us on our second visit, which prompted me to raise the rating up to 2 discs. With such a visible disc golf following in the park, I have no doubt that this will slowly turn into a quite fun park. The park has plenty of potential.