Pros:
Had a chance to play this course recently on a roadtrip with my girlfriend (a newbie to disc golf), and we loved this course. It was so well-tended and beautiful that it was enjoyable, despite the wide skill-discrepancy between us.
I was especially grateful that every hole was in the long pins. That makes it much better IMHO -- in the short layout this course would be far too easy. If anything, holes need to be stretched out not shortened.
Holes 1-9 were particularly enjoyable with a great balance of shots. The opening holes to this course are awesome, with holes 1-4 one of the most enjoyable opening sequences of any course I've played. Front nine has a great balance of different shots and most holes are designed in such a way to cause score separation (playing longs, unsure how shorts would play).
Teepads are flypads and are good in most places, signage is also decent and the map is very helpful in navigating the course. We had little trouble our first time through, though blind basket placements on a few holes made it necessary to run up the fairway (you DEFINITELY need to take a look and probably have a spotter playing hole 4 for the first time).
When we played, the grass was well cut and underbrush off the fairways was minimal. Stream doesn't really come into play as a hazard, but is scenic and the course is just beautiful to walk around at, and being a dedicated disc golf course makes it all the better.
Hole 13 is my favorite shot on the course. The pin placement could benefit from an alternate location a few hundred feet further up the hill, but this is the most memorable hole on the back half of the course, and is a type of shot you don't see very often: first 350' feet are slightly downhill and across an open field; at ~350' is a hard treeline and the basket is another 120' into the trees and uphill. There is a narrow window up to the basket -- landing to either side of the gap makes the upshot much, much harder. So players truly have to place their drive in the gap across the open field so they have a look for shot two. The farther you throw it, the narrower your window to have an upshot, so its an open field that requires true golf-distance precision instead of just a big huck: I would love to see more holes designed this way. Really stresses accuracy AND distance.
Course has only been open a year or two, and has amazing potential to grow and change -- some ongoing work is obvious and some holes are being lengthened, which will help the course.
As it is, lots of birdie opportunities and a few long holes, with plenty of elevation and a couple of great fields for hucking make this a sheer joy to play. The "fun factor" is higher than the 3.5 rating -- the 3.5 rating comes from some of the cons, listed below that take away from the potential of the course to be truly top-tier (it's a great piece of land for disc golf).
Cons:
Too many short holes, even in longs -- if the course was in shorts, this would get painfully repetitious and wouldn't be worth all the hiking around.
Hole 10 was incredibly disappointing. Epitomizes "filler" hole. 230' of open field. Waste of space IMHO. Find somewhere else to put the basket for that one -- stretch it back into the trees or something. As is, it is frustratingly silly. (update: word from the locals is that this hole is being changed to make it more challenging)
Hole 12 looks like there are plans for a deeper teepad, which would be great on that hole. As it is, the course has three 4 short hyzer shots in a row (9-12), three of which are pretty wide open. It just gets repetitious. Stretching hole 12 into a monster uphill through the woods (ala PawPaw) would be great.
Hole 14 needs a more clearly defined Mando -- I understand why the current one is there to prevent big hyzers, but the current marker is so unclear that I can see some room for gray -- especially in a tournament, and especially on a thumber route. And that's when you don't want room for gray.
Holes 16-18 are good, but are also a little repetitious. I'm not sure if they could be stretched out or find other alleys to carve up and down that hill, but these are a very anticlimactic way to finish the course. The course starts very strong, but finishes weak and redundant, which it shouldn't, given the potential of the property.
It may have just been a weird day, but I had unusual problems with bounce-outs on those baskets? I had three putts that felt perfect (middle of the chains on nice hyzer putts) that all fell out. One hit chains, fell, bounced off the rim and out, the other two hit the bottom of the basket and popped up and out over the rim. It was really crazy. Still shot a 53 longs to longs, which felt pretty good. But the bounce-outs were just plain weird. Same Wizard I've used for hundreds of other rounds that hasn't had that problem before at other courses.
Really, not a lot of true "cons" -- except that the course has so much room to be better. The overall maintenance of the course was great at the time of my visit. No bathrooms; gravel parking; few trashcans; but these are all non-essentials.
Other Thoughts:
This is the only course in the area, and is a great little jaunt not far off the I-95 corridor. In addition, the exit has the most-highbrow looking Chick-Fil-A I've ever been in (CFA near disc golf is a plus for me), and the beer/wine store next door to the CFA has an incredible selection of microbrews and bombers -- plenty to choose from, and well worth the stop, along with reasonable prices. CFA, great beer selection, and fantastic disc golf make this a must-stop exit if you're heading up or down I-95 between Baltimore and Newark...