Pros:
The Selah Ranch courses are on some of the most beautiful property that I have seen for a disc golf course. Jack, the course manager, was very helpful in giving us insights about the courses and warning us about any holes where rough or high water was the worst. He said that the conditions of the course were the worst they have ever been, and the courses were still in pristine shape. Luckily, we caught the course just after he had mowed the fairways for some of the holes. Even off the fairway, the grass was not very high nor was the rough thick. We didn't have to search for our discs at all throughout our two rounds.
All of the amenities are the best of the best, with plenty of clean bathrooms and showers near the pro shop, elaborate course maps and tee signs at every tee, very big concrete tees, and DISCatcher baskets in great shape. The two tee positions do a great job of offering completely different looks and distances for almost every hole. The difference between the Blue and Red tees drastically changes the hole for 10-13, 15, and 16-18.
One of the biggest strengths about the course is the incredible distribution of variety that it offers. The course has moderately wooded long holes (1, 2, 9, 16), very tight holes (6, 10, 14), different kinds of water holes (3-5, 10, 13, 16-18), long holes that allow for some bombs (7, 8), and truly everything in between. Holes 3, 10, and 14 are the three highlight holes for me, and they have completely different feels to them. I could play holes 10 and 14 a completely different way the first 5 times I played them, which to me is a top quality. The tee and pin placement offers a great variety of risk/reward type holes too. The water holes definitely give the biggest risk factor, whether it's hitting the specific landing zones, hitting the tight windows, and avoiding tree kicks into the water on 3, trying to avoid hyzering out too much on birdie-runs 4 and 5, or throwing directly over the ponds on 13, 16-18.
The course does a great job of offering vastly different lengths (with holes ranging from 159-1,019 feet) and pars (with 7 par 4's and 3 par 5's). These are true pars, though achieving par or birdie is not out of the question for even a low-mid 800's level player like myself.
I was also impressed with how well-used the elevation was on the majority of the holes. While there are not any extreme elevation changes, I was pleasantly surprised to see excellent design incorporating the elevation on many holes. The constant downward sloping of 7 and 9 and upward slope on 12 makes otherwise straight-forward holes more interesting.
Cons:
-Probably the biggest con for me, and in comparison with most other courses out there is a very small factor, is the amount of straight-forwardness on some of the holes here. This is one of the best designed courses I have ever played, no doubt. However, there are a fair bit of holes on here that don't live up to the rest of the course's standard. Holes like 2, 7, and 8 allow for a lot of room for error and don't give the player many options to be creative, while 13, 17-18 are simple water holes where you throw from one side of the pond to the other. Obviously, there is more risk and technique involved than that, but the water holes on Creekside are significantly less fun and dramatic than those on Lakeside, and feel repetitive by the end of the round. I also think that holes like 4-5, 7-8, and 17-18 feel the slightest bit bland because they are very similar holes that are played consecutively, which makes them stand out a little in a negative way to me. That is the biggest factor of the course that brings my rating to a 4.5. The course does have some of the best designed - and some of my favorite holes - that I have played. And, I can see why so many people have given this course a 5. However, these holes mentioned take away the "best of the best" factor for me.
Other Thoughts:
I definitely recommend getting a cart, even though it costs $40. There is plenty of room in the back to hold bags, coolers, etc. Also, it is worth getting for being able to drive up to see the landing zones and pin positions on some of the very long holes. I also recommend buying a few of the $5 used discs, as they have a huge selection of discs that are in great condition.
Combining Creekside with the Lakeside course makes for truly one of, if not the best days of playing disc golf out there. The courses are only a few hundred yards away, but offer completely different feels from each other. The water and woods holes are vastly different between the two courses, giving unparalleled variety for an awesome day of disc golf.