Pros:
1) Beautiful park that is very well maintained. There are adequate benches, trash cans, and signage throughout the course. Has modern restrooms and ample parking. A course that you can certainly tell right away the local club takes immense pride in and keeps in stellar shape.
2) Course signage is unique and very well done. Full color hole map depicting the multiple pin locations (sometime up to 4 different locations on a hole) and providing the distance and line to each. Course sign and hole signs are each framed with stained wood like a painting hanging on your wall and adds a nice, high status feel to the course.
3) Newer orange Prodigy baskets on the main holes (a couple alternate holes have the old DGA baskets). Large and ample concrete tee pads, some of which are maticulously landscaped around with mulch and flowers in some cases, adding that "special" feel to playing this course.
4) A solid mix of tight heavily wooded holes with a few wide open holes that mesh well together, giving you a break from carving lines the entire time.
5) Very intuitive layout without a ton of walking between holes, next tee signs are a plenty and you can play the course without a map if needed.
6) Two water carry holes that smartly provide an entire alternate hole that allows newer players to skip throwing over the water entirely. 3a and 9a.
7) The course smartly and intentionally, with change of pin location, can bridge the gap between recreational play and advanced to pro play. This course can be a fun challenge, or a brutal demanding beast based on where they decide to put the baskets. That flexibility is a great thing to have at your disposal.
8) Clear walking paths, most mulched completely out, and the "immediate" rough on both sides of the fairway is cleared out on the wooded holes while some of the deeper rough is probably intentionally left thicker.
9) The wooded holes rank very high on aesthetic beauty (but the open holes blandness kind of pulls down the overall course beauty). Holes #1, #9 and #18 are some of the most majestic wooded holes from a visual (and difficulty) standpoint and are top notch for starting/finishing holes as well. Look at some of the pictures posted on here for reference as I can't put into words well enough what the photos can.
10) Very little elevation, but what exists is utilized extremely well, especially when it comes to the low ceiling woods tunnel holes. This course forces you to throw low line drives, and rarely is the hole straight, asking you if you know how your disc flies and exactly when it likes to turn or fade. The shot shaping required helps this course rate very high for me.
Cons:
1) No pin location indicators on the tee signs, and as the pin locations change randomly, it can be difficult to know where you are playing to without walking the fairways to find what location the pin is in.
2) The open holes are really bland and bring this course down from being rated as Phenomenal. Although they are all a little different, tight OB here or there, green tucked into a wooded inlet, etc they just don't rate or compare close to the wooded holes. Hole 4,6, for sure and holes 7,11,12,14, and 15 to a lesser extent feel like normal park golf, and in this case a different course entirely. I know they can only work with the property they have, but it's a shame there isn't more woods to work with.
3) The wooded holes set the bar so high that you are left either feeling disappointed by some of the open holes, or relieved by the open holes and getting out of the tight woods. Strange con really, because I think it's glorious that way, but if you are one of the people who dislike open bomber holes, just under half this course will be underwhelming and forgettable.
4) BITING CREATURES: While enjoying the beauty do not overlook the signs posted everywhere (especially the last 4 holes or so) that warn of biting creatures. Bees, mosquitos, wasps, hornets, snakes, and probably a Sasquatch or two are out there waiting to get intimate with you in a biblical sense. Be warned.
5) No multi-shot holes or decision making for landing zones as everything here is a Par 3. While excellent in the woods, this course could have benefited from some two shot, skill intensive gap hitting Par 4's.
Other Thoughts:
I still remember the first time I played this course back in 2020 and being awestruck at how well maintained and beautiful it was (especially compared to everything else I had played up to that point). All the little nuances that the club added (framed tee pad signs, landscaped tee pads, mulched out fairways, putting an ace run hole right next to the main pavilion where everyone can watch you throw it). This course blew me away back then and showed me what "amazing" park courses be and still be free to play. Now 3 years later and having played a lot more courses, this course still holds up as excellent. If it were not for the lack of woods forcing multiple bland open holes, this course would rival anything else in TN for the best course there. Definitely worth a trip to experience, especially if you pair it with Barfield Crescent not far away when in the Murphysboro area.