Pros:
I think I'm going to sound like your mother telling you to eat your vegetables with this review. I admit, even my noodle arm self looked at the distances listed on the Hole Info page for this course and smiled. A course with a MAXIMUM hole distance of 225' and average around 170' can't be any good, right??? The Tinderbox proved me wrong.
Let me give you my usual encyclopedia intro. The Tinderbox is located at the Mason County campground near Ludington, MI. It is less than one mile from the three fantastic courses at Mason County Park (to be more exact: two fantastic courses, plus a third "course" that is just a layout playing to most of the baskets of one of the other two courses in reverse order). The campground and park are so close that according to signage in the campground, there is a dedicated walking trail between the two. The Tinderbox is a brand new 18-hole course as of this writing - it opened in 2021. Holes 1-11 play on the right side of the campground road as you drive in, and the remaining holes play on the left side. During the off-season when the campground is not open, you can still park outside the gate and walk a few hundred feet into the campground to play this course.
Why was I wrong about this course? In three words, "wooded elevation changes." The Tinderbox has a lot of them. There are holes that play up steep hills, other holes that play down the other side, and some holes that play across precarious flattish ridges on top. The most memorable holes here might be #12-14, which together are designated "Ace Run Ridge". All three of these play between 125' and 140' on the top of a ridge - but in tight woods. You'll have to shape your shots just right to card any aces here, or anywhere on the course. Several baskets have rollaway potential too, punishing failed ace attempts.
In addition to the elevation changes, there is good variety between left turning/right turning/straight holes. Every hole has a plethora of tree trunks between tee and basket. If these holes were 300'-400' long, I would be saying that some of the lines are too tight. But at these distances, I felt like they were excellent for testing my control and accuracy. This is obviously a par 3 pitch and putt course, but throughout your round the feeling is basically: Shape your tee shot well? Chance for ace or easy birdie. Hit a tree with your tee shot? You're playing for par now. Hit another tree with your second shot? You might even card a bogey. I managed to bogey a 178' downhill hole in this fashion, though I also had three birdies elsewhere to finish two under par for the round.
The basket are Chainstars. I had to wonder if these are actually some of the old baskets from Mason County Park that were recently replaced with Chainstar Pros. If that's true, the course planners only kept the best of the best because these baskets were all in fine shape.
The designers chose to keep things simple with the tee signs - they only have the hole number, distance, and par. That's fine for this course, as most baskets are visible from the tee. A couple high-visibility flags on hard-to-see or over-the-hill baskets would be icing on the cake. Similarly, navigational signage mostly consists of tape in the bottom of the baskets pointing towards the next tee. The short paths between holes are well maintained, and at the one longer walk (hole 11 to 12 crossing the campground road) there are nice signs with arrows staked into the ground. Navigation is easy throughout the course.
The rough is thick enough to add challenge, but thin enough on the ground that disc loss is near impossible. This is a perfect course for beginners camping on site to try out the sport.
There is only one bench, but it is strategically located at hole 10's tee pad - halfway through the course.
The Tinderbox is one of the quickest 18-hole courses you will ever bag. I had the course to myself and finished a solo round in about 45 minutes. You could play just #1-11 or #12-18 if you were really short on time.
Cons:
Overall, the course manages to squeeze into the available space very well. But I did have a couple of safety concerns. Hole 14's tee is too close to hole 13's basket. Holes 14 and 16 are a little too close together for my comfort. And an unfortunate tree kick on hole 18 could find the camp road. On the plus side, the course stays well away from campsites, walking paths, and other campground amenities.
The tee pads are rubber mats. They are in good condition, but some were not quite level. With these hole distances most DG'ers are going to stand and throw, so this choice of pad material isn't as strong of a Con as it normally would be for me. I played on a dry day and judged them to be fine for this course - but still, concrete would be better.
Yeah, the distances are quite short. There are no water hazards either. DG'ers above recreational level might get bored. DG'ers who prefer wide open bomber holes will probably get frustrated.
There are no trash cans. Pack out what you pack in, or throw it away after your round in the dumpster at the front of the campground loop. Extras like a kiosk, practice basket, and porta potty are also missing. I'm not sure if other restrooms at the campground entrance or in the loop are available for disc golfer use or not.
There is no parking lot. Signs tell you to pull off the camp road to park.
Other Thoughts:
The previous reviewer mentioned that hole #6 was unplayable as of that review. This has now been fixed!
I drove through the campground loop after playing my round and it looked like a very nice place to spend a couple nights. Even though I live only about a 75 minute drive away, I would love to come stay here for a couple nights and play this course before and/or after tackling (or being tackled by) the challenging courses at Mason County Park and others around the Ludington area. This course is almost perfect for what it is. It was never meant to be a destination in itself, but it definitely adds to the DG appeal of the Ludington area by offering something different than all of the challenging 24-hole marathon rounds. In my book, this course has some of the longer ones beat just by sheer fun factor.
Unless you have a big arm and cannot get enough of Beast, I recommend playing this course over the Goliath layout. If you are NOT staying at the campground, don't skip Whiskey Hills, Beauty, Beast, or even Labyrinth to play here. But if you have an extra hour to spare and like technical disc golf, The Tinderbox can fill that hour with a seriously fun time!