Pros:
The name of the game here is variety and the course is well balanced. Steep downhill drives, open bombs, OB's in play, guarded tunnel fairways, wooded S-curves, and water hazards are just some of the features to contend with here. I thought the designer did a nice job of utilizing the features of the park to make the throws more interesting--notably the road (holes 1-5), hillside (hole #11) and creek (holes 12,14,17,18).
Hole #15 is a wonderful 430' drive, of which 90 feet or so is just throwing over the creek. The rest of navigating mature hardwoods to a pin that is placed in the wide open!
Another notable hole is #9, which is your typical tunnel alley to the basket with many trees on both sides. What makes it unique is that an errant hyzer to the left could possibly go down a cliff about 100 feet. Definitely makes you think twice about chancing anything that fades left!
Hole #18 is a nice bookend to the course: a long bomb across a field to a basket strategically placed 25' from the water. Throw too far on your drives or putts and you're in the drink!
The course is really scenic. I played early in the morning and the fog was still lifting off the park, making for a nice atmosphere. It's as much of a photographic hike as it is a round of disc golf.
Cons:
The front eight kind of play like your typical municipal/town park, except the holes are longer. In retrospect, after playing the last 10 holes, the first few were a letdown. Throw this sweeping hyzer, do this turnover shot, avoid a few trees, blah blah. It's the back nine that really shine here.
I recognize that about 40% of the holes are over 400 feet, but it'd still be nice to have one or two MONSTER throws for the big arms. You know, those 600-800 foot ones. This could have been done easily on the first few holes, given the openness of that part of the course.
I agree with the previous reviewer in that the course tends to favor right turns; in this sense, the course isn't balanced. I found myself either throwing forehand drives or turnover anhyzers on a majority of the holes.
Unless I followed the map wrong, the hike from hole 18 to hole 1 is a bear! Felt like I was walking forever. While I dislike that it doesn't wrap back, I appreciate that the designers went instead for utilizing a part of the park with better land.
Other Thoughts:
Honestly, if the front 8 played like the back 10, this would be an elite course. I give the front a 2.5 and the back somewhere between a 4 and 4.5, so that's how I arrived at my total score.
This is a great supplement to the courses near Chester, WV and East Liverpool, OH. It's also not terribly far from Pittsburgh. In fact, it's about the same distance from downtown Pittsburgh as Moraine is. This wouldn't be a bad addition for Worlds in 2015, IMO.
Definitely worth a trip if you like variety in your DG experience, but certainly not for the hydrophobic!