Pros:
As I've taken some time to stew over a frustrating round here, I find myself wanting to play this course again after a couple days away. Some of the pro's:
- Elevation: Up in Austin, most courses don't offer any elevation variety. This course has a great mix of hills, valleys, oddly placed baskets and brief hikes. Also the rough is punishing elevation-wise, which adds a great element of challenge
- Technicality: The majority of the holes are weaving through forest or through tree-scape, which makes a round enjoyable not only for the shade but also for the challenge. Personally I'm working on straight consistency, so a lot of the holes that run thin are greatly challenging and rewarding.
- Variety: Decent amount of Par 4's, but the Par 3's aren't shy either. Even the 155ft downhill putter hole #5 is followed by 2 bomber holes. Combined with the aforementioned elevation changes, it makes for a nice change of pace course.
- Shot Variety: I throw everything- RHFH, RHBH, Overhead... I got to utilize everything here, which adds a dimension to a course that's difficult to build. Technically you can throw anyway you want always, but for more skilled players having the options to attack courses with their full arsenal really makes a course memorable.
- Signage: Very rarely did I find myself wondering where the next hole was. Admittedly some need updating, but I won't knock a course heavily for that
- Hole #18: I like to finish strong with something to remember about a round, and having a near 400ft downhill bomber hole is a great example of a personal pleasure about a course- a great last hole.
- Parking: It's easy to access either the park (top of the hill) lot or the neighborhood lot that is really close to the first tee
Cons:
Some of where I feel this course can improve
- Natural cleanliness- The lack of trash was great, but the course definitely needs some nature cleanup. There was a lot of overgrowth throughout the course that could be addressed. Best response is to not throw that way, of course, but some of it was really lengthy grass and stickers everywhere
- Signage: Needs updating. Some of the distances were whacky and didn't exactly depict the holes very well. Not exactly a con, but for a first round I believed the signage quite a bit and was thrown off a few times.
- Seating: It would be nice to have a few more holes have some seating. This is for improvement, as many holes do.
- Teepads: I could see some gradual improvement with a couple newer pads, but some are very constricted and old. It'd be nice to be able to have some newer pads that are a bit more modern
- Baskets: Some Innova Discatchers, but some seem older than me. Eventually I see these being replaced, but for now make note that some of the baskets aren't in the best shape.
Other Thoughts:
I walked away frustrated at this course, not in quality but in personal play (hungover, dehydrated due to poor preparation, sore arm due to bad/pissed off FH form...). After a week or so I'm looking back wanting to play this course again. DGCR rates this as a 3, which is good, but my real-life rating is about a 7.5/8. If I caught this course on a remarkably clean, trimmed day and more baskets were newer, it would go up. I like this course overall and do suggest visiting