Pros:
If you're planning on writing a paper on the history of disc golf courses; this would be a fine place to begin the "classic designs of yesteryear" portion.
Elevation used on many holes. As expressed in other reviews; ravine is played up and down; in and around. This is just the main ravine. There are also two other hilly sections at the beginning and end of course.
The "Lake Monster"; hole #13; is a classic. 350 ft. with Lake Michigan running the right side of fairway, the entire length. Most of the time, it's possible to retrieve an errant throw here; but be extremely careful on the slippery, shore side rocks. Ankle breakers here.
I enjoy hole #14 a great deal, as well. Uphill, blind anny (rhbh).
Hole #15 a bit of a chucker; with road o.b. right.
Hole #16 very tucked in small pines, pin placement.
Hole #17 pin placed on the edge of large drop off.
#18, another decent chucker hole; so, last five holes, a good finish to this course.
Persons nearly always present to fulfill your plastic purchasing needs at "the shack"; near tee for hole one. Ask, and it's very possible someone is around to sell you as old and rare a disc as you may want for your collection.
Cons:
While there is some form of difficulty on each and every hole at Vollrath; i.e. trees, blind hole, elevation, or all of the above; this is a short course; with no real possibility to add footage.
Course is very heavily played and has been for more than three decades and it shows in terms of course wear. On the plus side of this; I am actually fairly amazed that hills have not completely eroded to extremely dangerous levels; nor have I ever heard any talk from parks department; regarding issues in this regard.
Sheboygan/Vollrath vibe, has and, I imagine, always will; be for locals to conduct themselves a bit like they come from "the mean streets." This doesn't mean there will be anyone physically attacking you without provocation or anything. But, there are some foolish youngin's there to take advantage of your not paying attention to your plastic. And playing with Vollrath locals, you will find them saying things under their breath; just loud enough for you to hear; like...."oh, we don't have to worry about this guy," or, "wonder how long this guy's been playing?"; if you're kind of new to the game. They are known for using "gamesmenship."
Other Thoughts:
This, though, fairly rural Wisconsin, "welcome to the hood" attitude, is just how they roll here. Many kids begin chucking plastic when they're less than 10 years old and play this course a zillion times before they're 15. They have a very pronounced "home boy/field bias." And, as a group, will attempt to use it on you for home field advantage.
This is backed up in their minds by two time world champ; Barry Schultz having honed his skills here as a young man. Aaron Wilde, who for a few years competed head to head with Barry; and finished top 30 in the World; also was making every putt from 50 foot in, when he was a teenager; and later developed a cannon arm to go with this. Long time pro; Steve Held, also grew up in the neighborhood.
In other words, they've got the pedigree as a spawning ground for disc excellence.
Part of the reason for this; relates back to the old school perfection of Vollrath. 1) Kids get out here young. 2) Kids were getting out here in the 1970s (an earlier review stated Vollrath is first course in Wisconsin; I maintain that Dr. George W. Hilliard Park, in Beloit, is older; but, I will ask anyone to prove me wrong on this; as I did in my review of that course.) 3) Due to the weekly leagues for players of all ages; for such a long period of time; all Vollrath players must learn to putt like madmen. You must score tons of birds here to compete with the likes of Barry and Steve and Aaron. Therefore, putting skills are at a premium. Drive for show and putt for dough; is the underlying motto at this course.
A fun feature of the annual state tourney stop; are a couple of holes; #2 and #15; which have artificial or road o.b. special rules; which force shots played from o.b. to be thrown with your opposite hand.
Though, from a toughness stand point, this course is probably only a 2.5 rated course; huge amounts of state players will make an annual pilgrimage to Vollrath, for the joy of ace runs; meeting up with long time local friends, and simply the overall ambiance and history of this old school layout. If you're in the area; I suggest you do the same.