Pros:
Once upon a time: this was the fairest course in all of Northern Utah beloved by all, or secretly hated but not mentioned, in fact at one point it was the only course in Northern Utah, but then came the fairgrounds, and everybody forgot all about little Von Baer. Cache County Fairgrounds and Von Baer Park are a tale of opposites. The fairgrounds are flat and long while Von is hilly and short. The fairgrounds are groomed and beautiful while Von is treacherous and ugly. The fairgrounds allows players to rip long drives down fairly wide open fairways with little penalty, while Von requires more finesse shots and placements to avoid severe trouble. There is little chance to lose a disc at Cache while at Von it would be quite easy. While the fairgrounds are 18 holes you could play rounds all day on them without needing a break, with Von you will be winded after the first couple of holes let alone all 9 or 18 if you play alternates. The fairgrounds are an afternoon walk in the park, while at Von you could trip and kill yourself. I actually think these two courses complement each other rather nicely providing the best of both worlds. Obviously, I would want the fairgrounds as my daily course to play on all the time, but Von would provide for a nice change of pace and a chance to spice up the game a little every now and then. But I could see why, a lot of players would simply choose to leave Von in the rear view mirror.
Von Baer is an all Par 3 course, except for hole 4 on the red tees which is listed as a par 4, although at 430 feet it is an iffy call. It has excellent signage for all tees provide by Infinite Discs, which show all of the relevant information: par, distance, and map. It has 9 Innova Discatchers that do the job. It has an interesting variety of shots and challenges for all skill levels. There are plenty of elevation changes and obstacles to keep the course interesting. Of the 9 baskets all but 3 are not located on the hillside. Hole 9 was a nice little finishing hole, with a big hyzer across a gully to the basket, a nice risk/reward shot; I would have liked it a little more if the incorporation yard had not been there underneath.
Cons:
Ugly. We were there in summer and this course was quite dry and desolate, it doesn't help you have to walk past the city's green waste dump to get to hole 1 from the parking lot, or that the city's truck yard is located on the left of hole 1 and under hole 9s fairway. I have seen pictures of the course at other times of year when it is green and lush and it is a much prettier picture, but in August this was ugly. If the little creek had water it would also have improved the feel of the park.
Treacherous Footing. Snow and rain have cause quite a bit of erosion on these hills making a lot of the course a little dangerous and difficult to find footing. Once you've played a while there are lines that make the course easier and safer but it is a matter of learning the course and where not to go.
Lost Discs. Losing your disc is never fun and the weeds are definitely tall enough here to eat them a plenty.
Traffic. The course, especially hole 8, plays too close to the road; and to the truck yard on hole 9, for comfort.
Crossing Fairways. Holes 5 and 6 have crossing fairways, a no, no in course design, but considering you will probably be the only one on the course anymore, a minor quibble.
Tees. There are no tees, just cleared patches of dirt.
Navigation. The navigation wasn't intuitive especially when looking for alternative tees, the map would definitely be needed.
Shorter Holes. Not a lot of distance on holes to really air out some drives, but holes are definitely technical and challenging.
Other Thoughts:
There is a lot to like and a lot to dislike about Von Baer disc golf course. Von Baer could definitely use a few tweaks and could definitely use better tee pads. Like I said I probably would not want this for my everyday course, but it does provide a fun challenge and "hike" for an occasional throw or a small tournament challenge. The treacherous hilly nature of the course is probably going to find this as a love it/leave it type course, where if you like a good mountain course then you will favor Von Baer, or if you prefer a more groomed flatter course you won't. You can definitely get a little bruised and scraped up on this course. Von Baer is a very rough and rugged course with a variety of difficult shots and obstacles.
One last thing on the comparison between the fairground and Von is that Von is always open. I have heard from many a local that the fairgrounds pull the baskets quite often. In fact, when I was there the first day we played, the baskets were in we came back the second and were told they had been pulled for horses and the fair. So at the very least Von will provide a good alternative when the fairgrounds are not available.
On a final note I normally preface all of my reviews by going to the city's page and learning more about the park, but I was greatly confused by Providence's webpage for this course. In fact, I wasn't even sure that I was remembering the right course. The city's site lists a reserveable picnic pavilion, restrooms, and other amenities and shows a picture of large trees and a black iron gate. I got to say I saw none of those things here, and I actually had to go and look at the aerial view of the park from home just to make sure I was thinking about the same course. If that stuff is here on this property it would definitely help with the appeal, my guess is that if it exists that's its somewhere in the woods beneath hole 4s tee to the right of the parking lot when you pull in. I really didn't do much exploring of the area other than the course, so I didn't see any of this stuff, but there is a big parking lot, it makes sense that somewhere there is an actual park.