(3.739 Rating) A typical city park course through 3 holes... then awesomeness.
- SKILL LEVEL FRIENDLY - Three sets of tees, albeit only the middle set is paved. This fact really makes Bowers accessible to a wide range of skill levels. IMO, I thought the white layout was Recreational. The Red layout read as Intermediate and the Black layout reads as Advanced. My only quarrels with this, is that this set up does not follow the standard color levels as established by the PDGA and it will be confusing to out of town visitors. I get that these are school colors, but not switching the red and white designations is a head scratcher.
- CHALLENGING - The Black tees are going to be whooping grounds to non-advanced players as they require a great deal of accuracy and some length. Lots of shot shaping and needle lines to thread as well. There are a few holes that work in some creek elements around the basket placements. Holes (1) thru (3) from the blacks are going to require some bombs. Depending on placement, several of these par 3s or 4s go well over 400 feet.
- RAW BEAUTY - After 3 holes I was a bit disappointed thinking "What an overrated course." Then on Hole (4) "Nice." Hole (5), "Very Nice." Hole (6) "Cool." Hole (7) "Wow, this is a great trend." Hole (8) "Solid." Hole (9) "Excellent." Hole (10) "Flip'n Awesome!" The pleasant words to describe the remainder of the course continued all the way to the end. In totality I scored the course roughly a 4 of out of 5 for beauty which would be in my top 40.
- ELEVATION - One of the most moving layouts I've played in Alabama. Several shots have over 30 feet of grade play in them. The Black tee play on (10) no doubt has the most change approaching 60 feet down. For Alabama, the only courses that I know of that go more extreme are Inverness, Clay and Lake Point.
- UNIQUENESS - In addition to elevation, just about all the plays are here. Benders left and right. There are defined pocket shots and tree gaps to split. A few water elements in the form of a 15-foot-wide creek. There are a couple park style par 4s in the beginning and a number of shorter technical plays. If I were to call out a missing element, it would be placement par 4s and 5s.
- RED TEES - Concrete tees of above average size, 5 feet by 12 feet.
- CHARACTER - A bunch of amenities as to be expected from an established course. A Community board at tee (1), although no course map was posted. The one on DGCR seems to be accurate. Adequate handmade signs showing distance, obstacles and large hole #. Seating is on just about every hole. Lots of extra basket placements. I want to say that every hole had at least 3 locations and (13) had 4 locations.
- NAVIGATION - I downloaded the map on DGCR yet I rarely ever glanced at it. Perhaps I was a good guesser on this day but there were lots of intuitive pathways and some direction cues as well. Tee signs show next tee direction.

A solid course with most cons being just preferential issues.
- FORGIVENESS - Lots of tighter fairways on this course and I would not advise bringing anyone newer to the game out here. I don't care how good a player thinks they are, they are going to have a bad ricochet a few times and the disc is going to land in some substantial thicket. Some of my recovery plays had no good look at the basket. There are also a few water plays on holes (11) thru (13) where some of basket placements will make a player question their determination to throw at the chains. The creek level on my play was low enough to easily retrieve a disc but I could see lost discs in the creek one or two days after a heavy rain.
- POISON IVY - Not surprisingly, the overgrowth has some patches of poison ivy. The center cut fairways were generally clear of this awful plant but players will no doubt ping a tree at some point and end up in it. I suggest wearing pants or developing an immunity.
- BASKET LOCATION INDICATOR - With all the basket placements, I would have loved to have seen this feature on the tee signage. Players may have to run down fairways to check basket placements on a few holes. Note, they may have been there at one time as I could see nails to nothingness below the tee signs.
- LACK OF MULTI-PLAY HOLES - Yes there are a few par 4s on the first three holes depending on basket placement, but there really aren't any placement holes. I realize this is getting epic picky but I always enjoy it when a course throws me at least a couple holes where I have to accurately execute my plan to leave a play towards the basket on a hole or two.
- SAFETY HAZARDS - Holes (1) thru (3) play along roads and playground equipment.
- DISCONTINUITY - Hole (18) finishes a good 500 feet from tee (1).
- WHITE AND BLACK TEES - These tees are just carpet and I'd say a good majority were uneven. They are just a slight upgrade over natural ground. It seems that the Red Layout must get almost all the plays as a few lines from the alternate tees seemed a tad overgrown out of the shoot.
- TERRAIN - Anyone with bad knees should stay clear of this course. Some of the natural bridges crossing the creeks seemed a bit sketchy. I don't even recall seeing a bridge for the far placement on (11). Perhaps I missed it in my haste considering the basket on my play was up against the creek and not across it.

Bowers is one those courses that teases players with the notion of a blah open park style course, only to dive deep into a majestic forest. There has been a lasting memory on so many tee shots at Bowers that it inclined me to favorite the course soon after. As of this review, Bowers is one of only four course I've favorited in Alabama (61 AL courses played as of this review). The other 3 courses are Inverness, Indian Creek and The Admiral. The course is very similar to Seven Oaks in Nashville TN and Richmond Hill in Asheville NC. Is this a destination course? Absolutely for those that live in Mississippi or Alabama. Overall I have this course as a tweener, falling just shy of the 3.75 threshold for a 4. I actually inputted the numbers three separate times for Bowers and had it fall just shy of 3.75 twice and basically right on the number once. I'd definitely give it a 3.75 if I were allowed to do so. It's a great course.
- TIME PLAY - Average or a touch longer in time play for an 18 hole course. This one took me a hair over an hour to complete solo first time through. Figure 2 to 2 ½ hours for a foursome.

- Chainstar baskets and tees in good condition; Concrete tees are in between the pro and am tees and have great signage including distances and diagrams. Other tee pads are carpet, possible covered in pine straw. There are also benches at several tees. Current pin position is indicated on the big sign next to tee 1 which also has a map posted to it if you forget yours (take a pic w/ your phone).

- Course has a decent flow, though depending on pin position you may or may not see the basket from the tee.

- 18 ends reasonably close to 1, no long hike back to the car here.

-Elevation and changes in that elevation - check.
-Shot variety-check.
-Variation of hole distances-check.
-Reasonable hazards/obstacles-check-check.

- The day I played my biggest complaint was spider webs. Not the big orbweaver webs, but small, fine webs. More of an annoyance than con.

- We couldn't find the regular tee for 12. The pro tee was daunting and proceeded to a bridge over the creek that was blocked off by fallen brush. Upon a quick search all we could find was the AM tee, so I played from there.

- Amenities are far from anywhere on the course but 1 & 18. Unless of course you live in the apartments that adjoin the property mid-course.

I played in late September and the course was pretty well maintained. Any course w/ 15 holes in the woods is going to have some brush but as long as you don't totally shank your shot you'll find your disc quickly if you go off the fairway.

The legendary poison ivy I read about seemed pretty mild. I went off-fairway quite a few times and didn't have an issue.

As it was a Saturday during football season and a home game at that, there was no one on the course.

Be mindful of the pebbles/stones on some of the hillsides. It'd be easy to slip on them and ruin a good time. I have to say this place is pretty sick.

The use of elevation both up and down coupled with the clever use of foliage/trees and a variety of shots needed is simply great. I imagine after big rains the creek could become more of a hazard but the day I played it was more of a novelty than anything. Very scenic course. Bowers has a lot of things going on though, depending on the time of day/time of year, so I can imagine it's not always as empty and serene as when I played.

There are many other reviews for the course that touch on issues I haven't just for brevity's sake.

Finally, and this is nit-picky, despite how awesome it may seem, it's a little one dimensional in the sense that the only open/bomb shots are 1-3, and even then, 2 & 3 aren't THAT open. 15 straight shots in the woods can get monotonous after a while, even if most of them are high quality. I haven't played the other courses in the area but I hope at least one of them has the opposite ratio of woody/precision as this one in order to restore balance.

Some long and short shots. Well marked and it's very easy to find the next tee. Each tee pad was in ok shape and some even had brooms that could be used to sweep off any extra dirt.

There needs to be some bridges put in over the creek. It was difficult to cross and we had to get a little wet when crossing them.

Over all the course was good. It's was not easy after the first three holes, but it didn't seem impossible. If I'm ever back in that area I will for sure stop by and play it again.

This is a very fun and challenging course set in a nice park mere minutes off the interstate. A variety of throws are required to navigate thick woods, some excellent elevation, a bit of water, left and right turns, with some good risk/reward pin placements. Good signs, flat tees and well defined fairways (excepting a few) make for easy flow, starting with open holes but quickly becoming technical. As with most heavily wooded courses, errant drives and seconds can be severely punished.

Carpet tees; all in all not bad, being flat and solid, but concrete is always an improvement. Bridges too, would be an improvement the few times you cross a creek. And while alternate pin placements are a definite plus, they need be clearly and correctly marked. Although a few holes still needed fairways they certainly make you utilize a variety of shots!
No one hole stands out as "signature."

Unfortunately I played this course only once but it left me wanting more. Fortunately, it was quite fun (so much so I felt it deserves a review) and I'd look forward to flying there again, no doubt. An excellent technical challenge for any level player this course has great potential.

Bowers Park has a great flow through a park perfectly suited for disc golf. I like how it starts with a few long, open holes to get the arm warmed up and then it gets technical by hole 4 all the way to 18. The wooded holes were well-defined and not as frustratingly difficult as they could have been. The designer put in a lot of thought into the shot shape of each hole and there weren't many oddly placed obstacles/trees to get in the way of a well-placed shot. This layout provided more downhill holes than uphill too. When I first stepped into the woods, i expected to occasionally have trouble finding discs (especially with the fallen leaves). This wasn't a problem as there was very little rough to worry about! These factors helped make this a FUN play as opposed to a highly technical frustratingly challenging play. Bowers park is definitely one of the more fun wooded courses I've played. I appreciated the multiple pin positions on each hole although it wasn't always clear where each pin was hiding. Signs were basic but useful

With concrete pads and a few bridges (instead of concrete-filled tires throughout the creek), I'd rate this course as a very strong 4 star. The carpet wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I did slip a few times on my run-up. I would imagine that these and the rubber pads would be trecherous when a little wet. As a positive, they were at least pretty uniformly flat. rubber teepads can get lumpy without proper maintenance

Driving from Louisville to New Orleans, this was a perfect pit-stop off the 59/20 hwy and exit 73. It is seriously a 1 minute drive from the highway! I played it with a friend in about an hour and we each had a thoroughly enjoyable disc golf experience.

This is a nice wooded course that starts you off with a 3 long holes that are mostly open with some big mature trees. From there you go into heavy woods for the rest of the round. The woods for the most part are tight and pretty thick. The majority of the holes have well defined fairways. There are mutliple pin location of every hole. 3 of the holes incorporate a nice little creek that can make for some really nice holes with baskets right before or just over the creek. There is a good mix of left and right throws.

Concrete pads would be nice but the carpet actaully felt fine.

A couple of the holes were kind of a crap shoot. Hit your first gap and hope.

There bidges over the creek need to be replaced, one of them was even missing.

The first hole buy the creek the pin was not in the marked location. I threw over the creek to were it was supposed to be only to get down there and find no bridge over the creek and the basket on the short side over to the left.

This is a pretty tough course but was a fun play. There are some really nice holes and several duece oppurtunies. If you are close it is well worth checking out.