Franklin-Simpson Disc Gold Course sits in a park with a lot going on in it . There is plenty of parking near hole 1 . The baskets are Discatchers , there are 2 tee pads per hole , both cement , the the signage gives hole number , distance , par and a flight path . The kiosk is up near hole #1 . The course kind of splits into 2 , with the first 10 , then a walk leading to the last 8 . The course plays fairly open , with trees utilized whenever possible . This course would look somewhat flat or rolling at first glance , but there is surprising elevation here . after maybe 2,3,&4 . Course designer H B Clark makes sure you have some interesting hole placements and shot variety .Make sure you print a map or take a picture of the kiosk before starting or you may wander off and miss a basket or 2 . You can also play 1-9 for a short round as 9 ends right next to 1 . The park was mowed and very clean when I visited . If you like to just leave your car , stretch your legs and air out your arm , then this course is perfect for you . There is some fun factor here . Don't give up on the course after #10 . Walk straight back from that basket a couple of hundred yards and the course gets better . #1 is a putter/rock throw down a hill with a tree guarding it . 2,3,&4 throw to the right side of the park with all breaking a little left to right . #5 is your first real bomber throw ( 500' just from the short tee ) 6 breaks you left to right to a front of a shelter . 7 goes to the right and uphill behind that same shelter and 8 comes back down the other side , downhill with a bush in front of it . #9 is an uphill blast . 10 has a tree next to you , but other than that , it sits on top of a small valley you throw over . A long walk behind 10 leads you to 11 , which is a downhill blast to a basket which sits in front of a tiny gully filled with rocks that started parallel to your drive . the hole slopes downhill after the basket so be wary of a missed putt or approach that went too far . 12 starts to the right and down a bit from 11's basket and throws uphill to a basket protected by medium sized trees midway . 13 is on the other side of a shelter at the top of the hill and throws into a woods area . 14 is a downhill tunnel shot to a green and pin to the right and in front of a large creek . 15 and 16 throw tight with a creek running alongside you on the right and hillside to the left . 17 is a top of the hill shot to a basket protected by trees and a dry creek bed ( nice bridge next to it ) . 18 tee is hard left of the 17 basket and uphill to a level area and pin along a tree line with branches protecting the left side and any air less than 10' high . This took me over an hour to play ( I will explain part of it in cons ) . Disc Risk : Pretty Low . A little rough is thick in a couple of spots but avoidable and should be a non factor . The real problem would be the creek holes , maybe 14 , 15 & 16 . Signature hole : I really liked the downhill tunnel shot with it's pin location up against the creek bank . ( I also like 16's pin placement midway on the hill with a hill on the left of the fairway and the creek running along it on the right ) .

#1 Safety . I had fits here . mostly from 1-8 and some people fishing on the bank at 16 . #1 is right in front of the only children's playground in the park You can easily ruin a child or parent's day with even a slight overthrow . 2 , 6 , 7 and 8 are dangerously close to baskets or fairways , and the park had full shelters the Sunday I was there . #2 Course is too open . This could be considered a pro or a con . Yes , there are unobstructed throws like 5 , 8 , 10 but it could be considered a break from the more difficult holes . Wind might be a factor here , too .#3 navigation . Without the map ( Print it or take a picture of it ) you can wander around to find tees , like 1-2 , 6-7 , especially the terribly long walk from 10-11 . The worst walk is after 18 , when you have a long uphill walk to the parking lot . I also had trouble finding and throwing hole #7 because cars were lining the fairway because of filled shelters . Next Tee signs or simply putting electrical tape on the bottom rungs of the basket pointing to the next tee would help a lot . .

This is a nice clean multi use park that sits just off of I-65 . A fairly quick play if you hit it when there are few shelters in use and they aren't overcrowded . for locals , a perfect place to throw early in the season when you are working your arm in shape or even later when trying out that new driver . This is not so much a thinkers course than a precision hard driving one . Enough challenge to make you think , but not overthink . You can pair this one up with any of the courses in Bowling Green and have a great day . My Recommendation : Great for locals , newbies , travelers , also even intermediates and pros just want to work on upshots and distance drives . This might play too long for most families or high school buddies just getting together and throwing a few . Give this course a chance .

The park is absolutely beautiful and very large. It was also very clean.
Parking was ample and close to hole 1
There is a practice basket and a course map near hole 1. Take a picture if it's your first time.
The baskets were DISCatchers and were in good. shape.
This course is a throwers delight. If you like to air it out, you will love this place.
There are not many trees on this course, but the design does use them very well.
There are some elevation changes on the course that will effect distance control.
Basket placement is very good on this course. You run a putt and miss, you could pay dearly on several holes.
Adequate sized concrete tee pad with good grip.
There are nice hole signs with accurate distances.
The course may seem open, but in our round today, I saw rollers, hyzers, Anny's, forehands and overhead shots.

There are a couple of areas that you may need to make sure you don't throw into people.
There are a couple of long walks on the course.

I am not the type of disc golfer that thinks that we "have" to play in the middle of a forest or it isn't disc golf. This course is long and challenging from the pro tees. There was a uniqueness to it that I found appealing. Wind is also a problem on this course. Due to elevation and a lack of trees, trying to control such long throws with the wind blowing was a HUGE problem.

There is elevation, there are shots that bring schule into play, there are tunnel shots and wide open bomber shots. Gap shots, straight shots, hyzers. I have a relatively decent arm, so I appreciate the opportunity that this course affords to truly open up and BOMB. It allows you to test the sort of bomber drives you throw, as well. Side hill shots (landing the disc on the angle you need it to land on), uphill and downhill, long drives placed at the gap entrances, giant turnovers, etc.

There is a predominance of wide open shots, to be honest. Every shot has plenty of room to bail out off of the tee and let yourself have an open (long) up shot. You won't go way under with this strategy, but in the lower divisions you won't fall way out of contention. It is also too far outside of the BG course zone to really be considered highly by players - no one likes traveling in the middle of a tournament day's rounds (speaking of BG Ams).

My rating may be influenced heavily by the joy I find in watching a disc fly far - but I really like Franklin a lot. I believe HB Clark created a very cool creature in this course. In 2008 when I played it for BG Ams a lot of us thought it was weak that we played this AND White Park both, and I agree - variety is needed for putting together a tournament lineup. But that doesn't take away from the fact that it is a fun course, and well put together.

This course has 2 sets of tees on each hole, Pro/Am. I've only played it once from the Pro tees, but there is roughly 2000ft difference between Pro/Am tees, so I have no doubt that the course plays significantly different from each set of tees which could impact a reviewer's opinion. This review is based solely on the Pro tees.

Course Essentials:
-Baskets: Innova DISCatcher, all in good shape. Single pin placements. Practice basket near first tee.
-Tee Pads: Concrete tees are level, appropriately sized, and in good condition. There are Pro/Am tees on all holes.
-Tee Signs: Located at Pro/Am tees on all holes. Signs accurately display hole layout, length, suggested Pro/Am pars, and direction to the next tee. (Small issues w/signage explained in cons section)

Course Design & Layout:
-Fairway Variety: 4Left/4Right/10Straight
-Elevation: Minimal throughout the course, but good use in design.
-Elevation Variety: 4Up/4Down/10Flat
-Length: 8,200 Total (455ft avg). 1<300, 7@3-400, 6@4-500, 2@5-600, 2@600+.
-Water: Potential on holes 2-4 (but not likely), and definitely in play on 14-17.

Overall, course design was pretty good, but had some flaws which will be discussed in the "cons" section. The course is comprised of 2 9-hole loops. Hole 9 finishes near the parking area, but the finishing hole requires a decent hike back up the hill to the parking area. Flow is good for the most part, but there are a few holes with a long walk between tees which disrupts that a little.

No major elevation changes, so the uphill/downhill holes are more gradual slopes. The elevations are used effectively to help create variety and to create a few real challenging pin placements, namely holes 2-4 where missing on the wrong side could put you down a steep hill in the creek. Length is the major asset of this course. It is the longest course in the Bowling Green area. An intermediate-advanced level player will most likely find the course to play similar to a ball golf course in the fact that you'll be throwing a drive, having a variety of short-long approach shots, and then putting for par/birdie.

The course has a few really great holes (4, 11, 14-17), but for the most part, it is a lot of long open holes with limited variety, and not real challenging other than the length. There are only 4 holes that I would consider having "technical" lines to hit off of the box (4, 13-15), and a handful of holes with "preferred" lines created by trees near the tee area or in the fairway. The other holes are pretty much open with plenty of room to work the disc for whatever shot type you prefer.


Navigation:
Following the course was really easy with the "next tee" markers on all the tee signs. A couple holes have really long walks between them (5-6, and 10-11). When you walk for a while and don't see a tee close by, you may begin to question if you are going the right way, but if you follow the direction indicated on the tee signs, then you are good to go. *NOTE: Hole 11 is over the road and across the soccer fields, just keep going, you'll find the tee near the dry creek on the other side of the soccer fields.

Maintenance:
Excellent. The course was in great condition and well-maintained. Mostly open holes with large trees, so no real "rough" or foliage to contend with. Area of taller grass between holes 4-5 used to differentiate and define these fairways that parallel each other.

Ammenities:
Mailbox near the first tee, I'm assuming it's for scorecards and/or course maps, but was empty when I played there. No benches or trash cans that I remember.

Epic Holes: (4, 11, 14-17)
-Hole 4: Excellent risk/reward hole. Great left to right shot bordering the steep slope leading down the hill to the creek. Plenty of room left to play a big sweeping anhyzer and stay safe, but if you successfully challenge the technical line through the trees, you just may be rewarded with a rare 2 on this course. Hit the trees and kick right, could be big trouble. Also watch for the drop-off down the hill just behind the basket!
-Hole 11: Simple, downhill hole at 480ft from the Pro tee w/dry rock creek running OB down the left side and crossing in front of the basket around 420ft. Just a really fun hole to unleash a big drive and let disc ride the slope for some extra distance.
-Hole 14: Open off the tee until you hit the 25ft tree-lined gap that proceeds down a semi-steep hill. Once you clear the tunnel, you have to watch out for the creek situated just behind the basket.
-Hole 15: Nice tight line off the tee with trees on the left and the creek on the right. This hole requires an accurate right to left shot off the box to clear the trees and fade back into the fairway.
-Hole 16: Fantastic hole at nearly 600ft requiring a low shot between a couple of large trees or a big left to right sweeping shot around the big trees. Once you clear the trees, the hole opens into a large fairway with a row of trees along the left side, and trees/creek on the right side. Basket situated on a side slope off the left side of the fairway.
-Hole 17: Straight forward hole but made fantastic with the pin placement. The basket it nested in the trees 425ft from the box with an 8ft deep drainage ditch that runs in front of the basket, situated only a few feet from the edge. A nice little wooden bridge was constructed to cross the ditch and get to the basket, very nice work on this green.

-Limited Variety: A lot of flat/open holes.
-Safety Concerns: Several holes located near other features of the park. Hole 1 is way to close to the playground. An errant drive here could easily wind up on/near the playground. Holes 7/8 play on opposite sides of a pavilion, and the basket for 12 is located near a pavilion. Groups using this area may not know to watch out for flying discs, so use caution through these holes.
-Long walk between several holes (5-6, 10-11), and from 18 back to parking.
-Inaccurate sign info: Played Hole 15 from Am tee due to flooding creek, listed as 260ft on sign. I can throw around 300ft, threw a really good drive, and was still 50ft short. Maybe the pin has moved or something, but this definitely was not accurate.
-Flooding: Played here after some rain moved through the area, and several of the holes had standing water. Hole 15 and 16 were affected by flooding creek, and 16 (one of the best holes on the course) was not playable due to the flooding.
-Inconsistent ProPar values: I know "par" is a debatable topic, but consistency is the issue here. Holes 6, 9, and 10 are pretty simple, open holes between 400-450ft listed as ProPar 4. Hole 5 is 750ft uphill, and hole 12 is 625ft uphill both noticeable more difficult than 6, 9 & 10 due to the elevations, also listed as Pro Par 4. Then hole 17, 425ft straightforward, little trouble, ProPar 3. Holes 6, 9, and 10 really need to be ProPar 3's, 4 is a bit inflated given the difficulty level of these holes.

Franklin-Simpson is overall a decent little course, and worth the time to stop and play if you are in the area. I'm going to give the front nine a "3" and the back nine a "4". The front nine is a little plain, and could use a few upgrades to increase visual appeal and challenge. The back nine is significantly more fun, challenging and visually aesthetic with some really great golf holes, especially 14-17. The overall experience was good, the park is very nice, clean, and family oriented with lots of stuff to do. Check it out.

The Franklin Simpson course is well laid out in a fairly open park, not too far from I65. This course is a nice alternative to a lot of other courses in the area.

The course requires distance - with one of the pro tees being around 700 ft. Undulating hills make for constant elevation change. Several baskets are perched on the edge of extreme drop offs, and several more holes play along the edge of a creek.

The layout makes good use of natural obstacles. Par is possible on all of the holes. If you are able to throw over 350 feet consistently, there are a half dozen birdie opportunities.

The wind at this course is brutal. The area surrounding this course is very flat, so gusts of wind come in very strong - especially on the front 9.

Water hazards can claim your disc on 3 or 4 holes.

Nice course, but typically very windy. The front and back 9 are very different, but both equally challenging. Some of the trees on this course are young, but as they mature the course will get even better. This one is worth playing if you are in the area, and is probably the most challenging in the area around Bowling Green.