18 holes with most of the fairways consisting of well maintained lawns. They're usually lightly wooded, but a few (5-8, 17 & 18) have dense growth and slight elevation change. There is a small creek that was flowing after significant rains the day before, it's in play on 9 and 13. The tees are concrete and very roomy, with decent signage. There is also another full 18 course in the same park. There are 4 par 4's that allow for bombs.

The wooded areas are pretty thick, and not as long as the open holes. The slight rises and drops in elevation are mostly found in these areas. I tended to favor these holes, but the open ones did try to use the sparse mature trees to create some shot shaping or obstacles to approach and putting.

I'd say about half of the holes are interesting, and the rest are average. Hole 3 plays into a pocket on the fringes of some thick trees after a lengthy tee and approach. 4 is out of the thicket curving right along the edge. Hole 5 is slightly uphill and has a left to right line with defined by trees. Hole 6 drops back down and is right to left fairly short. 7 and 8 are less woodsy and less curvy, but do have defined lines over level ground. 9 tees on top of the ridge, and had two baskets in play when I was there. Short is readily visible in the flat in front of a restroom and a small fenced in electrical installation. To reach the long you have to pick a route around the outhouse and utility pen, the right is easier in my experience. The creek lines the left side with trees standing on the bank, and trees line the right as well forming an alley to the pin. I smacked the restroom hard enough to scare a fart out of someone if it had been occupied. Not optimal. 13 plays the tree line to a narrow gap where you have to cross the creek. Tough placement shot on the drive. 17 tees next to the parking lot restroom, open at first and down the gentlest of slopes, into some tight gaps in the woods. Not long but a challenging entry. 18 is another good one through the trees and back to the parking lot.

As mentioned above, half of the holes are fairly bland, flat with minimal trees. Well maintained and equipped but sort of meh. The rains had left the area around the pin on 3 muddy and slick, but ok to play.

Hole one plays next to the baseball diamond so there is OB, but it's not too hard to avoid. The enclosure on hole 9 is small but fierce with barbed wire on top if I remember right, I wouldn't want to end up in there.

I enjoyed Ft. Buhlow, but it's not a destination I would go out of the way to play again. 36 holes with 18 good ones, but none I would say are spectacular. Shade is limited, and the sun hits hard much of the time. It was in fairly good shape despite heavy rains the day prior. Mud on 5 holes, but not the sticky, sloppy variety. I didn't land one in an area that required trudging through the worst of it, and picked my way around without having to hose down discs or shoes.

If I had to choose one I would have played the purple over the gold, but they're pretty balanced as far as quality is concerned. I was way over par on the gold, and one under on the purple, but some of the layout was altered so I might not have the correct info.

Fort Buhlow's Gold course (colored as a region-appropriate complement to the Purple course a la LSU, not in reference to pro level tees) is a more open and straightforward complement to the Purple layout. The emphasis here is on birdieable par 3s of all kinds; accuracy and control are favored over distance. The wooded holes are tight, short holes that often have quirky lines, while the more open holes tend to focus on singular challenges such as low ceilings or definite boundaries. There's a nice changing of pace to the overall layout which moves from open to wooded back to open and then finishes with a few tight holes, lending a nice flow to the round. The middle stretch of holes that play through a copse of narrow pines are the highlight for me with their focus on well-placed line shaping.

Parking is ample and navigation is intuitive. The park is beautiful and large, allowing the courses to sprawl with little conflict with other park goers. The Purple course onsite is a solid course in its own right; it's nice to have both.

There are a lot of open holes with no elevation changes that are quite straightforward. There's a real focus on play off the tee, with little emphasis on approach shots or fairway throws. Smart placement to chain together throws is rarely if ever needed beyond the effort to run for birdie. In this sense the mental game is quite lacking: there isn't much in the way of risk versus reward or decision making, especially after your initial drive. More wrinkles or variation in distance would go a long way, and seem possible considering the ample space allotted to the two sets of 18 holes on site. A slightly smaller set of holes covering the same stretch of land - say 24-27 - would have a lot more variation and potentially intrigue than the present set of 36.

Several of the technical holes combine oppressively tight lanes with short distances and marked line shaping. The result is more awkward than anything else.

The Ft. Buhlow courses are solid if unspectacular and make for a nice outing. These would be great home courses, and are solid options as part of a larger road trip especially given the dearth of options in the area.

+Hole 9 is memorable, starts with a bomb off a high tee, then finishes down a nice fairway lined with rough. A good, challenging par 4,maybe 5.
+Hole 2 is a downhill par 4 that rewards distance on the first throw and accuracy on the upshot, with a green that slopes away from the tee so players have to control their upshot speed.
+concrete tee pads
+easy to navigate

-Yawn. Wake me up after the string of boring holes after boring holes at the bottom of the course (10-16) is over. 13 is interesting, requiring a placement shot off the tee to set up for a tough 3, and 15 is downhill into some trees, but the rest of this stretch is a relatively open snoozefest.
-Hole 3 basket is in an area that gets really muddy. Actually a lot of the course can get muddy since it's in a floodplain.
-There's a guy on this website named who is always talking about how Ft. Buhlow has the best courses in the state and how Lake Claiborne isn't as good. If you hear anyone say Buhlow is better than Claiborne, then you'll know they're either trolling you or they're clueless about disc golf. Lake Claiborne blows the doors off of Ft. Buhlow, it's not even close. I would gladly drive the extra 2 hours from the coast to get to Claiborne and I wouldn't even stop at Buhlow because Claiborne is that much better.

This review is certain to get thumbs down from the local homers here at DGCR, but I just can't stand the Gold course, so disappointing it is. The Purple course here is by far the better of the two. Play that one first.

Shot Diversity
Different Types of Holes
Fairways and Greens year round green grass
Technical and Long

Gets muddy and requires alt pin's in winter
Teepads slick when muddy

This course is beautiful with elevation changes and woods and open shots

This course has a very good variety of open, tunnel and flat holes along with holes that use elevation changes in interesting ways. It may not test every shot in your bag, but it will require backhand, forehand, and a good thumber and tomahawk can be rewarded off the tee. There are some good risk/reward holes such as the decision whether to throw over the OB baseball field on the first hole to try for birdie. There are some more open holes and a couple of must-get birdie holes with a stretch of difficult forest tunnel shots. The tunnels are birdie-able, but any of them can easily make you give up two or more extra throws if you make a error off the tee. There is even a "top-of-the-world" type shot (inasmuch as you can do that in Louisiana) on an 850' par 5.

Even the wide-open, 16th hole has OB to the left to keep it challenging.

The Red River Waterway Commission goes out of their way to keep the course maintained for most of the year, even planting grass in the "fairways" and "greens" that give the course a manicured feel from late fall through early spring.

This course has all concrete, 5'x12' teepads, new tee signs and there are no real navigation issues. There is water and Bathrooms at the start and on the 9th hole. Course maps and scorecards are available at the Ranger station at the front gate.

Favorite holes: 2, 7, 8 and 15.

UPDATE: The changes discussed below, have resulted in significant changes in my favorite holes. Hole 2 now has a wide open approach to the right. Hole 7's formerly narrow, unforgiving fairway is now far more forgiving to the point that errant throws can give you a better approach to the basket than ones that land in the fairway, depending on the basket placement. Hole 8's formerly narrow fairway has now become just alternate route on a much more open hole. Hole 15 has lost the magnificent tree that used to force the selection of a left, middle or right path to the basket. It is now just a straight forehand throw. Hole 13, the only true par 4 with a placement shot off the tee has been neutered by tree losses that allow a much more direct approach to the basket and make it a par 3.

The area around the long basket on Hole 3 stays wet through the winter and early spring. This is scheduled for some earthwork but a temp basket is currently necessary.

Hole 5 does not have a sign because the Park is waiting on the removal of a utility pole. Look across the powerline right or way to find it after you finish hole 4. Another utility pole has a guy wire that can come into play further up the fairway.

Hole 6 is a tomahawk/thumber hole through the trees even though that might not be apparent the first time you play it. It gets a little random on windy days.

There are still ruts in fairway of hole 8 from the installation of the woods holes. These are scheduled to be filled, but they are still there now.

The tee pad on hole 12 is misaligned.

This otherwise long course sort of ends on a whimper with two very short holes, each about 200'. By comparison, the first four holes average over 400'. They are tricky, tunnel holes that are part of the original course.

In the spring (mid-March through May or so) the grass and weeds grow quickly but the ground may remain too soft to mow. In open areas, this can lead to very deep grass that can delay your round and make you lose discs that land in the open. The rest of the year, the course maintenance is top notch.

Least favorite holes:13 and 17.

UPDATE: In addition to the above, several holes have become somewhat boring, open holes due to tree losses and RRWC "maintenance." These include holes 3, 8, 12 and 15. Hole 16 has always been just an open, throw-to-the-basket hole.

This course is a newly opened course that contains holes 13-18 of the original Ft. Buhlow Course. The new holes, 1-12, offer considerably more difficulty than first 11 holes of the original course and add some distance too.

When the new holes were added and the original course split, this course adopted the "problem children" of the orignal course. These are holes that may frustrate people who don't want to have to lay up off the tee on a 500' hole (13) or deal with a misaligned teepad on a hole with a forested tunnel (17). Hole 14 had always been an easy hole. But 15, which was arguably the best hole on the original course is now part of the Gold course.

The "woods holes" (5-8) have a difficulty level that is completely out of proportion to the other holes and 6 in particular is a bit too difficult as laid out (although a high tomahawk to the left can get you a birdie). These are very difficult holes.

UPDATE: Since my original review, the course has lost a number of trees in the lower areas to flooding and some ill-advised "trimming" (better described as mowing) of the underbrush on holes 5-8 in the more elevated areas. I generally don't change my ratings, but the wooded holes are now significantly changed. Specific changes are:

Hole #2 - smaller trees lost to flooding
Hole #3 - smaller trees lost to flooding
Hole #5 - Underbrush and some trees mowed, opening some lines and clearing area around basket - it's a much easier hole now.
Hole #6 - drastic change due to tree and underbrush removal - wire barrier erected to prevent direct throw at basket
Hole #7 - drastic change due to tree and underbrush removal - new basket position added
Hole #8 - drastic change opening many previously non-existent lines to basket and clearing area around basket
Hole #12 - some trees removed
Hole #13 - trees lost to flooding on both sides of bayou - basket now unguarded and in open
Hole #14 - smaller trees lost to flooding
Hole #15 - Storm damage to one of the primary obstructions (tree) led to its removal. Hole now completely different.

UPDATE: Over the years since this course was put in, it has undergone significant and more frequent flooding than it had seen in prior year. As a result there has been a loss of many, many trees in the lower sections of the course. Additionally, the Red River Waterway Commission has conducted clearing of the higher elevated portions of the course. Attempts to replace trees has been unsuccessful due to a combination of trees succumbing to flooding and trees being killed by the RRWC's activities (mowing down seedlings that were planted with their permission and bark injuries caused by string trimmers). As a result of these things, this course has become a more open, significantly easier and, frankly, worse course. It can still be a fun course for bigger arms, with plenty of birdie opportunities, but it isn't what it could be with a park owner that randomly conducts unguided maintenance and a local club uninterested in actually having to do work that would result in adding difficulty to holes they want to be easier.

As a result of these cumulative changes to the course, I have lowered my rating.