Pros: Personal experience:
80 courses played
2 courses designed
3 courses installed
10 years played
925 rated
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Rated 3.41 prior to this review

Design 3/5
Tees 3/5
baskets 4/5
amenities/signage 1/5
Replayability/Fun Factor 4/5

15/5= 3.0
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Design: Old School par 3 course that circles an old mansion in one of the premier towns that I know of for DG. The only par 4 I believe is hole 2, one of my favs on the property. However, lots of lengthy par 3s to make this feel tournament worthy. Good use of different amounts of wooded holes. Also really liked the extreme angles that are asked off the tee in some area.

Tees: Standard old school 5'x10' teepads. More than enough for this length of a course. The area around the teepads could be cleaned up a little bit, and add some aesthetics (this is where higher rated DG courses are heading).

Baskets: Innova Pro 28s. My favorite basket. These are the gold standard in my opinion. Nothing super fancy.

Amenities/signage: Nearly no signage throughout the course to tell you where the next hole is. The teesigns provide minimal data. No water fountain that we could find. No bathrooms that we could find.

Fun Factor: Despite almost no signage or amenities expected typically at a course these days, this course is fun. I would play it all the time if it were in my back yard. Great accuracy practice as well.

See above... mostly the signs and amenities. Add new signs, next tee signs... and the score goes up considerably.

This is an old school course that is likely one of the better courses in the area. Nothing that I would say is road trip destination worthy, but a fun course.

Thanks to the local club for keeping up with all of these courses!

An old course (though not original layout) with nice elevation.

-Amenities: Concrete tees, signs including good maps, red prodigies, course kiosk.

-Rec-Friendly: Like many old courses, this is very accessible to rec players wielding modern discs. The length is on the shorter side and the hardwoods tend not to be punishing, creating chances for birdies or easier scrambles.

-Atmosphere: Very pleasant. Again, pretty typical for older courses. The park is well-kept and features consistent trees, thought nothing is particularly stunning. The historic house provides an interesting centerpiece.

-Par-3 Variety: A sampling of two basic types of par-3s. There are shorter ace/birdie opportunities, and longer, challenging par-3s. This is complemented by changes in terrain. Many holes are in the central space full of sparse hardwoods (very old- style), but a good number are in the woods further back on the property, which provide a tighter challenge.

-Shot Shaping/Gameplay: Mostly described above. The first two are the best on the course, extremely fun woods challenges. From there it's the more open section of the course, with a handful of the woodsier ones coming from (7) to (16). It's entirely achievable shaping, and the scrambling is easier than average. Nonetheless, the trees keep basic shaping in mind throughout.

-9 & 9: Though not strictly a set of two loops, hole (9) and hole (18) both end relatively near the start.

Nothing too large.

-Erosion: Some issues with mud and pooling water. Not terrible, but also doesn't seem sustainable.

-Par-3 Style: Hole (2) is the only par-4. Otherwise, there's no strategic shot placement, just going for it. This cuts out a level of variety crucial to scoring highly.

-Suspect Lines: A couple of the woods lines are questionable. I don't like them, but I'm not willing to claim that they're objectively bad.

-Navigation: Confusing at times, including several crossings. This isn't helped by the remnants (see below).

-Remnants: The remains of the old layout are present here with teepads and an occasional fake fairway. Not a big deal.

Hobson Grove isn't in its original layout, but it feels similar to what it might have started as. It's part Typical shapes through sparse, older trees, and part journey through harder, tighter woods. This combination elevates it above most older courses, and it earns the title of Good. It's a tour of interesting and achievable par-3 shapes, and extremely pleasant environment.

Though it is relatively flat, the course winds through some fairly dense woods at times and there are some very narrow lines that require great precision. It is balanced for righty and lefty shots, technical, and rewards good shots and punishes bad shots.

It isn't a massive, championship caliber course, but it is the sort of course you'd want to play every day (can't always play the bomber courses).

It is located by the historic Hobson House, which is also something fun to visit while traveling.

-variety of hyzer/anhyzer shots
-elevation changes
-true par 4. easy 3 if you throw a good layup drive, but tough 4 if you make an errant throw
-not muddy, even during rain and the day after big rain the ground wasn't bad at all, very impressive.

-all short holes, never used more than a midrange on the whole course.
-parking lot behind #9 and next to #10 can be a bit nerve racking.

Fun course, i bet the difficulty level is MUCH tougher once the leaves come on the trees and a few of the lines get tighter. So for easier play, do it in spring. I bet the fall is tough with all the leaves off the trees.
I really enjoyed the course (not so much my playing though). It is a nice match to some of the longer courses in Bowling Green.
Slow turnovers (rhbh) are a HUGE asset to have in your arsenal for Hobson Grove.
My favorite hole was #4. Downhill slow turnover. I nearly aced it in practice, and failed miserably in my 2 tourney rounds, haha.

Tee Signs-Good
Course Flow-Alright
This course is fun with some good scenery. Most of the holes are reachable with mid-range or putter. A putter is a very smart choice on this course. Lots of different options for routes as you play through the course. Hole 2 is a lot of fun

Tee Pads in need of repair. I noticed some baskets not being used down by 13 and 14 I guess they could be used someone kind of a waste. Some fairways are poke and hope holes which do not reward golf shots.

Course is good course to be hot at then it would be easy to shoot 6-7 down. Hole 2 is sweet its not my shot but a forehand roller i think would be the shot to get to second level on that hole to get easy 3

- Interesting design with lots of elevation changes and tight fairways.
- Good mix of RH and LH holes, and is one of the more LH-friendly courses I've played
- Lots of large, mostly-buried rock formations add some interesting obstacles and can give you some big skips.
- Definitely the kind of course you want to play multiple times once you learn the proper lines, and its short, compact design makes that easy. Can be addicting because you know a really low score is out there regardless of how far you can throw it.

- Tee pads are really inconsistent. Some are way too small, some are cracking, and they are probably quite slippery once they get wet.
- Baskets showing some age.
- The lines on a few holes are really hard to see and a couple are non-existent. Just because it's a really short hole doesn't mean it should have no gaps.

Fun little course next to a ball golf course. While some reviewers have mentioned #2 as being out of place (a double-dogleg true par 4 surrounded by a lot of short holes), I thought it was a great hole. 13 is also significantly more challenging then the rest of the course, and that one takes a few rounds to figure out.

While there was no wind to speak of while we were playing, the locals said that was not typical for the time of year. And, since there is a fair amount of OB I can see that adverse conditions would really make a difference.

Navigation wasn't too bad, but a map would certainly be helpful in a couple of spots.

Quite hilly, so if wet I'm sure this course wouldn't be nearly as enjoyable to play.

Hobson Grove is incredibly technical. It has a nice par 4 2nd hole, and overall forced you to throw accurate shots. Much of the time those accurate shots are needed to avoid bogey - hit your shot or you're scrambling. The stretch of techie holes from 11-15 is a lot of fun, and the best challenge on the course outside of hole 2. Overall a nice variety of shots come into play.

The course teases you - hole 2 is a great par 4 hole. But you don't see any more par 4's on the course. I understand that this is meant to be a shorter more technical course, but hole 2 proves you can have par 4's without catering to big arms... and then the course doesn't build on it. It's a minor quibble, the course does what it is meant to do and does it well - but I would have liked a few more holes that required you to set yourself up for a second shot to the pin.

Overall it was another BG course that I enjoyed - maybe slightly less than some of the others. The only time through for me was a doubles round, but I did pull off a hole in one on hole one. I enjoyed my small amount of time on one of the classic Bowling Green, Kentucky courses.

This course is quite an enjoyable course set on the historic Hobson House property. It is fairly scenic and if you like wooded holes then you'll defiantly enjoy the atmosphere. It plays through a mixture of somewhat open holes along with predominantly wooded holes and should be appreciated by players of all skill levels. The holes may be comparably short but with the variety of shots required you'll hardly notice, that is unless you love to really "air it out" a lot. There is a fair mix of left and right shots with maybe a slight lean favoring right hand, back hand shots. Those are the holes where accurate hyzers along with skill and placement are really needed to score low. That is not to say anhyzers are not needed because they are. You will find several out here. There are also some fairly tight holes where a little luck will be embraced too. But over all it really is a good mix. Some slight elevation changes will also add to the assortment of hole types as well.

Concrete tee pads, signs, and a few benches here and there add to the attractiveness of the course in general. The tee pad for fifteen was really nice. It is "Y" shaped and and points you towards two very distinct lines to the basket. Parking is also convenient and quite accessible from holes 1, 9/10, and 18. The baskets are also in good enough shape to serve their purpose well enough. Over all this is a solid course and the fun factor is high enough for everyone to have a great time.

Heavy shule if you find yourself outside the fairways and older pads are the biggest cons. Clean/convenient bathrooms would have been nice. There are trashcans, five gallon buckets, and other trash receptacles around but I noticed people were still hiding trash in the woods. Hollow tree stumps seemed to be the favorite. It sort of takes away from the overall "vibe" of the course.

There is a half dozen or so pallets of bricks stacked up against the old shed to the right of seventeens tee pad. While it is a unique obstacle and effects your shot, I don't like artificial obstacles at all. I understand from a local they have been there for a while now. Surprisingly, they didn't even get moved for the Am Championship.

I had a great time out here at the Hobson House. This clean and safe course should be enjoyed by all. If you are in the Bowling Green area then I highly recommend you give this one a shot. I don't think you'll be disappointed. Enjoy!

Hobson Grove is one of the more scenic and visually appealing courses in the Bowling Green area designed mainly for accuracy and control, and built around a magnificent historic centerpiece. The technical layout will provide ample challenge for any skill level.

General Course Info:
Hole Avg: 263ft
Length Variation: >200(2), 200-299(13),300-399(2), <400(1)
Elevation: Mostly Flat w/Minimal Elevations

Course Essentials:
-Baskets: MachIII, single position. Baskets in good shape.
-Tee Pads: Small (but adequate) concrete tee pads, single position.
-Tee Signs: Nice, new tee signs on all holes, recently updated.

Course Design & Layout:
Hobson Grove is built in/around the thick woods surrounding the Hobson House, a late 1800's home tied to the history of the civil war. The course is comprised of 2 9-hole loops (each returning to the parking area) which provide a smooth and uninterupted flow that is easy to navigate.

The hole average is just under 265ft/hole, but what the course lacks in length is easily compensated for with the tight (but fair), technical and semi-technical fairways. One of the greatest features of Hobson Grove is the creative combined use of open spaces and tree lines to create holes which force a player to have both distance control and line control off the box. By this I mean that several holes have tee boxes in the open that throw to baskets tucked into the woods with tight gaps to navigate, and vice versa, tee boxes that throw from the woods through a narrow tunnel and tight gap to baskets in the open.

Elevation changes are minimal throught the course, but used effectively in the design. There is good variety in the layout mixing it up between technical and semi-technical holes of varying length. Pin placements are strategic, but accessible. Many of the pins are located in/around tree clusters which provide adequate protection for the baskets, and even a well-placed drive can sometimes leave you in a situation that requires some creativity with the putter to get the deuce.

Maintenance & Amenities:
-Course is well-maintained year round.
-Benches and trash receptacles are located around the course.
-Large wooden sign w/course map near first tee.
-Parking lot with easy access to holes 1,9,10, and 18.

-Some tee pads worn, cracked, and uneven.
-Thick foliage outside some fairways in the summer months.
-Lower elevation areas have a tendency to retain water.

Hobson Grove is one of the top courses in the Bowling Green area. New players may find the narrow fairways a bit frustrating, and more experienced players will have to rely on control and creative shot-making to score low here, length offers no advantage. Overall, a fun course with a great layout. The more I play this course, the more I appreciate it's design and challenge. Hobson Grove is a classic, must play course in the Bowling Green region.

Hobson offers a good variety of shots and is set on a very attractive property.

The signs are poor but the course is still navigable. Some of the schule is a bit thick.

This is a fun course to play as a warm up for the neighboring Riverview course.

Extremely challenging course that will make you cry "Uncle" if you don't keep your shots straight. Very scenic park with many of the holes winding through heavily wooded areas. Good use of the available land and good variety of holes that dogleg in either direction. This is a "thinking mans" course where weenie arms can showcase their control game.

Many of the t-pads are short and uneven. Can feel monotonous durring the mid stretch where you are constantly fighting to get out of the woods with no break.

Not the best course in BG but worth playing if you really like a challenge.
It looks like they are planning on putting new T-signs in but as of yet there are only new, empty frames.
There are an additional 9 holes with available cart rental built into the adjacent ball golf course for a fee.

Nice course with some sweet elevation changes. You can shoot under here just as easly as shooting over. Roads come into play on more than one hole

Lack of tee signs is the main cause to the lower rating on this course easily a 4 if they put in some nice signage.

They added some distance to a couple of holes the last time I played it, making it a little more tougher.