A basic short, technical course.

-Amenities: Small concrete tees (sufficient for the course), large signs with maps, distance, number, and amateur-level pars. Multiple pin placements on a number of holes.

-Rec-Friendly: Primarily because of distance, this course is suited to recreational players. It lends itself to smaller arms, and would be a good teacher of basic scrambling.

-Shot Shaping/Gameplay: A nice collection of <200' tunnel shots with a few other holes thrown in as well. Holes 1, 11-12, and 15-18 are the open ones, which are a little longer, topping out close to 400', though pretty boring in terms of shaping. The rest of the course plays through thick woods with clearly defined fairways. As noted, tunnel shots are the most common, but there are also some turns included. It's decent, but no single hole is particularly noteworthy.

-"Friendly": The course won't swallow discs, it's nicely maintained, and it's easy to get around.

-Lines: Some lines are unreasonable - principally some doglegs that are too tight or square for normal disc throws.

-Out-of-Date Signs: These make navigation annoying. The alternate pin placements, throughout the course, aren't reflected on the signs. There can be a bit of guesswork involved with both direction and especially distance.

-Safety: Some issues with other park features, especially earlier on the course. The path is in striking distance on several holes, and pavilions are also a factor at times.

-Scope: There isn't much out here to impress a traveled player or challenged a seasoned thrower. It's an introductory kind of course, not a mature challenge.

HV Griffin is okay. If you enjoy woods ace runs, this will be the place to go. If you enjoy strategic, fully-committed golf, this won't hold any appeal. A signage update is also badly needed. Overall, it's pretty Typical, but nowhere to go out of the way for.

H V Griffin is a multi use park that also features an 18 hole disc golf course , The road to the disc golf course is tricky and can cause a non local to miss it on the first try . There is plenty of parking available . There is even a glass and wood book case , I guess to borrow books out of . Bathrooms are near the tee at #7.There is a nice shelter sitting between the #18 and the #6 basket .
The Equipment : There is a nice kiosk with a map across the road near hole #1 . The tee pads are more of the smaller size , but they are cement . The baskets are Mach 5's , typical of park courses , but seem to catch well . The course signs are pretty descriptive course signs , with hole # , par , length and flight path .
The Landscape : The course has some woods holes early , then opens up . The terrain rolls some and features a couple of good uphill drives . There is no water present , but there are some good rock formations in both the woods and also holes 13-15 . The course grounds were mowed and trees trimmed . A couple of the holes are a close proximity to the ball fields , maybe 11 , 12 , 16 . I played during a men's softball tournament and some teams were sitting in camping chairs close to the holes with their families while waiting to play .
The Highlights : #1 starts you off with a 323' slight uphill drive , then everything for the next 8 holes is in the woods and short . Somewhat tight but fair lines force you to bend your putter or midrange around different tree setups in the fairways and down by the baskets . #6 is a 277' gully shot to the basket perched on a hill . #7 has a double mando in the woods with a downhill drive off the tee . The fairway is eaten up by random trees midway through and your disc is on it's own from then on . Pinball , Anyone ? Not my favorite type of play . #9 is going to be a semi clean ace shot . It is a gully drive that plays shorter than it's 164' posted length . #14 is more of a picturesque short throw in the rock formations . You can really air out your arm the last 2 holes . 17 is a flat 385' open drive , and 18 is only posted as 366' but is up a hill to a sinking basket flanked by a tree . It plays more like 425'+ .
My signature hole was #13 . It is an uphill drive to the rock formations , with the basket flanks by some mature trees . It is also a postcard hole ( nice to look at and beyond ) .
Disc Risk . The woods is clean and there is no real rough to speak of . I don't know if they keep the gates locked at the fields when they are not in use , but you may have trouble getting your disc back from a terrible drive on hole #16 . The trees here are not the type that will swallow your disc . Disc risk is minimal .
Time : It took me less than an hour to play here . But I was lucky . There were several people playing on Saturday evening when I was here , so the course might fill up on peak times by the locals . A group of 4 will get out of here in less than 2 hours .
The locals are nice and the course is popular . The fun factor is pretty high .

#1 : Navigation : not bad , but some long walks , like 12-13 and 16-17 ,around the ball fields . Print the Map so you don't wander . A couple of Next Tee signs would help .
#2 Lack of challenge/repetitive : This course is short and will be a deuce or ace fest for locals on up . I think you could take out 4 or 5 discs in your bag and just play with them for this course .
#3 safety : You will encounter park users during your round that have no idea what disc golf is . Be courteous , Your score doesn't lower if you hit one .
#4 The elements .: This course could be a mess if you play it after a good rain . Use common sense and at least wear waterproof boots .The rocks might be a little slick , too .

This is the kind of course that a newbie could be introduced to the game , and keep playing it . It's just a comfortable , fast round in a park with a nice setting . Even though the course lacks a lot of variety , it makes up for it in fun . I mean , who doesn't like woodsy ace runs and deuces ?! If I lived locally , I might hang out and work on my weaknesses here . Even Safari a few holes to bring up the challenge .

My Recommendation : Great for families , especially Dad and son or daughter slipping away for a round while older child is at ball practice . Perfect for Newbies and to introduce the game to the curious . Short enough to be good for dates , and really fun for the locals to go Ace hunting . Intermediates may want to play here to reminisce about what disc golf was like over 30 years ago . Pros and Ams might think it is waste of time because of the lack of challenge . Too far away for the typical traveler from the interstate , but still good for the Course Collector that wants to bag part of or all of the " Circle Of Six " , between I-24 and I -65 ( Henry Horton , Lewisburg , Don Davidson , City Park , Sunrise Rotary and H V Griffin ) My disc golf life is fulfilled . I have now completed The Circle ( lol ) . Not a course to go out of your way for , but if in Shelbyville , it's fast and worthwhile . Give It A Try .

(2.695 Rating) (REVISED - replayed May 2022) A pretty city park course that's beginner friendly.
- FUN FACTOR - HV Griffen has a real nice easy going feel to it. Generally short overall, but there are a couple par 4s at the end that will require players to dust-off the cannon. It would be extremely hard to lose a disc here and searching in overgrowth is rarely going to occur, if at all. The course has several fun and highly aceable technical holes. Players are probably 2 to 3 times more likely to ace here, than at a normal course. I'm sure the locals are racking them up.
- AMENITIES AND EXTRAS - Nice new tee signs and an adequate course map near tee (1). New practice basket and there are now some alternate placements on several holes. The tees are adequate for this short course being 4 feet by 10 feet. There's a shelter with picnic tables and a restroom building between (6) and (7). This shelter is also not too far from (18) as well, about 350 feet away. Missing items are benches and multi tees. The baskets I believe are Mach Vs, so satisfactory in that department.
- RAW BEAUTY - I pulled out my camera a couple times to snap pictures. Several holes have field stones and bedrock protruding the ground plane which adds a different touch over the typical dirt and grass fairways. Hole (13) was my favorite hole being a 10 foot up shot over some rocks and having the basket framed by some cedars. I thought (9) and (10) were both eye-catching valley shots as well.
- BEGINNER FRIENDLY - Not an ideal Beginner's course due to the heavily wooded nature of several holes, but Beginners should enjoy it regardless due to the short length and lack of punishing overgrowth. The fairway widths are fair and should challenge newer Rec and Novice level players. Intermediate and Advanced players will not be challenged at all, see cons.
- NAVIGATION - I don't find any major issues as a quick photo of the course map clears them all up in most instances. There are a couple directional cues along the course layout as well. The one tricky spot is probably the transition from (16 to 17) which is a 600-foot gap in play.
- QUICK PLAY - I've done a solo single round here twice now in under 45 minutes. Groups of 4 would probably finish in under an hour and 30 minutes.
- MAINTENANCE - The grounds appear to be mowed weekly. The park has been very clean and has several garbage cans along the layout. I haven't noticed any areas that had significant overgrowth in play.
- HOLE VARIETY - Respectable play variety, but well short of destination gem level. Several appealing cedar tunnel shots. A few of the new placements add some significant new twists and turns. Elevation change is mild. A couple 15-foot valley dips and (18) has about 20-feet of rolling elevation grade changes. No water in play unless there has been a deluge. A few shots are rather dull such as (11, 12 and 16). Overall, I scored this aspect 56 percentile.

Other than the simplistic nature of the course, this one is solid.
- LACK OF CHALLENGE - Upper Novice level challenges. Recreational players should have no problem being under course par. Intermediate and Advanced players should routinely be 8 down or more. There are a few challenging technical lines, but most of these are short enough that a miss will still be an easy clean-up par save for veteran players.
- TERRAIN - Lots of rocks. I recommend some sturdy footwear. There will be some cart difficulty in spots. Zukas should work fine.
- HOLE 7 PLACEMENT A - Hole (7) has two placements now thankfully. Placement A is still a terrible poke and hope to the right with a dozen 2-foot-wide lanes to the basket. Sadly, I didn't get to play the more reasonable new spot on my re-play.

Players rated between 750 and 900 are really going to enjoy it here. This is a really fun, feel-good course and it got me smiling again after throwing the new church course down the road. There will be some higher skilled players that like it too, but for me, my putter came out for the tee shot way too many times for me to fall madly in love. For those traveling through Shelbyville, this is the better choice to pick by far of the two courses now in town. Worth a look see for those that live within a 45-minute drive. For those that live in Nooga, Nashville and Huntsville, I don't think its worth a special trip unless they are a course bagger like me.

Typical setup for a disc golf course in a multi use park. Well thought out though for the amount of land they had to work with here. Short holes with many medium trees to contend with.

Multi use park so there are (hazards) people everywhere which is fine considering the main use for the park is a walking trail. Too short for any one not a Beginner but has a decent short game course

Not a destination course but more like a get out and stretch your legs course while travelling.

This course was quick and fun to play as a newbie. I tossed 2 birdies today. Best game I have played to date. Final 1 over par. Good course for beginners. A decent mix of open baskets and semi-technical baskets. The signs were very helpful and accurate.

Very, very crowded. Basket 1- soccer practice, Basket 11- cheerleading practice, Basket 17 and 18- football practice. People everywhere. So much room yet they practice in the fairways and use the baskets as water cooler holders. Play at the wrong time and you will have to pass up a few baskets.

Overall it was a fun place to play. I will play there again. I would not want to have driven a long way to play this course and find 4 baskets unplayable. Timing is everything on this course.

its a nice little course with a slight difficulty rating because of the trees. the concrete pads are nice. the entire course is new so all of the signs and baskets are in great shape.

at times there can be tons of people just around at the pavilions and a lot of them dont speak english..... and they have a megaphone...... kinda distracted me. this course is fairly short so dont expect to spend a lot of time here. a couple of holes cross heavily populated areas. you might have to skip a few holes. there is a lot of cedar trees... dont throw your disc high it will be lost forever.

a nice course... a little loud at times worth a short trip but if you are more than half an hour away you might not want to go.

As of 4/4/09 this course now has signs up at each tee. Each sign tells you the distance from tee to basket and the direction of the next tee. Signs look very nice and some work has been put into them. Hope they stay in good shape

Not a good course for pros as most of the shots are short for the exception of the 1st tee and #17.
The first tee and the basket are also separated by a soccer field which means if it is in use you'll probably have to skip it and go to tee#2 to start also beware this is in a park and you'll have to watch for people walking in the woods who are totally unaware of you or see you but have no idea why your standing there on a concrete pad holding a "frisbee".

I think this is a great course for beginners and maybe for those whose game is improving.
Wooded area is a challenge for all!

This is a great beginner course with a little challenge peppered all around. Don't let the short distances fool you. Although ace opportunities are abundant, there are also plenty of trees and they can make you work for birdies if you are not careful. The atmosphere is really nice and the trees and rocky areas are a great place for a somewhat scenic round. While there are not many drastic elevation changes there is a good mix of slight doglegs left and right. I found myself taking some time to plan a good route. Sometimes I chose a riskier path and paid big with a couple extra throws. Other times it paid off with a nice reward. There are some good placements of baskets with nice looks but some are tucked in some tormenting locations adding to the challenge. There are a few open holes mixed in as well for a break from the trees. There are a few longer holes mixed in, most notably number 17 and 18. Overall this is a fun little course that you can breeze through in an hour or so.

Concrete tee pads are always a nice feature and these have hole numbers painted on them. The course is easy to follow even without any signs and flowed quite well. The baskets seemed basically brand new and had no damage. The practice basket near hole number one also gives you a chance to warm up.

This is a great course to bring the family along, especially if you have younger children. I think the shorter holes help build the confidence of a younger or new player nicely. I like the fact that there are courses here and there designed with families in mind but still offer a degree of difficulty to pacify an experienced player as well. This course seemed to do both quite well.

There is a lack of amenities including but not limited to signs, onsite info kiosk, trash cans, and benches.

Most if not all pro players, namely those that prefer a long course, will probably be disappointed with the shorter holes. This is especially true because as noted by some previous reviewers, a few of the holes could have been designed with a little more distance. Nevertheless, the course serves its purpose well.

Barfield Crescent DGC is 20 minutes down the road and right off of I-24. It's worth a stop to play both if you are in the area.

I played this course after a few days of steady rain. There was lots of running and standing water all around. A local that I played with told me that the creek beds are normally dry. There was heavily flowing water while I was there. I say all that to say that if you are in the area after heavy rain then this is a totally different course. With the water hazards in play it added positively to some of the holes. They were not without an annoyance on others though. The water was too deep and wide to cross at most points with no bridges close enough to make it convenient to cross. This is compounded by the fact that the fairways cross back and forth the water quite often.