- Good tee pads (16 are concrete and 2 are outdoor carpet)
- Nice layout of course for the varying terrain
- Good distances for beginner/intermediate players
- Technically challenging for even the advanced players
- In the country away from the bustle of city life
- Signs showing the hole layout on each tee pad are in great shape
- Friendly folks work there and enjoy having players come enjoy the course outside their summer camp season or when groups are not present

- Tree limbs blocking many of the baskets, but not all of them
- Tree limbs blocking many of the fairways which is causing fairways to become even more narrow and challenging for the beginner/intermediate players (which this course was built for in the first place I might add)
- Grass/undergrowth at least knee high, if not higher, as soon as you get off the small foot path on most holes
- Must wear long socks and/or pants unless you want to take a chance at getting chiggers from the tall grass
- Even the large open grassy areas on the following holes 1/5/6/7/8/12/15/17 seem to only get mowed once a month if not less than that. It doesn't mean these holes are unplayable, but you need to wear long socks at the least to avoid chiggers on these holes as well
- Baskets and tee pads need cleaned up but are usable
- Several of the concrete tee pads are either broken on the edge/corner or getting ready to break unless the washed out ground is replaced before the concrete breaks
- closed on Saturdays which is their Sabbath day of rest and during their summer camp season (June-July) or when groups are present (pretty much every weekend from April through November (unless groups cancel)
- Signs pointing to the next tee pad are missing on most holes
- Horses have been ridden on some of the holes so be ever watchful for the horse poop since the piles are rarely picked up

I felt like I needed to jump in to this review dialog between discsarefun and Shadrach3. Both of these players seem very passionate about this great sport and there is no ill intent on either part that I can see. Both players have some great points and neither one are wrong in their assessment of the course. I cannot say that I have played this course more than anyone but I have played this course since it was built. My father-in-law and brother-in-law are the ones who basically built this entire course. The sad part is that my father-in-law won't even come play the course anymore because of the lack of maintenance on the course. It would not take much for this course to be great again but the current management does not take the time to actually maintain this course properly. It really hasn't had the attention it deserves in about 2 years since my son went out and trimmed up the course. I have spoken with the management at the camp and have agreed to give them some of my time to help get the course back to the way it used to be. I am hoping this can happen before the last weekend groups are done for the season so the course can be ready for all of us to use during the camps offseason. This will only be a band-aid fix though as the course will need constant attention going forward or it will get back to its present state again.

It would be great to get tournaments out here again but given the current state of the course, that might be a while yet. But, who knows, things might change faster than expected.

I will provide an update to this review once the course has been properly "manicured". Until then, come enjoy the course if it is available because it is a technical challenge!

02/10/2022 Update...the course has had most of the trees trimmed that were obstructing fairways and baskets. Since most of the course is on Army Corps property, no trees could be cut down. For now, the course is fairly decent. I will go through one more time and play the course to see if there is any additional trimming needed but I would now rank it higher than I did before. However, there are new zip lines going in through holes 17 & 18. These 2 holes are currently playable but when construction begins, both these holes will most likely be closed throughout the construction period. So, call ahead and come enjoy the course!!

A truly beautiful track of land with a pleasing combination of technical holes.

-Amenities: A private camp course in the thick woods definitely had me worried that I wouldn't be able to get through, but those were unnecessary fears. Concrete tees except for a couple of turf pads, good signage with maps and pin position indicators, good baskets, next tee signage, course kiosk with map. This is a fully-stocked course. Contrary to the previous review, all the signs are present (unless they fell in the 8 days between our playthroughs), and next tee signs generally make it pretty clear where to go.

-Natural Beauty: Up there with some of my top courses. Other than the first and last two, which play around camp infrastructure, all the other holes go through beautiful woods or green fields, with the lake visible from (5)-(9) as well.

-Challenge: This is no walk in the park. It may not be a championship course, but it requires accuracy, creativity, and intelligent gameplay. You'll really need to know how your discs can fly and try some shots that are unnecessary at most courses--very specific curves that are entirely fair but not novice-level. I would call it advanced level. There are also a lot of mid- to upper-300' holes in the woods, so ripping confidently is important.

-Shot Shaping/Gameplay: As alluded to, a really nice technical challenge. Many tweener holes are long par-3s or short par-4s. The woods range from very heavy to pretty open, and the pattern alternates for a bit of relief. Moderate elevation in much of the course. There are some terrifyingly tight putter shots, but also some chances to throw a line drive down the woods, or just rip a driver on (6). A bonus is the par-5 hole (15), a 60-feet wide meadow that goes way down and way up to a pocket green. It's a predominantly technical treat.

-Flow: There is a sizable gap between (2)-(3) and (16)-(17), but otherwise the navigation is really easy.

So close to being amazing.

-Tightness: Some holes are just a bit too tight. There are lines everywhere, but at times they get very, very thin. A few trees here and there should be taken down. It's not bad, all things considered.

-Overgrowth: The course is reasonably well-maintained for a heavy woods course on private property, but off the fairways things can get somewhat dicey. It's by no means the worst I've seen, but you could get scratched up.

-Variety: Just lacking the variety to be an Excellent course. It's mostly par-3s, and while those vary over a lot of length, there aren't a lot of real multi-shot holes. It's a bit befuddling, as I think there is a lot more space available, so I'm not sure why the designer didn't extend some holes to give extra variety.

-Access: A private course. I had to make several calls to the number listed before I got an answer, although at that point it was easy to set up a time for me to visit (no guide needed). It will be unavailable most weekends and throughout the entire summer due to youth camps.

After seeing the previous review, I felt the need to review this course out of order to provide more perspective. I understand the complaints about overgrowth and such, but they are far overstated. I had no trouble getting through the fairways, finding lines, and transitioning between holes, and I only consulted a course map twice. Baskets and tees could use some cleaning but are entirely usable and findable. The tee signs are in good shape (the only complaint mentioned that was entirely inaccurate). The conditions mean that it's not a good beginner course, but seasoned players with long pants shouldn't have issues - I would hate for a traveling player to skip on a chance to play this lovely track.

In summary, Indian Creek Camp is at the top end of my Very Good courses. It's beautiful and challenging, a mostly-satisfying technical track with just a few issues of line and variety. I heartily recommend visiting if you can set up a time to do so.

The layout of the course is great. There is an overall spread of easy to hard holes. It is a very technical course set out away from the typical busy city courses. Concrete tee pads are on most of the holes with only two left that have an outdoor carpet tee pad. Innova Discatcher baskets are still on every hole. It is still a private course so it is not very busy.

Most of the holes have not been maintained. Most of the signs showing where the next tee is located have fallen down so unless you know the course, it can be challenging to find the next tee box. There are signs at every tee showing the hole layout which is helpful. The tee pads are becoming overgrown and covered with dirt and moss with some of them beginning to break due to lack of maintenance. The baskets are also becoming hard to see because mold is growing over the yellow on the basket making most of them hard to see. Fairways are not very open anymore due to no upkeep being done on them. Tree limbs are encroaching on the fairways and some baskets. Grass/weeds are growing about knee level off the main pathway. So, unless you can throw so your disc lands on the pathway, you will be in tall grass/weeds. You must call for permission to play and it is not available on Saturdays or when groups are at the camp. It is also not available when summer camp is going on beginning the end of May/beginning of June through the end of July/beginning of August. They have allowed horses to be ridden on the course without picking up the manure which makes it not only stink, but the stuff might also get on your disc...very nasty!

I understand there have been tournaments held here in the past but there has been a change in management at the camp in the past couple years and the new management does not maintain the course much. I would not recommend this course to anyone to play a tournament at given the current state. It is playable, however, I would recommend wearing pants because chiggers and poison ivy are all over the place. If the course is at least mowed and a weed eater is used to clear the grass/weeds, shorts might be able to be worn. Ticks are also quite rampant this year so bug spray would also be highly recommended. We can hope that course maintenance will occur over the next couple months so it can be playable again after their summer camp season is over. I have raised my rating just a little bit because some more maintenance has been done. With just a little bit more maintenance, this could be a great course again. I guess we will see if the new management will start taking care of the course the way it used to be.

September 12, 2021 - After seeing the last review basically slamming my review I feel the need to set this straight. These reviews are meant not only for players to see but also the course managers to see. I have played this course probably double the amount of times as this last reviewer. This course was built for the beginning to intermediate player but with a challenging aspect to make it intriguing for the more advanced players. Obviously, this last reviewer likes playing on courses that have tree limbs blocking approaches to the basket and fairways being blocked by other tree limbs. I would suggest talking to the people who put the course in, which I have on numerous occasions, and see what they think of it now. To state it nicely, they won't even come out and play the course now because of how unkept it is!!! There is someone I spoke with who is going to put some time cleaning up the course and once this happens, I will provide another update!

The good.

* 18 brand new Innova Discatcher baskets

* Perfectly level teepads on all 18 holes(some are already concreted, but most are still just crush and run gravel boxes)

* Excellent signage with accurate footages and markings provided for multiple pin placements

* Amazing views of Dale Hollow Lake and TN hollers can be seen all throughout the course

* Tough course that will challenge and frustrate even elite golfers(To me this is a Pro).

The bad.

* Several holes are located on Army Corps of Engineer's land and absolutely no trees whatsoever have been cut. This unfortunately means that on these few holes there are no true fairways, rather a series of 5' gaps for you to spray and pray your way through.

* Some of the walks in between holes were a bit long and you wonder why you are walking past prime disc golf real estate just to get to the next hole.

* With this being a church camp, the course will not be available to the public and rounds can be scheduled by appointment only.

We met up with the course designer Herb and his son to enjoy an afternoon round at Indian Creek Camp. They were incredibly friendly folks that have only been playing for a few years but you can tell right away that they've been bitten by the discgolf bug something fierce. I've played several little church courses before but I was not at all prepared for what awaited us. This little unknown gem rivals some of Charlotte NC's finest in difficulty and I was having flashbacks of Nevin nightmares by about 5 holes in. The course they have created on their property is incredibly challenging and definitely not a beginner friendly course. 3 of the current holes are completely unfair 300' shots through a forest that has not had a single tree cleared(though he told us that they had been allowed to remove underbrush).

Overall I'd give this course in it's current state a 3.5. There is 4 - 4.5 potential here, but some of the current holes would need to be redesigned to allow more fair lines. In my opinion, Herb has a good grasp on what it takes to make a tough disc golf course, he just needs to go ahead and pull the holes on Corps land out of the ground and redesign a few more on his own property where he has total control. The amount of land he already has at his disposal is immense and I'm not really sure why he used the hillsides that didn't belong to their church.

Call ahead and schedule yourself a round at Indian Creek Camp. It isn't technically a pay to play course, but remember they are running a ministry,so be sure to give as you feel led to do so. I promise you that the signature holes here are well worth your time. The par 5 660' as the crow flys with a 400' carry down a hill that has a creek running right through the fairway, then another 250' back up the other side to a basket tucked in left was my personal favorite, but that is only one of many challenges Herb has dreamed up for you to enjoy.