Pros:
About 30 minutes south of Birmingham and just a few minutes off Interstate 65, a new nine-holer in Joe Tucker Park packs a good amount of variety into its pleasing layout.
First, Joe Tucker gets the basics right. There's a practice basket near the parking lot. There's a nice map at the start of the course. Each hole has an adequate concrete teepad and is marked with a colorful map with the par, distance and a large numeral indicating the hole number. The baskets are Mach VII and seem to catch well.
The course starts off with a few short, flat and more open holes before upping the challenge with more wooded, specific gaps and adding some distance. In just nine holes, the course squeezes in a few ace runs, an open valley bomber throw, an uphill test and a heavily wooded line or two, before concluding with a downhill risk-versus-reward toss.
Traversability is quite good. The course is pleasant to walk and most of the holes are mostly grassy. Most of the holes are at least partially shaded. Playing a solo round in 20 minutes is definitely doable.
There's a pond closer to the park entrance, but it doesn't come into play. While not having water on a course might be viewed as a con, in this instance, I appreciate that it wasn't forced into this layout.
Cons:
A few of the teepad areas aren't perfect. The teepad for Hole #4 is slanted uphill, which makes the run-up a little awkward. The teepads for a couple holes are located a few feet from a large chain-link fence providing separation from the tennis courts.
There's a gravel walking path/road that meanders around this back part of the park, and nearly every hole plays over or near the walkway.
There are a few off-the-fairway areas that are heavier brush and/or poison ivy laden.
The transition from Hole #4 to Hole #5 isn't exactly intuitive as you have to walk out of a heavier wooded area to spot the next teepad.
Other Thoughts:
The sign lists Hole #7 (375 feet) as a par 4, which fits for the intended audience and overall difficulty of the course. However, since Hole #7 is fairly open and mostly downhill, I would argue that it's a par 3 for the non-novice crowd. In fact, Hole #8 is only 300 feet, but it probably plays tougher than Hole #7 considering its narrower line and the punitive trees that can ping your disc into the brush.
The disc golf course is part of an overall facelift for Joe Tucker Park. Thanks to recent renovations, the park is receiving a repaved road and much-needed cleanup, according to city officials.