New Monkey Trap baskets, a brand I haven't seen elsewhere, but which has treated me well enough for me to wonder why. The chain assembly is Mach V-style, and the basket is slightly bowl-shaped, but not enough to give the infamous Florence scoop. Tee signs give a good overview of the hole, and black plastic on the bottom of each basket points to the next tee. Tees are carpet, but set over plenty of gravel to keep them off the ground.

Plenty of technical challenge: doglegs left and right; of the latter, some favor turnover backhands, while others set up best for forehand hyzers. There are also several "what" fairway shapes - holes 2 and 6 save their widest gaps for backhand and forehand forced flex shots, respectively.

Plenty of elevation in play, with downhill and uphill shots: for example, hole 12 is a sharp uphill dogleg marked as a par 4 (but with the eagle somewhat possible on a strong drive that makes the corner), 13 is a tight putter right back downhill, etc.

All this brings me to hole 16, which in my opinion is the best (and statistically the meanest) hole on the course: a 492' backwards 3 shape, with the first 270' or so climbing a steep hillside and bending right before the intended landing zone atop the hill, at which point the rest is a downhill dogleg (also right, but with the two not continuing as one big curve - think backwards 3) to the pin. A mistake on the drive makes birdie unreachable and par unlikely, and careless, sloppy, or overly aggressive play will rack up huge scores on this par 4.

Of course, a bit of variety is needed, and to that end, 1, 10, 11, and 18 are more open (ish) park golf type holes; of these, all but 11 are downhill lines long enough to pose some challenge, but reachable enough to present a fun opportunity to just go for it.

All in all, Joe Wheeler serves up a wide array of technical challenges, and really separates those with control from those without. I consider it the best course in the Shoals, although comparing it to McFarland is like comparing apples and oranges. They complement each other well.

Roads run through fairways 1 and 18, and 11 can but needn't be played wide over the road (heck, the road kinda adds dimension to that one - opens possibility of a big skip shot). That said, traffic is minimal. A couple holes run alongside or over hiking trails, on which traffic is not infrequent.

It is kinda sad to walk away from the lake realizing it was never really in play, though a steep drop to the shore in the parts of the park in play makes this somewhat understandable.

Compared to regionally top-ranked woods courses like Inverness, Wheeler does lack the same challenge and the same length (comparing to the long tees), but for rec or intermediate players, par is a pretty solid challenge to slide under.

Rough is pretty rough. Would not recommend golfing this one in sandals, especially since it's somewhat more physical than most with all the hills.

Gets a bit dewy in the mornings, but not as bad as say McFarland.