This is a good course for the folks with big arms. Lots of long open bomber shots that reward distance. Even the wooded holes have some length to them while remaining tight.

The baskets are Innova Discatchers. These are all in good shape and catch great. One basket and pin placement per hole.

The design is pretty solid here. They do a great job of splitting it pretty evenly between wooded and open holes and maintaining the distance they were aiming for. The space available for the course is all tucked along the river in the south and west sides of the park. Very simple flow throughout and good signage for the couple longer transitions. You'll be able to navigate this one fairly easily. There's some staked off areas of OB which adds to the challenge and punishes errant shots.

Nice large concrete tee pads on every these. These are great, especially for the longer lengths of the holes here. All are level and grippy. Perfect. One tee pad per hole.

Solid tee signs. Basic hole map with next tee arrow and any applicable OB. There's also the hole #, par and distance.

This course isn't going to appeal to most players due to it's length. It's a pretty grueling round if you don't throw far and there's only a couple benches on the whole course. Just know this going in.

The rough was down during our round in mid April but that prairie grass lining the fairways on the first several holes looks like it'll be a nightmare in the summer. These are my least favorite types of holes so I'm glad I didn't have to experience that.

The rough off the fairways on some of the wooded holes isn't much better. Thick, thick, thick. Basically you don't want to end up off the fairway anywhere on this course.

No short tees and only one pin placement. Even if the short were only natural it'd still appeal to a wider range of players.

The fairways on the open holes were kind of lumpy and rutted in spots. Between that and the length of the fairway grass it makes it really difficult trying to do any kind of run up.

This course does a lot of thing right but there's just enough annoying aspects that it's hard to give this one too high of a rating. It's definitely worth a visit if you're nearby. Moreso if you can throw 400' plus. For mere mortals it's going to be tough. Fun, but tough and probably frustrating. There's not too many other options in the general vicinity though, so it's definitely nice to have something here. Worth a visit at least once.

Red Orchard Park is a well kept multi use park not far off I-65 in Shelbyville . There is limited parking near hole 1 , which is behind a small playground . You pass the nice restrooms closer to the front of the park , about 400 meters from the start of Ryan's Course .
The Equipment - The Equipment is first rate . A nice kiosk with map greets you as you pass the playground . A practice basket is tightly placed just beyond the #1 tee pad . The tee pads are the largest around , about 4 1/2 X 10' . You will need the whole tee pad for this course . The signage is top notch , giving hole# at the top of the sign enabling you to see it from far off , + par , distance and flight path . The baskets are newer yellow banded Discatchers . Print the online map or take a pic of the kiosk before playing .
The Landscape .The fairways were mowed and the course seems to be cared for as much as the rest of this nice park . I don't know when the ponds dried up , but it would have been fun to throw over a couple . Elevation isn't overpowering here , but it does come into play on holes . The most elevation is a dropoff downhill drive on #15 . #1 declines a good deal , too .Trees will mostly be a factor later in the course , starting about hole #7 and going through 16 . Basket placements are very good . Straying from the fairway here will leave you in high rough or unforgiving woods ( more in cons ) .
Scenic - This is a beautiful course . Just enough woods and just enough open .
The Highlights - This course wrote the book on challenge . You have 18 holes at 8140' at your disposal . You get 1 short break at #12 with a tight fairway 290' hole , which is 20' shorter than the next shortest hole . #2 is a level 730' hole that slowly bends to the right with woods and high growth on the left and 6'-8' high overgrowth on the right . The basket is eventually placed to the right of the fairway . #4 425' is off of an elevated tee to a basket behind a grove of smaller trees on the right . #11 495' is a tight fairway with small trees lining both sides of the fairway . #15 is a fun downhill 330' hole that forces you to throw a little left to right and go as long as you can before you hit a tree . Don't kick a drive off a tree and into the rough on the left . #18 670' is a tough finishing hole . Over a gully with a tight fairway and rough on both side , then up a never ending slope to a basket resting next to mature trees .
Signature Hole - #17 520' leaves you with choices . Lay up in front of the dried pond , then go over it to the basket just beyond , or play it safer and throw around a small bending tree line on shot 2 .
Time - You will be out here a while , even if you keep your disc mostly in the fairway . I was here for 2 hours , but I was looking for my disc some . Normally , count at least 1 1/2 hours or more . A group of 4 , 3 hours .
If you wish to test your nerves and mettle , this is the place . If you overthrow or your accuracy is slightly off , you are going to be punished . Keeping up with par will be a challenge for most . 430' par 3's with basket placements in tight fairways or behind trees .
remember to bring plenty of water .

#1 The Rough - Absolutely the worst in Kentucky and among the worst I have ever played . I spent 10 minutes looking for my downhill drive that the wind took on hole 1 and lost my driver on #18 . 5-8' high overgrowth on a lot of the course . The course needs foot traffic to make it relevant , because it sits between Frankfort and Louisville . Even with short tees , the strong possibilities of losing your discs looms . I think having 2' high overgrowth could prove your point instead of a wall of No ( Disc ) Return .
Forgiveness - You have none here . I got into a pattern of trowing midranges and Star Terns just to keep in the fairways . If you kick into the woods here , you just lost a stroke trying to throw out . And trying to throw out of overgrowth you can't see over is a joke .
Disc Risk - The highest I have ever recorded . I feel lucky that I only lost 1 disc today .When looking for my disc in the high rough , I think that iI tripped over the bones of some kid that was looking for a souvenir disc in the middle of last winter .
Amenities - The course might benefit from alternate shorter tee pads , maybe a few benches and some trash cans ( carry out what you carry in ) . Maybe a shaded table for the end of rounds .

This course has all the ingredients of being one of the 2 or 3 best course in the state . It has length , challenge , and almost out of control variety . Doglegs , par 4's and par 5's . H B Clark did an incredible job of designing Ryan's Course to be a premier pro-type course . But here is the difference between this course and say - Idlewild (10,964' for 24 holes ). Idlewild is closed at the moment to prepare for the Open Disc Golf Pro Tour . when the tour leaves town , many players of all abilities ( it has 2 tee pads and some alternate baskets ) , will come flocking back to this course to enjoy it . They won't have to spend needless amounts of time looking for discs and probably won't lose their prized driver . I'm not trying to bash Ryan's Course , just showing the possibilities .
My Recommendation - This course should be considered by intermediates and above . Ryan's Course could host a big event right now . Anyone less ? Stay in the fairway ....

Hole one is an elevation shot where you simply wish to defenestrate your entire bags contentingent of discs towards the basket over 500 feet away...and on most courses you might; however Ryan's Course has excellent roughage, some of which is higher than your head! Why isn't this in the cons category you ask? Because golf isn't simply about 'gripping and ripping'. Instead, just like a good ball golf course, one has to think about placement prior to giving your disc flight.

Aside from walking down-slope off absolutely gorgeous tee 15 (could use some terracing), a round here is literally 'a walk in the park' as there are no ruts, rocks, roots or stumps on which to stumble.

Nice practice basket.

All tee pads are concrete with sufficient length to allow run-ups where it might be needed.

No mando's (nuff said).

Nice signage.

Even where a couple of hole fairways parallel each other, the forest and rough in-between is plenty thick and high to where there is no fear continuing with players on the other side.

Perhaps the greatest compliment to this course is how, despite enormous length, the rough is a great equalizer allowing lesser 'armed' players to still be competitive.

Because the course has so much grass-only fairway space, the maintenance crew simply cannot mow it more than periodically; therefore the grass is not low enough to really allow a lengthy roller.

Although the signage is well done in general, there are a handful of places where 'next tee' signs would be of help.

Despite having multiple small playset areas throughout the course, there was a dearth of trash receptacles.

No benches as yet.

No alternate tee positions.

No 'amateur' tees as yet.

As pretty much any newly established course will be, there is certainly space for improvement; and eventually some of the 'non-open-field' roughage wil be tamped down, making errant throws potentially less disastrous.

Nonetheless, the hole layout is a cornucopia of shots for lefties, righties, backhands, forehands, tomahawks and thumbers. In other words, a very tough, pro-caliber course.

Ryan's Course appears to have had quite a bit of course maintenance since previous reviews. The rough on holes 1-4 is distinguishable from the fairway, but very manageable. I actually intentionally threw my drive on hole 2 towards the rough and had no problem finding it or throwing my second shot.

This course has both open and wooded holes. I found the wooded holes provide enough shade to get relief from the heat on a sunny day.

I liked that there are a few holes where water is in play. There's a creek that runs along the outside border, and it can punish an errant throw.

This course forces you to throw a variety of shot types. I'm right handed and prefer throwing backhand shots, but there were a number of holes where I threw forehand off the tee. I hit an early tree on hole 7 and had to throw a roller second shot to get my disc to go left and finish close to the hole.

If you do go into the rough on the wooded holes, you can pretty much forget about trying to advance the disc forward. A pitch out is usually required. I was never deep into the woods, but I can imagine it costing a couple of strokes to get out.

The overall course par seems fair at a 64, but a couple of the individual hole pars are questionable. Holes 2 and 18 are marked as par 5s, but I was able to manage a 3 on both without the biggest of arms. On the flip side, there were a couple of par 3s in the woods which were 400'+ where a 3 felt like a birdie. Hole 16 is one example. The shot for hole 16 is clearly to throw a high hyzer shot, but unfortunately there are low branches overhanging the fairway from a tree to the left not too far from the tee. Par evens out over the course, but would be nice if it made more sense.

Holes 17 and 18 show a pond obstacle, but it was dry. We've had quite a bit of rain recently, so not sure that will ever actually have water.

At the time of writing this, the course has a 2.17 disc rating, and I just don't feel like that's fair. This course is a well designed course that's going to challenge players of all skill levels. I've played courses with a 2 disc rating and usually the round is pretty boring, but I had really good time playing this course. I've been playing disc golf for 8 years now and up until now have never written a review. I'm just really not a fan of writing. I hadn't seen the rating for this course until after playing it, and I was actually shocked to see it so low, so I felt compelled in this case.

I did play a pretty good round shooting a 59, so for that reason my opinion may be a little more biased positively than others. Ultimately, I can see where this course can be a punishing course. I would definitely recommend having at least two people playing together to help find discs and spot for each other on certain holes.

Also, make sure to bring plenty of water on hot days. Even though the wooded holes provide shade, it's still hot. I finished a full Nalgene bottle of water throughout the round and unfortunately didn't have anything else.

I agree with dr.chainslove and I do believe this will be a great course in the future especially if there is a club or a dedicated group of local golfers to beat back the rough (perhaps I'll take part).

I agree with dr.chainslove - not sure if I could have said it better. I hope, hope, hope this rough is not intended to be a permanent feature

While I agree with dr.chainslove on the pros and cons I have to go with a rating of 2 or even less. I understand it can take upwards of 4 years for a quality course to emerge and mature but the rough is brutal. It isn't like ball golf where all you lose is a ball (who knows? That may be horrible to some....) but in disc golf we are losing a disc! Something that may have been in our bag for years and could be relied on throw after throw. I equate it to asking a ball golfer to throw his favorite club into a deep lake or a gaping sinkhole. So, don't bring your favorite, best discs. Hole #2 is so long that I predict that there will be some who lose more than one disc there. I have no urgency to throw this course even though it is on my way home from work so why would I rate it higher than a two? I hope, sincerely hope, to give it a much higher rating in the future.

I'm changing my rating to 3.5. Too generous?Maybe, but I have really grown to like it. Played the course recently (November 2018) and it was a different animal. With no leaves on the trees the course reveals it soft underbelly. It is still a course where you are rewarded for staying in the fairways but it is much less intimidating. The lanes mowed through the tall grass are really helpful: not only to help you find your discs but also to provide visual cues to help locate them. I have been told that the grass is there to stay. One of the stipulations for the donation of the land to Shelbyville was that stands of native grasses had to remain. However, the parks department will bush hog the grasses down once (maybe twice?) a year and it will be interesting to throw it then. Hopefully, the course will, over time, morph into a truly unique and worthy challenge. I urge those who were 'turned off' when it opened to try it again while the leaves are gone....

**3/2021 rating bump to 4.0. rough issues largely mitigated and this course is now arguably the best in the area, rivaling Severin Lang*** Ryan's Course combines two very different style courses into one. It's equipped with 8 very open holes and 10 very tight holes. The common denominator is length--8200ft of it.

1-6 and 17-18 are very open but with enough obstacles to prevent a hyzerfest. All of these are over 400 ft and include some nicely guarded baskets, elevation changes, and some treacherous rough that keeps up the difficulty. The starting hole is a fun start at 495' with about a 30' drop. #5 is another picturesque downhill bomb with a basket tucked into a grouping of river birches. 17 and 18 incorporate a dried-up pond that will serve as OB in tournaments.

Once you get to 7, the personality changes significantly. For the next 10 holes, you'll be navigating lines cut from an old, over-grown orchard. I wouldn't quite say these are wooded holes (only #15 has a canopy of mature trees). This section is mainly 30ft wide grassy fairways surrounded by densely packed younger trees, most no taller than 25 ft. This plays like courses that are lined with tall honeysuckle (Mason Sports Complex in Cincy comes to mind). Oddly enough, you're still playing under the sun here despite being surrounded by greenery. These holes bend in all directions and incorporate some elevation on most. Like the open holes, these are long too and demand perfect accuracy and power to score well. The lines are true but definitely tough to consistently hit. I really wanted to love #15, which many will tab as the signature hole. It looks awesome from the tee. There's a steep decline and a narrow tunnel down the hill about 350' to the basket. It's truly beautiful but will only accept a perfect shot to get your 2. (UPDATE 6/29/18: skipped a lefty sidearm to circle 1 for a birdie on #15. It can be done!)

As for amenities, you're in a good spot. There's a nice restroom facility with water fountain at the top of the park (although it's a .25 mile drive from hole 1). The DISCatchers are sparkly new. Tees and tee signs are the HB Clark standard, with good-enough graphics of the hole shape, distances, and next tee arrows. There's a practice basket and a nicely done course map by hole 1.

You can tell they keep this park well-maintained for the other activities (dog park, playgrounds, etc), so I'll ASSUME they'll give the disc golf areas the same treatment! I'll adjust my review/rating down the road if this level of care deteriorates.

I really only have one issue with this course and this issue plagues nearly every hole. The rough is truly unforgiving both in the open holes and in the woods. The probability of losing a disc here is very high. I understand that new courses take a while to get "beat in" but this will be a tall task to improve. Holes 1-4 are cut through some of the nastiest, thorniest, thickest fields I've experienced. The rough here is about 3-4 ft high and will swallow discs. Even if it gets beaten down, discs can easily hide in these wild entanglements of weeds and thorns.

(UPDATE 6/21/18: Looks like enough players voiced their thoughts on the rough on 1-4. They just cut those sections back! This is exactly what we needed and I hear that they'll try to keep this field jungle manageable moving forward. DIscs can still hide but it's a great improvement! Thanks!)

Now about the wooded sections...

Once you get in the wooded areas, you'll find another kind of painful rough. These trees are like thick bushes with foliage that hangs all the way to the ground. Once you're in (even by only a few feet), there aren't usually many options beyond a short pitch-out. I'd imagine dinking and dunking up these fairways with 100' putter shots will net a similar score to driving long and having to scramble.

Sadly, I doubt Ryan's course will get enough play to eventually mitigate these rough issues. It's too far outside of town and the extreme difficulty/length will scare off the recreational players (needs short tees added!). I love a good secluded, quiet course but this place needs a ton of traffic and I doubt it will get it. DG community of the Louisville area, please prove me wrong here!

If you're into arguing about Par, you could have a splendid time arguing about the posted pars here. I think the course par of 64 is legit but the distribution is a little off. The 2 par 5s in the open areas will get routinely eagled and some of the 400' par 3s in the woods will rarely see a 2.

If you look at the specs and amenities, Ryan's course seems like it should be 4.0 rated professional-ready course. I can't quite give it that because, man... it's not a whole lot of fun to endlessly search for a disc that dribbled only a few feet off the fairway OR having to pitch sideways out of the trees after a seemingly great drive.

(UPDATE 7/17: After 4 plays, I'm seeing a trend here: I've found myself tossing many straddle forehands, short pitch-out rollers, and patent pending backhands due to the dense rough that lines the narrow wooded fairways. I may not always enjoy it, but it's probably making me a better player for practicing these uncommonly needed shots.)

Nonetheless, I'm still excited to have this new addition to my home area and I'll be adding this to my rotation. It's well-worth checking out and, despite its current (hopefully surmountable) issues, offers what is likely the toughest challenge in the Louisville area.

UPDATE 6/29/18: Played again last night and am really impressed with the work done with the rough. I'm still feeling good with my 3.5 rating although I wouldn't argue with those who'd drop a 4.0 review. Ultimately, I still think the rough on holes 10-14 is a little too punitive. You can at least find your disc here but will probably see a lot of short pitch-outs even if you're right on the rough border. But, hey, it makes these holes more challenging. And even if you hate this section, there's still 13 more strong holes to enjoy.