(3.734 Rating) A big rural park style course, with a big city budget.
- GAMEPLAY - Parts of the Sharon Johnston course is just wowza. The gameplay starts off rather slow and open compared to the later holes, but those that can bomb, will have the opportunity too launch. Starting on hole (5), the gameplay begins to traverse some woods. Placement and accuracy is needed on this hole and many others as well. Hole (9) is awesome. A raised tee location that will require throwing over a valley and trying to hit a gap in a well-spaced tree line. (10) is rocking as well, which is a nice hooking downshot over a small creek. There are a bunch of adrenaline pumping lines here overall and some multi-play cerebral elements that really elevate the experience.
- HOLE 17 - I intentionally skipped noting this hole in the gameplay pro above because it's so marvelous, that it needed its own line. A valley shot over a picturesque waterfall. I've played over 8000 unique holes now and would put this one into my top 50 all-time favorites. It's reason enough to come play this course.
- CHALLENGING - MA1s are going to love the distance here. Lots of plus 400 foot holes and a couple are even over 600. There are a couple of mindless holes in the beginning 3 hole loop but the overall some of the parts will require elite skills to routinely break par. At the first tourney out here, even par netted a 929 rated round when playing all the back placements in the winter. It'll probably be a touch tougher once the leaves fill in.
- NATURAL BEAUTY - IMO, among the most beautiful tracks in North Alabama. Several high ground tee shots with views across the countryside. Obviously having a waterfall intertwined into the layout helps. Those that are a sucker for gorgeous landscapes are going to love the walk here regardless of skill level.
- HOLE VARIETY - The hole play type variety here is fantastic. Up, down, left, right, long and longer. A mix of tree coverages from open to moderately wooded. There are a couple water clears and there are multi-play holes. Personally, my only wish is that there were less open holes.
- AMENITIES - Big tees with foul line extensions and Pro 28 baskets. 6 holes have two pro 28s planted. There is a practice basket near tee (1) and there are benches behind many of the tees.
- NAVIGATION - High quality tee signs and a big course map. If I recall correctly, I believe the baskets had directional arrows affixed to them. There are a couple modest gaps that could be tricky, like after (9), but I just don't see how anyone is getting lost. Note, I did have a guide here for my first play, so perhaps I wasn't able to key in on the trouble spots.

No short option.
- ONE TEE- For those without big arms, there is no short tee option here. The shortest hole here is 260 feet and only one other is under 300. Those with sub 250 foot arms with rarely birdie. MA4s will be carding lots of bogeys and likely finish 10 over or so. This might be a tough pill to swallow for some, but I think there are enough other positive aspects here that most of these players will generally enjoy the course overall.
- THE FIRST THREE HOLES- The only other weak link on the course is the beginning stretch. the first three holes are open or very lightly wooded. My initial rating projections for the course standing on (4) was sitting at a lousy 2.75 and hole (4) didn't help much. Thankfully it kept getting better after that. The only other mediocre hole, is hole (13).
- TIME PLAY - My first round here I played with two other quick players and it took over 90 minutes.

Sharon Johnston is a very well-done park style course. It's been getting lots of positive local feeback with several even claiming it's the best course in the Huntsville Metro. I also think it's towards the top for the area. I have it somewhat neck and neck with Indian Creek in town. There are some things that Indian does slightly better and there are some things that Sharon Johnston does slightly better. Other courses that the gameplay here sort-of reminds me of are; Tyus in the Atlanta metro, Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis, Katherine Legge in Chicago, Sugar Hollow in Bristol, Morningside in Knoxville and Crockett in Nashville. Overall, a 3.75 course to me and worthy of being discussed as a fringe top ten Alabama course. I think most trusted reviewers would grade it at either a 3.5 or 4.0.

OVERVIEW: An excellent "town park" course, free to play. Length appropriate for advanced players, but beginners and rec players can also play a round. To be clear, my rating of a FOUR for this course is from the perspective of my rag-arm skill level. Big arms may have a much higher opinion of this course.

-Excellent brand new Innova DiscCatcher baskets with highly visible flags, well mounted, no unfair or gimmicky greens. The "Short Baskets" are red, the rest Innova Yellow.

-Well done cement tee boxes, safe run-ups and follow-throughs. Slightly above grade to avoid washout, but still no "drop off" danger.

-Mostly wide-open shots, not too many trees or elevation changes, but what's out there the designer has used very effectively.

-Well-made tee signs. Distances were accurate. Course navigation was usually straight-forward, thought going from the ninth basket to the 10th tee took a bit of looking around. Good course map near the first tee, and UDISC is accurate.

A couple of holes have a bit of a walk to the next tee: nine's basket to tenth tee, and 16th hole to the 17th tee, but nothing too bad.

-Neutral design, doesn't particularly favor lefties, righties, forehands, backhands, even rollers in play. Many holes are open enough to allow any shape shots, but some require accuracy with a few different approach lines to the basket.

-Low chance to lose discs. Not a bad course to introduce beginners to the game if they can avoid getting too frustrated by the distance.

-A good long walk but without much elevation it's not punishing when it's not too hot and humid.

-Interesting old farm equipment sprinkled around the course. Doesn't really come in to play on shots (maybe on hole 14 if you throw too low and left...). On a beautiful spring day, it was a joy to be in the park, a very attractive course.

-Hole 17 is the "signature hole" to me... a beautiful and challenging par three with a picturesque waterfall framing the right side of the hole and a line of trees to the left. The short basket is 290' but before you card that birdie, you're going to have to hit a tight line. The long at 427' will take some courage on a right-hand backhand, your disc is going to be over the waterfall for much of the flight.

-Excellent town park with flush toilets, camp sites, a pool, fishing, and lots of other non-disc golf activities for the family. Lots of stone and cedar fencing at the edge of the fairways in many spots.

-Holes well separated, though a couple of points on the course can create safety issues if someone griplocks at drive at the wrong time. When I was teeing off on 11 someone threw a wayward roller off the 10th tee that rolled just behind me, and the drive to 8 short can come a little close to the 7th basket for my comfort. Just a bit of awareness and courtesy can avoid any issues. The course stays well away from other park activity, though a couple of older ladies were sunning themselves by the waterfall on 17 and seemed clueless about what was going on in the park with disc golf. When I tried to explain that they would have to move for players playing the long basket, they seemed a bit incredulous and stated that this was the spot where all of the "wedding couples" had portraits made. I can see some conflict on some future tournament during wedding season?

-With only one tee and one basket for most holes, the course is a fun open bomber for big arms, but can be a bit frustrating for me, a middle of the pack MA-65 senior. Very few birdie chances, and a few of the longer holes were nearly an automatic bogey for me. On EVERY hole I threw my favorite slightly overstable driver. Not an "every disc in the bag" kind of course, I could have played with my go-to driver, a Buzz, and my putter.

-On most holes a 200' drive left me with a mid or another overstable driver shot, often to circle three (64'+), with a short approach and drop in bogey. I loved that there are short baskets on six holes but I'd love to see "Short Tees" on a few of the longer Par Threes to make this course more rec-friendly: those four 400+' par 3s come to mind. The way I dealt with it was to treat those holes are par fours. I know people will argue that "Par Doesn't matter", but at the end of the day it is much easier on my fragile ego to say I was "a couple over par" than to say "double digits over par".

-The course is mostly flat and the design (thankfully) avoids the pond, so no water features to add variety and challenge to the round other than that beautiful waterfall on 17. That said, I think the designer did a masterful job given the property he had to work with.

-The park has benches and picnic tables and pavilions, but no benches or trash cans on the tees. This park is brand new, just opened within the past two weeks, I'm guessing this will improve over time.

-Northern Alabama can have heat, humidity, wind, tornadoes, snakes, fire ants, flying bugs, man-eating vines(?) for most of the year. Pay attention to the weather forecast, wear solid shoes and use some common sense when reaching for a disc if you are off the fairway.

-Gun range on the property. I got used to it pretty quickly, but the first bang can be startling.

-At 6,690' from the shorts, par 57. From longs it's 7,706 par 58. Hole 13 is the shortest on the course at 261 feet. Two holes measure over 600' on the longs, the longest on the short layout is just over 500'.

Sharon Johnston was a brilliant, accomplished, and beautiful local woman whose family owned the property and donated it in her memory when she died while stunt flying at an airshow. I'd like to think she'd approve of us flying frisbees across the property.