Shelby Farms Park is a big, beautiful park; the course plays out over an expanse of lovely rolling (presumably) former pasture land.

Plenty of long-ish holes, a good place to really open up on your drives. Also a few more technical shots.

The fairways are well maintained, and the course seems kept relatively clean--not much litter to be found, which is nice.

Course layout has changed, making it difficult to navigate for a first-timer without local help.

Mostly wide-open, which makes some of the holes a feel a little repetitive.

Teepads are way too small for the distance on most holes

A couple of damaged pins, still playable but could cause added difficulty.

This was my first time playing Shelby Farms, and I was impressed with the beauty of the course and the park in general. However, navigation for a first timer was extremely tricky. A course map at the first tee would be very helpful, as would indications on the teesigns of the direction to the next tee, but neither were available.

Some teepads do not have signs and are not easy to see from the previous pin. I found out later that the course layout has changed from the photos posted here, with new holes added in the woods after hole #3. I missed these holes and played the "old layout." However, since some (but not all) of the existing teesigns have been renumbered for the "new" layout, I got lost several times looking for the correct next number.

Finally, the teepads are very short, and runups from beside or behind are not always possible due to terrain. It looks like some work is being done to lengthen a few of the pads with bricks laid behind them, which will help. But not much of this had been completed when I played.

I did like the course and would love to play it again knowing the layout a little better, or with a local to show me around. With some navigational aid it would be a lot more friendly to non-locals, and a lot more fun.

-The course is set in a huge park with rolling hills and plenty of space to throw your big drives.
-There were concrete tee pads at each hole, they were small but small pads are better than no pads.
-The baskets were in great shape and could easily be seen from each of the tees.
-The course utilizes the elevation present for shots off of hills, being from the Houston area, I can appreciate good hilly courses.
-The locals were extremely courteous and helpful. They were probably the nicest people I had ever met out at the course.

Navigation is a mess. I came out and played the first few holes until I noticed that I was shooting at the same basket another group of guys were shooting at in a completely different area. They explained that people were using the "old" layout that were marked with little flags instead of playing from the tee pads.

I can understand if the course wants us to play from the "old" layout but there should be some sort of sign at the beginning of the course should specify where players should be playing, it becomes problematic when you have two groups of people shooting at the same hole from different areas.

17 out of 18 holes were wide open shots with no obstacles. It can become very boring, very fast.

Even without the navigation mess this course is still not up to the same level as Johnson Road Park, it is too repetitive and there are no obstacles. If there were some trees planted and given time to grow and with the distance already there this course could become a great course for the Memphis area until then this is a very forgettable course and comes in second place behind JRP in Germantown.

Open course on moderately flat terrain. If you're the player who likes "grip & rip" courses then this is for you. On most holes there are hardly any trees or other obstacles between the tees and the baskets. Considering the very open layout the holes are not too long (most between 350-400ft). Two pin positions for each hole make it fun for both amateurs and more advanced players. Course was clean and grass was cut at a nice height. Has parking near the first hole, porta potty, and a covered shelter.

Not much variation. After 2 or 3 holes you'll have a good feel for what to expect for the rest of the course. I stopped at the Visitor's Center and was shocked to find they didn't have a map of the course. You would expect a visitor's center to have a map or more information on the course. Some holes have missing signage and the tee boxes are very short compared to what I am used to. Three of the baskets were gone when I played (either stolen or being replaced), making the holes unplayable. Thankfully I made friends with a local who was nice enough to show me around--otherwise, with no map, 3 missing baskets, and limited signage, I would've had a hard time trying to find several holes.

Not great yet not horrible either. If you have only a limited amount of time there are better courses in the Memphis area to play (check out Johnson Road Park). If not for meeting a local I probably would've gotten very frustrated trying to find holes that weren't even playable. Probably a better course to play in the fall or spring when the sun is not as intense considering there is very little shade.

Nice Signs
Love the visibility of Discatchers, especially on long courses.
Multiple pin placements keep course more interesting.

Several holes are a tee pad and a basket separated only by a vast expanse of grass. While I enjoy the chance to open up and throw a long drive, this is incredibly difficult to do on a 4X8 teepad if you have any kind of a runup on your drive. The combination of long holes and short teepads ruins this course in my opinion. I hate to be so critical because I am a local (albeit a new local who has only been playing disc golf for 6 months) and I have done nothing to contribute to this course.

One other con is that during the winter and spring there is almost always a very strong wind at this course.

When the weather cools off I would like to organize a work party with the local DG club to extend some of the teepads. I really do appreciate the work that has gone into this course. The signs are top notch, many of the holes are interesting, and the grassy rolling fairways are picturesque. I have had a lot of fun playing here.

18 holes spread out in gigantic multi-use park. Concrete tees and baskets. Mostly open with hazards consisting of a few trees, some elevation, and some seasonal water hazards. The design did a nice job of incorporating the existing land and flow was logical with the holes being nicely spread out.

Those that are looking for a place to let drives rip will like the room to work shots on most holes. Newer players will also be able to enjoy not having to throw perfect shots off the tee as there is room for error.

The day I played was a beautiful, sunny, warm Sunday afternoon and the park itself was super crowded, so I was expecting a long line just to tee off, but that wasn't the case. There were several people playing disc golf, but the groups were spread-out and well-paced, which was nice because I was playing solo and never had to wait, and seemed to be a result of good course design.

A lot of openness. Most of the challenge here was just in length. Baskets in a wide open field with no obstacles are boring to me, especially when there are lots of holes like this. There was a lot of repetition in how I played the holes- 1) throw as far as I could; 2) easy approach 3) tap in for a par, then repeat. This course does not require a wide-variety of shots and discs.

My favorite hole was #1- I got to the tee and saw the nicely worn dirt fairway between all these trees forcing a tunnel shot through the shadows to a basket shining in the sun surrounded by lush grass, and I thought "this course is going to be awesome." Unfortunately that got my hopes up and gave me false expectations as the rest of the course was unlike #1. The other 17 aren't horrible, but it is kind of a let down to have the first hole as the best and almost out of place.

The tee signs that existed were very nice, but some were missing. Without signs and a map, the openness makes it hard for first-timers to visualize where the next hole is and where it is going. Though the course is mostly in its own section of the park, one hole was blind over some picnic tables, the busy park road bordered a few holes, there were people walking down fairways, and I even had an older lady decide to sit down and take a rest on hole 12 (funny because that hole's purpose is to give you a choice of going right or left, but I was forced to go right as I didn't want to throw at an old lady!)

Overall, this is a nice, clean, friendly park with a course that can be enjoyed by almost anybody. About half the holes are pretty good, whereas the other half are just a tee and a basket in a field. I wouldn't discourage anybody from playing here, but if you looking for more of a challenge, there are other options in Memphis.

Shelby park is huge (picnicking, fields for ball, lake with paddle boats, kite and r/c plane flying areas, real live buffalo to see...) a whole lot more to do than just disc golf. It is also easy to get to from a couple of main highways.

Memphis is in Shelby County, so don't confuse this course and park on the southside with the Meeman-Shelby State Park courses in Shelby Forrest on the north side. Many of the locals I talked to shorten the names of one or both places to just "Shelby" which was a little confusing in discussion.

If you are a beginner you should play here, as you really can't get into any real trouble. it's a good practice course for those wanting to work on building some distance off the tee.

A wide open course that presents no real technical challenges (i.e. no narrow fairways or doglegs). Little shade for those hot days. No trash receptacles on course - please carry your trash back to the parking area and dispose of it properly.

Because this course is (unexplainedly) so popular, it's a good place to meet other dg'ers and learn about other courses, or find playing partners.

long and open with shots in the woods, over water, and up-hill
easy to get to and very pretty to walk through

not well marked out. dirt tees with just concrete blocks to mark the tees.
watch out for skunks-i counted 5 within 3 holes one day