(2.572 Rating) (RE-VISITED April 2018) A nice city park course playing through a light to moderate tree canopy that appears to have had a small layout tweak in the last year or two.
- CHARACTER - Brand new baskets, seating and new professionally done hole signage that has all the appropriate info except par and next tee direction. There are lots of alternate basket placements on this layout. A majority of the holes have at least two placements. Hole (11) has three placements labeled on the signage but during both my visits it was located at an unmarked 4th location on top of a tree stump. Other items include a great looking and updated course map by tee (1), lots of picnic tables, shelters and a restroom. Missing items include extra tees (only one hole) and a practice basket.
- TEES - Adequately sized concrete tees approximately 5 feet by12 feet that are in great condition.
- NATURAL BEAUTY - I personally scored the course above average but I wouldn't call it stunning. The park in general appears to be well taken care of and the park buildings aren't rinky-dink looking. The creek running along a few holes has an untouched natural appearance to it and has a nice bridge crossing it on (10).
- NAVIGATION - Not flawless but I didn't find it too difficult solo and first time. As stated, great course map. I'd take a picture of it as there is one sizable layout gap after (14). Next tees are generally within sight of the prior basket and there a couple directional cues along the layout.
- SKILL LEVEL FRIENDLY - The one set of tees are at optimal difficultly to please the widest swath of skills levels. Beginners should be able to throw out here and learn the game without too much oppressing punishment. Advanced players in town will have just enough here for it not to be a bore fest.
- FORGIVENESS - The odds of losing a disc due to an errant shot is very low with two exceptions. In the event that one lands in the creek, and it has rained recently, it's possible that a disc will be carried far down stream. Also, throwing in the marshy overgrowth along (17) is a poor decision.
- QUICK PLAY - A single should easily complete an entire round in under an hour. Groups of four will probably finish in about an hour and 45 minutes.
- MAINTENANCE - The grounds appear to be mowed weekly and the park was very clean on all three of visits to Sparkman Park. I didn't notice any areas that had significant overgrowth other than along the creek and on the left side of fairway (17).

Overall a solid course but Sparkman has a few of the typical city park issues.
- SAFETY HAZARDS - Several holes on this layout play along or across walking paths. Roads come into play several times as well. I personally threw one into the street on hole (7) and had a nice car driver run over it as I was approaching to get it.
- UNIQUENESS - A touch below average. The layout lacks defined fairways. Most plays are relatively straight and with a spattering of trees. Baskets are never located in well defined pockets and overall basket guarding is mild. All of the holes are listed currently as par 3s. (17) might be able to be lengthen by a hundred feet or so if the course leadership ever wanted to include a par 4. (17) is also a good hole to throw a roller on. I did try a roller and failed epic style. Water is in play a few times in the form of a creek on holes (3), (10), (11) and (12). Elevation is minor and its only moderately apparent once, on hole (10). There's a triple mando right out the gates on (1), but I'm not a fan of it as its flawed difficulty. Cool new island hole on my re-visit in April 2018. Normally I'm not a fan of island holes but this one has some great aesthetic appeal to it
- LACK OF CHALLENGE - On my first play I got to experience the most difficult configuration that the course can offer as every basket was in the far position. With all back placements, the layout reads as intermediate but still very approachable for recreational players. On my second appearance a few baskets were moved to the shorts. With a mix match of front and back placements, I would expect an 850 rated rec player to come in at around 3 or 4 over par. Regardless of the set-up, advanced players will not be challenged by these wide lines to the baskets.
- DISCONTINUITY - A big gap separates the final four holes from the rest of the layout. Be sure to have a map or a picture of the one on site as the journey is 500 feet to the north. Once finishing (18), it's another 500 foot walk back to the parking by tee (1).
- SPACING - The holes are somewhat tightly packed together along with the other park amenities. I ended up in other fairways a couple times. I kind of wish they had put two or three more holes over with the final four holes to alleviate some of this issue.

A really fun recreational course that can double as an intermediate course with all back placements. A good choice for road trippers on I65 looking to play one or two additional courses before or after their intended destination. Advanced players will be underwhelmed by this course but there are many far less challenging courses splattered across North Alabama.
- REVISION - I've only played the Original layout once. My notes are revised to reflect a walk-thru I made in April 2018. I had every intention of playing this day but the storms were coming just as I finish the Lakeside layout, so I just speed walked the course and took notes and pictures.

This 18 hole course is in a nice city park and is just a short drive off the Interstate. It has good concrete tees, very nice colorful tee signs, and multiple basket locations that are clearly marked on the tee signs. Most of the holes are in gently wooded park with a creek in play on several holes.

The town of Hartselle is a great small southern town that prides itself on Southern Hospitality.

The baskets aren't labeled and there were a few spots where multiple baskets are in view and pretty close to each other, which can make first timers unsure about which is the correct basket. Navigation from hole to hole was confusing a couple of times.

This park is very busy (at least it was on the weekends.) There is a walking trail around the perimeter of the course and runs very close to several holes. There is a picnic pavilion and playground near other holes where several small children were playing in the dirt right in the fairway. After waiting for several minutes and asking them to get out the way, their parents finally took some action and got them to move, but we were clearly inconveniencing them!

This course appears to me to have once been 9 holes and was later "upgraded" to 18 (or was planned out poorly.) I love 18 holes, but only if it adds to the course, and I feel Sparkman has some flaws. #4 and #5 are just very long wide open holes that are in an adjacent field across the creek that is not in the park. #5 has a great upshot over the creek, but the tee shot is boring as it is long, open, with absolutely no obstacles anywhere. #4 is just a tee and a basket very far apart in a wide open field (that is a field of mud if it rains.)

#16-18 are nowhere near the first 15 holes. You have to walk across the parking lot, down the road, and past the ballfields to find them
(There is no way to see them from #15. The only way you know they are there is you see #18 basket on the way in to the park.) #16 was unplayable because baseball games were in progress and people had parked there cars all over the fairway and surrounded the basket. #18 was completely flooded due to heavy rain, but I assume this is not like this all the time.

The overall appearance of the course is great, but it is just your average course, fun to play with a decent challenge for the average player. The many cons I mentioned are not a major deal, but it prevents me from rating this course in the upper half of the rating scale.

If you are looking to play a course on I-65 between Huntsville and Birmingham this will do, but the course in those two cities are by far better than Sparkman.

*Note: Zman44 and I played this course together on the same day which is the reason for the similar reviews.

Sparkman Park had solid tee pads and very informative signs. For, the most part the navigation was easy and the flow was logical. There were a solid variety of shots required. Course requires a blend of distance and accuracy. Bathrooms were available inside the baseball complex. Groundskeeping was good.

Holes 4 and 5 were thrown together. While 5 has a little design element to it as it plays back over the "ravine", hole 4 was a pin in a field. No obstacles...just a pin way out there in a field. These holes were extremely muddy. Hole 16 was nearly unplayable due to trucks being parked there for a baseball game going on. We made up a new tee box so as to not interfere with those watching the game.

I may be totally wrong about this but I would be willing to bet that Sparkman Park started out as a 9 hole course...and I bet I know what the added 9 holes were. When you have that perception of a course, it is usually not a solid course. There were some pretty nice holes at Sparkman Park. There were also some terrible holes. When the park is busy, there are a lot of non-disc golfing people around.

There was a toddler's birthday party at the main pavilion. 3 of them just played with one of the baskets. We asked the parents multiple times to keep them over by the pavilion while we played the hole. They didn't seem to care. We then explained that the discs were made of extremely hard plastic and would do some damage if they hit a child. They still didn't seem to care. After we stood there for about 5 minutes, I guess they figured we weren't going anywhere so they grabbed their kids and let us continue the round.

The holes that play along the creek were pretty well thought out. I liked the design of these holes.

Sparkman Park is your average course. Nothing stands out about it. There were some well-designed holes, and there were some horrendously designed holes. Add in a long walk to the finishing 3 holes and it balances out to an average/decent/typical course. All of the positive aspects that I see at this course are counteracted by an equally negative aspect.