This is a very nice private course played over farmland and on a hillside in a remote part of East TN. The course has a terrific mix of open field shots, wooded holes, elevation up and down, with creeks, rocks, fences, and tall grass to avoid. There is a good variety of hole length and a nice mix of straight, left, and right shots of all distances. This course is not overly difficult but each hole has its unique challenges that will prevent birdies and pars. Skilled shot making is a must to shoot well here. I really appreciated the overall hole design and layout of this course.

What really stood out was the quality of baskets, the concrete tees, and the sign posts that contained hole number and distance. (All these things are a bonus for private courses as it be completely understandable if there were not concrete tees and signs!) A lot of time and effort have been put into this course by John, who has a great passion for his land, his course, and disc golf as a whole.

Unlike public courses, and other private courses (Bud Hill, Holler in the Hills, and Flip City for example), that allow you to play almost anytime you want, you really need to call John and make an appointment to play here or play when he is hosting a tournament. I got the impression he did not want people playing here without his knowledge, which is understandable as it is private property and navigation is tricky, especially because of all the electric fences and cow fields you have to cross. If you did not know what you were doing you could get shocked and possible let out a bunch of his cows! That being said, John was more than happy to let us play, just call him up first.

The concrete tees were a little short, but they are better than nothing, and being a private course, they are really are luxury, even if they are shorter than normal.

Some of the walks were long and took you across cow fields. Cows are large and leave big messes. (Also, they don't like noise, so don't talk to them, or worse, scream at the cows as they might charge you!!!) Also, the electric fence crossings were a little scary, but thankfully John showed us how to do it properly.

Overall, this is a wonderful course. John was a superb host. He showed us his pro shop and some of his older discs, many that he still had in his bag. He played the round with us, which was cool, not only for navigating, but he told stories about the family farm, and cool things about each hole. He is a generation older than my friends and I, but he beat us all!

We started on #3 because it is closest to the house, but there is an area to park near hole #1 when he has tournaments, to avoid mass parking in his driveway. Be sure to drop a few $ in the box or give it to him after the round to say thanks, because I know it costs money to upkeep a place like this. The last reviewer heard he might be pulling the course, but I really hope he doesn't because I know he loves it, but he may be getting tired of people sneaking on his land, who knows.

When I played here he told us about his neighbor and friend that was building an even tougher course down the road. That course is now completed and is called Harmon Hills. John also had his hand in designing some of the other courses in East TN, so it was helpful to get insider recommendations as to where we should play next on our road trip!

nice private couse. fun to play. not my fave in the area, but they can't all be. good mix of holes. open and wooded.

rumor is this course will be taken up soon. idk if there is any truth to that. i hardly play it anyway since harmon hills was built and it is a 30 min drive when i have closer courses.

John showing the course personally, Excellent Mix of open and wooded shots, Beautiful scenery, Challenging, Pro Shop on-site

Much thanks to John for taking the time to play the course with me today! I thoroughly enjoyed the course and thought he did a wonderful job with hole placement. The pro shop was also nice to have on-site. I hope to return to this course each time I am in the area!

- Private Property Course. There is something about the feeling of playing a private property course I love... they have an energy... a special ambience.
- Great Mix. 10 mostly open grassy field shots and 8 TIGHT wooded holes combined with OB fence lines and creeks make this course fun as hell. All the open holes have something OB, or a shape required that keeps them interesting.
- Beautiful Views. The mountain views and vistas of Tennessee farmland are unbeatable. I love the 100 year old barns on the hillsides and silos back dropped by the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains.
- The People. I can't say enough about the Tennessee crowd. I was here for a tourney and they are extremely hospitable. Great golfers too.

- Hole 13... just doesn't seem worthy to be a part of this course. From what I understand it's changed, but there is plenty of room to put another hole somewhere else. Like between 15 and 16... a nice huge downhill bomb backed by a creek could be installed to lessen the otherwise long walk (but, then again he might have cows in that field often or something).
- Nit Picking. It's a private course so it's hard to be too critical, but I can nit pick. Thus: the tee-pads are too small, the open holes are a little too open, the wooded holes are a little too tight.

- Thank You John! We need more people like John who are willing to install a DG course on their property and open it up for people to play. Be sure to call ahead for a reservation... and drop a few bucks in the box at hole 1.
- Destination Golf. This area is packed with great stuff: Winged Deer, Warriors Path, Fossil Hill, and Harmon Hills (another private property course right down the street... ask the locals).
- Nothing Nearby. There didn't seem to be any stores or anything nearby, so bring everything with you. The pizza shop a few miles away had good pizza though.
- My Score: I played in a Match Play tourney, so I don't have a recorded score.

Owner/host/guide John, and his lovely farm. Scorecards, pro shop, concrete teepads, many benches. Baskets easy to spot with blue flags on top. Online map would have sufficed if John weren't available, but I'm glad he was, as he demonstrated how to move through/over the electric fences (I'm a suburban boy - what do I know?)

Barbed wire, electric fences, and cowpies - its a farm, so what else would you expect?

The course begins with four fairly open holes, with some trees as obstacles, that lead you to a section of woods. You then play eight holes in the woods, most in the ~250'+/- category, involving some moderate turns, changes of elevations, and challenging but fair flight paths. 13-15 have you play along an OB (barbed wire) line to your left, with some trees to keep you honest, then the last three holes return towards the parking lot, increasing the length (335', 470', 365'), with an OB creek and treeline to your right, and some trees to prevent going left from being too easy.

John was graciously available to guide my family as he and I played the course together, and he very much enjoys showing visitors around. It is better to call him, vice using the email address, ahead of time to arrange a game.

Johns says a neighbour is nearing the completion of a championship-level course in the near future. When you combine that with his course, Warriors Path and Winged Deer not too far away, and an improving Steele Creek and Morristown slightly farther afield, and eastern Tennessee becomes a very solid disc golf destination!

When you see the FOSSIL HILL sign next to the road, the gravel drive to the right is the one that will take you to a small parking area near tee #1 and the scorecard box.

Here is what I personally like and how this course stacks up:
1) Holes with good risk/reward. Fair, but harsh punishment for bad decisions or execution. == B (Half the course is wooded and almost all of those holes are perfectly designed in this aspect - demanding perfect shot selection and execution to birdie. Mess up and pay! Unfortunately, too many open holes for my preference.)
2) Holes that have rewarding birdie opportunities for me. I throw 300' accurately, 360' max. == A (Almost every hole is deuceable, but almost no gimmes - so a great score feels great!)
3) More wooded than open - lots of variety of shots required caused by hole shape and topography == A- (A little too open for my preference, but several of the open holes have great pin position that force you to shape your shot well. Very very enjoyable use of the terrain!)
4) Natural beauty (Appalachian beauty preferred) and seclusion. == A++ (On many days I would be in heaven just to be able to walk the course without even throwing a single shot. Too bad the pictures on this site were taken in winter/early spring - they do not do the course's beauty justice.)
5) Bonus points for multi-shot holes with defined landing zones, good risk/reward and multiple options to play them. == N/A

Thank you John for this gem of a course!!

It's all about feeding the addiction, so I ranked this course subjectively based on my own "personal addiction factor". The grades above tell how well the course will draw me back to itself again and again and again. Since I have played a decent number of courses (125 18-hole, 64 9-hole as of mid 2009), my hope is that players/explorers who have similar addiction tastes will find my ratings list helpful as they choose courses to play and explore.

Over time, I expect to fill some of my reviews in with more descriptive verbiage...if what I can add anything to what has already been written. For now, my list is more important to me than the verbiage of my reviews.

I fully expect others with different tastes/philosophies to disagree with me....that's the fun of things here. See my profile for my rating philosophy.

Good mix of open & wooded holes, short & long. Pretty surroundings, great views. Benches on some holes. Numbered tee signs on each hole. Has OB's & mandos. Friendly owner with well stocked pro shop. Very clean- no trash, cig butts etc.

I'd like to have a bench at every hole but that's just me. Some of the teepads are kinda short & small. Watch out for cow pies.

My first visit there was for a tournement. The course suited this to a "tee" as it is nicely spread out over rolling countryside.