Athens, TX

Cain Park

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35(based on 18 reviews)
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7 0
Breckster
Experience: 4 played 4 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Much to like here 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 23, 2020 Played the course:once

Pros:

1. Great variety, everything from super tight lines in the woods to open bomber holes to baskets protected by creeks and a pond. An equal number of lines favoring lefties and righties.

2. A number of signature holes, especially the first 3 and also 10 and 17 (more on those below).

3. Equipment older but in good shape.

4. Great course flow, easy to follow for the most part. I used my UDisc app, but would have been able to navigate fine without it.

5. Very scenic, with opportunities to use every disc in your arsenal.

Cons:

1. A few tee signs were missing.

2. I birdied three of the four par 4's (and hit a tree but still had a birdie putt on the fourth), so perhaps a bit generous on the par 4 designations.

3. You are unlikely to retrieve your disc if you throw it into the pond, which comes into play primarily on #10, #13 and #17.

4. Not the longest course you will ever play.

Other Thoughts:

As you can see, the cons are rather nitpicky, a sure sign of a quality course. In particular I liked:

#1 - Tee shot turns to the left over a creek and into the woods. A 2 is possible, but so is 4 or more.

#2 - A tight shot through the woods that again turns left. In order to par this as a LHBH player, I used a putter off the tee gently turned to the left, then a ROC also slightly turned to the left to get close to the basket. Righties can be a bit more aggressive.

#3 - Payback time for lefties, as this one also plays through the woods and is a big dogleg right. A medium firm ROC or gentle fairway fading to the right sets up a 100' shot to the basket for a birdie putt, but any deviation into the woods and you are looking at a possible bogey.

#10 - Great hole 320' to the basket with a creek on your left and the pond on the right. If you can reach or nearly reach 320' you will clear the pond so missing to the right will not penalize you.

#17 - Best hole in my opinion. Plays about 400', but here's the thing - your drive needs to be close to the pond to set up a reasonable second shot over water and around a big bushy tree protecting the basket. Gorgeous risk / reward hole.

In summary, this is definitely a course worth going out of your way for.
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3 1
ivanhenson
Gold level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 12.8 years 664 played 218 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Great course and park. Intersting 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Nov 22, 2018 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Very great park and course for a little town. Great elevation changes. Good use of water. Also a few good forest holes. Variety of shots.

Cons:

A few missing tee signs and google maps may take you wrong. A few older baskets and a fee tee pads are use of sidewalks and parking lots

Other Thoughts:

If you are withen 20 miles or so of Athens, tx you should detour and play this course. For a small town I really love half the shots. Just a great use of land and variety.
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4 0
TheHipstick
Bronze level trusted reviewer
Experience: 20.8 years 171 played 69 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Gem of a course. 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 12, 2018 Played the course:once

Pros:

This course is set in a great park.
Course was well maintained
Almost each hole had signage for each hole layout
Some spots were soggy from the recent rains
Course has many different shots that are required as well as some water shots to keep you honest
Most teepads were in good condition
Layout and pace of the course plays good

Cons:

Older baskets, could use and update
Some of the signs on the holes were weather damaged
This course will make you pay if you miss your line

Other Thoughts:

This is a great older course if your in the area. It seems like the course is sort of out in the middle of nowhere. But I highly recommend playing if your able to.
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6 0
markmcc
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 11.9 years 278 played 254 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Good Variety 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 23, 2018 Played the course:once

Pros:

This course hadn't been reviewed in several years, and I wasn't sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised.

This course has an interesting variety of holes from super tight tunnels to partially wooded to quite open. Throw in a couple of pond-side holes and a creek and you've got a little bit of everything.

Lengths vary from 177' out to 415, with an average length of 270', so not a bomber course at all. The front nine is shorter and tighter, with the back nine opening up some.

A few of the shorter holes (2,3, 6, & 7) are really, really tight. Like 20' wide fairways with impenetrable brush on the sides. I really enjoyed these holes, as a straight or slightly curving drive with a putter or Comet got you where you needed to be. Finesse over power for sure.

Hole 10 has the big pond on your right for most of the drive, and a water-filled channel on the left. Enough room to work, but if you miss you'll be saying goodbye to your disc. The pond is also in play on Hole 6 if you go long, and Hole 17.

Concrete tee pads on every hole, though some are marked boxes on existing sidewalks and a couple are smallish. The baskets are older and showing their age, but caught reasonably well. Tee signs include good hole diagrams along with distance, par, OB, etc. A couple were torn and one was missing, but for the most part they were there.

Cons:

Some folks will no doubt find the tightest holes to be frustratingly tight. And if you miss the fairway you'll find all sorts of unpleasant thorns and pokiness.

Some of the teepads were small, rough, or otherwise not optimal, but they worked. The baskets are rusting and some of the chain rings are deteriorated but the locals are keeping them together and working.

A walking trail winds through some holes and I found myself waiting on walkers a few times. This was early on a weekday morning. Could be a bigger issue on weekends?

Other Thoughts:

I enjoyed the challenge and variety of the course.

I didn't find the course even close to "Moderately Hilly" so I've changed it to "Mostly Flat".
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5 0
1TallTXn
Experience: 11.2 years 35 played 9 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Cain Park 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 28, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

Decent use of available features.
Variety of shots.

Cons:

Without the tee signs, you're left wondering where the basket is.
Many times you're crossing another hole's fairway or throwing across/at another tee.
Loose sand on the concrete tees can make for slippery footing.
Several Par 4s that probably shouldn't be. Good ego boost though.
Creek running along hole 18 swallows discs.
Flow isn't perfect. Bring/download a map.
The Map in the Files is of low quality, hard to read the numbers.

Other Thoughts:

I felt the par was a little off on a few holes (~400ft Par 4) and felt my final score of -2 wasn't quite deserved because of those holes.
I'm normally a +1-5 on a new course.
Biggest complaints was the poor signage.

If you're in the area, it's worth playing, but I cannot recommend driving for the course.
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5 1
adamlamar
Experience: 13.4 years 34 played 9 reviews
3.50 star(s)

A solid course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 13, 2011 Played the course:once

Pros:

A full 18 holes that make use of the available park and keeps the shots interesting. Not the most challenging course, but still makes you pull most of the shots out of your bag. The holes along water don't really ever put you in danger, but they're just close enough to put thoughts of wet shoes and lost discs in your head.

Cons:

I would have liked to see a longer shot off the top of the hill, but everything else was satisfactory ... well, everything except the "swampy" end of the fairway on 18.

Other Thoughts:

Some of the signage was a bit weathered, but overall, the course was in pretty good shape.
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5 0
MarkFLTRI
Experience: 14.7 years 73 played 5 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Low rating is not justified 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 16, 2011 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

1) Clean and well maintained park with little or no trash or graffiti.
2) Friendly locals.
3) Nice mix of shots. Tight fairways on holes 1, 2, 3, 5 & 6.
4) Epic hole is #16. A tight, low ceiling downhill shot. A birdie on this hole is very possible, but must be earned.
5) Hole 13 is another tough hole if playing for a birdie because of the large tree blocking the basket and the pond just beyond the basket.

Cons:

1) It's the only course in Athens.
2) Old baskets (locals keep them because it adds to the originality of the course.
3) I understand why the layout on the back could be problematic if the course were crowded.
4) Not much else to complain about here.

Other Thoughts:

I've been playing regularly for 2 years and have played 50 courses in Texas and Oklahoma. The low average rating for this course is a surprise to me. I live in the DFW area and always include this course as a must play when I visit Tyler 30 miles away. If you can finish this course under par, you might have room to complain. If not, you should be able to enjoy what this course has to offer.
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1 5
coolpooky7
Experience: 13.5 years 35 played 22 reviews
2.00 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Feb 21, 2011 Played the course:once

Pros:

The front 9 is fun and it looks like they plan to add some more tee boxes. So it should hopefully get better.

Cons:

The back nine become very monotonous. Just throw back and forth and no real challenge. I am sure I will be back to play again but not unless I get to car pool with people or unless I am driving through.
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5 1
philguard
Experience: 13.6 years 19 played 4 reviews
2.00 star(s)

My first 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Nov 26, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

Great start with holes 1 - 3 and 5 - 9 (all through the woods) Even 4 is a nice open ace attempt. Tee signs give you a pretty decent idea of what to expect on each hole even if the info isn't 100% accurate. Course starts and ends on the Rec Center parking lot, so if you know where you're going it's very convenient. Wood holes are tight but it's easy to find your discs that land off the fairway if you willing to deal with a few thorny vines.

Cons:

The back nine is just terrible and really needs to be reworked. 10 - 16 are stacked up in an open field with a couple of trees. Baskets and tee boxes that are all tightly packed make this part of the course really confusing. Should you be playing on a busy day keep an eye out for discs in this area.

Other Thoughts:

This was a course I went out and played 7 or 8 years ago and didn't enjoy enough to keep playing. I enjoyed the first half of it a lot today but the second half is awful. If you're in the Ceder Creek area this seems to be the closest place to play but I would just play it as a 9 hole course and avoid the back nine all together.
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11 0
Donovan
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 37 years 300 played 187 reviews
2.50 star(s)

It Ain’t Greece, But It’s Better Than Nuthin’. 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 2, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

This is a well-maintained course with woods, wide-open holes, water, OB, mandos, and a few fairway trees. The wooded holes are tight fairways with dense trouble anywhere off the fairway. The mandos and OB's are all fair and justified. The water is mossy, black, and the bottom was not visible. The shots over or around the water can be navigated to minimize the risk for beginners. Experienced players will not have a problem with it however. The wide-open holes are not bad and the holes with a few trees seem to have the trees in good locations. There are a few trashcans along the way and there are bathrooms inside the Cain Center.

Cons:

There are tee signs on every hole, but the information is not that accurate on many of them. The tee pads are grass/dirt/sidewalk mixture. The dirt and grass ones are not in that great of shape. Some footing can be difficult. The layout for half of the course is not well laid out. By this I mean that there are a few holes that run side by side and face each other forcing you to watch out for other golfers. There is one hole that makes you back track most of that hole to get the next tee (basket 10 to Tee 11). Hole 17 actually plays through hole 18 tee. So as I said, the layout is not the most logical for about half of the course. Most of the par 4's are a bit short to be 4's. This is not necessarily a negative, but wanted to mention it.

Other Thoughts:

The GPS coordinates on the course page are now set to the parking area right in front of hole #1. So finding it should be much easier than in the past. The Fun Factor was just barely ok for me. I liked the wooded holes, but the rest of the course was kind of boring. This is not an overly challenging course. It is great to see such an old course still getting some use, but it just isn't anything I would make to long drive to play. On the other side, I think it is great that Athens has kept it in the ground and has kept the park well maintained.
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2 2
SWAD44
Experience: 2 played 1 reviews
3.50 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 20, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

Great area. Kept Clean. great hole variety. A lot of the holes cut directly through the woods leaving you with only a little bit of room to make mistakes, while others are placed directly in a an open field. Water even comes into play occasionally.

Cons:

Discs can be hard to find and/or get to if thrown into the brush, but that can really happen anywhere with thick woods.

Other Thoughts:

Definitely worth playing if in or around Athens
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3 0
Goat Boy
Experience: 18.8 years 8 played 1 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Kinda letdown... 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 27, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

Short holes that lead to birdie ops. Some pretty scenery. Quite a few benches. Not overly crowded. Nice mix of holes that force you to throw both hyzer and annys.

Cons:

Dirt pads, bad signs, baskets seem lower than most others I've played. NASTY water in the pond. If your disc goes in, bye bye. Course was VERY muddy when I went. If you play a few days after it rains, expect it to still be muddy.

Other Thoughts:

I would say that the course isn't too terrible for Athens, but save yourself the trip if you live 30 minutes or more away. If you do wish to go play this course, turn on East on Loyola (just North of the main Cain Center entrance on Hwy 19). The second entrance that will take you to the parking lot right by Hole 1 is about 1/4 mile down on the right... there is a big sign, can't miss it.
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8 0
Roc1Time
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 22.8 years 131 played 115 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Underrated 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Dec 27, 2009 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

This course is very fun and makes good use of the land that it is on. I love the east texas feel of the pine trees and sandy soil. Ths course has a little of everything and plays pretty level for the righty and lefty. The front is in the woods for the most part making an accurate shot key or you could find yourself in trouble. The back is pretty open but there are some fun shots out there as well. The baskets are old but still get the job done. Never rely busy so you can play at your own pace and not have to be rushed or rush anyone else.

Cons:

The tee signs are pretty much worthless because they are badly worn. Can get very muddy in areas. Not alot of elevation making it a little boring. The water is nasty and an plastic in there is probably gone, although I found a disc of mine that I lost over a year ago in the same spot.

Other Thoughts:

I enjoy this course for what it is and for what I get there. I wish there were more things around here so I could play more often but its hard to justify just driving down here. It is a great course though if you find yourself within range.
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7 0
NDABRUSH
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 16.2 years 58 played 46 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Nice city park 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Dec 22, 2009 Played the course:once

Pros:

Wooded and open holes. Beautiful course to look at, especially the back 9. The 1st 8 holes are wooded with a creek in play on hole 1 which is a straight shot. The rest of the front 8 consists of mostly annys but all are technical. Well defined fairways on the wooded holes. Off the fairway is a different story. Well maintained except for the old signs. Beginner friendly. There were park workers fixing erosion problems from flooding on the back 9. 10 workers were going at it fixing this course. I was having a little trouble finding hole 9 so I asked what I thought was a father and his 2 kids. I said excuse me, can you tell me where hole 9 is. The guy said that he had never been here. The boy (about age 6 or 7) lead me right to it. A 1st grader and his little sister dragging their "babysitter" to the course. Now those are some young addicts.

Cons:

Not really hard but a little challenging for a rec player like me. Not long. The back 9 would be a little boring for pro level golfers. Finding hole 1 is tricky if you go into wrong entrance.

Other Thoughts:

For a city park it is pretty good. I was not able to play about 3 holes of the back 9 because there was a group of park workers fixing the flood/erosion problems. My favorite hole was 16 and is the only hole where any kind of major elevation comes into play. A downhill par 3 that is an empty the bagger. Enjoy Cain Park, but don't drive too far just to play it alone..
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9 0
chalos13
Bronze level trusted reviewer
Experience: 16.8 years 35 played 34 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Intermediate 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Nov 30, 2009 Played the course:once

Pros:

Excellent variation of shots here. they really mad the most of what the had to work with. Tight fairways through the woods on the front nine, very open on the back, reversed from most of the courses I've seen. Navigation was fairly easy, the layout makes sense to me. Several par 4s that are good to par, rewarding to birdie. I never thought I'd bogey a 268 foot par 4.

Cons:

went after a rain, so lots of mud. They didn't make good use of the pond in my opinion, Some holes by the water, but none over. hole one was a little hard to find, 2 entrances to the park. If it looks like you're at the front of the cain center, you are at the wrong entrance.

Other Thoughts:

Probably the first course I've played that I would call intermediate. This was a very fun challenge. I've played challenging courses, and I've played fun. This was one of the few that is both. Met a very friendly local who helped us navigate, told us about mini's, etc. PLAY THIS COURSE if you are close to it, I'd recommend it all day long
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4 1
strain
Bronze level trusted reviewer
Experience: 15.8 years 42 played 39 reviews
2.50 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 11, 2009 Played the course:once

Pros:

This course has a good layout, you have a variety of short and a few long shots. Water comes into play on some of the holes which makes it a little more challenging. It is a fairly easy course, great for beginners. The park is kept clean and has plenty of garbage cans and some benches to sit on.

Cons:

The tee pads are natural and the baskets have seen it's better days. The signs are old and worn and you can barely read them. Do not throw you disc in the pond because the water looks kind of nasty.

Other Thoughts:

The course could be a top course with a whole new revamp,new baskets, signs, tees, benches. The course is a fun course and I will come back to play it again.
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5 0
wolito
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 17.1 years 88 played 86 reviews
2.00 star(s)

typical 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Mar 16, 2009 Played the course:once

Pros:

Front nine is are mainly short tight holes with doglegs right and left. Lrage trees line the fairways where you get to shape your shots through them. Many birdie opportunites. Just has a nice feel/flow to it. Easy parking right next to first hole. Signs are not the greatest, but easy enough to where you can find your way around. Water comes into play on a couple of holes.

Cons:

Poor signange, dirt teepads and old worn baskets. Back nine is just plain boring. It felt like I was throwing the same shot over and over. The fairways are really tight to each other, which could definate cause problems when busy. I could see others getting hit rather easily.

Other Thoughts:

Typical disc golf course built in a city park. Front nine are great, but back half just flat,open and grassy. I would play the front nine twice instead. If I lived in Athens, I would probably play this course often as there isn't much else around as far as disc golf courses go. Good beginner course.
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7 2
Innovadude
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 25.8 years 235 played 180 reviews
3.00 star(s)

2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 18, 2008 Played the course:once

Pros:

Great beginner course to learn on, with some tight technical shots for the pros to work on. Many different types of shots/holes/land. With open, tight shots in a grassy park like area by water, and thick woods. Cement tees, wall marked and easy to navigate.
Well maintained and clean/cleared fairways.

Cons:

Old, with mach-1's and beat up old signs (though they have all the info).

Other Thoughts:

- Do NOT enter the park from a different entrance or you won't find hole #1 very quickly.
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