Decatur, TN

Decatur City Park

2.285(based on 9 reviews)
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9 0
wellsbranch250
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 10.2 years 652 played 631 reviews
1.50 star(s)

700 Foot Par 3 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 20, 2019 Played the course:once

Pros:

(1.610 Rating) A park style 9, where apparently new park construction doesn't consider the existing disc golf course's fairways.
- BEGINNER FRIENDLY - A very forgiving layout in terms of little overgrowth and near impossibility to lose a disc. That stated, taking a beginner here means they will need to know real quick that they cant throw when people are within 150 feet in every frontal direction and perhaps a little bit behind them.
- TEES - Decatur City Park starts off on the right foot. Nice 5 foot by 12 foot concrete tees that are in good shape on every hole. Just don't look up at the line... It will ruin the first positive impression, See cons, Design.
- CHAINS - Hooray for DISCatchers. A few were showing some rust, but I'd take a bit of rust over new baskets from a bunch of other brands.
- SIGNAGE - Adequate for this style of course. Detailed tee signs that will need an overhaul in a couple years. Next tee direction is not on the tee signs and there is no posted course map. Baskets are numbered.
- QUICK PLAY - My two some completed the round in 40 minutes. We had to use another online source to get around easily, but even without it, its so open that players will eventually figure it out.

Cons:

Nails running over a chalkboard may be more appealing.
- DESIGN - Walking up to (1) and seeing a newly built large sign honoring veterans almost in the direct middle of the fairway was instantly concerning. On hole (2) you can either go for the black ace at (1), throw into a tennis court, throw into a basketball court, throw into the school access road or peg someone standing on tee (2). Yikes! Tee (3) throws over a corner of the basketball court. On hole (4) the ideal play is down a walking path. A new dog or perhaps kiddo enclosure was built directly in front of tee (5). Tee (6) throws over two walking paths. Then hole (7), a 700 hundred foot par 3. Let that sink in.... Why even go through the process of listing a par figure, if the person who made this call can't comprehend the idea of something other than a par 3. In addition, the approach on (7) has the opportunity to land a disc on top of a building. Hole (8) plays over a tennis court. Finally hole (9), where a new fitness area and large billboard were constructed in the middle of the line. Sadly this was not the worst designed course on my road trip as a few of items listed above were obviously added after the course was constructed.
- NATURAL BEAUTY - Not a pretty park and among my bottom 10 percent of courses played to date. Manmade objects other than baskets are in play and also in the logically fairway line on every hole.
- CHARACTER - Other than the nice basics of tees, baskets and tee signs, the course related extras and amenities are mostly absent. No multi tees, practice basket or alternate basket locations. No tee seating and 6 tees baked in the sun. There are however, a couple nice park related amenities, such as shelters, restrooms, picnic tables and fitness areas in fairway lines.
- UNIQUENESS - Alright for niner, but far from the average course. All park style shots that meander through park amenities. Excellent par 3 distance variation, with 200 foot chip shots to roll eye emoji 730 footers.
- CHALLENGING - Actually one of the better qualities but still a touch below average. I rated the course as a par 28 rather than penalize the course for par figure designer lunacy. The course felt like a lower to middle Rec level. Several 300 footers with the need to miss one or two obstacles. There a no 150 foot dinkers here either.

Other Thoughts:

This course provided many laughs to say the least. Looking at the raw course data before my play I was a bit shocked by the lower review ratings. Then I played it... and understood fully. The course is playable, but a mess. It's apparent that the park leadership does not care about the course. Clearly a not a great design to begin with, but it's become even worse with the lack of concern. I would only recommend this course to hardcore course baggers. Everyone else who's played a handful of courses will be disappointed.
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2 4
Chigger Hamby
Experience: 13.5 years 18 played 6 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Fun stop off course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jan 20, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

Innova Discatchers
Concrete Tee pads with tennis court topping!
Well manicured park
Signage
Trash cans

Cons:

They installed this in a park with many other things that can be going on. A walking track also snakes around the park. It's in Decatur...

Other Thoughts:

The cons are easily overlooked, just be glad there is a course here. Like another reviewer said, it is a great spotlight on our sport. Right next to Meigs Co MS.

Watch out for the lame locals yelling at you from their houses. Which should be so lucky to LITERALLY have a disc golf course in their backyard.
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2 2
honda50r
Experience: 5 played 2 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Fun Quick Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 18, 2012 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

-Good condition tee pads
-Well manicured park
-Very manageable small pars, besides the monster 700+ footer
-Quaint park in a good small town
-15 minute drive from a better course, Athens Regional Park DGC.

Cons:

-Unrealistic pars. For example; number 7 is a monster 700+ foot PAR 3. In all reality, there is no way one can par that hole.
-After rain, the park doesn't drain very well, leaving quite a bit of small puddles.

Other Thoughts:

This is my second closest course to home and is a nice change of pace versus Athens Regional Park DGC. It's not near as difficult or complex. But this course flows well and is an enjoyable 9 hole course. The majority of the holes are no more than 300 feet and don't require much skill.
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4 0
ShopTom.com
Experience: 15.8 years 33 played 14 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Simple, but effective. 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 17, 2011 Played the course:once

Pros:

Long level coated tees, high exposure for the sport, beginner friendly yet still interesting for an average player, would be great for a play and eat kind of day with your family.

Cons:

Watch for pedestrians at all times.

Other Thoughts:

I was pleasantly surprised with the experience. The tees are coated with the green tennis court surface so the feel was exceptional. The course is deeply embedded amongst other park activities, but everyone acknowledged what was going on around them and seemed very interested in what we were doing, it felt great! Our Saturday visit was without incident except hitting a pole or three.

The course itself is the typical short with one obstacle variety except for one monster hole. If you don't want to throw 700' just play the next tee backwards around the building.

Our group ranged from novice to recreational which was reflected in our score range of 29-71. The most important thing I can say though, is that all 6 of us left with a smile on our faces and a desire to visit again soon. See you on the course!
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4 0
chrishank
Experience: 14.9 years 33 played 11 reviews
2.50 star(s)

nice little course but bad location 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 24, 2011 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

New course that has concrete teepads on all 9 holes. Good course to work on distance drives, mainly the back 5 with one hole,7, being a monster of 730. It probabaly is my favorite hole on the course. I have never made a par but never a double boogey either. Keep it straight and long on your first shot, and second one needs to go around the building. If you can do this you will have a chance at a par. Impossible to birdie unless you drive 500+ and make an amazing second shot being as far as most aces! But I do like a challenge and that's why its my favorite hole. Signs are at every hole stating distance and pars, all being 3. The park is well taking care of and mowed often. Convinent to town.

Cons:

Some of the locations of the teepads are and pins are in bad spots. Hole ones pin is probally 40 mab 50 feet from the parking lot. My first time playing the course I hit a car, luckly my friends car, with my first throw. Some people start off a little bad and hole one being that close to cars is a bad bad idea! Also the teepad for hole 2 is in the fairway of hole one. Hole 2s pin is in between tennis courts, could be bad for the players who are not aware a disk is flying in close range of them. Hole 4 and 5, I believe, goes through the walking track at the park. I had to wait for a group of walkers on both holes. I belive if they shorten the monster hole they could redo the course to move hole 1 and 2 out in the field it would make it safer.

Other Thoughts:

Overall a good course that will challenge anyone. New players will have difficulty controlling their disk like they need to be able to do. And experienced players will be challenged by the distance expecially the monster hole, :). But they really need to move a few holes for safety reasons.
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7 0
swatso
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 15.7 years 755 played 414 reviews
1.00 star(s)

Fore by Nine 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 19, 2011 Played the course:once

Pros:

Some baskets at which to throw is better than no baskets at which to throw.

Cons:

The ever-present walking path, the tennis courts, and other non-DG play areas along typical flightpaths and/or near baskets.

Other Thoughts:

Course plays near various play courts and across the open space of a very flat, small, multi-purpose public park.

Tees are approximately 5x12, and appear to similar to a tennis court surface. Baskets are top quality.

Simple course to navigate (clockwise loop), as most tees are easily visible from the previous basket. Basket-7 is located behind the back-left corner of the leftmost structure.

Ignoring overly-long #7 (730'), the average hole-length is ~300'. About half the holes are wide open, and the others typically have a single, minor obstacle to avoid.


OK for locals practice or a course to bag (Athens and Roane not too far away), but not worth any special effort to visit.
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8 0
bjreagh
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 27.6 years 350 played 317 reviews
1.50 star(s)

2+ years drive by

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

Pros:

9 hole course in small city park that utilizes most of the park. The holes are straight forward, easy to navigate, and mostly open with a few obstacles to avoid like isolated trees, ditches, light poles on a walking trail, and tennis courts. Each hole has very nice and informative full-color tee signs. The tees are concrete (they look like the same material used for tennis courts.) I really like the orange DISCatchers- it is cool to see different colors other than the standard yellow. Holes are relatively open so it is easy to see the non-yellow baskets. Overall, there is a good variety of hole distance among the 9 holes.

Cons:

Most of the obstacles here are other park amenities like tennis courts, basketball courts, walking trails, benches, picnic tables, a livestock stable, etc. which is a bad idea because these other things also get used by people. Basket #1 is in #2's fairway. Holes #2 and #8 play up to a basket over a corner of a tennis court. Hole #3 plays over the corner of the basketball court. (We made an alternate tee to avoid hitting someone in the pick-up game!) The walking trail is thrown over or along side of most of the other holes. Overall, this set-up is just asking for injuries/lawsuits to other park users, which could lead to the course getting removed.

Many of the holes here are wide open. There are several that have no obstacles, and those holes that do have a few obstacles that are easily avoidable.

Some might say distance variety is a pro, and I would agree for 8 of the holes, but this course is obviously geared towards beginners, families, casual players. The 730' foot wide open hole is unnecessary and completely out of character of the rest of the course (the other 8 holes have a more normal range of 205'-365'). To add to it, you are forced to play around the livestock stable that appears to have been built after the hole was put in. (I accidentally played through it!) This hole should be redesigned in my opinion.

Other Thoughts:

Though not a completely horrible course, it has many obvious flaws. The little challenge offered here would make this a very boring course to have as your home course. Couple that with the interference of the other park activities that might limit the availability to play it in full.

Recommendation- Decatur is good course for a local to introduce someone the game. Don't drive long distances to play here. If you are in the area skip this one and go to Athens instead.
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3 2
benestro
Experience: 13.2 years 30 played 3 reviews
3.00 star(s)

I can dig it! 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 7, 2011 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Well laid out, nice teepads and baskets. Challenging for beginners without being punishingly brutal.

Biggest pro: not crowded. this might change when summer comes.

Cons:

Middle School and residences close by, watch out for walkers and young 'uns.

Keep it low shooting around the barn at #7, you don't want to lose a disc on the roof. and don't throw one in the tennis courts on weekdays, they're locked.

The bathrooms are always locked, so go before you hit the course

Other Thoughts:

Here is wisdom, Make a day of it. head out to the Athens Regional Park course, play a round, have lunch, drive up the road and play this one., it'll be a swell time
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5 0
JSurmann
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 15.6 years 76 played 28 reviews
2.50 star(s)

A nice 9 Holer in a park 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jan 29, 2011 Played the course:once

Pros:

First off, baskets are all Discatchers with the red band on top for easy visibility and are all brand new. (My guess is less than 1 year old.) Tee pads are generously large, ~ 3'x8' and are all concrete pads. All pads are painted green and are also probably less than one year old. Tee signs have just been replaced and are all brand new, showing the hole from the pad to the basket, clearly marking all obstacles, mandos and out of bounds. These are some of the best signs that I have seen on a course recently.

The course wanders throughout the edge of the park and makes a big loop, ending about 50 yards from the 1st tee. From each basket, you can clearly see the next tee pad thus rendering arrows to next tee useless. Fairways are well defined by the signs and are extremely well kept. No overgrown bushes or ivy to really account for, but I did go in January which may have had some impact on this. Benches are in the park, but are along the walking trail, not by the tees. A few garbage cans are placed around the park and I hardly saw any trash on the ground.

The course wasn't crowded when I went there to play at 1pm on a Saturday but I suspect being the only course within 20 miles or so, this could change soon. Parking is plentiful and a grocery store is less than a mile away so you can get hydrated. (It's called the Piggly Wiggly)

Most holes play between 250'-300' with one long 730' hole (#7). Mandatories come into play on a few holes and are mostly safety issues, ex. Around the tennis courts, not over.

Cons:

All holes are wide open with the exception of #4 which has out of bounds on both sides of the 50' wide fairway. Trees in the fairway are sparse to say the least. This course had me wanting to play another more technical course where more shots would be used. (I didn't have to use a hyzer at all the whole round.)

As this is a mixed use park, some holes seem to be really tight. Basket 1 is all of about 30' from tee 2. A gust of wind could easily put a drive from tee 1 onto tee 2. A walking course goes throughout the park and meanders throughout the fairways of the course. There is a sign at the beginning to yield to walkers but I fear that may not be enough to stop some people.

Other Thoughts:

The Long Bomb: As for the 730' hole number 7, I wasn't sure if this was a good or bad hole. It has an elevation change of about 25' drop and the walking path crosses the fairway twice. As it was nice to bomb it downhill in a wide open field, I feel that this was a standard hole that was just lengthened. As it was still a par 3, even the big arms might not get par. A mando around the left of the barn was in effect but it was still some 200' past that to get to the basket. (See photos)

Not too sure if I would drive the hour from Chattanooga to play this again but it is a decent park that has all brand new equipment.

Drop the kids off at the playground and play a round!
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