Pros:
(3.716 Rating) A private paradise that will please a wide swath of players.
- CHARACTER - I had a tough time deciding on how to start off the pros for Bud Hill. All of key attributable qualities I've assigned for this course came in at around 70 to 80 percentile. So, to start, I'll mention the club house I saw driving up. Amen. It's a 300 square foot chill area complete with comfy chairs, a TV, a poker table, a guest book and memorabilia. On the course, there's seating on every hole and most are shaded very well. There's a small shelter on tee (2). The signage and navigation, I'd say is above average, although not nearly to the level of all these new public courses with the $30,000 plus budgets. Multi tees occur on numerous holes and I think there were a couple alternate basket placements as well. Also bag hangers and a porta-potty.
- CHALLENGING - A low end intermediate level course I think from the original tees and probably a tweener between intermediate and advanced level from the back tees. As an intermediate player myself, I shot a 54 playing mostly the original tees, but I mixed in a couple back tees as well. I think the challenge and multi tees will appeal to players between 800 and 950 which is vast majority of the player population. Players above the 950 range will slay this course.
- UNIQUENESS - Constant elevation movement but manageable. A great mixture of relatively open thru heavily wooded holes. Four water clears, a few bombers and some nice shot shaping opportunities. What's missing the most however is the multi-play hole. This is par 54 course and other than hole (4) there really isn't much in the way hole management. Very few significant benders unlike the adjacent "The Ridge" layout. (17) I thought was the only substantial sweeping RHBH hyzer play. I don't recall anything breaking much to the right.
- RAW BEAUTY - A lot better than most courses. The tee shots on (6) and (7) are both signature looks using elevation and water. (11) and (12) are also a pair of appealing wooded valley plays. (14) and (18) are both nice looking water plays. I could see someone arguing that the airport gate benches at the tees look dumpy, but then others saying its part of the rustic nature feel of the course. There are also handful of average looking lightly wooded holes. In totality I scored Bud Hill about 40th out of 270 courses played as of this review.
- DONATIONS WELCOMED - Bud Hill is not a pay to play private course. However, anyone that plays here and doesn't throw a few bucks into the donation bucket is not a person I'd want to throw with. It's remarkable what the owner has done here without a park's department budget to work with. Please do what you can to support and thank him for his efforts.
Cons:
I have to get epic picky to find issues with Bud Hill. A few of the below listed cons are provided for information only and play little to no impact on my ratings.
- LOOSE DISC OPPS - A pond comes into play 4 times. So I advise bringing a couple junkers for those that are deafly afraid to lose a favorite disc. I carry a floater but only threw it once on (14). Had I lost one on the other 3 water holes, I deserved it. There are also a few big thicket areas that could take a substantial search to find a disc that's playing hind and seek.
- LOCATION - Way out in the middle of nowhere Memphis. My GPS did not take me to the right place at first. My advise would be is to keep on a lookout for the metal Bud Hill entrance sign with words "closed" below it.
- TEES - Mostly 4 by 10 concrete tees. 270 courses in the bag for me and this size and surface type grades out as average. I wished I had more surface to work with several tee shots.
- CHAINS - Like many private courses I've played, that baskets are not always top of the line models. I believe they were MachVs but a couple may have been something else.
- BEGINNER FRIENDLY - Bringing a beginning player here is doable, but probably not ideal with the hoards of hazard free rec courses out there to choose from. As stated above, there are water hazards and also some of the tighter lines are just not good for players not adjusted to releasing at a consistent point. Be prepared to lose a disc when bringing a first timer out here.
- TERRAIN - IMO I thought the course was somewhat cart friendly. There some interesting transitions along (6-7) and also (11-12) which play through a wooded area with elevation changes.
- PARKING - Not the greatest driveway leading to the course parking area. Its gravel and there's some pitting. 95% of the cars should be fine, but for anyone with a low riding vehicle or one that doesn't do well with shifting gravel, it would be best to find another option to travel here. The parking lot is also gravel.
Other Thoughts:
Bud Hill was my first targeted course on a 5-day road trip to hit destination courses. It's truly a gem of a course that has aged well over time. I only met the owner briefly on the way out, and in that short time I could tell that he is great steward for the disc golf community. A big thanks to him for his contributions to the sport. As for the course, I have a feeling that this is likely a big favorite in Memphis. IMO The vibe is amazing, which is obviously a subjective feeling, and it contributes only a very small fraction in my ratings. Currently I have Bud Hill as my personal 5th highest rated TN course. Significantly behind Harmon Hills and Panther Creek, a touch behind both Cedar Hills and Seven Oaks, but a touch better than both Cane Ridge and The Sinks. I played all of these courses in a 6-month time frame, so I'm confident in my personal rankings for these 7 courses. There are two main reason for this placement, the hole variety and the challenge. It's not that Bud Hill doesn't excel in these two attributes, cause it does. It's just that the before mentioned courses that I've rated higher just go a bit further. I really enjoy the multi-play +500 foot holes and Bud Hill only has one of these. The elevation usage at Bud Hill is great, but again, all of the before mentioned courses that I've rated higher have holes that go more epic. As for challenge, I think it needs to be dialed up a bit more to appease the +950s. In all, I think Bud Hill is a "Great" course, which is how classify the courses that I have scored at around the 3.75 mark. My 3.75s are the tweener courses I've rated between 3.5 "very good" and the 4.0 "excellent", thus the term "Great."
- TIME PLAY - Average. figure two hours for a 4 some.