Time for an overview of the course, Cedar Hill is of course a very wooded course with a lot of elevation changes just as the name suggests. It is also a fairly long course with multiple pin placements, depending on the configuration the par for the course can change from between par fifty-four for the short configuration to par sixty for the long. Usually the course managers keep it in the middle with about a par 58. There is an alternate start on hole ten if you prefer to start your round there. I must make note I am a Right Handed Back Hand(RHBH) thrower so any shot suggestions are geared with that in mind unless noted otherwise.
Hole one is considered to be a par four by most, you start off with a nice tunnel shot towards an open field. A nice slow turning hyzer through the tunnel but keeping out of the large cedars directly ahead puts you in an ideal spot for your upshot. It is best to come as close to the left side of the cedars ahead to get the distance and cut some off for your next shot, but that can be risky because being under/in them means you will most likely take a four. The second shot is through a window roughly fifteen feet wide and ten feet tall slightly uphill with the ground sloping downhill left to right. The closer you get to the window on your first shot makes your upshot much easier. The other option is to go up and over the trees with a thumber if you aren't comfortable throwing through the window. I have tried going up and over with a hyzer to the left but there are too many trees blocking your shot when the disc tries to come back in. If you clear the window it's a fairly simple putt from there. There can be a wide range on scores, a three is possible with a well-placed drive but I have seen people take a seven as well.
Hole two depending on the pin placement can be a difficult par four as well. Another semi tunnel shot like hole one, a simple slow turning hyzer works well here. I have seen a few forehand rollers work as well but not much room for error. If possible you want to land before or after the ditch, being in it you will have an awkward run up and probably make a poor shot. If the pin is in any of the short placements you will have a simple upshot with a few trees to deal with. If the pin placement is long then it is up through the trees directly ahead with an almost ninety degree turn to the right. The pin is between 100-150ft past the mouth of the opening. From your drive a good sidearm works well, you just have to get through the opening before letting it fade off right. You can also throw a very late turning anhyzer as long as you don't fade left at the end you should have a good putt at the basket. There is a little creek that makes somewhat of a moat around the green but there is rarely water in it.
Hole three has three pin placements, this is considered a birdie hole. The first pin placement is straight ahead and a little right down the gravel path. Just throw something straight at it that doesn't fade or even a slight right turn at the end. The second and third pin placements are off to the left one short and one long both going uphill. The best shot here is a high stall hyzer and letting it pass through the gap in the trees and fall towards the basket.
Hole four has two trees about twenty feet from the tee you have to shape your shot around. There is another large group of medium sized trees the pin placements are focused around, one to the right, one to the left and one behind them. There is a mound directly in front of the tee and the fairway slopes downhill left to right for its entire length. When the pin is in the left or right you pretty much throw straight at it avoiding the woods on whichever side it is on. In the long position going down the right side with a powerful straight shot and letting skip towards the basket seems to be the preferred shot, but there is a late turning anhyzer shot if you like going through the left gap or play sidearm.
Hole five has three pin placements as well. It is uphill the whole way and levels out near the pin. There are low hanging branches that create a tunnel with about a fifteen foot ceiling. The three pin placements are center, to the left of center and to the right of center with trees guarding the pin. The best shot no matter where the placement is to throw straight up the center aiming at the center pin placement and letting your disc turn towards the basket on whichever placement it is. This is considered another birdie hole with a possible ace on the center placement with a nice controlled shot for the more powerful throwers.
Hole six is another tunnel shot with a ninety degree turn about 150ft out. The pin has multiple placements all past the turn. After making the turn the ground slopes downhill and has a major slope once you pass the long position. On this hole I have seen a more wide variety of shots than on any other hole I've played. It is set up for a nice sidearm or lefty hyzer, but I have also seen lefty tomahawks over the trees, back hand mid-range rollers, right handed forehand cut rollers, anhyzer shots and my personal favorite shot here the thumber. The main thing is to stay out of the trees to the left or right and not go to long and end up in the trees beyond the turn. How far you want to go down the hill after the turn is up to you. From there an easy upshot on any of the short placements awaits, the long position you really are forced to lay up otherwise you end up 50-60ft down the hill with a considerable height difference between you and the basket.
Hole seven is one of my favorites, a long downhill shot with woods flanking both sides. This is possibly a par four with the longest placement. There are a few pin placements on the hill but I've never seen them there, the placements they use are beyond the large log at the bottom of the hill. Depending on how aggressive you want to be you can use anything from a putter to a driver off the tee, being downhill you get a lot of glide no matter what you choose. The main thing is to keep it straight all the way down with maybe a little late right turn and fade back left at the end. There are multiple trees to hit the length of the fairway so I prefer to go with a mid-range to have more control and not have the bad skip left at the end you get with a driver. Also with a midrange you don't have as bad a skip off a tree if you hit one. As long as you end up in the fairway a good ways down you have a shot through a large gap with a semi low ceiling towards the basket. The pin placements are directly at the bottom of the hill, off to the right about 100ft from the bottom or it could possibly be the raised basket on the wooden stand straight ahead.
Hole eight has a mando between two trees into an open area with the pin either amongst the trees just at the edge of the treeline to left or long in the same treeline, a nice straight shot off the tee with a little anhyzer flex to get you to the treeline is the best option here. If the pin placement is long you have to make sure not to fade off left at the end. There is also a large cedar you can get caught in if you fade off to early. Being in the open the wind can swirl here so disc selection is key.
Hole nine has two tee pads and four pin locations, if there is a cable/rope across the tee pad close to eight's basket then follow the path to the right to the second tee pad. The first tee pad is for the two pin placements that are straight ahead, one being short off the tee and a possible ace. The second pin on the first tee pad is long through the trees to the opening near the parking area, just keep your shot straight down the middle and deal with a few trees on your upshot. From the second tee pad the pin placements are straight ahead and through a gap turning left, one long and one short. A nice stall hyzer is the best shot here. You have to be careful when going for the long placement here because you cross ten's fairway.
Hole ten has two tee pads and if hole nine is in the long placement from its second tee pad you are supposed to use the short tee pad for ten. On this hole you are throwing through a window, across the gas line right-of-way, through a tunnel with the first possible pin placement here; otherwise it's either short or long past the tunnel. For the shortest placement inside the concrete wall just a nice straight shot aimed to land near the big tree in the center of the fairway is best, also if the placement is in one of the farther two positions this is a good landing area if you just want to take a 3. For the farther two pin placements you want to aim just right of the large center tree and let something fly as straight as possible with very little fade. The trees are thick on both the left and the right so placement is key here. The farthest pin is actually a raised basket with the tray about six feet in the air with a ring of logs around the basket about ten feet out. Landing in this ring or skipping up to it on your upshot is a good play.
Hole eleven is straight uphill with trees lining both sides, the open fairway being dogleg right with the right side of the fairway having openly spaced trees to navigate through. A slow turnover or side-arm shot are best here, unless you are super accurate and can throw straight through the trees. There are three pin placements the first is a definite birdie and a possible ace for the more accurate throwers. The mid pin location is just at the edge or the gas line right-of-way, a possible birdie if you can get through clean on your drive. The third placement is across the gas line right-of-way on top of a couple terraces, hitting the basket or a tree then rolling back down the terraces and putting up at the basket is common here.
Hole twelve is a long uphill shot with a fairly narrow fairway that levels out once you get to the green. You have to be able to throw straight and far to do well on this hole. I have seen a lot of players fade left or pull right into the trees and take a five. Best play here is to just put something up past the ditch about halfway up the fairway straight up and in the center no matter which pin placement is in. The first pin is in putting range if you can make it past the ditch. The second pin placement requires a controlled upshot from where your drive lands through a couple different gaps. Personally I'm happy with par here, it's too easy to take a big number if you don't place your shots.
Hole thirteen is a nice hyzer shot through a tunnel, three pin placements all along the same line. Just take something stable with some hyzer and let it carry around the corner to the left and you'll be putting at the first two pin placements, both of which are a possible ace. For the farthest pin placement there are a few cedar trees guarding the pin from where most land off the tee.
Hole fourteen is a straight shot through a tunnel with pin placements left, center and right about 150-200ft beyond. Knowing which pin placement you are throwing at is a must because they each require a slightly different shot. For the left placement once you past the tunnel there is a trimmed cedar tree you want to get past about 50ft before hyzering out. For the center placement you want to have a very late turning shot past the large cedar directly ahead. For the right position you need to turn slightly right at the edge of the tunnel and be right of the large cedar and have it finish straight once you pass the cedar, this takes a lot of touch/finesse. For the throwers that don't quite have the power to reach the pin, just getting out of the tunnel and into the open works best; then taking a controlled upshot.
Hole fifteen can be somewhat difficult and depending on the pin placement, very long. You are throwing straight down the gas line right-of-way here. The first pin placement is just off to the right past the tree line that juts into the fairway on the right side. A late turning shot works best here or a power side-arm, but beware the cedar that you can't see just past the tree line. For all the other pin placements you either have to have a very late turning shot that after it turns goes straight all the way down, or my play is to just nestle a mid-range/fairway driver on top of the crest of the hill. From there just a nice touch shot and you can reach any of the pin placements with relative ease. The second and third placements are on the right down the tree line in little coves. Being able to control your upshot and land inside the green can be difficult here. The fourth pin placement is on the terraces on the left, which is also sometimes eleven's long placement. The fifth placement is nearly at the bottom of the hill to the left with multiple trees guarding it, coming in below the branches from atop the hill can be difficult. This is a definite par four in this placement. Make sure you don't hyzer into the woods off the tee here, otherwise you can take a big number.
Hole sixteen is across the road from hole fifteen, there is a little path back at the top of the hill to sixteen's tee pad. Here there are three pin placements, all inside the far tree line. The first pin placement is almost directly straight ahead of you across the field; the second one is where the right side tree line and the tree line directly ahead meet. You must be difficult going for the second placement or putting since the hill drops off and goes down a ways behind the basket. The last pin placement is past the second a good 75ft down the hill.
Seventeen is a long downhill shot with a few well-placed trees in the center of the fairway. The two main shots here are either hugging the right side tree line all the way down letting your disc fade towards the basket at the end or throwing straight at the pin with a disc that won't fade at all. The thing that makes this shot interesting is there always seems to be wind either rushing up the hill pushing your disc right or coming from behind you making your disc fade out early. There is a far pin placement (also hole one's farthest pin placement) but I have never seen it used in the two years I've been playing here.
Hole eighteen has a few different pin placements, focused around gaps/tunnels in the trees left and right in the far tree line. You must know which one you are going towards here. You are throwing out of a tunnel into a field and back into another tunnel here. For the two placements on the right throwing straight at the small tree on the right is the best play, as long as you can land there, just a bit left or closer to the mouth of the gap you should have a good upshot towards the pin. Hyzering out and being to far left of the gap and not having a decent upshot is common here, so work on placing rather than distance here. For the pin placements on the left just a nice straight shot out of the gap with a little fade at the end and you should be looking right at the pin.
I hope this gives you an idea of what you will face at one of our top courses in middle Tennessee. You will definitely be forced to work on your accuracy and placement at Cedar Hill, so get out there and have fun.