Muscle Shoals, AL

Gattman Park

2.585(based on 13 reviews)
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7 0
Moose33
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 12.8 years 239 played 236 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Fairly diverse for being so small

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Aug 26, 2024 Played the course:once

Pros:

Nice neighborhood park with 9 baskets and 18 pads to create the full 18 holes. It starts with a few 300ish ft holes that are mildly wooded before opening up to a 400ft open par3, then you have a long walk back to the final holes that are more hilly and wooded to close out.

The mix of open/park style/wooded and hilly holes over just 9 baskets is pretty impressive especially considering it's a fairly small park.

Classic yellow banded disccatchers were all correctly installed and in good shape. A few benches mixed in and nice signs both for the hole info and directions that guide you to both of the tee options on any hole you might get turned around on.

Pads are all decent sized concrete.

Cons:

A few long walks between holes especially 2-3, and 4-5 and their equivalents on the second loop. Signs for the second loop are not quite as nice as the original 9.

The pads are mainly good but a few are a bit uneven and have some bumps you could stumble on if you aren't careful.

The walking path crosses the course several times as well and on hole 5 someone could come around the corner while a disc is in the air and slight miss left could be problematic.

Other Thoughts:

For this style of course it's pretty solid and definitely worthy of a leg stretch when passing through. Nothing spectacular and not really a tournament course but not a bad one for smaller leagues, I could especially see it being an awesome glow golf location.
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9 0
TRoss886
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 22.4 years 283 played 32 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Good 9 with a new 18 option. 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 8, 2021 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

- 18 Tee Pads: This is a recent addition. Although there are only 9 baskets. The "back 9" does a great job of altering the shot shaping of the "front 9". You also now have the option of only playing 9 and just deciding which tee pad looks more interesting to you. Hole #1 even has 3 tee pads (1A, 1B, 10).
- Kiosk Map: Somewhat newly added and helps with the navigational problem from #1 to #2 and from #4 to #5 that has been mentioned previously.
- Baskets: Cosmetically worn 2 chain Disc Catchers but all in good functioning condition.
- #3: This is the only long open hole (471) and provides a chance to air one out before going into the trees.
- Shot Shaping: a good mix of types of shots on the the wooded holes. Especially when going back and playing the alternate pads.
- Park Amenities: There is a restroom and pavilion near hole #1 and the parking lot.

Cons:

- Navigation: The course could definitely use 2 next tee signs in particular. One going from 1/10 to 2/11 and another going from 4/13 to 5/14.
- Flow of Round: The decent walk that separates 3 of the holes and 6 of the holes, interrupts the flow of your round. Especially if it is your first time playing and you are trying to figure out where to go with no next tee signs.
- Benches: There is one good bench on #4 but the course could use more. Particularly one after walking up the hill to 16 tee pad.
- Park Users: This park can get quite busy and you will most likely find yourself waiting at some point. Multiple drives cross over the walking path.
- #7 Tee: Needs to be elevated to prevent mud overflow.
- Back Nine Signage: The signage for the "back 9" only indicates the hole number. No distance. However, you have already thrown the front and have a feel for it.
- Practice Basket: No practice basket.

Other Thoughts:

Not pros or cons:
- Tee Pads: The carpet tee pads have been lengthened after previous comments on their shortness. The carpet pads are in good enough condition but could be better. A few in particular are not level and muddy.
- Trash Cans: There was one on the course. A couple more would probably help.
- Alternate Start: If you park at the bottom near the playground and start on #2, it helps the flow of the round a bit. However, you will miss the kiosk map.
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12 0
wellsbranch250
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 10.8 years 694 played 680 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Roll'em Out

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Dec 26, 2022 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

(2.192 Rating) (REVISED - revisited December 2022) A nice 9 holer in a well-kept city park.
- UPGRADED TO 18 TEES - I decided to make a second visit to Gattman as I had read that it became 18 holes. Sure enough, there are 18 tees now, but they only added one tee to each existing fairway, and not nine new fairways. So, if they want to claim 18 holes, fine, but it comes with a big asterisk. The new tees are labeled (10) thru (18). Some are longer and some are shorter and a handful are on slightly different lines. The extra tees are definitely a bonus, but it\'s not to the same level of adding 9 new fairways.
- SKILL LEVEL FRIENDLY - Gattman finds the perfect middle ground between not too easy and not too hard for the largest portion of the disc golf playing community. The course would even be ok to bring beginners here as the odds that they lose a disc are near impossible. The layout is mostly forgiving but also has just enough obstacles and length to keep MA2 level players entertained.
- NATURAL BEAUTY - About average. The park itself appears to be well-maintained. There are a bunch of nice big older trees that are located along the layout. The rolling landscape has touches of gracefulness to it. On the flipside there are some detractors. There\'s a chain-link fence along hole (4/13). There are a several utilitarian park structures and buildings in view and play. No water features or rock outcroppings to really make the layout engaging. There are also numerous houses along the backdrop of many holes. Although, these houses appear to be from an upper scale neighborhood, I\'d still prefer not to see someone\'s backyard.
- NAVIGATION - Although missing things like basket numbers and directional cues, traversing this course is not that difficult. The big reason it\'s easy to navigate is the course map nearby tee (1/10). The map only indicates the original (9), but the second nine follows the same loop and has numbered 4x4 posts near-by its counterpart. Descriptive tee signs are only present on (1) thru (9).
- QUICK PLAY - Running a solo 9-hole round here in 30 minutes should be achieved easily. Figure a group of four in around sixty minutes. I would double these figures for those throwing all 18 tees.

Cons:

Only one moderate issue and a few less than ideal qualities.
- TEES - I had read this was upgraded to concrete. Unfortunately not the case. The tees are carpet and they are in terrible shape. Several are also a little uneven. I could see reviewers shaving off significant score for this inferior quality. If this were fixed, I would up my rating to a low 2.5.
- AMENTIES AND EXTRAS - In addition to poor tees, the course doesn\'t have too many extras or amenities. Just two tees and one basket placement per hole. No benches or places to stow a bag at the tees. No practice basket or community board postings. As stated in the pros, good course map and adequate hole signage on the first loop using actual tee shot photos. There is an ageing restroom facility and a nice shelter with picnic tables.
- HOLE VARIETY - Like most 9 fairway courses, Gattman Park lacks the diversity of a true 18 hole course. The lines to the baskets are generally lightly defined. There are two fairways that are basically completely open, (3/12) and (4/13). There are a couple mild elevation plays, the best being hole (1/10), which are pleasing 20 to 25 foot down shots. Also, hole (6/15) plays just over the top of a modest 15 to 20 foot high ridge. Hole (3) is a great hole to practice rollers on for those that can\'t throw 400 feet. The course is all par 3s and the distances vary from the mid 100s to the low 400s. Most of the holes play fairly straight and there is no water in play.
- NO ADVANCED CHALLENGE - Not as difficult as the DGCR rating suggests. The layout is kind-of a tweener between lightly and moderately wooded, thus its listing under the moderately wooded moniker inflates the rating a bit. MA2 level players should average around 1 to 2 down on this layout and MA1s should average around 4 down. Basket guarding is light and shot shaping is a mild requirement. The course is perfect for MA3s.

Other Thoughts:

This is one of those courses that would be awesome to live within a couple miles of. Perfect for average skilled players, but also with just enough pizazz to appease most MA2s and perhaps even some MA1s. Not a destination course, but totally worth checking out for those in the Shoals area and on the south side of the Tennessee. For those looking for only the best in this region, I\'d say skip it. The course reminds me of places like Highland in Meridian Mississippi, Golden Bear in North Alabama, Jack Mattox in North Georgia and Mills Park in Gatlinburg Tennessee. I raised my rating three tenths of a point for the new tees and tweaked formula. A tweener 2.25 rated course to me overall.
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5 0
wericsson
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 11.4 years 54 played 45 reviews
2.50 star(s)

City park doing city park things 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jul 22, 2017 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Nice Discatcher baskets, photographic tee signs, restrooms, and a conveniently placed pavilion - other than the tees and the one incorrect tee sign (see below), this course scores quite well in facilities terms.

Hole lengths vary pretty broadly, from ace run to 471'. Elevation comes into play - uphill and downhill both. OB adds challenge to some holes, and some play as lightly wooded. Hole 1 is a nice downhill play that's long but still very reachable.

Cons:

Carpet tees right at ground level plus awful drainage makes for muddy ground, and even mud on/over the tees. Hole 7 is the worst offender, being perennially half-buried by virtue of its location at the bottom of a little dip right next to a huge hill. Busted butts abound, even though I consider my balance pretty dang decent. Also, the tees are somewhat shorter than "standard," whatever that means.

Two holes (3 and 4) in a row are dead level, treeless, and indeed completely open - and there are after all only nine total. The tee sign on 4 shows that it is an island; however, the pin has been moved off the island due to repeated complaints from the ball golfers next door, so the tee sign is wrong, and the hole is an extremely white bread hyzer.

Every hole is either straight or hooks left late (or is the aforementioned open field). Yes, the elevation adds some variety, but it seems a bit one-dimensional nonetheless: for example, though 8 has a little tiny hook at the end, 8 and 9 play like the exact same hole.

Other Thoughts:

Some days/hours of the day may require more patience than others, as a fairly heavily-trafficked walking trail snakes through the back five.
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5 0
Urmomsbf
Gold level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 15.6 years 800 played 119 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Pretty decent 9-holer 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jul 17, 2017 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Updated rating after relocation of hole 4 due to discers tearing up golf course fence to retrieve errant throws.

Great design for what was available to work with. Good mix of open and wooded that requires different shots. Challenging beginner course. Bomber hole followed up by an ace run. That's always fun.
One of the best parks in the area that has everything for a family to enjoy (shelters, walking trail, splash pad, playground, ballfields).

Cons:

Very busy course. May have to wait on walkers on walking trail often. Long walk between holes 1 & 2, and 4 & 5. Hole 7 tee pad holds water and the carpet becomes a mess. It would benefit from having a wooden elevated platform built. Some of the carpet tee pads are too short and wore out.

Other Thoughts:

This course is the perfect little 9-holer that can grow the sport introducing new players to dg, and still challenging more experienced players. It shows with the heavy traffic the course receives (many high school players on this course).
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1 4
Cotyalred
Experience: 8.6 years 24 played 1 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Good Quickie 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Dec 6, 2016 Played the course:once

Pros:

It is Disc Golf.
Some longer holes, some shorter holes.
Not busy for a park.

Cons:

No Directional's, it can be difficult to find the separated 3 holes, but not impossible.

I played in the fall and the leafs tried to steal a disc or two.

Other Thoughts:

Florence has some big courses so in my opinion it is nice to have a small course to hit, plus the more courses the better ! Disc golf nation!
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5 0
bazkitcase5
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 20.5 years 136 played 58 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Fun little course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 18, 2016 Played the course:once

Pros:

This is a well designed course that fits in nicely with a very scenic park. The designer(s) did a great job with what they had to work with. The fairways are fair and the shot variety is good. The course was very enjoyable to play. There were good tee signs on every hole and disc catcher baskets. The course also had carpet tee pads, which I personally like as long as they are done correct, which these were in fact done correctly.

Cons:

The baskets did need to have numbers and the course could use a couple of navigation signs, which would have made things much easier. Holes 2-4 are kind of off on their own and could easily be missed or have players looking lost trying to find them. A walking track runs through several holes, so patience is needed on a busy day. It is a con that it is only a 9 hole course.

Other Thoughts:

Clearly I played this course after a lot of updating was done to the course, so hopefully some of the old reviewers will get a chance to go out there and play it again. Luckily as an experienced player, I didn't have too many problems navigating the course for the first time, but I could easily see how somebody could get confused. It is a shame it is only a 9 hole course, because in my mind that does hinder the rating somewhat, but there isn't enough room for anything else, but it is an otherwise great course in a land locked area. I thoroughly enjoyed playing this course and look forward to playing it again.
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1 2
KC4KAA
Experience: 11.4 years 43 played 11 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Like a new course!! 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 31, 2015 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

New longer holes signs and carpet tee pads, good baskets and new placements are perfectly level

Cons:

9 holes!

Other Thoughts:

Nice redo distances will be updated tomorrow night,any locals would not play in the old configuration are now seen there regularly
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3 1
bjreagh
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 28.2 years 353 played 321 reviews
0.50 star(s)

Needs tees and basket numbers badly 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 18, 2015 Played the course:once

Pros:

All I can say is there are baskets in a wooded area that could be ok for disc golf.

Cons:

Way too many big ones. First, I could only find 6 holes (apparently the other 3 are on the other side of the park somewhere, I never saw them, and after wondering around for a long time, I just gave up.) No map, no signs, no instructions as to where to go. Dividing a course up into 2 completely separate areas is to me not the same course.

Second, the tees are a major issue. Tee 1- was just a pile of gravel. Tee 2- was a rectangular pile of gravel that did resemble a tee area, the best one here. Tee 3- was a messy pile of gravel in a framed area. And then it got terrible as I never found any more tees. (The wooden frames referenced in other reviews and pics were either missing or hard to spot.) There are no signs or markers of any kind designating tee areas. I wondered around the woods looking and looking for something like a tee area. I eventually made up my own tees throwing to...

Third, NO NUMBERS ON BASKETS. Seriously, I didn't even know you could buy a set of 9 Discatchers without hole numbers on them! On holes 3-6, who knows which basket to throw to and from where with nothing being numbered- you can see multiple baskets in the woods at once but no clue as to which is which. How hard is it to put a number on the basket with a sharpie or electrical tape?

Also, there was a walking trail that played down 1's fairway and then around/through holes 2-5, always a safety issue. And much of the course is almost playing in people's backyards- I felt kind of like I was intruding.

Other Thoughts:

The only thing keeping this from being the worst course I have ever played was that it was at least not covered in waist-high thick weeds. I would be horrified to have somebody decide to try out disc golf for the first time and try to play here. Unless you just wanted to safari it- "Hey, look, there is a basket. Let's try to get there from that spot over here... " Then repeat to another.

But if you want to play, hole one is next to the walking trail in woods across from the swing set (I did not see tennis courts like it says on the DGCR page, it was possibly was transformed into a waterpad for kids.)

This review is for holes 1-6, as I never found 7-9. Though I can't imagine the last 3 holes being any better.

My recommendation- avoid this course at all costs until some signs and hole numbers are put in. And if not, then put the baskets somewhere else. The land could produce a decent little course, but it needs some work that still has not been done.
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3 1
bpartrid
Experience: 13.3 years 81 played 27 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Nice and Easy 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 11, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

The course meanders through a nice little recreational park, so taking the kids would be perfect. The layout takes advantage of the slight elevation changes in and around the walking trail within the woods. For the most part it is a pretty short course (only a Buzzz needed for most holes) but it does have about 3 holes at or above 300'. The last 3 holes are wide open of spaces to end the 9 holes. Baskets are new and in great shape. Overall, it is a nice little course that is very birdie-able where a driver is still needed in the bag.

Cons:

SIGNS: none. none at each tee or directing to each tee. this hurts the course badly.
TEES: no pads, just wooden planks to indicate the tee box and direction. thus, footing is not good due to it being dirt or mud/water if it just rained.
BASKETS: good, but have the hole # written on them with marker (helpful but ugly).
LAYOUT: the first 6 holes are laid out well in that they pretty much follow the walking trail and then 6 ends where 1st hole began. Then, you have to walk a long ways across the parking lot to finish up the round with 7/8/9 holes. This breaks up the flow and then you have to walk all the way back to your car.

Other Thoughts:

This course is fun and easy to play, great for beginners to practice. Here are some easy/cheap ways to bump up the overall playing satisfaction for the course:

TEES: spraying painting the wooden planks will help newcomers find the tees easier. use stencil and different colored spray paint to mark each hole's distance to basket.

SIGNS: no need for hole layout signs as every basket is easily visible from tee box. instead, just one sign would be needed between the 1st and 6th holes to point towards you towards the 1st and 7th hole.

BASKETS: buy some stenciled number stickers 1-9 to place on the yellow strip on top of basket (facing each hole's tee box) to indicate each hole's basket. Then, use a brightly colored spray paint and spray the one spoke on the bottom of each basket that points toward the next tee pad (this directs the player where to walk next after finishing the hole).

If these easy additions are made, then it would easily bump this course up to at least a 3/5 rating for me.
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0 2
Windsor
Experience: 13 years 8 played 3 reviews
3.00 star(s)

My Home Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Feb 23, 2013 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Hits close to home because my brother-in-law created this course, a great course to learn how to play on, some short holes and some long holes to mix it up a bit, in a moderatly wooded area so its nice to play and have some fun. restrooms are nearby and a few pavilions on a couple of holes.

Cons:

Needs new teeboxes and detailed signs of the hole layout.

Other Thoughts:

Fun little course with room to be a lot better. It was just created last summer so I believe, with a little hard work, that this course could be very nice.
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3 0
Autoscopy
Experience: 13.7 years 69 played 9 reviews
1.50 star(s)

Average Course with some problems. 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Feb 12, 2013 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

- A good course for beginners.
- Plays around a water park, baseball fields and school. You could bring your kids.
- A couple of unique holes.
- Brand new baskets

Cons:

- Dirt tee pads which can get very muddy. I've already seen several of my buddies slip and fall. One main reasons we don't go often.
- No signs whatsoever with no mandos. We usually end up debating what's OB on this course on several holes because of the fences and playground.
- No multiple pin locations.
- The first 6 holes are separated from the last 3 holes which is a decent walk and ruins the flow of the game.
- No. 9 plays over a children's playground which makes the thrower feel weary at times. Also it's the school's playground and the children have recess all around the basket location. I've had to skip the last hole several times because of this.
- 1st 6 holes play around a jogging path.
- Some holes feel unchallenging.
- Some pin locations are in bad unimaginative locations.

Other Thoughts:

Overall I play this course the least of the 3 in the shoals. I think it would be greatly improved by descriptive signs and much better tee pads. Also some kind of basket relocation on 9. An average course that needs much work and thought.
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1 1
wheelthrill
Experience: 17.4 years 40 played 3 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Nice little course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 21, 2012 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

I choose good for the following reasons:
9 basket course, just built a few days ago.
Have marked off tee pads.
Good to practice on or for beginners.

Cons:

No signs yet.
Number 9 is far from where you park.

Other Thoughts:

It's a working process. I think once they get some signs up of where the next basket is, etc., it will be a pretty good 9 basket course.
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