Pros:
(1.484 Rating) A pleasant MA4 level park style course that starts well, but finishes poorly.
- FIRST FOUR - I was certain I was going to give this course a 2.0 overall rating after playing the first four holes. The gameplay, although simple, was respectable. The shots were all between 150 and 250-feet and required avoiding at least one obstacle. When I walked to (5), the course felt worthy of being labeled as an average niner on my scales, but then the next five holes happened.
- BASICS AMENITIES - The overall course related amenities package is below average, but the two most important ones are reasonably done. Prodigy T3s are the baskets. They look fragile, but they sure seem to be able to snag light lobs well in sections of the chains that most other baskets can't. I don't advise firing bullets at these guys. Meanwhile, the tees are concrete and 4-feet by 8-feet in size. A touch small, but they will work fine on this shorter than normal course. A couple tees are also very noticeably unlevel. Other notable park amenities include restrooms, shelters and picnic tables.
- BEGINNER FRIENDLY - Ideal for families and young kids. It will be hard to lose a disc here. Very little searching and shorter than normal distances as well.
- QUICK PLAY - 19 minutes for this quick solo with a map.
- MAINTENANCE - The course was in great shape when I played it. Mowed, minimal trash and no major tree debris.
Cons:
Simplistic and poor design.
- LAST FIVE - If I were to guess, I'd say that this course was installed by someone with little experience. The final 5 holes are littered with issues. My main complaint is the tee location. On (5), the tee is a full double back and almost directly adjacent to tee (4). Tees (6), (8) and (9) are all in the direct line of fire from the previous hole. Hole (9) is a gimmick roller required hole, as the bend can't be achieved in the air unless one is using a boomerang. In addition, holes (5) thru (8) are all obstacle free open field shots. This portion of the course should have been a whole lot better considering the park boundaries.
- SAFETY HAZARDS - Roads and/or sidewalks come into play on five holes.
- LACK OF CHALLENGE - As noted above, I think this place offers MA4 level challenges. The longest hole is listed at 286-feet long. Four holes are obstacle free. As an MA2 level player, I often felt like I was going through the motions during the round.
- NAVIGATION AND SIGNAGE - The signage aspect is substantially subpar. The only hole number indications on this course is the wood engraved number on the tee pad frame. This makes it hard to spot, correctly, from the prior basket. That stated, this is a small compact park. Even without a map, every sober player should be able to figure it out
- HOLE VARIETY - Like many small park nines, the variety is limited. Short holes with minimal elevation change. All par 3s and no water elements. Hole (9) is literally the only curveball and it is of the wild-pitch variety that misses the catcher's mitt by a good mile.
- NATURAL BEAUTY - I scored the beauty at around 30 percentile. This actually slightly raised my overall score as I had all the other aspects at a sub 1.5 rating. This is no doubt a nice small pleasant park. There are some big old monster oaks. There is however, just not enough defining elements for me to score this aspect any higher. Lots of manmade objects in view and play.
Other Thoughts:
Hodges Town Park has done enough to make a passable niner experience in my opinion. It felt like golf, it looked like golf, but it surely didn't pop enough to land anywhere near the middle of my rankings. For reference, I got it slotted at 468th out of 577 courses as of this review. No need for the destination course pilgrim to venture here, but definitely worthy of a notch to the regional course bagger and also the everyday local player starting off. Among north Alabama courses, it somewhat reminds me of courses like Dublin Park in Huntsville and Vinemont in Cullman.