A somewhat piecemeal but almost Good course.

-Amenities: Smallish concrete tees, posts with number and distance, two different types of baskets mixed throughout that both catch fine.

-Variety: One of the higher marks for Shannon is its mix of open and wooded holes. The first 9 are mostly open, with no more than a handful of strategic trees per hole, but the back half is much more wooded, with lots of pine trees forcing you to make your choices. There are also some short par-4s peppered in. This mix is comparable to many of my 3.0 and 3.5 courses.

-Shot Shaping/Gameplay: Gets better as it goes along. Starts very ho-hum with many open shots, then (6)-(7) have some nice guardian trees, and from the approach shot of (10) and on, the shots are an interesting combination through the woods. I would only rate (11) and (12) as needle thin, with most of the rest of the back giving you flexibility to attack smartly based on your own strengths. This pine-filled section of the course is above average to me, with the front open half being below average. Distances are definitely on the shorter end, but range up to 300ish feet for the par-3s. I also want to point out my favorite hole, (18), a short par-4 with a couple of different tightly wooded options that have to navigate a creek or a baseball fence.

-Rec-Friendly: The holes may not be trivial, but there aren't many super tight and specific lines out here. I think rec players looking to challenge themselves could find Shannon to be a very useful track to practice both open and technical game, while still having birdie opportunities.

-Drainage: Some major drainage issues when I played, mainly from (5) to (8). Basket (6) was in a deep pool of standing water, with the green of (7) in a similarly swampy situation. Errant shots around this section of the course could also end up in swamp puddles.

-Front Nine: As noted above, below average and too open. I was not thrilled to emerge from the front nine with waterlogged shoes and without a technical hole.

-Signage: Would really benefit from tee signs with a map, especially since some of the old yellow baskets are difficult to spot. On many holes the pin is blocked by a tree in the sightline, making it frustrating to search.

-Safety: (9) and (18) could bring ballfields into play, while (4) and (14) could see road issues.

Shannon is on the upper end of Typical due to its good variety on the back nine. However, overly open gameplay and bad drainage on the front nine, coupled with the lack of tee signage, keep it from its potential to be a 3.0. I think it's a very solid mixed course, perfect for rec players who want both open and technical shots.

I used to live in Rome, but when I left the only courses were at Berry College and the wrecked remains of Ridge Ferry. Since then Shorter College has also added one, but a it's great to have a course in the area that you don't have to get IDed at a gatehouse to play.

Fairly open course with the majority of the holes between 200-300ft and a couple of longer challenges. The front is pretty snooze worthy but the back in the woods has some interesting holes. Scoring the Eagle 2 on #18 made it my favorite lol. It's actually a reasonably hard shot, but a very fringe 4.

Good place to bring an intermediate player and I played terrible and still shot -6. Could have easily been -11 if I had known all of the placements etc.

Teepads are all concrete and decent and the baskets are a mix of Innova discatchers which had been salvaged from another course(possibly Ridge Ferry) and a few new red Prodigy baskets.

Almost nowhere you could lose a disc.

Nothing overly special, it's just a park style course with a few trees. Almost no elevation, no water and just a couple public areas to avoid.

Navigation is tricky though became more intuitive over time. Even my friend who had played there before got turned around a bit.

A few of the baskets are damaged and need a little TLC but only one is in need of real repair.

It's not a special course, but it will probably get a ton of new people playing which is great.

Really soggy in the lower areas.

It's a good addition to the area and if I'm up that way with a free hour, I'd happily play again.

Not a destination by any means, but certainly not a bad course.

With the land given the only things they could improve on are the signs/ navigation and a few pin placements.

(2.296 Rating) A standard multi-use park course with a mix of lightly wooded and moderately wooded holes.
- RECREATIONAL FRIENDLY - I think the best thing going for this course is the recreational nature. The odds of losing or searching for a disc is low. Numerous birdies can be had by 850 rated players on a good day and a few holes will also push them to routinely make par. Although not an ideal beginners course, it will still be doable for those starting off and will encourage development up until they make it to Intermediate level.
- BACK 9 - If it weren't for the back 9, which is moderately wooded, I would have scored this course a 2.0. Hole (10), ignoring the unnecessary mando, is a nice hooking long par 3 into a defended pocket (yes, it's labeled as a par 4 at 375 ish feet.) I also thought the finishing two holes were the best back to back pair on the course. I like it when a course finishes strong.
- TEES - Nice sized concrete tees that were poured in the last few months.
- QUICK PLAY - I had this one wrapped up in 45 minutes on an empty course. Figure groups of 4 in under two hours.
- MAINTENANCE - I saw a little trash here and there, but otherwise things were fine. The course was mowed and overgrowth was limited to the fringes on a couple holes.

Ho hum for higher skilled players.
- DRAINAGE - I don't take points off for this, but it is obvious that the course doesn't drain well in spots. Granted the area had gotten a ton of rain in the weeks prior to my visit, but there were still numerous wet areas 3 days after the most recent significant rain event. Like many flat courses in the greater region, I'd say bring mud boots just in case between December and April.
- SINGAGE - The navigation will be decent with a map, but could be frustrating without one. The tee signs aren't in yet and surprisingly the wood posts were only sharpied on about half the course. To make matters worse, numerous baskets are apparently from another course and their numbers don't match the tee number.
- CHARACTER - In addition to poor signage, the course is void of all the creature comforts and extras associated with the well-established courses. No extra tees, alternate basket placements or benches. There is a practice basket near tee 1.
- LACK OF CHALLENGE - Recreational difficulty, which is probably not a bad thing for a majority of the players. I personally played horrible and still shot under par. 950 rated players strolling here will probably shoot 10 down on first attempt. The par 3s average around 250 feet and the par 4s average around 450 feet. A couple holes are obstacle free and basket guarding on numerous other holes is lacking. I think the ideal player rating range is 800 to 900.
- MULTI USE HAZARDS - A couple holes directly boarder ball fields, but thankfully no crossing into them. I could see a couple needing to be skipped on an active park day. In addition the hole to hole spacing is not the best.
- NATURAL BEAUTY - I scored the course beauty a 1.875 out of 5. This is roughly 35 percentile among all courses I've played to date.

I've rated all five courses in the Rome area now and have given four of them a 2.5 rating, Shannon, WinShape, Shorter and Log Cabin. Considering that Shorter has been neglected heavily since my last visit, I'd say that Shannon would slot as the second best course in town after WinShape. So that means there is still really no reason for the non-bagger disc golfers from the Atlanta area to come to Rome yet. It may be worth a visit for those traveling between Atlanta and Huntsville and obviously for those that actually live in Rome. In addition, I could see this course starting to develop a nice local scene as this is the only public option in town.
- UNIQUENESS - Average hole variety. As stated earlier, a good mixture of tree coverages. Hole distances range from upper 100s to low 500s. Elevation maxes out at 10 to 15 feet on any one hole and few are blah flat. Water features are basically limited to flash flood ditches and standing water after a string of rainy days. A few holes are cool, but there really aren't any gems.

If all roads lead to Rome, there's a chance you'll pass the newly created Shannon Park DGC about eight miles northeast of the city's center.

Shannon Park feels like two different courses. The first nine holes are fairly wide open with only occasional trees serving as obstacles; the back nine features a plethora of tall timbers and tight fairways. The front half (especially Holes #1-7) could be a good spot to introduce someone to disc golf. The back half feels similar to Brahan Spring Park in Huntsville, Ala., as the towering trees and tricky lines ensure plenty of discs will be hitting wood.

Nice teepads. Level and long enough. The teepads in the woods will be susceptible to being covered by pine needles and sticks, of course.

The "traversability" is good, though the potential for standing water and muddy areas exist, especially on several of the low-lying holes on the front half. The distance between holes is minimal, though there's a couple-minute walk back to the parking lot after finishing Hole #18.

Navigation is pretty good. Just a couple tips: The baskets for Hole #6 and Hole #7 aren't immediately obvious from the teepad because they're hiding behind trees. Also, when finishing Hole #15, proceed left to find Hole #16 (Hole #17 is to the right, near the road).

The better holes on this course are on the back nine. Hole #10 is on the edge of the woods and provides several lines to the basket. Hole #14 is only 231 feet with an ideal route that is straight but narrow. The final hole is a par-4 guarded by a chain-link baseball field fence on the right and includes a meandering stream and lots of trees in the fairway.

While Rome, Ga., is situated at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and marks the merging of three rivers, these topographical features are nearly absent on the Shannon Park DGC. The first two holes are treeless. And the fifth and eighth holes are wide open as well.

Filler holes: Holes #8 and #9 might permit the big arms to air out a disc, but they definitely feel like boring holes that connect the open holes with the woods. Plus, the teepad for Hole #8 is next to a tall chain-link fence, forcing an unnatural drive to pass the corner.

A couple of holes on the back nine, especially Holes #13 and #15, feel like "poke and hope" designs. The heavily-wooded fairways don't prompt an obvious line to the basket.

Most of the baskets were well worn when I played the course, but updates say new baskets (and tee signs) are coming. Even then, the baskets' notable flaw was having the wrong number on most of the banners.

Disc golfers will need to be aware of other park users, since there are some walking paths around. The right-hand boundary of the fourth hole is a road, while the right-hand boundary of the fifth hole is a railroad track. These shouldn't come into play, hopefully.

With a limited amount of wooded area to work with, the designers of the Shannon Park DGC did a good job utilizing that space. Unfortunately, the course doesn't generate much excitement until the back half, which is significantly better than the opening holes. I'd score the front half a 1.5-2.0 and the back half a 3.0-3.5 and so arrive at an average of 2.5.