(2.542 Rating) A mostly open layout with several bombable fairways.
- NATURAL BEAUTY - Driving into this place was a bit of a shock. Shelby Farms Park is not your typical park. It's massive in size and it's surrounded by urban sprawl on all four sides. The number of extracurricular activities in this park, is absurd. In addition to the typicals, things like rope courses, axe throwing, paint ball and laser tag are present here. There are friggin buffalo in the park! Anyways back to the course. This place is a very pleasant hike. Lots of wildlife in and around the layout. Very few manmade features in view while on the layout. Overall I'd put this one in the 70 percentile range, with potential to go higher had the layout tied in the terrain better.
- COURSE MAP - Please take a picture of this crucial detail before tee (1). Players will need it. I tried using my nav app and it turned me around twice. My photo of the map saved me about twenty minutes of lost at sea without a paddle thoughts.
- CHALLENGING - Prior to getting here, I had just finished up murdering the nearby Sea Isle course and was looking for fresh blood. It turns out, I was the one that was hunted at Shelby. Perhaps I was too dialed down power wise from the prior course, but my drives were nowhere good enough to finish under par. There is a lot of length required on this course and with me personally not having 350-foot power, it made a lot of holes out of birdie reach. Thus mistakes, meant bogey potential. I think a lot of Intermediate and Advanced players will enjoy the challenges presented here.
- HOLE VARIETY - I'm going to say that the hole variety here is slightly above average. True this course is mostly open and long, but it has a bunch of other elements. To start, a nice range of distances, from low 200s to over 700 feet. Water comes into play a few times, most notably hole (4) which is a fantastic water clear shot. Constant elevation was present in the 20 to 30-foot range. A few holes had a modest technical aspect to it, but it could have and should have been a whole lot better developed on this sprawling campus of a park.
- CHAINS - DISCatches yea. A couple are beat-up really bad, but this brand is just so superior that it still just makes it into the pros for me.

Needs additional investment.
- NAVIGATION AND SIGNAGE - Awful, absolutely awful. This course got an overhaul a few years back and new tee signage has not been installed yet. Again, please take a picture of the map before tee (1), it's critical. Some of the transitions on this course are not obvious. I personally made two 5-minute navigational mistakes. I could see those that have no navigational where-with-all getting lost out here for awhile.
- LACK OF TECHNICAL CHALLENGE - The theme here is grip and rip. I thought about the path of my throw very little at both the tees and on the approach shots. Not one hole on this layout I'd classify as heavily wooded. Kind of sad to note that there are heavily wooded areas all around this layout. Players that throw 250 and like woods courses will probably not like this course.
- SKILL LEVEL FRIENDLY - The course will be too long and grueling for many lower skilled players. I think the ideal audience will be those in the 900 to 930 rating range.
- AMENITIES AND EXTRAS - Very sub-par for a park that looks loaded with funding. A majority of the tees are concrete using the same location as the old layout. The new tees are terrible being unlevel small mulch pits with surrounding 2x trip hazards. Only a couple benches at the tees and no extra tees. I only saw one extra basket placement, but I think there may be a couple more. There is however a shelter with picnic table, a port-a-potty and practice basket near tee (1) and basket (18).
- MAINTENANCE - Not maintained other than for periodic mowing... in my non-local and no background knowledge opinion.
- WIND - I don't advise playing here on windy days.
- MUD - I could see a couple holes becoming unplayable if there was a period of above average rainfall. Hole (14) appeared to have parts of its fairways completely submerged by water not too long before my visit. I could also see problems on (3) and (4). Check conditions before heading here.

Hole number (1) to start this course is awesome and it was my favorite hole on the course. I thought the stretch from (4) thru (8) was above average gameplay as well. Unfortunately, there's a bunch of vanilla open blah, a couple head scratchers and an overall lack of investment that keeps this course from shining. The available land here and the quality of it could produce a killer course. Perhaps it will get another redo in a few years, but for now, I could not recommend this course for cherry picking baggers. I would recommend Bud Hill if headed to this area instead. I've also heard good things from the locals about the Meeman-Shelby State Park courses. I haven't played them yet, hopefully I'll get them on my next visit.
- TIME PLAY - 59 minutes for this quick solo.

Shelby Farms is a more than multi use park sitting on the outskirts of the Memphis area . Make sure that you drive through and take in all of what this park offers . It has riding stables , 100 acres to let your dog swim or run , a dock and large lake to fish , and many other extras . There are plenty of signs that will point you towards the disc golf course . You will do a double-take when you near a road corner and encounter ,,,,,,,,,,,,Bison . WHAT THE !?!?!?! They sit or stand close to the fence line , too . There are nice bathrooms at the administration building just down the road , and a Port O Let near the start of the course . an okay amount of parking close to hole #1 . If you can't park there , several spots are open 50 yards away at the top of the hill .
THE EQUIPMENT - There is a nice kiosk with map near hole 1 . Take a picture of it , or print the online map , but don't depend on it . I think the course has been changed some since the printing . Instead , the parks department mows a short path going from hole to hole that make the course easier to follow ( Thanks ) . The tee pads are mostly concrete , but some are still framed in wood and not poured . A few are still natural . On the cement ones , there are dedications to people on the pads , which I thought is a classy move . There are no tee signs to speak of here . Maybe they are still trying to finalize the hole designs ? . The baskets are good yellow banded Discatchers . I saw no trash cans specifically for the course , so carry out what you carry in .
THE LANDSCAPE - The course sits on a nice piece of land It plays park-style though . No woods holes , and mostly open with maybe a few trees to make your disc bend once in a while . There is a pond that comes into play on #4 . I would consider the elevation here to be rolling . about every hole has some type of elevation , but it slowly develops . There are paths cut out of the grass that will guide you from place to place , which helps . The course grounds look well taken care of .
THE HIGHLIGHTS - #1 was a good starter hole ( 320 ) . You throw from a tighter canopied box out to the fairway , with a forest line on your immediate right . The basket sits on the right at the very end . #2 ( 608' ) is the longest hole . The also follows the forest line , with the green on the right . #4 lists the distance at 210' ( wrong ) . It is a water carry along a pond . You can get as greedy as you can stand . Carry longer over the water to land closer to the green . #11 ( listed at 357' ) has a large tree with spread out branches right in the center and halfway up the fairway , forcing choices to try to throw under or to the left or right of the tree . #18 was an okay finishing hole , bending you to the right , to the basket on a sloping hill , with the basket on the top of it and guarded by a small group of trees . If you like to just open up your arm , or you have the arm to just bomb drives , you will love your time here .
SIGNATURE HOLE - #2 would qualify . The fairway starts level , then slowly descends to the green , a small grove of trees around the basket .
BISON - You might get a glimpse of the bison at the back end of the course at maybe hole 15 ( look down the hill ) . What course can you see something like that on ?!
THE TIME - It took me 65 minutes to play the almost 7000' Shelby Farm course . A foursome that is familiar at all with the course will finish this in about 20 hours .
DISC RISK - Disc risk is low . If you can keep it out of the brush on your right for the first couple of holes and out of the water on #4 , you will go home with the same amount of discs that you came with .
I am not sure how popular the course is , but there were a couple of groups playing during my round . The park is clean and there are a couple of picnic areas with tables for you to rest if not taken by the park goers .

#1 Navigation . You are going solely on whether the parks department cuts paths showing you where to go . I would still suggest the map for tricky areas like 6-7 and 7-8 .
#2 Equipment - Finishing the cement tee pads would be great . Tee signs are a must , too , along with updated maps/kiosks . This is a first class park . Making the disc golf course look great would just add to it .
#3 Course Design - This park is huge . I am in the dark as to why they had to put the course here . There are some woods to the right of hole 2 and in the back of 3 . They could have put a couple of long technical ones in there , and extend the length of a could of the front 9 holes . A lot of the holes are straight ahead with possibly a tree or 2 in the way . I can only think that they were targeting disc golf groups that don't want longer more technical holes .
#4 Lack Of Amenities - A few benches and some trash cans at every other hole would go a long way . Even a shelter for disc golfers near 18s basket or the 1st tee would enhance experiences .
Bring bug spray . The bugs are nastiest in the first 4 holes , and you don't swing back around to your car until your round is finished .
The course has very little shade and no benches to roast , I mean rest . Make sure you bring water with you .
The course is in the open , which will make it windy . This can be a pro or a con , depending on who you are .

Before or after your round , you must drive around this park . I only with they had something this nice within a 100 mile radius from me . When you have an icon of a park like this , and want to add disc golf as an activity , you might want to make it as first class as everything else . The course is still fairly new ( 2019 ) , but 2 years is plenty to decide what the final product should look like and start to progress towards it . Don't be afraid to stop into the main office near the lake and tell them thanks , and offer maybe a suggestion or 2 . The park Homepage in DGR , also says that you can pick up score sheets , maps , and buy discs at the Boathouse . Don't forget to have someone take your picture with the bison .
MY RECOMENDATION - This is a destination park ,,,, minus a destination course . It's still a worthwhile play . It's long , but a good course for families that come to the park with maybe 1 or 2 members that play some , mixed with family members that don't . A good course for newbies and 1 disc players , because of disc risk being low and learning to throw farther . Locals should enjoy both the park and the course . Intermediates and pros won't be impressed , but will like that they can try out new discs and unload some long drives . Not far off of I-40 , this is a gem of a course for a traveler coming to or from Memphis , and course baggers . If just to get a load of this park , PLAY IT !