WHAT TO EXPECT: Combination wooded and wide open course in a low lying swampy area. Short, wooded technical holes early give way to wide open, flat let it fly holes and then repeats. Suited well for beginner and novice players.

AMENITIES: While not directly near any of the park facilities themselves, this course does have benches on several holes. There were no open to the public bathrooms that we could find. There are some about 300 yards from Hole #18, but they were locked when we visited. No trashcans or drinking water either.

TEES/SIGNAGE/BASKETS: Tees were elevated concrete pads, medium in size, not much more needed on a course this size. Course sign adjacent to #1 tee pad and individual hole signs were basic with hole map, par and distance which were useful but nothing spectacular. Baskets were older Discatchers but still caught well and the yellow color stood out well in the wooded sections of this course.

DESIGN: Roughly 10 holes are what could be considered moderately wooded and offer some technical lines that are wide enough and fair for all skill levels. The rough on the sides of the fairways is quite brutal and thick however. It pays to stay in the fairway on the wooded holes. Most of the wooded section of the course falls in the 200 to 250 foot range with one outlier at just over 300 feet. The open holes are very underwhelming and mostly long righty hyzer holes in a flat unused portion of the park near some power stations. Probably the worst stretch of the course by a wide margin.

NAVIGATION: Fairly straightforward despite the lack of a course map as most tee pads are visible from the previous basket. Tee signs have arrows indicating the next tee direction. Knowing which basket to throw too can be a challenge on the more open holes as some of the baskets are close to each other from the perspective of the tee.

EXTRAS: There is nothing terribly difficult about the skill level required to play well here and I could see this being a very popular wooded beginner course in the area (when dry).

LACK OF ELEVATION: There is virtually zero elevation throughout the entire course. This particularly makes the open holes on the course that much more underwhelming and bland.

POOR DRAINAGE: We played the day following a rain shower and the course was a swamp. Almost every fairway in the woods was ankle deep in water with some much larger and deeper flooded sections. Even the open holes were standing water covered and very muddy where the water hadn't pooled.

LOST DISC POTENTIAL: There are a couple holes where you play near a power station that is topped with barbed wire fencing. We noticed a couple discs abandoned within its confines as we played through. There is also a dog park fenced off in the back section of the course with a gate to get in and a ladder to climb the fence in another section. The rough was particularly bad on some of the wooded holes and one of our group lost a disc in the jungle.

HO HUM DESIGN: I feel like an incredible wooded 9 hole course was averted and determined to be a less than stellar 18 instead. The course suffers greatly from its lackluster holes and feels like a slog you just want to complete and get out of there.

MOSQUITOES: With the swampy landscape, mosquitoes are a given and we all spent more time trying to avoid the swarms than we did enjoying our round.

As mentioned previously and by other reviewers, if Southside had simply set out to be a 9 hole wooded course, this course would rate much higher and be a better overall experience for those who play here. The open holes have nothing positive to add to the course and there is little that could be done to them to design them better. Even if this course was completely dried out, and I lived in the area, I probably wouldn't play this course again personally unless I was just playing the wooded holes and chasing aces.

The first few holes at Southside Park are a joy. Short, grassy and with decently technical lines, these holes will be appreciated by wooded enthusiasts, especially novice and intermediate players. And after a detour into the open expanse of the park, the course returns to the woods two more times for similar designs.

About 10 of the holes at Southside qualify as "mostly wooded," but they offer lines that are typically open and fair. Most of these holes fall in the 200- to 250-foot range. Hole #8 is the longest of the wooded holes, at 318 feet, but it might be the best hole on the course, as it requires an accurate throw down a slightly dogleg left and narrower fairway to reach the circle.

On the wooded holes, the areas off the fairway are slightly challenging but reasonable.

Navigation is fairly straight forward, and the tee signs have arrows indicating the next tee. However, there were a couple times when in the open fields that I had to check to make sure I was throwing to the correct basket. Hole #9 ends right next to the Hole #1 teepad, so a "quick nine" round is convenient. In fact, as my friend and I were preparing to start our round, another disc golfer hit his drive off the cage of the Hole #9 basket. So close!

The disc golf at Southside Park isn't terribly difficult, but I can see it being a popular course in the Huntsville area for those seeking a relaxing, fun round.

The flat terrain can be overlooked when in the picturesque sections of the woods. But when the course heads out into the open, there's nothing to distract you from the lethargy of its design.

Hole #6 offers views of a small electrical power station and it runs side-by-side with Hole #7 across a field that's empty except for a couple utility poles that serve as mandos. There are several of these wide-open holes that include no obstacles except avoiding utility poles and a chain-link fence. Unfortunately, the course ends with two such holes, where distance is the only challenge.

A number of the holes are missing tee signs. However, the new sample tee sign design on Hole #14 was excellent and should be used for the remaining holes.

If Southside was a nine-hole course that utilized just the best wooded sections, I could see the course securing some higher ratings. However, most of the open holes are uninteresting, ugly and definite fillers.

I played the course in August, and it was drier than a bone. I felt fortunate to have played in what was pristine conditions, considering the DGCR photos show the mud and flooding that typically occur during other seasons of the year. My rating is influenced by the condition I played in.

Concrete tees, new Discatchers, and a sweet course map (shoutout to wellsbranch250) that should make navigation pretty straightforward. A fair mixture of distances, from sub-200 to 454 feet.

Although I'm pretty certain I recall the original version of one hole throwing right at a power substation, this has been rectified, and so now the only safety issue is a remote possibility of throwing over the fence into a little-trafficked dog park.

One or two really solid technical plays (hole 8), and a few other challenging shots.

Holds water, mud, etc., even in summer, but especially in winter/spring. Worse than any other course I can think of, include a couple which are liable to actually flood. Hole 9 is the worst offender, along with about ten others. The mud also hides ant hills here and there. Ants are fine. Invisible ant bombs aren't.

The open holes are pretty dead open, and on the wooded holes, fairway width seems to have a strong negative correlation with width, so that the 190-foot ace runs have huge, excessive fairways that contrast sharply with the longer woods holes, which are this course's saving grace (but nothing close to competing with Monte Sano or Mastin). As one previous reviewer pointed out, the greatest elevation change, aside from a little two or three foot knob with a basket on top, is the distance your foot will sink into the mud.

Kinda unappealing visually, what with the power lines, mud, etc.

Tee signs are made too nicely (materials-wise) to be so poorly drawn.

Part of what makes this course seem so unappealing is the fact that Huntsville is loaded with good courses: Monte Sano on the technical side, Indian or UAH on the long "golf holes" side, Brahan for a party, etc. This one unfortunately tends to get a harder pass than it might otherwise because of that.

(2.461 Rating) (REVISED - Last replayed November 2022) A regular player's type of course with a mix of completely open thru heavily wooded holes.
- DGC SPACE ONLY - One of my favorite things about this city park course is not having to deal with other park patrons. There are no walking paths or roads that wind through this layout. Also, there are no adjacent ball fields either. This course is a disc golf dedicated space.
- ACEABILITY - IMO, this is the easiest 18 hole course to ace in the Huntsville area. The first five holes are all sub 250-foot mild technical plays. I could see a local MA3 player having multiple aces a year here. I personally have one ace on #5 and I have thrown about 40 rounds here as of this revision.
- MA3 FRIENDLY - This course is going to work really well for the local beginner through MA2 level player whom make up a majority of the disc golf community. There are some short technical plays and a few wide-open bomber holes for those that max out at 375. No water hazards and the odds of actually losing a disc is really low.
- SIGNAGE AND NAVIGATION - Brand new tee signs installed in May 2021 which were desperately needed. The course map was also refurbished and replaced in Dec 2021. I have raised my score by just over an eighth of a point for the signage upgrades. The prior situation was really bad.
- QUICK TO PLAY - One of the quicker 18s to play. The course is definitely on the short side and the hole to hole walks are generally less than one hundred feet. I've done solo rounds out here in less than 40 minutes and have also done a four-person glow round in under two hours. Figure a group of four with daylight should be in and out in 90 minutes.
- NIGHT GOLF - This is an ideal night golf course. Spacious fairways, only moderate overgrowth, no water hazards in play and lots of locals with glow tape and blacklight flashlights. I personally participate in a winter glow league here.
- TEES - 5 foot by 10-foot concrete tees. Most are in great condition, but a few have major breaks from equipment running over them.
- CHAINS - DISCatchers that are in good condition.

Substantial drainage issues with Southside and it also won't challenge higher skilled players like several other area courses.
- DRAINAGE - This course does not drain well. More than half of my rounds out here I've had to deal with flooded fairways. Normally I like to point out which holes are the worst offenders, but there are just so many locations that puddle up. I recommend bringing high quality waterproof boots during the Winter as that seems to be when the conditions are worst here. Southside is just one of three courses that I have ever deducted rating points for drainage. I shaved off a quarter point. The ponding is just so bad that it's an unusable course for half the year for all but the crazies. Yes, I consider myself a crazy.
- LACK OF CHALLENGE - MA1 level players are going to be very underwhelmed by this course. Other than perhaps hole (7 and 8), an MA1 player should have them all birdied after 4 or 5 rounds. MA2 players should be 6 to 8 down routinely. There are several woodsy holes, but only hole (8) is over 250 feet.
- ELEVATION - The flattest course in Huntsville. Hole (5) has a basket on a 3-foot high mound and it's the most notable elevation change here.
- HOLE VARIETY - A touch below average. In addition to being flat, it's an all par 3 layout that has hole lengths varying from around 150-feet to 450-feet. Just prior to my original review post, the hole data on DGCR listed hole (7) as a par 4 at 550 feet, but the hole was altered from the initial design along with (6) to help prevent discs from going over the power station fence. Another missing element is water, except for standing casual water as noted under the drainage con. The course does however have a split mix of open to wooded holes.
- RAW BEAUTY - A periodically maintained course that lacks the natural grace compared to other local courses such as Monte Sano, V-Rock and Indian Creek. A few too many open holes and there are massive power lines running through the layout. I scored the course a 2 out of 5 for beauty.

There's nothing too special about Southside Park as it grades out as a solid 2.5 for me. Seasonally however, I'd give it a 1.75 from roughly January to April, and a 2.75 from May to December. This is due to the drainage issues. Regardless, this is a nice little course for residents on the southern end of Huntsville. Worth a look see at least once if you live in the Huntsville metro area or perhaps more often for those still hunting for their first ace. For those outside of the area, the first go to course should be Indian Creek for the engaging challenges, Brahan Springs for the history and social aspect or Monte Sano for a challenging woods course. Redstone Arsenal is another good first choice for those with military access.
- AMENITIES - As stated in the pros, the pure basics of tees, signage and baskets are done well. After these core items there really isn't much else here that helps set it apart from every other smaller city park course. No extra tees and just four extra basket placements on (2, 3, 9 and 10) and no community board. There are a few sporadic seating areas, garbage cans and a practice basket. Overall I graded this aspect a touch above average.

Nice new Innova baskets, concrete tee pads, plenty of parking, can be played very quickly. Bad shots can be punished with a lost disc.

There is one long technical wooded hole. Can't recall which hole # it is.

Wooded holes are extremely short. Long holes are extremely open and void of trees.

Not too much challenge here. I'm a Rec rated player and shot 10 under par twice, once in leagues. Not challenging enough to keep bringing me back.

I've heard the park holds water, but has been dry both times I've played it. This course may be better shrunk down to 9 holes by combining several of the pitch and putt holes and eliminating some boring open holes. Then use the extra 9 baskets somewhere else.

Nice playing in and out of trees. It is about 1/2 open and 1/2 in trees. 15 is fun with basket surrounded by trees. It has rough concrete pads, and signage at every pad. It is the only course in SE Huntsville, so nice to have something close to home for me.

A lot of the low spots, on the holes in the woods, have fresh dirt filling in them. Also, there is gravel being placed around the tee pads. (Thank you to whoever is doing that!)

In the winter, the standing water is horrible. High top boots, or rubbers would be the footwear of choice. Water can get several inches deep. Hole 9 is the worst with a large "pond'' in the middle of it. There is no easy way around it. 16 is similar, but if you go through the brush and brier on the left, you can keep your feet dry.

At least a 1/4 of the tee signs have fallen off their poles, and the course is almost new.

No bridge to hole one.

I think the course has good potential, just the standing water makes it not so fun, if you don't have water proof shoes.

Great baskets, but the yellow paint is already flaking off. Weird for new baskets.

Trying to provide a fair and honest review for a course that is well layed out for the limited land that was provided. And for the amount of work a handful of individuals have placed into creating this course - KUDOS to each of you.

Still struggling with the amount of land the city designated as a dog park. It has to be the largest dog park I have ever seen. Not sure I would let my dog off a leash inside that area. That aside, here are my thoughts:

Things I like about the course:
1) Good mix of wooded and open holes with both lefty and righty holes.

2) Not too long, so a beginning player wanting to learn the sport will be able to enjoy the course.

3) Baskets are mounted well (Level and right heights), Tee signs on every hole (have one issue here but will explain below)

4) A ton of work has been done on clearing out underbrush and small trees in an area that might have been one of the roughest areas to clear I have seen to date.

5) Location- Huntsville needed another course and having another one on the south side of town is a plus.

Things I don't like:
1) Even on a dry day this is a very swampy area with a lot of wet/muddy wetland type areas.

2) lots of holes that need to be filled in with dirt from removed trees I am guessing. A few ankle breakers out there if you are not careful.

3) The fence on the Dog Park comes into play on 3 holes and if you are not careful or on a windy day you may end up over the tall fence. It requires a very long walk to a gate and then a very long walk back to retrieve a disc that may or may not be easily found due to the growth of grass and bushes in the dog park.
Hole 18 can be tough.

4) TVA / HSV Utilities power lines, Power Grid and poles can all come into play. Basket 5 was shortened and moved yesterday because a few discs were landing inside the grid fence. CAUTION that area is restricted and you will set off an alarm if you enter the area. Also with 40-50k volts running through that area it is possible for power to arch to you and kill someone. DO NOT ENTER for a lost disc, not worth losing your life over.

5) Parking. Most of the locals have been parking along the road near hole one.No designated parking area, and no gravel or concrete for parking. Maybe something we could discuss with the city. As of now there is not a sign that designates where the DG Course starts or even where hole 1 is located, but that may be coming in the near future.

6) Mosquitos - Due to the amount of standing water, but what course doesn't have a bug issue when there is standing water. When the grass is high in the field, watch where you step because you are liable to get your feet soaked in areas that hold water.

7) Tee pads - Hopefully in the future there will be some dirt build up around the concrete pads. They are not level with the ground currently.

8) Signage - Distances are off, so don't depend on the signs for your throw.

Overall it is a fun course. Several ACE runs, and few holes to open up your arm. Concrete tee pads are being poured this morning (9/11/15) for the remainder of holes that do not have them installed.

Bathrooms are available at the playground and dog park parking area.

My one hope was that Aldridge creek would have come into play on some of the holes. But since the dog park takes up about as much land as the DG course, it was not possible.

Considering renting a wood chipper if someone had a 4 wheeler that could pull it around, it would be great to take all of the trees laid up in piles and provide a base for the fairways.

Thank you to those who donated garbage cans. Special thanks to John Chamness for the effort put into making this course come to life. I'm sure there are many others who have helped.

Wish we could get the city to consider a course at Ditto Landing with all the new plans that are being established. There is a great potential site on the south side of the harbor in the picnic area.