Pros:
After 17 years as the lone course in the Dupont Park complex, Chattanooga's iconic wooded layout known as The Sinks got a little brother named The Narrows.
Except this brother is bigger and meaner.
The Narrows shares a parking lot with The Sinks, complete with its driving range and practice basket. The Narrows was built on an unused portion of land on the west side of the park just a few disc throws from the Tennessee River. There's an access path near the Hole #16 basket of The Sinks, and visitors to The Narrows will be welcomed by a sign using an appropriately-slender font.
Thanks to dedication by several members of the Chattanooga disc golf community, the teepads are fantastic. The teepads are green turf on top of concrete; currently, they're very flat and in excellent condition.
The Narrows lives up to its name. If you like extremely technical disc golf, you're in luck, as all but two holes demand hitting a specific gap shortly off the tee. While many of the holes require a straight throw initially, several of the holes require some left or right movement after the gap. Combined with elevation on several holes, the lines offer enough diversity for the holes to not seem similar.
Holes #1 and #18 provide a gentle start and ending to the course. Both holes are about 200 feet to an elevated basket. The walking conditions are better on these holes too.
The holes include a rustic bench that fits the feel of the course.
The ground condition at The Narrows has been much improved in the last year. The fairways have been cleaned up, greatly improving the traversability and making the course more cart friendly, though there will still be a few downed logs to navigate. Also, the design of Hole #13 was previously a bit questionable, but the fairway has been considerably cleaned up and the nearly 800-foot-long hole is now a reasonable par 5.
Cons:
Course conditions are still quite difficult if your throw ventures off the straight and narrow, as the rough is incredibly thick and punitive. Scrambling will be extremely challenging and some drives will end up in shoddy lies that are nearly unplayable. You probably won't incorporate many rollers or skip shots into your shot selection.
If the course name didn't telegraph its challenge, you'll quickly realize how demanding this layout is. Thanks to the narrow lines, the slightest of tree kicks may send your disc into rough. Many of the lines appear to have been a narrow walking path through the woods and they were not enlarged much for the course. One disc golfer critiqued the course with a warning and promise: "not for beginners ... you will lose discs."
Several of the holes have ridiculous lines that struggle to fit the normal flight of a disc. Hole #2 is about 550 feet long and requires a sharp right-turn shortly off the tee, then navigating a long fairway with just enough fluctuation in the tree lines that it's difficult to bite it off and get anywhere close to the basket. The twists and turns means it plays like a par 5; but it's a difficult par 4, and making par will feel like a million dollars.
Hole #3 is another strange design. The widest path is about 300 feet straight ahead, and then a 90-degree left-turn for a couple hundred feet before gently turning the corner to the basket. However, there's also a narrow shortcut option about 250 feet from the teepad that requires a precise landing zone to access. From the sky, this hole design would look like a lowercase q, which probably stands for "quirky."
There are few teepad signs at The Narrows. There are several twisting paths through the woods to get to the next hole and while it might be easy for a first-timer to get lost in the woods if they didn't have a map, the well-worn paths are helping with navigation.
The only water on the course is sporadic. There's an area on Hole #16 that can fill after the rains and force a 200-foot-plus carry over shallow waters.
There's still some long-term garbage around the course. On my most recent round, I spotted a busted computer monitor hanging out in a tree just off the fairway of Hole #5.
Other Thoughts:
With the noticeable clean-up, The Narrows is closer to matching the smooth playing surface of the course next door.
It's still a difficult play, especially from the rough, but in its current condition, The Narrows has earned an upgrade in its rating.