At the end of Dundee Lake Road is ... surprise, Dundee Lake. But the roadway's end is also home for a respectable 18-hole disc golf course that fits in well with the other Griffin offerings.

The front nine makes excellent use of the elevation and combines tight, wooded holes with wider but well-defined fairways. Plus there are four alternative holes that can add to your total.

Hole #1 is fairly open, which is an appreciated aspect for a first hole. But this opener is no gimme - the entire fairway slopes down from left-to-right with evergreens loosely guarding the lake. The area near the basket is a small plateau with rollaway potential all around.

Bonus disc golf: After the first hole, you have some options. Playing Holes #2 through #4 involve throwing over and then crossing a slightly hazardous stream and slippery rock area twice. There's also some fun alternative holes, labeled #2A through #5A and marked with red-banded Discatchers. Hole #2A is a tight, downhill ace run. The next two holes are decently wooded but flat, and then Hole #5A is short but straight up a hill. Players can choose a set of four (either Holes #2 through #5 or Holes #2A to #5A) as part of their 18-hole round, or they can opt for a 21-hole option that includes skipping Hole #5 and playing the four alternative holes after Hole #4.

The signage for each hole is excellent and is complete with distance, par and a good depiction of the hole. Several of the holes offer a "short" teepad, though they're made of rubber instead of the attractive turf tees.

Hole #9 returns to the parking lot. I greatly appreciate courses with this design feature, which allows for a refreshment break and the option to start the round on Hole #10 if there's a crowd near the first tee.

Hole #16 is the fantastic water hole. The teepad starts on higher elevation and crosses a lovely inlet. The hole is 335 feet, though it's not over water the entire way. However, the land closest to the water on the other side can be swampy, so depending on conditions, you might need to throw 275 feet to ensure staying out of the mud. There's also an alternative teepad on the left that is only 185 feet and doesn't cross the water.

When I played this course in March, it was in excellent condition. Kudos to the dedicated souls who maintain a well-kept area for throwing discs.

As you approach the halfway point of the course, you'll probably notice that the area near the parking lot is fairly open. This results in several plain holes that don't add much to the aesthetic design or challenge of the course.

Some of the areas off the fairway are thick and challenging. There are a few rough spots, especially on the back nine, which you will want to avoid. On Hole #12, a patch of trees and brush on the left is just begging to gobble any discs that fade early.

I played with a couple locals, so navigation wasn't an issue for me. However, the use of the alternative holes can be confusing, and several times, the next teepad isn't visible from the previous basket. Short walks in between holes are frequently required. Plus, a number of the baskets are out of sight from the teepad.

Upon arrival, you are greeted by the widespread view of Dundee Lake. However, barring some griplocks or tragic rollaways, the lake is only a factor on Hole #16.

The distances on the tee signs for Holes #3A (306 feet) and #4A (213 feet) appeared to have been accidentally switched. The latter is definitely the longer hole and this has been corrected in the Hole Info tab.

After I completed my round at Don Shannon Memorial, one of the locals asked if this course was better than nearby Tyus DGC, which is currently rated 4.14. I was diplomatic in my response, but c'mon, it's not even close.

The front nine at Don Shannon Memorial is well-designed with some openness mixed with several technical holes. The elevation is a plus, too. However, the back nine seems to run out of ideas, and only one or two of the holes would be considered moderately wooded. Hole #16 offers a cool over-the-water throw but then the final two holes are open and a disappointing conclusion. The front half hints at a 3.5 rating, and while there aren't design flaws on the back half, it's a bit barren and provides less elevation, which drops the overall rating half a point.

Walker40 provides a detailed walk-through video of this course: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIsr_jlwF2o

Has practice basket

Has turf tee pads

Good mix of open and wooded fairways with varying elevations

Has next tee signs posted throughout - easy to navigate

Water comes into play on some of the holes where there are water carries on holes 2, 4, and 16

Has two loops of the front and back nines

Quiet - had whole course to myself on a Saturday afternoon

Free parking

Restrooms

Has no tee signs

Baskets have no numbers

Some holes such as 3, 8, 11, 12, have rough areas and need more maintenance

Watch out for small, exposed tree stumps as they're easy to trip on

This is a challenging 18 hole course outside of Griffin that I enjoyed playing on a hot Saturday afternoon. From the parking lot, you can see the practice basket that is located near the lake. Also from the parking lot, you can see the hole #1 tee pad that is next to a tree and has a bench. This course has very few benches for its length and elevations. I recalled seeing about four benches at holes 1, 2, 6, 18. After playing a couple of tournaments here in early 2017, this course gives me a feeling of not being finished. No tee signs, no basket numbers, and no course map at the kiosk can be daunting for the first time visitor playing here. Also some holes such as 3, 8, 11, 12, have rough areas and need more maintenance. They have piles of dead trees near the fairways that can swallow your disc whole and make recovery nearly impossible. As with typical young courses, there are small, exposed tree stumps scattered on some fairways so watch your step. I was kind of bummed not seeing much improvement in the course after not playing here for 6 months. I do think that the next tee signs have been added though and they do help navigating the course tremendously. Also of note is that the designers placed many baskets on slopes to add the rollaway dimension from putting. Hopefully, this course will get finished as it has potential to be better than its current state. This course and nearby Tyus makes a great day trip.

When you roll up on this course and see the pond and elevation your pulse quickens. I walked the course a little, checking out the first few holes and thought, 'Man, this could be GOOD! Maybe great!' Sadly after the front 9 it settled down to good. But so much potential.

I thought #1 was good and #2 was GREAT! But one of the problems was the lack of direction around the course. Got completely lost, saw a 'Next Tee' sign behind the 2 basket and went up hill, missing #3 & #4. And with there being NO numbers on the baskets - I mean, really? - I wasn't sure what basket I was throwing on. They cost a buck! Put the freakin' numbers on the baskets! What I thought was #3 was #5 (at least I think it was). IF so, #6 back across the spill was was another great hole! At this point I'm thinking, 'this is going to be fun!'

The next few holes were good (sign said #5 up the hill, but I have really no idea what hole it was now) was okay, but the next, a looong down hill, left turning shot was pretty good. Then the following (#9?) was pretty good as well. Nice, long uphill right turning shot.

Then I cross the road to #10 and I'm totally confused. Not a basket in sight! Then my uDisc app (which has flyover pics) identifies it as #10...almost 700' feet down hill. Fun throw, but not to the caliber of the previous 9. After this the course gets ho-hum. Throw uphill, throw down hill - rinse and repeat. #14 was pretty good.

#17-18 were just bomber shots with one tree to miss.

This could have been so much better.

No tee signs, basket numbers and hard to follow navigation. I've never walked off a course, but considered it. I mean, who makes GREEN tee pads and puts them at grass level? I probably walked twice the course distance just trying to find my way around the course.

Also, except for the first one, not a single bench! By hole 9 just wanted to park my butt somewhere and chill, but nothing but tick/redbug infested thickets.

I really digged the front 9 - or what I could find of it. The Tee pads were great, very grippy and large. I hope they update this course soon because it could be very good, possibly hit 4.00 to 4.25. But as it is...just dang.

- par 57 white level park style course

- new DISCatcher baskets and practice basket

- turf teepads: easy on the knees and shoes, and can be releveled/moved as needed

- very cool terrain on holes 1, 2, and 4 playing near the dam/rocks/water

- several memorable greens using slight to severe elevation (1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 15, 18)

- temp peninsula pin on 18 for tournaments that is an absolute butt puckerer

- 3 par 4's that force execution off the tee

- new course so rough is rough (a con, but doesn't affect my rating) ... I assume there is still a decent amount of clearing as more play discovers some necessary tweaks (just like how Tyus was built, and Tyus turned out AWESOME)

- teepads on 15 and 16 are slightly in the way of the previous hole (14 and 15)

- angle of teepad on 15 seems off as it forces a throw at the right side shule, or a verrry tight RHBH hyzer usually into a tree branch that sticks out (hopefully some more clearing or slight adjustment of teepad)

- as many memorable greens as there are, 9's is rather hohum ... enjoyed playing up the hill more as a temp hole in July 2016 tournament

- 10 feels somewhat like a filler hole, not really that memorable

- 3 par 4's that there's not much danger/challenge on the upshots

- very nitpicky cons, feels like the quality of the holes is down slightly from Tyus overall ... so that means it goes from great to pretty good

- little brother to Tyus, more scoring chances at Dundee and you kick yourself if you miss them

- should beat into an upper tier 3.5/lower tier 4.0

- an enjoyable course to play, whether casual or dubs ... couples well for two rounds in a day with Tyus literally 5min down the road

- will update this review after course has been in the ground for a while (over a year)