Fun little layout
Great for children
Great for beginners
Plenty of ace opportunities
Great use of elevation

Baskets are in terrible condition
No actual tee markers
Par's are definitely off
Limited times you can play the course

Sam Houston Elementary School in Maryville Tennessee is home to a short kid-friendly and beginner-friendly 9 hole disc golf course. First of all, I have to give the school props for allowing the children at the school to have disc golf available for them. Schools with disc golf courses are one of the things that I believe helps with the growth of disc golf not just now, but also in the future. With that being said, this course definitely needs some work. First of all, I am aware of the fact that this course is designed for children and I am reviewing it as a full grown man. Believe me, I took that into consideration for this review. My first issue with this course would be the condition of the baskets. They are... not in good condition. Several of them are leaning and shaky or bent in some form. The style of the baskets themselves are absolutely fine for a children's course, but they have been seriously neglected. Next, I would like to mention that there are no actual tee pads or ground markers showing exactly where to tee from. Each hole has a small tee sign in the area, but nothing shows exactly where to tee from. There were several holes that I am not sure if I played correctly just because of the positioning of the tee sign. This may be something that is just common knowledge for the children that play the course but any player from outside the area would have a difficult time deciding where to tee from. The last major complaint I would have would be with the pars that were listed on the tee signs. Most of the holes were listed as Par 2's with a couple Par 3's and one single Par 4. I can see calling them Par 2's for player like myself, but with this course being meant for children, I personally believe they should all be Par 3's. Even as an avid intermediate disc golfer, it felt weird to have Par 2's that you would have to ace to birdie. With all this being said and all things considered, I actually had a fun time playing this short little layout. I am a huge fan of short "ace run" courses just because to me, it feels like an entirely different style of disc golf to me than most permanent courses. I think of it as the "miniature golf" or "putt putt" of disc golf. I mean, who doesn't love a round of miniature golf? Apply that same mind frame to these short children's courses and I promise you will have a blast. The designer(s) of this course, whoever they may be, actually did an excellent job with the layout. They used several trees and other obstructions on most holes and had a great use of the elevation on the land. The layout was really fun for short little ace runs. Once again, I love that type of thing. If I lived in the area, I would go out to this course often with the goal of acing every hole on the course which is definitely possible. I threw a putter on 8 of 9 holes and a mid-range on the final hole just because of the elevation. In conclusion, I believe that if the school would put just a little bit of time and money into this course, it would be one of the best children's courses in East Tennessee. Throw 9 to 18 bricks in the ground to show an exact tee area and brace the baskets better into the ground (with some additional basket upkeep) and this course would be perfect for children. I have only played this course one time, but if I make it back to the area, I will definitely take my kiddos to this course to play and I believe many more families would do this with a few small improvements to the course. If you want to see this course on video please consider watching this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkTAbrumQ_w

(0.329 Rating) A cupcake school course with chances to break stuff.
- HAZARDS - Driving up and seeing the baskets along the school grounds was a euphoria and a "shaking the head" kind of moment. A euphoria, because I wasn't 100 percent sure that the course had baskets. It wasn't yet listed on DGCR and my other app said it was an object course at the time. After getting out of the car, and really getting a firm look of the place, I was left in awe. Baskets are literally right up against classroom buildings. One of the holes actually plays threw the heart of a pavilion. Whomever laid this one out, had no concept or care that discs can damage property and injure people. There wasn't much to work with on this small school property, but the level of unsafe design is among the worst I've ever seen. Bottom 10 for sure. A similar length of layout could have been achieved without this many problems.
- LACK OF CHALLENGE - Most players are only going to need a putter here, except on maybe the last hole. The average hole length is just above 125. Several holes are obstacle free. Every hole felt like deuce or die. It just wasn't any fun for me to play these elementary lines.
- HOLE VARIETY - Unless backstop classroom windows count as a unique design element, there is nothing here game-play wise worth replicating on a future course build. The longest hole is 200 feet. Every tee shot is either open or mostly open. I did like the above average elevation change that the course offered.
- AMENITIES - Basically just MachII baskets and tee signs. Several of the baskets are leaning. The tee sign for (1) was missing and I looked nearly everywhere. Tees are natural without a line. There is a nice shelter with picnic tables by hole (7), but I would be leery using it as it's the center of the fairway on this hole.
- NATURAL BEAUTY - I subjectively grade courses on a curve ordered from heavenly to repulsive, and this one just about re-altered the base line. With 566 courses played as of this review, I slotted this one 563rd.


Pros: Counts as a course played.
- IT'S A COURSE - The 9 baskets at Sam Houston are in good to poor shape and there are 8 tee signs from what I was able to find. That's a course to me. It also sort-of felt golfy. I'm not even sure what golfy means. Probably not even a word. Thus is why it felt that way.
- QUICK PLAY NAVIGATION - The only other personally redeeming quality I found was how quick it was for me to play it. 15 minutes was all it took. Generally easy to follow. A couple years from now, a list of hardcore baggers will be able to be retrieved from the course's DGCR "played" list.
- BEGINNER FRIENDLY - I think the course may work ok for new players, but it'll be an experience that won't translate to how a typical course should play. Generally open with a lot of school property hazards and interactions. Note, I don't award any points just because a course offers a beginner friendly element.

The second lowest rating score I've ever given to a course with at least 9 baskets (188 9-holers played as of this review). I even very much try not to give any 9-basket course a 0.5. There are just too many colossal issues here and it's compounded with poor game-play. I would not recommend seeking out this course except to those that are trying to take over the lead on the Tennessee course bagging leader-board. Most course baggers that play here will probably wish after that they hadn't even been tempted to play it. Every player that's thrown one other course will be disappointed.