Very well manicured 9 hole loop. Very beginner friendly with just enough difficulty to keep better players entertained. For a short course it has a good mix of left to right and right to left. Fairways are very well defined and signage is nice.

Lots of amenities on site.

Tee boxes are natural and a bit dug out. Also some of the doglegs are a little sharp for beginners, but again that could be a plus for more experienced players.

Absolutely zero elevation change so it got a bit monotonous, but that's not unexpected given the region.

There are a few holes that navigating from basket to the next tee are a little counterintuitive

This is a really fun short loop. The fairways are generous enough for beginners but not so wide as to bore better players. It is in a very well kept park and I could see this as being somewhat of a gateway to some of the more difficult options in the region. Not a course to take a trip to play, but if nearby it is definitely worth it for a quick runaround.

This is not worth driving to, but if your mother lives in Bradenton Florida, it is worth a 20 minute 9!

Hole numbers on the baskets would be nice. Many baskets are visible from the start of many holes.

I laughed when I saw this course. It is like the local code enforcement designed the course! Or as if in someone's large back yard. You can see 6 holes, tees and baskets from the start. Funny, but I would love to have a course like this near my house. Great to go out and throw 9 in 20 minutes or less. Very unlikely to lose a disc on this course. Nicely landscaped. Really nicely landscaped... The fairways are nice grass. Nicer than my yard. Flat, not much curve or variety, no elevation change, but would be great for trying new throws. It is very wet when there has been a lot of rain.

The tees are grass, and that is ok on this course. as long as it has not rained recently.

(2.279 Rating) (REVISED - replayed February 2024) A south Florida park style course with elite level professional landscaping.
- TEE UPGRADE - My biggest complaint here initially was the natural tees. They were miserably bad in 2019. The new pads are a fantastic upgrade. I think they were a hair shy of 5 x 12, but I didn't measure. This is the main reason I decided to up my review score across the 2.25 threshold for a 2.5.
- IMPORTED BEAUTY - The landscaping brought into this park is unreal. Several newly planted large palms and native trees species line most fairways. There are over a 1000 newly planted small bushes and native grasses as well. If I had to guess, I'd say well over 100,000 dollars was spent on imported vegetation... just along the course area. I could see how some may love this aspect and it definitely has some curb appeal. Although I liked it very much, I still prefer the natural randomness created by courses carved into the forest. I personally scored this aspect a 3.25 out of 5 and I think it will improve even more over the next 5 to 10 years as the landscaping blossoms out. The backdrop view of neighborhood houses are constantly in view, but this is only a minor drawback as this is an up-scale neighborhood. I will also add that this park appears to be well maintained.
- SIGNAGE AND NAVIGATION - A beautiful course map is located at the shelter and also a second one near tee (1). Unique and effective tee signs in the shape of a rectangular prism. The hole layout is shown on all four sides and it includes distance, par and hole number. Unfortunately no next tee direction, so I had to pull up my photo of the map at the one tricky transition. This gap occurs between holes (4) and (5). The course is very cart friendly.
- FACILITIES - Great shelter with picnic tables and a restroom near tee (1). Next to the restrooms are working drinking fountains. There are also restrooms 300 feet southwest of basket (5). There is also a dog park and a nice biking trail.
- BEGINNER FRIENDLY - Seems perfect for a first time player. The landscaping is not overbearing yet as of early 2024. However, if it ever fills out, it will become a little less forgiving. Although even then, still a decent course for newer players.
- QUICK PLAY - I played 2 rounds in 40 minutes on first appearance and then a 50 minute 5 person family round 5 years later. Solos will be able to rack-up rounds and get in lots of care-free practice.

Too simplistic for some players is the only meaningful drawback.
- LACK OF CHALLENGE - I had fun, but I personally did not feel challenged as an MA2 level player with a weak arm. I have a feeling that I could birdie them all in about 5 or 6 rounds. MA1s will get bored out here throwing putters on every hole. I think even par would net an 860 to 870 rated round.
- SPACING - I found adjacent fairways and sidewalks several times in my rounds here. The rough between fairways is often less the twenty feet wide and paralleling sidewalks are often a similar distance. Having to wait several times for walkers and bikers will not be uncommon.
- EXTRAS - Other than nice signage and decent Chainstar baskets, the rest of the basics and extras are not here. No multi-tees or alternate basket locations. No practice basket and only one tee has seating. Tee shading is horrible, but perhaps it will fill in as the trees get bigger.
- HOLE VARIETY - The professional landscaping is definitely unique, but is oddly monotonous. Every shot plays between the low 200s to low 300s. All par 3s and no elevation. Water is seen, but not really used. a few holes fade right and a few fade left, a trait most courses can claim. The only curveball is hole (7) with its U-shape or over-the-top risk reward option.

Bob Gardner is a high quality niner in my opinion and I'd put this course in the top quarter among all of the nine-hole courses I've scored. It's plenty long enough and technical enough for MA3s and also friendly enough for beginners. My mom has thrown it and so has my 6-year-old niece. I'd even play it regularly if I lived within 5 miles. However, if I still lived in the St. Petersburg area, I doubt I'd play here again. I'd rather travel to nearby Showmen's, Tom Bennett, Lakeview or Water Tower again before here. Anyways a 2.25 tweener course to me due to the upgraded pads. With over 650 courses played as of this revision, I can't think of a good comparison. Not a destination course, but a worthy quick add for those in the area.

Bob Gardner Park is a lovely new park. At the start by the parking lot is a large covered picnic shelter complete with restrooms. The disc golf course starts about 100 yards into the park. There is a course sign with a map and a sign pointing that reads Frisbee Golf. The metal tee signs are four sided and have the info and hole map on all four sides. There are natural tee pads and plain grey DGA baskets. I might be spoiled with all the brightly colored green Prodigys and yellow Discatchers.

It appears that this park might have been designed with disc golf in mind. The landscaped fairways seemed made for golf. The course area looks like it must have been professionally designed with all kinds of tropical plants and trees. It's lovely.

# 1 is 313' needing a slight hyser.
# 2 plays 267' with a slightly turning fairway to the right.
# 3 is another right turning fairway at 275'.
# 4 is still another slightly turning right fairway at 270'.
# 5 features still another right turning fairway at 237'.
# 6 is 302' needing a very slight hyser.
# 7 is 246' which could be attacked two ways.
# 8 plays 250' with a slight hyser needed.
# 9 is 322' straight down the fairway.

One could certainly increase the difficulty here by playing the berms as OB. I would have added by about 6 strokes had I counted all the times I was in the berms.

Cons? Beside calling it a Frisbee Course, not many.
Natural pads?
Navigation is a little tricky going from 4 to 5.
Only 9 holes.
Recreational lengths and challenge.

This is just a fun, non-threatening little park nine. There is almost no water to fret about, no thick shule to avoid and no other way to get into trouble. A plus is there are no signs warning of snakes! Previous reviewer thrembo said it reminded him of an executive golf course and with it's manicured fairways and professional landscaping, it really does feel like course that you should be paying for. I enjoyed it.

Bob Gardner is a new 9 hole disc golf course in Bradenton, FL located in an upscale development (Lakewood Ranch) just being expanded. The best way to describe the course is picturesque and fun. There are bald cypress, slash pines, sabal/cabbage palms, oak and Florida friendly shrubs lining the fairways such as pink Muhly grass. It definitely looks like a landscaper was involved with the planning.

As mentioned above, there is not much chance of losing a disc except for the tiny pond behind #7. A local I was playing with said he's thrown into going too long. There is a patch of small saw palmettos on #6's fairway which might take a minute or two to locate your disc if you go in there.

The course was easy to navigate and to get to number 5 take a right about 100 yards after #4. After #7, walked back towards #4 to find #8. There is a pedestrian sidewalk alongside the course but it shouldn't come into play. The course is laid out well to where you can pretty much avoid errant shots into another fairway.

The holes can be challenging but even a new player would have fun. You can leisurely play a round in about 40 minutes.

The only real con is that I didn't see any garbage cans close by for trash. That should be an easy fix, though. It's a shame it is only 9 holes because it is such a fun and beautiful course.

When you get to the course there also is a nice, open soccer field right off the parking lot where you can toss a couple of throws to warm up before playing. Bob Gardner is relatively close to GT Bray which is only about a 1/2 hour east on SR64. Both of these together make a great half day with lunch in between.

This course reminds me of an executive ball golf course. It is a little shorter and has nicely manicured fairways with gentle curves and well-landscaped trees and shrubs along the sides. The course features some interesting four-sided tee signs that have a visual description of each hole with distance and hole number included on all four sides! The course has a nice course map, plenty of benches/picnic tables with some cool chill spots and plenty of garbage cans. The course is fun for rec/new players. Fairly good navigation.

Grass tees as of this review. Concrete is always welcome. There is a little walk from basket 4 to hole 5's tee. Head deeper into the park to the slightly more wooded area. Then back again for hole 8.

My kind of course; Short and sweet! Rec and new throwers will have fun here with little chance for disc loss (unless you really shank one into the water by hole 7).