(3.235 Rating) A pleasing Intermediate level course with a mix of open to heavily wooded holes.
- FINISH - Overall, this is a really nice course through and through, but it's the finish that shines brightest. In my opinion, (16) and (18) are the two best holes on the course. (16) is the perfect risk reward hyzer water play. It's a healthy 270 foot water clear when taking dead aim at the basket, but the wide right side is dry land. I could have risked it, but I opted to safely lay-up for par along the right side 200 feet ahead. The other notable hole is (18), which is a really eye pleasing valley shot. There are three placements, and I got the left one, which is a fun hair razing tunnel shot over the valley floor abyss. I also enjoy (14) which was in a par 4 placement and it required two good shots to leave a birdie chance.
- CHALLENGING - I blame the rain for shooting poorly. I finished plus 3 as an Intermediate. Overall this one feels like an Intermediate level course requiring a mix of both power and finesse. It was the perfect challenge for a player like me. There are a ton of basket placements on this course that could really dial up or dial down the challenge, I personally got a mix of front, mid and back placements. A few of the placements seemed odd and I'll touch more on that in my cons.
- HOLE VARIETY - The front and back are two different styles. The front is generally park style where the back is generally wooded and technical. I appreciated the amount of alternate hole placements and I hope they switch'em around. I counted 42 of them. There is some solid elevation change, but no killer downhill ace run. Water comes into play twice and there are a couple multi-play holes. Holes range from upper 100s to lower 600s depending on the pin placement.
- RAW BEAUTY - An attractive course overall with a few stunners. I've already noted (16) and (18), but I thought (10) and (15) had high curb appeal as well. I'd give the back a 4 and the front a 2.75 out of 5. Holes (6) and (7) are really the only two sub standard looking holes out here.
- NAVIGATION AND SIGNAGE - Beautiful new tee signs. They have all the info one would need including next tee direction and pin placement indicators. I also spotted a navigational sign on a couple of the trickier transitions, like after (11) and after (17). I did not see a course map in my haste.
- BASICS - Concrete tees and DISCatcher baskets.

This is a solid course overall with only a few minor blemishes.
- IFFY LINES - I thought a couple pin placements had too much of a poke and hope element to them. Hole (3) to placement B has to be threaded threw one of several 3 and 4 foot tree gaps along the right. New B placement on (12) has to be laced on a perfect arc through 5 or 6 pinch point tree gaps ranging from 4 to 8 feet wide. (13) could be named pinball. I read through several previous reviews noting (11) as an offender as well, but I thought the RHBH hyzer route to placement A has a line. Perhaps the lines to placements B and C are more offensive, or perhaps a tree recently fell.
- MISC MINOR THINGS - A few of the concrete pads need work. Most notably was (10s) tee which was slanted 10 degrees side to side. There are some odd transitions and some large flow gaps. I didn't like the complete open blandness of hole (7). Previous hole (6) is almost that same description too. There are also a few minor safety hazards with paths or park roads in play.
- BEGINNER FRIENDLY - I'm sure beginner's have been brought here tons of times, but it likely is a bit too complex for new players. I don't take off rating points for this.
- TERRAIN - I would not recommend Cane Creek to those that have knee and joint pain. I appreciated the handful benches which I personally used to set my bag on to keep it off the wet ground. The course looks somewhat cart friendly.

Cane Creek is the anchor course for Cookeville. Although I traveled almost 3 hours to play this course, it's more of just a county-wide destination. Definitely worth checking out if traveling between Knoxville and Nashville. I went back and forth on whether to give this one a high 3.0 or low 3.5. I ultimately settled on a high 3.0. Perhaps if I saw it a different day I may have tweaked a few numbers and scored it a 3.5. I wish I could score it a 3.25. Anyways, the course will work best for Recs and Intermediates, but I think many Advanced players could like it as well. The main reason I traveled here was for dual purposes. First, I checked off three courses early in the morning while my family slept in. Then at breakfast we hit the famous Ralph's Donut Shop... delicious. Afterwards we did a waterfall hike at nearby Burgess Falls that has water cascading down 136 feet. It was a fantastic short family trip that included some disc golf.
- TIME PLAY - 66 minutes as a solo.
- A Tale Of Two Different Nines - This is the fifth time I've used this review title. The previous 4 episodes are Bonita Springs, DeFunk Disco, Sunset and Grassy Creek.

- Mostly Decent Shots. Most of the holes at Cane Creek were pretty decent. Even the seemingly-open boring holes had good things going for them (tree blocking the hyzer line, blind basket, use of elevation, length, etc...).
- Some Great Holes! When I walked up to Hole 1 I was thinking, "if all the holes are like this, I'm going to have some fun." Well, not all of the holes were as great as Hole 1, but several others were... and better. Holes 1, 5, 8, 10, 14, 16 were really great holes and worth the trip off the I-40 to play.
- Tees and Signs. Cane Creek had awesome concrete tee-pads, definitely large enough to get a good run-up and do your thing. And, the tee-signs used a "bolt system" to identify the pin position... and, the bolts seemed to be in their accurate positions as only one bolt was wrong in the wrong position.
- That it's There. It's a long stretch between Knoxville and Nashville, and this is one of the only courses along the entire route. And, a lot of locals were out there playing, proving that it's a good thing for the community.

- A Couple Wacked Out Holes. Holes 3, 12 and 13 have extremely ridiculous fairways that don't appear to have ever had a chainsaw near them. They have NO gap, although Hole 13 does have a nice tomahawk route, but that's only because the main fairway is jacked. These holes seriously take away from the course's quality and overall experience.
- The Concept of Par. It just seems like they called all the holes Par 3's no matter what. They had a 600+ foot hole labeled as a "Par 3", and 2 holes that are longish enough to be considered 4's when you consider their fairway FAIRness (Hole 3 right, Hole 12 long).
- Potential Safety Issues. There are a few holes that play near the park's road, walking path, places where fishermen are fishing, and a play area. I've seen worse multi-use safety infractions before (Aquatic Park in Berkeley comes to mind), but if people aren't accurate, or considerate, people/cars may get hit.
I actually saw a car get hit. I was on the green of Hole 2 when a guy on 4 threw a big hyzer that stayed over the road... while the disc was in the air, a car drove around the corner and BLAM... skip shot off the windshield.

- Overall. Cane Creek is a really nice city park style course that offers a little extra length and a chance to score some birdies. There are a few holes that take away from the overall experience, but if you can somehow manage to get past them without taking too many extra strokes you have a good chance to have a lot of fun and score well. It was fun enough that I went around twice.
My Score: -5

The course has great variety, better than most courses I've played. Most of the front half plays across open rolling fields, with some scattered trees. The back half has more elevation, and is a mix of well defined fairways with trees alongside, and some dense woods shots. The lake comes into play on one hole on the back half, adding a great risk/reward element especially when the wind is blowing.

There were two pin positions on most holes, and many completely changed which way the hole played. They were set up in a mix of positions when I played that meant a good balance of left and right turning shots in the woods, and long and short shots in the more open holes. The tee signs had maps showing both positions and distances, and were in good shape. The tees were nice large concrete pads with a good brushed finish.

The park is very scenic, with nice trees, and great views around the lake. I really enjoyed the walk at this course, especially on the back nine. Two holes stuck out to me, the one with the forced water carry to a landing on a peninsula, and one where you have to play up and over a hill, and you still have a long shot around several trees to find the basket.

There were a few places on the course where the navigation was not obvious, and there were long walks to the next hole. There were some vague signs pointing the way on a couple of these spots, but they weren't enough to make navigation easy.

I love multiple pin positions, but I really like to see some marking of which positions the pins are currently in, especially when there is a mix of A and B placements.

The other park users seemed completely oblivious to the course and disc golfers, often stopping right in the middle of fairways, or setting up fishing or picnics right near baskets. This was made worse by how close to the park road and walking paths the course played in several places.

This is a course that is definitely worth the stop if you're in the area. It's a nice park that has been used pretty well to make a challenging and fun course.

Beginners will find some of this course pretty challenging, especially in the woods on the back 9. More experienced players will find a lot of fun and different holes with good challenges for many levels of players.

Long and wide concrete teepads. Multiple pin positions per hole. Signs at teepads showing current pin position. Smattering of benches, more so on the back nine.

Between on-line map and a few signs at the course, this was a relatively simple course for me as a first-time visitor to follow.

Multi-use park, so options for non-playing people with you. Bathrooms, water fountains, and vending machines on-site, and food/petrol stations only five minutes away.

Some nice views at some holes which play towards/along water.

A few holes play along the entrance road and walking paths.

The ravine you throw across on #18 could be quite treacherous in wet weather.

This course offers a nice combination of wide-open holes, completely wooded holes, holes with well-defined fairways but the baskets being somewhat guarded by trees.

The day I played the course, it was in a rather neutral set-up, position-wise - not all long, not all short, not all lefty-oriented, not all righty-advantaged.

The holes I found most interesting were:
- #16 A 300' water-on-three-sides hole, the dry approach being from the right. The most threatening water is in front, beginning about 175' from the tee and ending about 30' short of the basket.
- #14 One of the longer holes on the course, woods to your left, uphill throw with a smattering of trees at about the 275' mark/crest of the hill. The basket, guarded by a couple large trees, was another 250' from there, down then back up a small hill.
- #11 This hole will typically be a wooded, down-then-up, narrow lane hole, requiring a slight turn left or right after 200+'. The day I played a large tree along the side had broken about halfway up, and was suspended perpendicular to the ground, putting an array of branches in the desired flight path. This left you with a choice of throwing very high, usually not a good idea with so many trees, or low, somehow hoping to run up the hill. I threw a low shot with the edge down which hit at the base of the valley, then flattened out and skipped up the hill another 100' - reminded me of skipping frisbees on asphalt thirty years ago. Hope they can keep the tree there for awhile!

Continually improved.
Clean, well kept park.

Innova DISCatcher
Some terrain on the back 9 (10, 17, 18) a bit technical-- especially if you should make an errant throw (which I *never* do).

A true Jekyl and Hyde course. Front 9 mostly wide open and somewhat beginner friendly. Back 9 mostly tightly wooded with #16 going over water.
Multiple pin positions are wonderful, but it is nicer when the tee signs agree with the pin placement (13, 14, 15, and 17), seems every round I play one of those pins is not where the tee sign says it is.