The Church on the Hill, a nine-hole course just north of Cookeville, Tenn., suffers from design flaws and not maximizing the property's potential.

The signs are nicer than what you'll find at most church courses, but there are some flaws with the signage too.

Hole #4 is the best hole as you get to air out a drive into the valley below, plus it offers a pleasant view of the surrounding area. Hole #5 is decent, but I wish the basket had been placed on or near the hill instead of several feet from the brush. Hole #7 offers another opportunity to stretch your arm (352 feet).

The signs include suggested lines that might not be the best. They also are heavy on the letters with a "T" for teepad and "B" for basket, plus "P.G." for playground and "P.L." for parking lot.

Holes #4 and #5 don't have tee signs. The photo suggests throwing from the corner of the parking lot to the valley below, but that isn't 412 feet. For Hole #5, just throw near the previous basket, I guess.

Navigation is confusing. The baskets aren't numbered. There are no "Next Tee" signs. I threw to the Hole #6 basket while playing Hole #3.

A few of the designs are poor. The suggested line for Hole #2 involves throwing over the church road and part of a parking lot. Then Hole #3 throws back over this shared area and near a playground. But Hole #6 is the most unforgivable design. This 238-foot hole includes throwing over a fence and playground area and past a shed and through Hole #3's fairway. Plus, when I played the course, there was a large church bus in the nearby parking lot.

The course starts not far from the front door of the house on the property. I felt like I was trespassing, though I saw no one on site.

My original title for this review was "Course in Algood is all-bad." However, a more accurate critique would be that the course has three bad holes and a couple more holes that fail to utilize the land well. Plus navigation - even for a fairly open, nine-hole course - is tricky. Therefore, its shortcomings keep it from being rated higher in my book.

You might get a chuckle from the tee sign for Hole #9. Check out the photo. The sign suggests you tee off from … the road. A friend commented, "maybe Church on the Hill wants you to meet Jesus sooner than later."

Signs are nicely done and descriptive.

Takes good advantage of available space, elevation changes, and obstacles.

Practically no chance to lose a disc.

Single (dirt) tee locations, single basket positions, baskets not numbered.

Many holes have you throwing across/along driveways and parking lots - not a good idea to play this course while some activity is taking place at the church.

Basket #9 is about 20' from the tee location for #1 - look out!

To supplement bjreagh's course navigation/"map" guide:
- Basket #1 is NOT the closest - that would be #8. #1 is between three pine trees.
- Can't see basket #4 from the tee, but it is short and right of tee #5, which you can see.
- Can't see basket #6 from the tee, but it is to the right of the closest trees but left of the telephone pole

Holes range in distance from 156' to 412'. Ace or birdie opportunities on most holes.

Decent course for introducing people to the game, as long as no cars are about the premises.