-Don Shannon is the best of the three main courses in Griffin. It's hilly, it has a wide variety of holes in terms of length, it has distinctiveness with holes playing across a dam, and a wide variety of fairways. This one is the most interesting with what I would consider the most to offer.

-There are four alternate holes, better yet four extra holes making it 22 holes. 2A-5A are great alternate holes. 2A and 5A really take the most advantage of the available elevation. 2A is a steep downhill ace run that's only 220' or so. 5A is a huge uphill par three that's under 250' from all three pins that require different lines depending on which pin you aim for.

-The holes over the dam connected to the lake are real standouts that will convince you to play here. #2 the original is a sweet elevated par three over the rocky dam with the basket perched on a ledge beneath a tree! #4 was another sweet shot back over the dam through what appeared to be more of a corridor like hole! #16, the lake hole was a joy to play as well. It's slightly downhill and the basket is on the other side of the lake that you throw over.

-Short pads. There are short pads on the harder holes so that this course can appeal to everyone. The longs aren't entirely that hard with the exception of a few holes. Even par was right around 925 on the longs in the Hotlanta tournament. The short pads are on holes #2, 4, 5, 6, 12, 14, and 16. #12 long has my vote in being the hardest hole at Don Shannon with it playing about 400' and mostly open while facing some seriously dense trees a good ways ahead straight in front of you while requiring a right flex that goes back left in the end. The short pad is still pretty tricky but a lot less difficult. And #16's short pad is very beneficial for players with less distance. #16 is an epic water hole from the long, it's 330' and the distance to clear the water is a good 260-270'. The short pad is a ways ahead and only about 185'. Greatly reduces the chances of a lost disc on this hole.

-Nice tee signs with good diagrams. Great disc catchers that catch well and are in good shape.

-The par fours are different than the ones at Tyus. They are all over 500', like most of them at Tyus but the ones here are pretty open with some sort of danger. The rough is dense and closer than it appears on holes #8 and #14. My drive on #8 was on the edge of the woods to the right because I turned over a backhand a little more than I anticipated. #14 is more open, but the first gap is a little more scary since the rough on the right side is extremely close to you, if you throw just slightly late, you'll be in trouble. #9 is a fun downhill rip with the OB road left. They offer room for long drives but you have to do a lot of things right to have that great drive. They don't expect too much of you, but expect something to the point where you feel very accomplished if you birdie them.

-Elevation is better here than it is at Tyus and Green Valley. #2 and #4 are excellent valley holes over the dam. #2 and #5 alternate both contribute to making Don Shannon more of a workout since they are steep and exceed 25' in elevation. #5A may exceed 35' in elevation gain to the back pin that is about 250'. #6 is a nice downhill hyzer bomb past two clusters of trees. Elevation is more present on the front nine than the back nine, but if you play all 22 holes, you won't get to the actual back nine (10-18) until you play thirteen holes total.

-The variety of fairways and the reasonable lines this course gives help all players find moments to shine. Some are simple open holes. Some are long where distance is a necessity. Some good flick holes and some good backhand holes. Even the flick holes are reachable on a backhand and the backhand holes could maybe be reached on a sidearm. I parked #7, a 330' sidearm hole on a backhand because I threw a bit late down the right gap. This hole was a wide gap left and a tight gap created by a couple middle trees and the woods on the right side.

-The final round here was for many different divisions. Advanced, Open, Master, and maybe a couple others. Many people were here practicing right before the final round and parking was no issue. Some of us parked in the grass, but hey space is space. There's room to park there and it's allowed.

-There were several holes in the ground that were harder to spot on #6. I twisted my foot after stepping in one and it hurt a lot. The grass in and over the holes makes them tougher to see in the open.

-The bathroom was an issue. You'll have to hold it or find a gas station. The bathroom here was open, but the toilet was stopped up and flooded. Very gross.

-The ending was a bit anticlimactic. #17 and #18 were pretty bland. #17 is open with a couple of trees and #18 is wide open with the lake to the right side. Okay holes, but could probably have a little bit more to them. I thought #18 could be longer and closer to the water but to be fair, they give you a good chance to end on a high note with birdies.

-Nothing to do with the course but a heads up, not entirely a family park. Not a whole lot of options for recreation. Fishing and that's really the only other thing that comes to my mind.

-Don Shannon to me is underrated. I think that some of my opinions on Georgia courses seem to be different than some Georgia locals. Tyus is more of a championship tournament course, but Don Shannon is more flavorful and much more diverse. Several holes here brought a smile to my face because they either had great elevation, an interesting line, or gave a great birdie opportunity to help my score. There isn't a hole here that I don't like. I mean, #10 is a simple open par three. #5A is a fun tight major uphill challenge, and #11 is a cool par three up a hill into an open pocket surrounded by the woods. There's redemption, there's appeal, and there's uniqueness.

-Come on out here! This is the course that would be the crowd pleaser in more occasions. The design is brilliant. It isn't a pro level course but it's proof that courses don't have to be "gold-level" in order to be excellent. It was better than I expected it to be.

+Lots of elevation, no flat holes
+Innova Pro 28 baskets including a practice basket
+Nice views of Lake Dundee on a few holes, and a spillway on 2&4 that has a small waterfall
+A few fun downhill holes where it's enjoyable watching your disc soar longer than on flat ground
+Has tee signs, turf tee pads, and less rough than previous reviewers have noted
+Benches on almost every hole
+Grass maintained much better than Grass Valley course across town

-Short (amateur) tee pads in a bit of disrepair

This course has seen improvement since its early days and has rounded into a fun hilly course. It's probably more of a 3.75 course than a 4.0 but since this website still doesn't have options for those 1/4 point differences in this age of grand technology, 4 stars it is. Worth going out of the way for? Probably not but if you're in town to play Tyus and have the time, this one is pretty good and has a lot more birdie opportunities.

The scenery is great and so is the disc golf course. Views of the lake and surrounding area were beautiful. It was a fun mix of longer holes where you can go full power and shorter reachable holes. Also, a good mix of open and wooded holes that require a variety of shots. Good use use of elevation. Average tee signs show a general layout that gives basic direction of the basket. Signs also show distance from long turf tees as well as shorter tees that are rubber mats. The turf tee are in great shape and are long enough for a long run up. They are much longer than what I am used to for tee pads. The shorter tee pads didn't look like they were in as good of shape but, I didn't look closely since I played from the longs. My favorite holes were 2 and 4. They both play over a valley that is a spill way for the lake. The day I was there it was a small stream of water passing over the large area of exposed rock. The basket is across the rock area and on the opposite hillside. The elevation and exposed rock make for very unique holes.

There were a few area that the brush was think and thorny if you got off the fairway. I had a bit of trouble navigating to the next hole in a few places. Several basket are not visible from the tee pad, so I found myself walking up the fairway to try to find the basket (this won't be a problem once I play the course a few more times).

I was not planning to review this course but it was so much better than anything I could find about it on the internet. No one has reviewed this course in the last two years. Since the last review tee signs have been added.and all the baskets now have numbers. Someone must be putting some work in on this course because I didn't see any areas that were in need of maintenance. It still felt like a new course when you get off the fairway in a few spots but will get "beat in" with a bit more time. The fairways however were in great shape. Overall it felt like a well designed course that I would play regularly if it was closer to home.