Incredibly inimitable elevation challenges on #4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, and 14.

The 2 signature top of the world holes are 7 and 14. Yet 11 is also pretty amazing. The basket is near the bottom of the path snaking down the side of a mountain. If you favor a RHFH, which I do, then you'll be tempted to throw up the steep hill and hyzer back to the target at the bottom. Be careful to avoid what happened to me, which is that my almost perfect shot was grabbed by grass WAY UP the mountain before completing the hyzer back down. I decided it was better to abandon my disc up on that hilltop than risk the mountain climbing effort.

Basket placements are great and take advantage of high risk reward shots. For example, the tee shot to #6 gives you a reasonable shot over a canyon at the basket, which is next to a steep cliff. To the left is a dirt path with the upside of the mountain to the left. If you play the path, which I did then it's an easy 3, which is what I got. If you throw at the basket and come up slightly short then the rollaway would likely take you WAY DOWN the mountain and you're looking at a likely bogey. But if you're brave and play the ace run option then you may have a spectacular 1 or a 2, which for good players it's worth the risk. Not for me, especially since I didn't want to climb down the mountain and up again. This up and down steep hills with precarious footing is probably where the name comes from: SHARK TOOTH MOUNTAIN. All three words are meaningful here!

Eight of the holes (1-3, 8, and 15-18) are flat, which means the teeth of the mountain are so striking on the other 10 holes that you will get plenty of up and down.

The tee signs are great for the first 3 holes, but after that, when you need the signs most, they are non-existent. The signs look like they were there once but now the only thing there is a hole number hand written.

The last two holes require you to cross the road and play where Suicide Flats reside. Those 2 holes give you a taste of the long, big arm nature of what you'll face in Suicide Flats.

Hart Park has one course map that includes Shark Tooth Mountain and Suicide Flats. I don't recommen you try to play both of these courses in one trip unless you are prepared to wrestle a SHARK and finish it up with SUICIDE. They are both great courses but Shark Tooth Mountain is more unique. Suicide Flats is a different review, but in brief it is SO LONG and exhausting that unless you're ready for suicide then plan anotherr trip for it.

I like The Valkery Kid's summary of Bakersfield courses so much that I'm going to repeat it here in case you haven't seen it:

"Bakersfield has this nice range of courses stair stepping up in nice increments, from the very easy Pitch & Putt beginner course at San Laurel to the brutally hard physical challenge of Shark Tooth Mountain.

From Easy to Hard:

San Laurel Park
City In The Hills
Silver Creek Park
Kern River Park
Riverview Park
Suicide Flats
Shark Tooth Mountain

Bakersfield disc golfers have a nice variety of courses to choose from, with two easy beginner courses, one slightly harder beginner course, two intermediate courses and then two courses that will challenge anyone."

This is a great course with a lot of elevation change and a lot of variation in hole type.

The tumbleweeds here can be a pain in the ass. I recommend bringing a glove to pull discs out of the weeds as the can get pretty thorny

Overall a great course, maybe not the best for beginners.

-Excellent variety and use of terrain
-Variation between very long and short but technical holes
-Not repetitive at all
-Fly 18 tees
-Great views of the Sierra Nevada foothills
-TWO 'epic downhill' shots
-Effective use of man made structures incorporated into course design
-Long nature of course prevents back-ups among multiple groups

-Lost discs can be very difficult to find on some holes
-First time navigation is difficult without a map in your pocket or a group you can keep up with to follow
-No 'park amenities,' ie benches, water fountains, and trash cans. Pack it in, pack it out! Bring water!
-Tee signs are still not installed.
-Random brush and other plants stick to socks, but I did not find pants to be a requirement.

Shark Tooth Mountain course is situated at the base of and alongside a hill in rural Kern County, near Bakersfield. While the course begins and ends in a park like setting, it explores the rugged hillside for the majority of the course resulting in a long, varied course among a mostly brush covered route. Some trees exist on the hill, particularly toward the end of the course.

We found a map to be crucial in following the course, most holes are so long that numbers on the pins cannot be read, and the (mostly rubber) tee pads do not have signs on them. I do not see concrete being installed anytime soon due to the remote location of many tees, and even with signs, it is so spread out that I can still imagine a first time visit without a map to be difficult.

Holes 1, 2, 3, and then 17, and 18, all follow pretty direct park course lines essentially identical to all of the holes on the adjoining 'Suicide Flats' course. All similarities between the two courses end here.

Hole four immediately sends you up the brush covered hill on a short, but quite steep attempt for birdie. There are not many birdie attempts to be found on the course, at least in the setup we encountered.

Hole 5 passes underneath the beginning of hole 7's flight path, but errant shots should not kill you because the tee is a good 75 feet higher, and the location of 7's basket should send even the worst of drive attempts somewhere other than where you are.

Hole six is an extremely fun short hole with tons of danger surrounding it...throw too short and you lose mega elevation, throw too far and it sails forever down the other side of the hill.

Hole 11 sends you around a large water tower that makes an amazing zapping noise when you nail it with a disc. We understood that the water tower is mandatory left, which, in the pin position we encountered, required an amazing right fading shot between the tower and a cliff before landing near the basket, which was perched on a small hill behind the tower.

Holes 7 and 12 are the long, open downhill shots on the course. Both are wonderful, but can be tough to find discs on. 7 boasts tons of open space, but it is covered in brush that often exceeds 3 feet tall. 12 has a nice grove of trees on the right that looks pretty terrible to lose plastic in.

Beyond hole 12 lie a few more mountain holes, but in my opinion, the course begins to lose a little steam here. Less elevation involved and more long precise shots. These appeared to me to be more like your typical 'non-ski hill' mountain course shots, and not as unique as the first half of the course. That being said, it was still very enjoyable.

We all like to compare courses to each other, and this one is really on a different level than most So Cal courses. I would compare Shark Tooth Mountain to Lake Casitas and Diamond X, mostly due to terrain, length, and use of land more than trees.

This course does not receive as much attention as it should, and that is probably because it is 15 miles from Bakersfield, which itself is at the bottom of most Californians 'destination cities.' Combined with Suicide Flats, this destination is definitely a worthy visit for any visitor from the south looking for a new challenge. I recommend using your energy playing this course before Suicide Flats, as it will be a workout and it gets windy later in the day, an added challenge that a first time visit could do without. I would recommend playing when passing through, but this monster requires a bit more time than 'swinging by.' Definitely a top tier course.

-Elevation and lots of it. How many course can you name that have 2 shots with 100' of change in elevation?
-Holes with shots that I have never seen anywhere else.
-Nice concrete or rubber tee pads.
-Mach III baskets
-Challenging, fair holes with a flair for the dramatic.
-Great views of the surrounding park, hills and the Kern River.
-One the the best things about this course is the difficulty of the course without being "tricked up". There aren't alot of mandos (only 2), OBs (just the roads that generally aren't in play) or other artificial means to cause difficulty. The holes are right there in front of you, it's obvious what you need to do, the question is, Can you do it?

-Until we get the tee signs installed, navigation can be tricky in a couple spots. Print a map before you come if you plan on playing by yourself.
-If you are out of shape or lack motivation, this course isn't for you. This is a draw back because everyone can't enjoy this jewel, but that's just the way it is I guess.

This course was designed to be a challenging course both mentally and physically. We tried to design the course to provide what I consider to be the essence of golf. A balance of risk and reward. Good shots can yield birdies, and poor shots are penalized. This is not a course that you can miss your line by 30' and still get a 40' birdie putt in most cases. Course management, shot execution, and patience are key to play well on the mountain.

Big degree of difficulty and shots you will see no where else. You will feel the excitement level rise when you stand atop of Shark Tooth Mountain and look down 120' of elevation across the beautiful valley to the Mach 3 basket 650' away. After releasing your disc and watching it soar you can always hear the oohs and ahhs.

Elevation not suited for the casual disc golfer. This course and the grass course and Hart Park were not designed for the newbies in the sport. The passionate,obsessed,disc golf crazies will love this course.

This is one of two brand new 18 hole courses @ Hart Park
This course along with "Suicide Flats" makes Hart Park a must see destination for disc golfers.