WHAT TO EXPECT: An absolutely beautiful park setting on a former ball golf course. Long enough past its time as a ball golf course that while still recognizable as an old course, the sandtraps and greens have long since diverted back to regular grass. Well kept property, what I would consider mildly wooded, and 3 separate layouts to pick your challenge.

AMENITIES: Massive playground for the kiddos, Splash Park, Modern bathrooms built into the hillside beside the playground, multiple walking/bike paths, ample parking.

TEES/SIGNAGE/BASKETS: As this course is still relatively new 75% of the tees (gold and red) are still natural earthen tees. Holes 1-7 Gold had freshly poured tee pads when we played but none of the red tees and the Golds from there on out had yet to be concreted. No course sign that we could find which made finding Hole #1 challenging but another disc golfer in the parking lot pointed us the right direction. Hole signs are standard Dynamic Discs style full color signs with all relevant hole information showing both the long and short pad location and both the A and B pin locations and distances. Baskets were newer Blue DD Veteran baskets that caught well and stood out great in both the open and wooded sections of the course. Bonus for white next tee arrow plates in the bottom of the baskets. These were desperately needed and a big help. Benches on almost every hole, also much appreciated as you will get winded walking this course.

DESIGN: Course designers put great care into making the holes feel like you were playing a dedicated disc golf course and not just following the flow of a ball golf course which is something most disc golf courses on a ball golf course get wrong. The more wide open holes where there is little tree cover were smartly made into par 4's and used multiple angles, elevation, and tricky pin locations to put emphasis on executing a solid approach shot and really risk reward putting. The wooded sections of the course utilize mandos well to force tight lines instead of just hyzering around the gaps or going big over the top. Very solid mix of long challenging distance holes with shorter very technical Par 3's. Would have liked to see the water on the course utilized a little more (most tee shots begin by throwing over short width sections of water without much risk of ever actually landing in it) but it does make for very pretty holes visually. Course forgoes solid flow with tees right next to the previous basket and chooses to create the best holes possible even if there are some pretty decent distance hikes between holes.

EXTRAS: Pretty much any skill level can attempt this course. The Red 9 hole layout with short tees only requires about 150 feet of distance (and only once on Hole #2 to clear a small pond) to play well. The Rose Gold layout is a good challenge for beginners to build up to combining the Red 9 layout with 9 of the more manageable holes from the Golds. Then the Gold layout to test both your distance and technical game. An obvious labor of love with multiple designers coming together to create a beautiful course for all skill levels and play styles.

Lack of Concrete Tees: I know this will be fixed shortly, but currently the natural tees are a major blemish on an otherwise wonderful course. We played in a light misty rain and the natural tees were heavily used, muddy, and slick. Of note, there is still a lot of sand in some areas from being an old ball golf course and it tends to get onto the concrete pads. I took a pretty good tumble on Hole #7's Gold Pad as a result.

Distance Between Basket and Next Tee: As mentioned earlier in the Pros section, this course has some major hikes between holes, most involving a lot of elevation. The most egregious is from Hole #12 to Hole #13 where you must walk roughly 500 yards and you have to walk across previous fairways (including one that is blind to the players who might be throwing the hole).

Blind Shots: While wonderful in the challenging aspect of the design, there are so many blind shots over hills, around corners, into greens etc that are extremely frustrating for first timers and can be hazardous if the course is busy. OB cart paths dart in and out at odd angles and very close to baskets in multiple places that are blind from where you will be throwing at them from. Landing areas for tee shots on the longer par 4's are often over a hill into a valley and blind from the tee so be aware you may be throwing into a group in front of you. There are no indicators on tee signs which pin location the basket is in, leading to MANY trips to the top of the hill and searching for a basket to get your bearings. This became extremely frustrating as the round progressed.

Not as Cart Friendly as You Would Think: I opted for a shoulder bag and I'm glad I did. Two in my group went with carts and regretted dragging those carts up hills all morning in lush thick wet grass. The elevation changes made pulling that extra weight a lot more taxing that just carrying a bag.

Not a Fast Play Through: Expect to spend 2 1/2 to 3 hours here if you play 18 holes (Rose Gold of Gold) layouts. Maybe solo and with knowledge of the course you can get through here faster. Obviously the Red 9 layout can be played much faster if you just want to get in a quick round.

This is a great example of what a free Park course can be. While Idelwild probably sets the standard for free park courses, Henslee executes extremely well. It has some room for improvement, most notably getting all the concrete tee pads poured, pin location markers on the tee signs, and maybe some Hole design tweaks to decrease the massive walks between holes. But otherwise this course is well on it's way to being a West TN favorite. Definitely a must play, just about a 30-35 minute drive from Clarksville and with the bonus of being able to get in Baker park (another Champish level 18 Hole course just down the road). Don't let my cons fool you, they are more warnings to those debating on coming to play to help them prepare, and notes for this courses room to grow. Easily can be a 4.5 but because of the improvements that need to come, I knocked off 0.5 of a point. Will definitely be back to play this course at some point and will update as to the changes when I do.