I enjoyed the variety of tight and short wooded holes mixed with longer open ones. A good amount of holes where you can throw a putter off the tee. I like that. Very pretty surroundings. I didn't have any trouble finding the next tees.

The course had a lot of trash on it. All the trash buckets at each tee were over flowing which was kind of a turn off. Seems like it may be better to not have trash buckets if they are not going to be emptied regularly.

+ Tee signs do the trick even if some of their distances are inaccurate.
+ Long tee pads are sturdy and flat concrete, and most have brooms to clear away debris.
+ The whole course plays on its own in breezy wide open hilly fields and dense bumpy woods.
+ A nice map right by hole1, but...

- ...There is no practice basket or lost disc box.
-/+ The short distances aren't too challenging/tough.
- Just a few 'next' indicators and rarely where players could really benefit from them like between holes 5 & 6 and between 9 & 10.

I liked looking at hole14 the best because of its lush verdant woodsy tunnel. It felt like a hidden area in a video game. Hole2 was my favorite to play because it is a fun brief downhill toss into some trees. If your throw is good enough to make it past the trees, you can have an ace run! Hole9 was the most boring because it was flat, straight and wide open, but hole18 was my least favorite because of just how closely it plays to a road.

As a whole, Ironworks Hills DGC is a harmless course that doesn't try to do anything crazy or fancy. The wide open hilly fields aren't too stimulating, and the dense tunnel shots are appropriately short yet underwhelming exactly because of their brevity. I would say that this is a course aimed towards those novices and beginners who are serious about improving both their distance and accuracy.

Speaking as a player who straddles the line between recreational and intermediate, the features on offer here are appreciated but not wholly impressive. Special mention should go to hole11, though. It is one of the shortest fairways of the course but also the craziest with its trees arranged in what can only be described as a life-sized version of pachinko. Trying to weasel a disc through it all was a devious pleasure.

On the downside, I should mention that the navigation is somewhat tricky for a first time player. It's not always obvious where a player should go after holing out. Disc golfer logic prevails much of the time, but I sometimes found myself helplessly looking around in all directions before begrudgingly using Udisc to help me out. Also, I ought to mention that basket 17 has been completely removed because of how close hole17 plays to that road. There is a fairground and cattle auction just up the hill closest to holes5 and 8. It's cool to hear the moo's of cattle while disc golfing, but that road has vehicles going up and down it often enough, at least during summer. I imagine that hole17 caused too many problems for motorists and disc golfers alike. On that topic, I really do think that basket 18 ought to be removed for the same reason. That hole plays uncomfortably close to that same road.

To its credit, Ironworks Hills had some diabolical wooded holes. Holes5 ,12 and 13 force the player to zero in and concentrate on what's ahead. It may be a tad easy for the experienced player, but for this course's intended audience, I think it is the ideal challenge.

So, in closing, Ironworks Hills isn't going to do much to impress the more serious and seasoned disc golfers out there. However, if you're just starting your disc golf journey, then this course will do a lot to introduce you to what you need to know.

This course has a little bit of everything: long distance, short and technical, left and right, up and downhill, wooded and open. There's really not one hole that resembles another. The course is clearly marked, and has a course map at hole one. It's not too difficult for an experienced player, but for beginners it forces them to adapt to just about every possible type of shot. I wish I lived closer to this course!

Not too many cons on this one... The holes by the Creek are extremely muddy after a big rain. I would prefer holes 11, 13, and 14 to be a little more manicured, as far as trees are concerned. These holes offer just about zero perceivable lanes to the basket. I don't like holes like this because it completely removes skill and only bases how well you do on the hole as luck.

Hole 1 starts on the right side of the road, just as soon as you pass through the front gate. Hole 18 ends on the left side of the same location. I just parked down by the front gate. Very fun! Will play again for sure!

Ironworks Hills DGC is a nice 18 hole course with great tees, signs and baskets. There is a bit of everything, it takes a balanced game to get around and score well. The frequent elevation changes are not huge, but not subtle either. The woods can be dense, but several holes are mostly open, and usually require big drives. Layout is good for the parcel of land it is on, and mostly pretty easy to follow.

Birdie chances are there on most holes if you execute off the tee. The par 4 holes (three of them) are different from one another. 6 starts in the open leading into the woods, and you need a good 2nd shot to get the birdie. 9 is wide open and basically flat, if the wind isn't strong, much easier to get a stroke back. 14 is a just a twisted monster hiding in the woods. Good luck on that one, you'll probably need it.

Many of the par 3 holes are really fun too. I liked hole 2 very much. A thin gap in the trees gives passage down the steep hill to a basket in the flat lawn below. Putter flick put me close, but caught just enough limb to push it outside of my reliable putting range. 7 was a cool left to right downhill with a mando. 11, 12, and 13 play short, but tight lines in the trees take great accuracy and/or luck to pass through unscathed. 17 is longish, but has enough downhill slope to give you a shot if you nail it off the box. I did and made the putt, making it my best hole of the day for sure.

The fairgrounds and adjacent woods were well kept and very clean. You can see the players and staff here take great care of the place.

A couple of the wooded holes have extremely difficult windows, nearly too small to hit. On the other hand, open holes can be too open, like on 8 and 9, but there isn't much to be done there, outside of plant more trees and wait.

Overall a fun course, with fresh gear, and great mix of disc golf throws. I shot a 62 (+5) with 2 birdies, on 9 and 17. 3, 4, 7, 8, 12, 13 and 14 all dealt bogies. Lots of room for improvement, just not enough time to go back to back.

Worth checking out if you are nearby, for sure. Enough great courses in the region to make Ironworks Hills a good addition to a killer road trip.

This is the most fun course for being able to use all of my skills. I could try and finesse shots and/or let loose with hopefully good power. Sometimes on the same hole. Tees were great(concrete) and except for 2 holes(my fault), I easily found my way around. Each tee was well marked. A map that I downloaded was helpful and accurate. Leaves are falling but otherwise the course was very well maintained.

Some of the baskets blended in with the scenery and were difficult to see. A bright flag would help, especially for a 1st timer.

I was ahead of schedule on my trip and decided to find a DG course nearby. Couldn't have been happier with my find. Usually, the 1st time I play a course, a lot time is spent trying to find the tee or the basket. That was not the case here. I teed off in the wrong direction on hole 2 and I went off toward the wrong basket on another hole. If I had looked at the map and paid more attention to the tee markers neither of those would have happened. I hope I get back sometime.

change of pace of every hole. left turn right turn open give it all you can shots

some of the wooded holes could be extended. but from what i was told while playing there was changes coming.

blind shots in a couple spots such as hole 3

Just as the course description states this course has great variety- open holes, wooded holes, uphill holes, downhill holes, dogleg left holes, dogleg right hole, S- holes, long holes, short holes, island green holes...

Flow- along with the great variety the course flows well. Not much wasted steps to get to the next hole which allows fast rounds in case your pressed for time.

Peaceful park- this course appears to be off the beaten path so it's relatively quiet without road noise and random people walking the fairways.

Signage- every hole and mandatory is clearly marked. There is also a handful of "next tee" signs which helps keep first-timers on-track.

Parking- there is an entrance gate with a warning sign that states cars left inside after a certain time will be locked in, but there is enough room for a few cars to park outside of the gate which eliminates that concern. After getting familiar with the area, there are plenty more parking areas available up the hill, however you will have to start your round on an alternate hole other than hole 1 or you will have a little walk to start.

No practice basket- however hole 18's basket can be used to warm up which is right across the road from 1's tee-box.

I was able to play a tournament (Nov-15) which opened my eyes to the amount of support this course has. Many great people are investing TLC to improve this course. To my knowledge, more improvements are in the works, but the current layout is very fun and I would love to have it in my back yard as my home course.

After its major redesign which added variety and a full 18 hole round, this course now contains some serious fun factor. The old nine hole course was touted as the longest such in Kentucky, so most of the new shots are shorter and technical woods holes, giving the course an overall balance of nine big arm holes and now a full nine precision ones. With a course map/sign, mailbox for scorecards, and excellent new tee signs, each hole has (or will soon have) timber framed concrete tees and DGA Mach II baskets, improved with an extra set of chains to make them disc gobbling 24 chain styled. There are lots of bridges where needed, and they range from excellent (like those after hole 3) to utilitarian (after hole 5). There are some really well done stairs as well, the best being the much needed ones on hole 2, that are made from concrete filled old tires. Nice railings there, as well.

The disc play starts out just inside the fairgrounds gate with a couple of exciting short holes up and then down the ridge on your right. Hitting the tight line on #2 to park or ace the hole would thrill any player, not just the Intermediate skill folks for whom the overall course seems now to be targeted. (Did I just write that? My English teacher would be so proud.) After the longer, blind third hole, you'll re-enter the woods for a couple of shorties, including the ace run 5th, where you'll want to just empty your bag trying to run the back-stopped basket. (Careful, I found a disc obviously left behind after somebody's tree kick; but it's easy to lose count if you're throwing them all!). Then it's out to the middle of the field & back, a couple of holes for the big arms, and on to the back nine.

This is where the course gets really fun. Entering with a naturally fading downhiller on 10 (the basket is just below the big Sycamore), you get to thread through the tight tree gaps for a few short holes, reaching the 'Lord of the Rings' guardian trees in front of 13's slightly raised basket. Extra compliments on the use of the 8 foot high durable plastic snow fencing guarding the 11th tee and the 14th fairway! 14 is the creek meandering, downhill, 420 foot 'Beast', where good judgment and control are the only way to tame it. Hole 15 lets the big hyzer guys show off (at least until the newly planted white pines grow in), before you crank a tight, firm shot out of a woods gap to the open on 16 (similar to the new #6 tee). The last two holes work downhill to surprisingly tricky basket positions (slope beyond on 17, and island green on 18).

Thoughtful design and an eye towards the future mean this fun course will hopefully stay exciting for years. Where needed, a tee position has been pulled back a little into the woods to emphasize the desired line, rather than getting away with the sky hyzer line that opened up with a new line of telephone poles. The aforementioned pine saplings now ring basket positions to make them trickier in just a few years. The punishing tight woods lines will open up over time and use. And there are multiple pin positions on several holes to control erosion and increase the variety. Kudos!

Though the flow is fairly intuitive in most places, there are currently a limited number of signs for the 'next tee' (needed going to 2, 3, 10 & 17). The tees are varied right now: most of the old ones are good-sized concrete, but 7-9 are oddly small. The new holes (2, 10-16 & 18) are boxed and mulched, awaiting the park's commitment to the upgrade. And in the wetter seasons, the holes down on the flats and in the first section of woods seem to hold on to some mud. Oddly, I felt the new woods holes didn't have this problem, except around the 10th basket, which they plan to build up with mulch from the cleared debris.

Careful: hole 7's tee pad is aimed straight at the woods, but the basket is a good 25-30 degrees left of that line. Finally, the parking for disc golf is limited. With the gate being closed at 4:30, there's only space for a couple of cars outside, near hole 1. When available, and not busy with other fairgrounds activities, the lot up above hole 8 might be best, but that overflows in such a way that non-players (say, horse folks at a competition) seem to want to park too close to that basket.

I lucked out meeting Lewis and Matt (happy birthday, even though I doubled your age the week before!) wrapping up one of their obviously weekly Saturday work sessions, and got to play the new half of the course with the guys who've been doing all the work. Saw the last of the new tee signs installed, and heard about the plans. This is a fun course that deserves not just the regular Thursday night leagues and an occasional tourney, but some out of towners stopping in to check it out. It's worth a visit!