Pros:
Jim Simpson Memorial DGC at Olen Park is a nice little nine hole course. This is my second time playing here, the first time was years ago, and it's still as good as it was the first time.
The park terrain is completely flat and lightly wooded. Enough trees to force you to execute shots and pick proper lines, but no poke and hope style holes either. Good, solid design to incorporate 9 holes here without interfering with other park activities. Very well done.
The baskets are newer than the last time I was here. I don't remember what they used to have, but they currently have beautiful blue powdercoated Mach's that look really sharp. These catch nicely and are all mounted level. Really enjoyed these. One basket and placement per hole. Zero issues with these.
Natural tee pads that have a garden paver type of deal serving as the front end of the tee on most holes. Basic as can be but serviceable for the most part.
Hole 5 is the signature hole. Not a long one, but it requires a drive across the river to a pin tucked up into the woods on the opposite bank. Very scenic hole. My noodle arm layed up, threw a bad shot to cross and bogied it. Very tough two to get. Especially as a righty with no sidearm. There's a cool suspension bridge to get you to the other side of the river. Just a cool hole that doesn't really fit with the rest, but in a great way.
There's tee signs at every hole. All metal signs with the basic info. Hole #, par and distance. Better than nothing and helps with locating the next tee since they're natural and sort of blend in with the rest of the park.
The course starts and ends right by the parking lot. There's also minimal walking between holes. The walk from hole 1 to hole 2 is the longest and it's not even that far. Hole 1 starts on the north side of the park road before crossing over to play the final 8 on the south side of that road (besides hole 5). Seamless flow. There's also a nice large course map at the kiosk by hole 1 if you don't have a map.
Permanent, very clean and probably never busy DGwise. Pretty little park with the river in view on a couple of holes.
Cons:
The tee signs are not the best. They have the basic info but you need to get your face right up next to them to decipher the info. They're just silver circles from even a few feet away on most. The pics I took will help explain my point better. Keep in mind I took those pics from about a foot or two away with a smart phone camera and that's what you see. They appeared to have soldered/welded a textured part to the hole #'s on a few at least.
A few of the tee pads are starting to show their age. They have been in the ground for over a decade now. With pads like these they tend to extend in various directions off the original area due to getting rutted or retaining water. Not a huge deal when dry. When wet they'll be puddles.
A little tree trimming could/should occur on the far side of the river for hole 5. At least to open up a little window. It's a bit poke and hope as is currently.
Back to the tee signs. A number of holes play near each other so it is easy to walk to the wrong tee. I almost missed hole 5 because of this, with it being on the other side of the road. Didn't even realize it until I got up to 6's basket.
Other Thoughts:
Fun little course. The best of the bunch by Clintonville from what I remember. This was the only one I chose to revisit when swinging thru here fwiw.
Not a must play but an average to slightly above average (due to hole 5) nine hole. Definitely worth a visit if you find yourself out this way. And for being kind of in the middle of nowhere, there's actually a couple other solid options nearby in Marion and Dream Big. Good course that's starting to show it's age a bit but still damn fun.