• Discover new ways to elevate your game with the updated DGCourseReview app!
    It's entirely free and enhanced with features shaped by user feedback to ensure your best experience on the course. (App Store or Google Play)

Jonesborough, TN

Kiwanis DGC

Permanent course
2.325(based on 11 reviews)
Filter course reviews

Filter reviews

Filter reviews

Kiwanis DGC reviews

Filter
8 0
dino2disc
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 24.7 years 76 played 39 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Some fun woods holes, but repetitive 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jan 11, 2021 Played the course:once

Pros:

You'll definitely have a fun round, but it will come with a few quirks and disappointments. Here's some of the pluses:
- Easy to find the first tee, and room for a decent number of cars; just take a left up the hill and drive past the fenced basketball court.
- Beautiful, hilly landscape, especially once you get into the woods on #2 and 10 through 15.
- Nice Discatcher baskets and long concrete tees.
- Great variety between tight woods shots (like on #11 and 13), lightly-wooded holes (like #3 and 16), and wide open field bomb opportunities (like #4 through 7).
- #9 is a fun straight shot to the basket on a steep uphill slope. I don't generally try for aces since my putting is mediocre, but the basket placement REALLY invites you to dart your tee shot straight at the chains. Wish I would have had time to try it more than once while driving through the area!
- Despite the dense woods on many holes, there are clear fairway lines and the distances are short enough that most intermediate players will likely see birdie chances on a number of holes.

Cons:

- #1 is a really terrible starting hole. It's by far the hardest hole on the course: a steep, blind uphill tee shot into a 15 foot wide path between dense trees. Then you go further uphill up that tunnel to get to the basket. Miss the tunnel opening on the first throw of your round and you'll be screwed into a dump out recovery shot and bogey to start your round. Maybe it could work later in the round, but it's an awfully big demand for your very first throw of the round.

- The hole layouts are disappointingly repetitive. Especially #12, 13, and 14, which are all almost the same hole. There's an awesomely steep, wooded ridge to your right that could be used to vary the hole styles, but instead all three holes play along the side of the hill with downhill to your left, making it tough to stick your landings if you're a righty. You keep hoping for an uphill, downhill, or some type of diagonal valley cross, but instead all you get is more side-hill holes. Why not charge up and then down the slope, or cut across some of the gullies into the ridge? Wouldn't that be more fun? Seems like the designers didn't want to do much hiking or something...

Other Thoughts:

- Though #9 is the most inviting ace run I've ever seen, the overall best hole is probably #2: a scenic, slightly downhill and fairly open shot through the woods where if you control your distance right you'll have a high chance for birdie.

- Yes there's a fairly long walk from the 15th basket to #16, but if you check out the map ahead of time and know what to expect, it won't bother you at all.

- Overall, not a stellar course, but there is nice variety between open and wooded holes, and a few intriguing shots for birdie or even an ace make it more than worth the time to swing by for a round if you're in the area.
Was this review helpful? Yes No
10 0
Bennybennybenny
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 13.2 years 306 played 288 reviews
2.00 star(s)

I'll Hollar in a State of Dolor! Scoff at the Extollers! Like Father Jack in His Clerical Collar! 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jul 26, 2020 Played the course:once

Pros:

-This course nestled right around the Appalachian Mountains. The terrain here is very hilly and the walkthrough of the course is pleasing. This is a real place of solace. Very quiet atmosphere at a campground.

-Great start to the course! I have some disagreement, but I loved the first hole. Steep uphill, maybe a bit over 25' above the tee pad. Hole is only 200' but is hard to reach. The tee shot has you throwing into a mouth of the woods making the route to the basket tight for the remaining 80' or so. #2 is a fun downhill ace run.

-I also enjoyed holes #7 and #9. #7 gives the greatest chance to air out a big drive since it is 468' feet across a nice valley. #9 is under 200' but plays longer and is pretty challenging overall. It's up a steep hill in the woods. A tamed version of #18 at Morningside. Not as high up so it's very reachable. The hill is still steep, so there's roller potential.

-Good ace potential. Good for practice. Many shorter tight holes with high demand for accuracy. Any ace here would be a good one while there is good potential.

Cons:

-The tee signs are not accurate and the majority of them look the same. #8 is pretty sharply to the right but the diagram looks just like #7's. A straight line with a slight slant to the right. Mind you, #7 is dead straight from the pad. Not slightly to the right. Many other tee signs are the same. A few holes are to the left, and they are well, a slight slant to the left. Slightly accurate but still misleading!

-#10 and #11 are a couple of goofy flip up ace runs. There is one tree splitting the tight fairways into two crapshoots.
Reachable? Definitely! They are both under 200', but still annoying and not fun to play at all. While we are at it, the front nine is pretty solid, and the back nine flat out sucks.

-Great terrain that's limited to mild elevation change on most holes. As soon as I parked, I had a feeling there'd be a lot of elevation change on the disc golf course and that this course would be better than the 2.22 rating it has. The first hole has the most elevation change here. It's a tease. Don't come in expecting some high elevation changes even though this course just may have the capacity for it.

-Holes 3-8, 16-18 play through a grassy field and are close in proximity. While we are at it, I wouldn't play here in the morning again. My shoes got SOAKED and my car reeked on the way home even with my window down. If you play here, wait until the noon.

-The last three holes go from boring to terrible. #16 is a notch downhill on top of a hill. Filler. #17 and #18 suck. Those last two holes play on the bottom of the hill. You have to walk your way down just to walk back steep uphill to where you parked. After #15, you are walking a long way downhill just to play a meh hole followed by two bad boring like holes.

-The campground is currently closed. On a positive note, it's a nice place to camp!

Other Thoughts:

-Overall, I found Kiwanis Persimmon Hollar to be pretty frustrating. The front nine was okay and the back nine wasn't fun at all aside from a couple of okay holes. It's beautiful and I thought it'd be pretty cool. I wasn't expecting much from the reviews I read, but I expected a little bit more than this.

-There are definitely worse courses than this one. But that doesn't mean this course is really worth it if you aren't a local or are planning to play it just to do it. I don't agree with one of the previous statements stating that you'll have fun for sure. You might have fun and that's great if you do. If you don't, then luckily Winged Deer isn't that far from here. Do not play here if you don't plan on playing Winged Deer.

-Tried to come up with a funny review title with a relatively serious review. Course is like the movie Vegas Vacation. The beginning is hilarious cause Chevy Chase is going out of his way singing "Good Vibrations" by The Beach Boys very terribly while driving recklessly. Starts off great and fun and the rest of it is boring with a few funny lines. And the lack of the available use of elevation is the lack of humor from Cousin Eddie in the movie. He MADE the Christmas Vacation movie the gem it is! You hardly see any humor at all from him in Vegas Vacation. Just like you hardly see fun at Kiwanis.
Was this review helpful? Yes No
9 0
blake833
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 14 years 160 played 140 reviews
1.50 star(s)

Get outta herrrrree 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Nov 30, 2019 Played the course:once

Pros:

Kiwanis DGC is an 18 holer in a great disc golf area. The Johnson City/Tri-Cities area has phenomenal terrain, and great courses. This one is... not one of those great ones, but it's kinda fun.

The course starts off with some tight holes, then some open long holes, then some very tight very short holes, then some open short holes. There are a LOT of holes around the 200' or less range, so it's very putter/mid friendly.

The signs on the tee's are informative. The baskets are old discatchers. They do pretty well.

The land this course is on is pretty nice. I played in the fall when the leaves were thick on the ground in the wooded holes.

Cons:

The wooded holes are just not memorable, too short, too tight, just a little bit of everything. Hole 1 (a blind uphill into a tight alley) wasn't a great starting hole. Hole 2 (downhill straight shot) was maybe the best hole and would have made a WAY better starting hole.

The whole mishmash of design concepts weren't blended into a whole course, but segmented. The short length of the holes was almost stifling. Some holes could've just been combined, or redesigned for longer holes.

The morally crushing part was walking downhill from 14 to 15, and then 15 to 16. It's so deflating to throw uphill a few times, start licking your lips thinking there must be downhill coming, and then you just have to walk the whole way downhill.

The walk to 16 is also so long. Navigation wasn't too much of an issue until you get to 14/15, and then to 16. If the designer wasn't concerned about walking, then I really so no reason for hole 1 and why hole 2 isn't the beginning of the course.

oh and the tees were... well not great. paved, but shifted and cracked.

Other Thoughts:

I was about to give this course a 2.0, but then saw that the rubric calls that "Reasonable," when I truly resonated more with a "Passable" description at the 1.5. The course is just too short, with too many holes that you don't really like from the tee.

I think with this land, a great 9-12 hole course would be so much better than a truncated 18. I think I thew one or two drivers the whole time. There's a great opportunity to maybe thin some trees out, widen the fairways, put in some top-of-the-world tees or just general downhill shots. This place could be great with the right redesign.
Was this review helpful? Yes No
2 1
Baysinger
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 14.9 years 93 played 55 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Persimmon Ridge Park DGC 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jan 7, 2017 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Great for beginners. Good for a quick round of 18 holes. Great mix of elevation. Nice course sign along with concrete tee pads and tee signs on each hole.

Cons:

A few of the holes seem like filler holes as they are just back and forth in an open field. Long uphill walk back to the parking lot from hole 18.

Other Thoughts:

Persimmon Ridge Park DGC is a Kiwanis course located in Jonesborough,TN. This is not going to be the best course you have ever played, but you will have fun for sure. This course was originally put in as a 9 hole course but the addition of 9 more holes to make it a full 18 was implemented later. Adding the back 9 was a good move but a bad move at the same time. The reason I say this is because it's great that Jonesborough now has a full 18 hole course but it seems like some of the holes were just thrown in place in an open field to make it happen. It did add a new element to the course with longer open holes which the 9 hole layout didn't have, but I just hate seeing holes just go back and forth in an open field. To me, this just seems rushed and/or designed as filler holes. Some of the new holes I could live without while some of them are actually pretty fun. Over all, this is a pretty fun layout with a good mix of elevation. Have I played this course multiple times? Yes. Will I play this course again? Absolutely! It's a great course for a quick round, just don't expect a championship level course with this one. This course would also be great for beginners! If you want to see this course on video, check out my crew playing this course in the video below...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMj48IOhxHs
Was this review helpful? Yes No
11 0
DiscGolfCraig
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 19.9 years 597 played 544 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Patchwork quilt course. 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Aug 1, 2015 Played the course:once

Pros:

Kiwanis is an amalgamation of a disc golf course if I've ever seen one. It's basically got aspects of three different courses, which, combined together get you 18 holes. Seems like there's plenty of room to improve.
- The course does have variety. Hole #1 is a tight upshot; #2 is wooded; #3 - 8 are wide open; #9 - 15 are heavily wooded; and #16 - 18 are back in the open. Whether that's a good thing or not, almost everyone is bound to enjoy part of the layout and dislike other parts.
- Course puts heavy emphasis on the mid-range game. 12 of the 18 holes are 212 feet or shorter. Even with one hole at 468 feet, the average length is 220 feet. If you can throw an accurate mid-range shot, you'll be seeing lots of birdie chances.
- Course is almost completely isolated from the rest of the park. The park was packed on the Saturday afternoon I played, due to the crowds at the water-park. Other than cars parking in the grass close to the basket for #7, the disc golf portion was empty except for myself and my playing partner.
- This is a good practice course. The open holes would be good for practicing drives or mid-range shots. You could also spruce things up with some safari golf.
- Course is mostly a beginner friendly course. I throw out the disclaimer simply because brand new players might get frustrated with some of the tight, wooded layouts on holes #9 - 15. There's a bit too much of a luck factor with bounces off trees that could turn off newbies.
- I'll highlight three of the more enjoyable holes on this course. On many a courses, they would be filler holes. Here they're highlights. #2 is a semi-wooded, downhill, 200 foot shot. Fun ace run hole. #9 is a tight, wooded, 163-foot uphill shot. It's a good hole to be aggressive on, aiming for the chains. #16 is probably the course's best hole, a semi-open, 260-foot holes with big trees on both sides of the fairway, eliminating most big sweeping shots from getting close to the basket.

Cons:

I'll echo my issues from above. The course feels like it was randomly put together until there were a total of 18 holes at the park. Holes #1 - 8 all have one common flavor, #9 - 15 have another, and then #16 is on its own island due to the long walk to and fro. You go from a bunch of wide open holes that are too close to each other to a series of heavily wooded holes? It's just a weird flow.
- Holes #16 - 18 are such a frustration because of the long walk. It was really annoying because the walk is only for three holes. It's one of the better three hole stretches (by default), but it feels like you spend as much time walking as it takes to knock out the holes themselves.
- Holes #4 - 7 are bad because you go back-and-forth, back-and-forth across the same wide-open field. If there are other players on this stretch watch out, because even a slightly off-line shot will end up on one of the other fairways. To top it off, #8 starts back across the same field; however, at least this hole doglegs right around the edge of the trees, so there's a variable to this hole.
- Holes #10 - 15 are all very similar, especially the stretch of #12 - 15. Those four holes felt pretty much identical, so a little more variety and/or creativity would have been greatly appreciated.
- Not a lot of challenge to this course. Plus, there aren't any truly great holes here, just several good ones. Add it up and mid-level and above players will tear up this course.

Other Thoughts:

Kiwanis is a decent short course. If nothing else, it's a change of pace to Harmon Hills and Warriors Path.
- The course just never seemed like it got out of second gear. The first three holes were decent, giving me somewhat reasonable hopes of this being a fun, short course (along the lines of Elon Eager Beaver in Charlotte). After hole #7, I was still waiting for another decent hole...and then it was another long stretch before I found another enjoyable/creative layout.
- This space of land would really be better suited for one solid 9-hole course. Knock out a couple of the open holes, and use the wooded area to create several better layouts and you could have a pretty good layout. Instead you get an 18-hole course that has too many simple, short layouts.
- There's not much to offer here. It was disappointing because I thought this would be a fun, cool-down course after my visit to Harmon Hills. What I got instead was the area's least interesting 18-hole layout. It says something that I thought Borden Park was a better all-around course than this one.
Was this review helpful? Yes No
4 0
FlyingSouthDG
Bronze level trusted reviewer
Experience: 14 years 49 played 26 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Kiwanis, KiwanYES! 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jun 18, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

- Great hole variety. One must be able to drive well in the open in addition to weaving through trees.
- Easy to navigate. There is a course map at the start of the course and hole maps throughout.
- Baskets and most concrete tees are in very good condition.
- Allows for the use of almost every disc in your bag.
- For beginner players it is a fair challenge and experienced players will have fun with multiple birdie runs.
- At most times of the week the course is not crowded. Even though some holes may be fairly close together, you will more than likely be the only party there.

Cons:

- Grass needs to be cut more frequently and foliage better maintained. Can be rather dense even slightly off the fairway.
- If you are an experienced player looking for a challenge in contrast to a light afternoon, this course may become boring.
- As aforementioned, in the off-chance that the course is crowded, you may have to be extremely weary of throwing near others or other groups.

Other Thoughts:

From previous reviews read, I find that Kiwanis has improved and frankly come a long way recently. I still consider myself a beginner player, and this course certainly tested my abilities in all areas. In order to save par many tough putts had to be made. I enjoyed the variety of Kiwanis and played a fun round in just over an hour. I would undoubtedly recommend this course to players of all levels in the tri-cities.
Was this review helpful? Yes No
2 0
DBdiscgolf
Experience: 13.8 years 12 played 7 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Full 18 Holes 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 28, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

The park has recently put 9 more holes in to give the course a full 18. This course does a surprisingly good job of taking a very small piece of land and incorporating both wooded and open holes. For the most part, it is not just throwing back and forth across a field as I had expected it to be. The holes are 90% very short, but number 7 is 465 feet across the open part of the course and provides a nice relief from throwing short, technical shots. As others have stated, there is a very good opportunity for aces. Very nice, new DISCather baskets.

Cons:

The main con is that the fairways and greens in the woods are not clear at all. This is most likely due to little traffic seeing as most of the disc golfing around the area is done at Warriors Path, Winged Deer, and Harmon Hills. Also many of the tee pads in the woods have been awfully constructed and are literally crumbling under your feet. As obvious as this is, the lack of distance and difficulty is a con for advanced and professional level players. The course gets repetitive and boring quickly if you are at this level. There are no benches at the tees. On days like today (86 degrees) that would be a very nice touch. A nice view of the most redneck water park in the world and it's cracked out / morbidly obese visitors at the hole 8 tee pad.

Other Thoughts:

The course designers have done the best it possibly could with what it had to work with, and I commend them for this. I hope it gets some extra traffic now that the full 18 have been put in. It's a great place for families and beginners, and a great place to practice your approach and mid game for advanced players. All in all it's a very simple, short course that has nothing special to offer, but deserves to be played by locals.
Was this review helpful? Yes No
1 0
kawsnruckus
Experience: 10.9 years 43 played 2 reviews
2.50 star(s)

My hometown course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 9, 2014 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

- Short fun holes
- Mixture of open/wooded holes with great elevation changes
- Great chance for an ace
- Quick course that can be played under 30 minutes easily
- Hole # 2 is VERY short but fun. Straight down hill.
- Nice concrete pads (except for # 5)
- Water Park, camping, basketball, baseball all close for other family activities
- Great signs at each tee pad

Cons:

- Leading up to # 5 is treacherous when wet/muddy
- Hole # 5 pad is wood chips
- Large tree down at basket # 5
- The descent downhill AFTER hole # 5 is treacherous
- Only a 9 hole course
- Confusing walk between # 6 and # 7
- Steep uphill walk from # 9 to parking lot

Other Thoughts:

Hole # 5 needs work in more ways than one BUT that is the only hole I have ever aced! All luck though. The rest of the holes are great. Fun little course. I think they are in process of adding more holes.
Was this review helpful? Yes No
2 0
lammersk
Experience: 10.9 years 37 played 12 reviews
1.50 star(s)

Replayed: Still Dangerous 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Aug 30, 2014 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Starts with three short control pins and then goes into several nice longer pins (new 4 through 8) which make the course much funner than it was. 7 is particularly good as it plays over a rolling field at 468 feet.

Cons:

Here's what I wrote when this was a nine pin course:
----------
"5 is poorly laid out and dangerous. In order to get to 5's tee you have to climb an overly steep mudpath. I slipped three times and the third time I might have ended up tumbling if a tree hadn't been handy to grab. Once I reached the tee, it was framed with wood and filled with wood chips. The shot is across the side of the hill - not up or down. I tee'ed off poorly from the chips and my disc fell short and just to the left of the path to the basket. The path to the basket is not a flat path. Instead, it is just a mudpath on the same, somewhat steep angle as the hill. I slid along it, trying to walk on the leaves around its edges and staying close to trees I could grab. However, none of that helped me when I threw the disc. The leaves and mud under them slid away and I went down. Getting back up, I went to the log across the path which had stopped my disc and putted from there. Then I basically climbed up the side of the log, my feet sliding and my hands pulling me up using a couple branches, and walked down the mudpit around the basket to get my disc. This mudpit was also on the same angle as the hill and I leaned on the basket to stay in place.

From the 5th basket to the 6th tee was another adventure. The path leads steeply downhill from the basket. I started to try to walk it slowly and the mud gave way. I barely grabbed the basket in time to stop. Then I aimed myself at a small tree and slid/walked down. Thankfully, I hit my target. However, this was not the end of the trek to the 6th tee. The path went on - again a mudpath which was not flattened, but the same angle as the hill. I made it almost 2/3d of the way before my carefully slow walk was not enough and I went down again.

Look, I understand they are trying to make an interesting/more difficult basket. However, 5 needs some work. (1) Stairs going up to 5 and down to 6. Nothing fancy, 4X4's with a couple of feet of flat land behind each would be perfect. (2) Flatten the paths on the sides of the hills. (3) Flatten the area around 5's basket. It won't do any good to fix the other problems if there still a mudpit around 5 to slide down from."

----------

5 is now 13. The mudpath up to it is gone because you play around the hill through the woods to get to it. Otherwise, it is still the same dangerously laid out pin that it was before. This time I made sure I came after there had been a week without rain and playing across the side of the hill was not as bad. However, the area around the basket is still extremely slanted and the path down to 14 (previously 6) is slanted at far too steep an angle. Someone had put wood chips on the trail down to 14. I presume they were there because someone thought they would provide traction, but at least on this dry day they made the footing more treacherous. 13 & 14 are still dangerous and need to be fixed.

Minor: If this course gets crowded the 4-9 could be problematic because they are close to each other and those without excellent control will end up in each others' fairways.

Minor: Could use better signs getting people across the parking area to where the last few pins are located.

Other Thoughts:

The improvements to this course make it more fun and when the mudpath up to previous 5 was no longer there, I started to hope that the other problems I previously noted were fixed as well so that I could recommend this course to others. Sadly, they were not. Because of this, the best I can rate this course is passable - if the weather has been dry for a few days.
Was this review helpful? Yes No
1 1
2002P51
Experience: 11.9 years 48 played 3 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Short and Sweet 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 4, 2013 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Short, plays fast, rewards accuracy over power, challenges your shot choices.

Cons:

Odd transition from #6 to #7, no benches or trash cans but that's nit picking. The tee box at #5 is the only one that's not concrete. It's loose tree bark and is very uneven.

Other Thoughts:

If you play this course you can leave the distance drivers at home. The longest hole is #7 at 260 feet. This is not necessarily a bad thing as the course rewards accuracy and control over brute power. As an example, hole #2 is listed optimistically at 210 feet. It's Par 2, dead straight, downhill with a reasonably wide fairway through the woods. If you can throw straight this is an easily aceable hole. Also if you happen to work close by the course plays quickly and you could get in nine holes during your lunch hour and still have time for a sandwich.

The info page claims this course is "moderately hilly". I guess that depends on your definition of moderately. If you are old enough to have ever used a dime to make a call from a pay phone the climb up to the basket at #4, and then from there up to the tee at #5 will have you huffing and puffing.

You're in for another steep climb if you decide to play 18 holes as the climb from #9 back up to the #1 tee is also pretty stiff. You can park near the first tee but then you have that uphill climb after you're finished playing a round. The course map is a little deceptive as there is another small parking lot right next to the #9 basket that isn't shown. You'll be glad you parked there after 18 holes.

The walk from #6 to the tee at #7 is a little strange. You come out of the woods, go across the parking lot, and past the campground, before you get to the next tee. I don't know if they could have continued the course through the woods around the campground or not, but whatever, once you get used to it, it's not all that bad.

Overall this is a fun little course that can be a nice break from the big bomb, wide open courses and even though the first six holes are mostly in the woods, the underbrush is light so there's little chance of losing a disc after an off-line throw.
Was this review helpful? Yes No
0 4
pv2292
Experience: 1 played 1 reviews
2.50 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 29, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

Short holes to work on your short game. Some of the holes had some degree of difficulty. I would play again if in the area.

Cons:

The day I played it was very slick in the wooded areas.

Other Thoughts:

There was enough room to add another 9 holes which would improve the over-all experience.
Was this review helpful? Yes No

Latest posts

Top