Better known as Old Siler Farm, the Macon Early College course offers a taste of rugged Appalachian mountain disc golf but unfortunately appears to have frequently suffered from neglect during its decade of existence.

Hole #2 could be the signature hole; the mountainous scenery is tremendous, and the fairway includes navigating several trees on the left while dropping down a steep hill to the right. Turn too early and you're in the bushes; turn too late and you're stuck behind a tree on the hill with a tricky approach to the pin.

Holes #5 and #6 are a couple more worthwhile designs; the holes are flat but in a lovely valley bordered by a creek on the right and the Little Tennessee River Greenway on the left, so you may see runners and bikers passing by.

The course attempts to masquerade as an 18-hole course by providing two teepads on each hole (except for Hole #4) and numbering them from 1 to 9 and 10 to 18. Nice try. In reality, this is a nine-hole course with short and long teepads.

The tee signs include the number, distance and a simple graphic depiction of the hole.

It's a couple-minute walk from the parking lot to the first teepad. Hole #9 returns to the start of the course.

Hole #7 is an AWFUL hole. I rate it as the worst hole I've ever played.

Sure, forcing disc golfers to throw over trees might have seemed like a brilliant idea when the course was designed.

But it wasn't.

In its current state, the hole will be extremely difficult to play for all but the big-armed disc golfers who can clear the tall and thick trees. Check out the DGCR photo I posted. When I arrived at the Hole #7 teepad, I had no idea of the basket's location as I was surrounded by tall grasses and briars in all directions. I walked around for about 10 minutes before figuring out that if you're facing the tee sign, you're looking in the right direction. About 100 feet down the "fairway" is a wall of trees 30 to 40 feet high. This stretch of impenetrable forestry is probably 100 feet deep, and then the basket is positioned in an opening up the hill on the other side.

Some disc golfers might skip Hole #7, but I'm a sucker for punishment. I hopelessly threw my drive into the middle of the woods. Fortunately, I found it among the dense undergrowth, and then I pitched it forward about 40 feet. From there, I threw a tomahawk up the hill through a small gap and landed about 25 feet from the basket. I made my putt and considered myself fortunate to only take a 4.

By the way, for the less adventurous, there's an alternate teepad on the other side of the Hole #7 jungle; it's only 120 feet and boring. But seriously, unless you can throw a huge sky hyzer or enjoy looking for your driver, you can rationalize playing the short teepad.

The course conditions left much to be desired when I played. The teepads used to be wooden planks filled with woodchips, but those areas are rutted and uneven. Holes #2 and 3 were in bad need of mowing. Hole #4 is heavily wooded with a narrow fairway on the side of a steep hill. Even more treacherous was the steep, barely-there path leading to Hole #5. And of course, the aforementioned Hole #7 is rife with underbrush and nearly unplayable.

Navigation at the Macon Early College course isn't great, especially if you're trying to find both teepads. The UDisc map was somewhat helpful. There aren't enough visual cues or signs to indicate where the current basket or next hole is.

Other disc golfers have described the course with these terms: Overgrown, confusing, poorly designed, and nonexistent upkeep.

With its elevation and fantastic views, the potential for the Old Siler Farm disc golf course is actually high. Sadly, in reading reviews from years past, regular maintenance - including frequent mowing - seems to always be a problem.

DISCatcher baskets.
Good, DG only section of campus, with elevation.
Tee signs on most holes, most had front and back nine tees.
Mix of holes, a few wooded, but most were open.

A couple of paved tees, but most were just mulch.
#4 looks nothing like the pictures on here, very overgrown and the side-sloping fairway is just a narrow path.
#6 basket seems to have been moved, making a very long hole.
#7 - signed and mulched tee does not match course map. The #7 tee lines up one of the craziest holes I have seen. More on that below.
Pretty rough condition overall, long grass, old tee signs, several baskets were faded.

I imagine when this course was first put in that it was very welcome in the area. At that time, the next nearest course was 15 miles away, over mountain roads. It was probably a nice layout at that time, but since then, it looks like very little work has been done, especially any grass cutting.
Paved tees were never put in and the tee signs are minimal. Someone has designated alternate tees on most holes, in an attempt to make 18 unique holes, but you may have to look a while for all of them.
Several holes had very thick rough, the kind you don't what to have to go into and #4 just looks like a jungle. Then, the path down to #5 was pretty treacherous. There was a surprising open, flat area for #5 and 6, including a paved greenway path. #6 seemed longer than the posted distance, like the basket was moved to the furthest point possible.
Then #7 - a next tee sign, and the framed tee for #7 has you on a small hillside, staring at a large wall of trees, at least 30-40 feet high. No gap to shoot through, just the tiniest of paths to slip through. I didn't bother throwing on this hole, but once I got through the trees, I found the basket in a clearing on the other side. One of the worst hole designs I've ever seen.
#8 and #9 were not bad holes, mostly open with some thick rough, slightly uphill.
As I mentioned, this use to be the only course within 15 miles, but since I was there, another niner opened up in Franklin. It may not be much better than this course, but it appears any course work that has been done in town, has now gone to that course.