Memphis (no, not that Memphis) DGC is a shorter 9-hole course that snakes around other park amenities. This is certainly not a course to go too far out of your way for, but when your Father-In-Law asks you to tag along on a 90-minute one way trip to feed his pallet resale addiction in a town that has a mediocre 9-hole course, how can you say no?

Location of Memphis DGC is in Johnson Park, which is in the central-east side of town. You will likely take Route 136 into town, from which you just need to make a couple turns to get to the park. For course baggers, there's an 18-hole course just outside town that I didn't get a chance to play, but has favorable reviews from others. There's not much to Memphis, but there are a couple of gas stations for your food or gas needs. Other than that, it's a small rural town. My Father-In-Law has coworkers that call this area "God's Country". What ever floats your boat, I guess, but I feel like they need to get out more.

Park Amenities are robust for the size of the park. In addition to disc golf, you'll find a baseball diamond, tennis courts, and a basketball court. There's also some playground equipment and a couple of shelters. There's a bathroom by the parking lot, though it looks like they are locked over the winter.

Course Equipment feel incomplete but has a couple of nice touches. Tee signs include par, distance, a graphic of the hole layout, and next tee directions. The baskets on site are homemade but are consistent in their design.

Course Design at Memphis is fairly short overall, being just under 2,000 feet in total. Backhand and forehand players will both find that most of the holes cater to their respective preferences, and most intermediate and up players will find this to mostly be a midrange and putter course with an occasional fairway disc drive, with hole 7 being the outlier at 343 feet long.

Shot-Shaping exists mostly in a "pick a side of the tree to throw around" kind of way. Hole 1 is a pretty clear RHBH shot, while hole 3 is more favorable to a gentle RHBH anhyzer of FH shot. Hole 8 is the one truly unique hole where a RHBH hyzer is the preferable shot, with the basket being around a fence for the baseball field. All of the other holes can be attacked with a straight shot.

Distances are short except for hole 7. Every other hole is under 250 feet long, with three holes under 200 feet. This makes for a course that is fairly accessible to newer players from a distance perspective.

Difficulty is on the easy end at Memphis. Newer players will find the distances and mostly forgiving fairway shapes to be welcoming, while intermediate to advanced players will probably be collecting birdies immediately at this course.

Safety is a concern on a lot of the holes at Memphis. A lot of the holes play close to each other, with hole 9 actually crossing hole 6's fairway a bit. Hole 3's pin is close to hole 4's tee. Holes 5 and 9 play close to the playground. Hole 7 plays very close to both the tennis courts and road. Hole 8 plays practically over the basketball court. I could list more issues than that even, but you get the idea. While the distances are welcoming to newer players, these are the same players who are more likely to throw into another park use, though none of us throw 100% accurate all the time. There's a net on one side of the playground, but it's pretty imposing and shouldn't be necessary in the first place.

Course Equipment leaves a lot to be desired. The tee pads are all natural and have some clear low points with repeated use. There's also a neat wood plank propped up at the front of many tee areas that I'm sure feels great on your ankles and shins if you foot fault, so maybe avoid doing that during your round. The baskets are also not ideal. I appreciate the effort, as whoever made these clearly know their way around working with metal, but the baskets are both shallower and wider than any name brand basket you will find. Spit outs, or even bounces out of the basket, are possible and borderline likely here. Considering how much these baskets probably cost, they were probably better off just buying actual baskets from a known company. Hole 3 and 9 also have their tee signs switched; luckily, the holes are basically the same, so the graphics are essentially the same as well.

Navigation can also be confusing, as there are almost always multiple baskets in view from the tee pad you are at. The course map on site is also out of date, leave UDisc the most reliable source of information. You could easily find yourself throwing to the wrong basket at times. Apparently, there are Xs on baskets to show which basket NOT to throw to in areas, but I did not notice these during my round, nor do they show up in any pictures I took.

Course Design in general leaves a bit to be desired. A lot of the holes are just short 200ish long straight shots, and the unique holes come with safety concerns. There are not many park options in town, so I imagine this one gets some decent use when it is warmer. The plot of land realistically isn't big enough for all of the other park amenities and a 9-hole course, so a lot of fenagling had to be done to make 9 holes fit. With how short the course is combined with shot selection though, the fun factor here is low.

Memphis DGC isn't worth going out of your way for, and probably doesn't get much traffic considering what's around. The park overall could probably use more investment for all park goers, and more legitimate baskets alone would elevate this disc golf course. The disc golf course isn't alone in this vibe though, as a lot of the park amenities look a bit aged, such as the playground having a lot of peeling paint. I swear I fought super mutants in Fallout 3 on a playground that looked like this one.

If it weren't for additional reasons for driving here, I don't know when or if I'd ever make the trip up to Memphis, and there's honestly enough options on Rt. 61 and other relatively nearby highways to keep course baggers happy. There is Lake Show Me nearby with an 18 hole, so if you do swing though Memphis, that course is more likely to bring some enjoyment. If you aren't a dedicated course bagger though, I'd suggest staying on the beaten path.

Nice course for a quick round and good use of obstacles.

Could be complications if others are using the park.

Nice starter course for the community. I have seen several kids playing this course, which is a great way to grow this sport.

It's a course in my home town.

Where to start:
The baskets are homemade and do not catch very well. I had at least 3 sure hits that either bounce off the sides of the basket or fell through the bottom.

Now for the trouble areas:
Hole #1: Seems good until you look to the left and right in the path of a lefty or a sidearm thrower is a shelterhouse. In fact my son actually threw into that shelterhouse. A BIG problem if there are people in there.

Hole #2: This hole crosses not one but two separate fairways. It also has a tee pad 45 degrees off the right of the teepad.

Hole #5: Very bad situation here. There are swingsets that could very easily be in the spray pattern of newer discers. BIG chance of kids getting hit there.

Hole #6: Nice at first glance, but with the tennis court fence right behind the basket, that is going to be hit just because it will make for an easy 2 on numerous ace runs. Eventually it will need to be replaced due to so many discs hitting it. (ie expensive)

Hole #7: Great hole, but there needs to be a sign inside the tennis court warning of flying discs. I almost nailed someone when they came out of the tennis court after I had thrown.

Hole #8: You have to throw over the basketball court which means even more people at risk from flying discs.

Hole #9: I liked this hole a lot the first time through, but then, on the second time, I almost hit four kids who came running to the playground equipment to the left of the fairway. Luckily, I saw them before I actually released, because I was throwing forehand and they came out into my line.

While it is a fun course, the above problems could have the course pulled when someone gets hit by an errant throw and they sue the city. Also, change the baskets. Those are not in PDGA specs and will frustrate many golfers

I think the Old City Lake would have been a lot better choice for a course. More room and with GOOD baskets a lot more fun to play.

Smaller course but lots of fun. Good use of trees and obstacles to make shorter holes more challenging. Course flows well. All tees except #6 have something to play around. Signage is very good. If multiple baskets are in view, they show an X on wrong basket.

Only 9 holes.

Plays in about 20 minutes for 9 hole round.