Pros:
(2.165 Rating) A city park course on a nice manageable hillside.
- ELEVATION - Most courses would be jealous by the degree of elevation change here. The south end of the course layout rises up about 70 feet from the north end according to topoquest.com. Hole (2) plays up around 40 feet and hole (5) plays down 50 feet and then back up 15 feet. (5) was easily my favorite hole out here as the shot is a moderately defined tunnel shot out to an open field at the end. A couple other holes have about 20 feet of change in them. Even with all the elevation, the course can still be tackled somewhat easily with a disc golf cart.
- BEGINNER FRIENDLY - A wonderful course to learn the game on. Light to moderate obstacles on just about every hole. The ground underneath the tree canopy has no overgrowth so throwing into thicket is limited to the fairway fringes on a few holes. No legit water hazards and the length of the holes is perfect to encourage player development up to lower Recreational skill level.
- BASICS - DISCatchers that are all in good condition and 5 foot by 12 foot concrete tees that are all in great condition.
- CHARACTER - In addition to nice tees and baskets, I think the rest of the basics and extras are above the average course. There's a practice basket. Effective hole signage and a nice course map near tee (1). There's a box for scorecards at the course map. Unfortunately in the process of grabbing one, I notice that an ant colony have taken up residence in the box. That's a first, but I still got a card. There is one picnic table at tee (7) and there's a finishing shelter with picnic tables as well. I don't recall seeing a restroom, but it's possible that one is located a bit further north adjacent to the two ball fields.
- NAVIGATION - With the course map and tee signs noted above, and a lightly wooded layout, traversing this course is a breeze.
- QUICK PLAY - Easy for a solo to complete in under 30 minutes. Figure a 50 to 60 minutes for a four some.
- MAINTENANCE - The course grounds were mowed and downed branches in the wooded portions were few and far between.
- LOCATION - The closest course to Cumberland falls (30 minutes), which I must say having personally visited is a really awesome falls area that costs no money enter. In addition the course is located near the KFC Museum, not even a 10 minutes drive.
Cons:
A solid 9 hole course, but short on challenge and variety.
- LACK OF CHALLENGE - The course is listed as moderately wooded. I think this inflates the rating difficulty a bit as the course is a tweener between lightly wooded and moderately wooded. I personally shot 5 down on first attempt as an intermediate level player but I played really well. I figure that an 850 rated player will average par out here. Advanced players would probably average 6 to 7 down.
- SAFETY HAZARDS - On hole (6) there's a shelter off on the left side. It probably won't even register to higher skilled players, but for newer players, they will hit this structure from time to time. A couple holes have the potential to bring private back yards into play and (8) starts off adjacent to the baseball field fence. Hole spacing is a little squeezed on holes (1) thru (5). All stated, these items made minimal impact on my rating for the course as they weren't epic bad.
- UNIQUENESS - Other than Elevation, see pros, the hole variety won't wow anyone. Mostly lightly to moderately wooded. Tunnels shots are non-existent except the moderately defined one on (5). Water elements are limited to the likely dry head-water creek along (6) and (7). Also a shorter layout with all par 3s with the longest hole maxing out at 330 feet.
Other Thoughts:
Miller Park is a near ideal leg stretching course along I75. Although it kind of sucks that road that crosses I75 next to the park doesn't have an exit from the highway. Overall, I have the course rated as a really strong 2, and I've give it a 2.25 if I were allowed to do so. Perfect for day trippers looking to add another course and great for the locals. I'd play here every day if I lived in town.
- NATURAL BEAUTY - I scored the course roughly in the middle compared to all the courses I've played. Obviously the elevation change was the biggest factor on the beauty pro side. However, views of back yards, ball fields and other manmade structures brought the course beauty score back down a bit.