Pros:
Seven Oaks is one of the top courses in the Nashville area. The course provides great variety in length, layout and technicality, a must play if you are in the area. Although Seven Oaks is an older course, it is still very challenging and demanding, even by today's standards. Here is a breakdown of the course:
Course Essentials:
-Baskets: Mach Baskets with multiple positions on all holes except #1.
-Tee Pads: Single position concrete pads on all holes...
-Signs: Variety, some holes still have the original tee signs, others have printed/laminated signs, but unfortunately, many holes do not have any signage at all...
Course Design & Layout:
-Fairways: Good mix of open, technical and semi-technical fairways. Several holes offer multiple routes to the basket, and with the wide variety of pin placements, many holes can vary between straight/right/left lines, depending on the current location.
-Elevation: Minimal elevations with rolling hills throughout the course.
-Length: Great variety in length with the multiple pin placements. The course can play anywhere from 4300-6500ft, depending on current pin locations.
Course Description:
Seven Oaks begins with a series of 3 semi-open holes that are a great warm-up before you get into the more technical areas of the course, and an opportunity to get off to a good start with some easy pars and possible deuces. Once you finish the opening 3 holes, the course takes you into the more heavily wooded areas where tighter, more technical fairways await. Holes 4-6 are shorter par3's, but become progressively more technical with some really nice, tight fairways (especially 5-6) that reward accuracy and punish any stray drive. Once you finish #6, you can choose to play the optional holes I, II, and III which will return near the tee for #7. The path for these holes isn't clearly marked, but is located near the long position for hole #6. Holes 7 & 8 open up a bit, but still have narrow fairways with plenty of trees to force lines and shape your tee shots. The front nine finishes with a fairly short, semi-open shot that is a nice break and easy deuce to close out the first half of the course.
You don't get much of a break as Hole #10 takes you straight back into the woods. There are a couple of narrow routes through the heavily guarded fairway that plays slightly uphill to the basket. Holes 11-13 are a little more open, but the edges of these fairways are protected with some very thick trees. Hole 14 is simply a great golf hole. An open (but narrow) fairway that plays slightly down hill with a gentle right to left dogleg that offers great aesthetics and design. The fairways on 15 & 16 open back up a bit, but the rough is very thick and will easily add strokes. Holes17 is a shorter more technical style hole that plays slightly uphill with lots of trees. If you can hit the line, it's an easy 2, but the shorter length makes your up and down for par fairly simple if you catch a tree off the box. Hole 18 is a really nice finishing hole. A couple of trees to avoid off the tee with a gentle turnover line to an open fairway. The pin is tucked back into an opening in the trees and just in front of the creek. Some landscaping on the left provides great protection for the basket making for a difficult putt if your approach fades out. The trees and creek behind and to the right are trouble too.
Navigation:
Even without a course map, the holes were pretty straight-forward and easy to follow. The printed/laminated signs listed the direction to the next tee, which was very helpful. Without these navigational aids, it would have been more difficult to follow the course. A few holes have some longer walks to the next tee, and at some points on the course, multiple tees are visible, which gets a little confusing. The most difficult area is around hole 3. The tee for number 4 appears as though it could go for multiple baskets opposite of each other, and with no tee sign on 4, you kind of have to guess. Hole 4 is a short par3 that plays up the hill (gentle uphill) to the right of 3's basket. The basket down the hill to the left is actually the basket for hole 18. When finishing on hole 9, you are very near (if not in the right side of) the fairway for 18. You'll want to stay along the tree-line on the right side and you'll find the tee for hole 10 throwing back into the woods.
Cons:
-Baskets: The baskets are in decent shape, but can be very difficult to spot in the heavily wooded areas of the course. Even in daylight, the tree cover makes for some great shade, but given the lighting, the baskets tend to blend into the background. Many baskets have the orange reflective stickers, but they are older and still a little difficult to see.
-Signs: The printed signs are good (as far as information), but with many holes having no sign at all, you'll probably be scouting several pin placements your first time through the course. Some of the existing original signs are faded and difficult to read.
-Markers: Pin position markers on many of the posts (threaded bolt w/washer) which are nice, but several of them were not up-to-date with the current pin placements, which makes it difficult to locate the pin if you are new to the course.
-TeePads: Concrete pads were adequate in size, but many of them have cracked and are getting very worn. Dirt around the tees (in some areas) is starting to wash away, and several pads weren't level.
-Safety Concerns: I've only played the course once, but it was very busy. I really didn't have to wait behind other groups, and I don't really consider busy a "con" so to speak, it is good that so many people enjoy the course, but several areas where tees/pins are located in close proximity on the course does create a safety concern. When I was getting ready to tee off on hole 17 for example, someone playing hole 8 had missed a little left and was right in the line for hole 17. Other similar situations occur in various areas of the course.
Other Thoughts:
All in all, a solid course that is both fun and challenging. The course, as a whole was in decent shape and appeared to be maintained very well, the park was clean and manicured when I played there. The course design, minus the safety issues, was very well done and offers some really great golf holes. Nashville has some great disc golf, with Seven Oaks being one of the top courses in the area, definitely a must play if you are coming to Nashville. (I would also highly recommend nearby Cedar Hill!)