Magnolia Links at Gardendale

One of the easiest courses you will play. Plays primarily in an open field with a few lightly wooded holes around the edge. Most of the holes are a simple straight shot without any obstacle whatsoever ... show more ›

One of the easiest courses you will play. Plays primarily in an open field with a few lightly wooded holes around the edge. Most of the holes are a simple straight shot without any obstacle whatsoever in your path. The more technical ones are such a short distance that they aren't much trouble. Several are under 200 feet. Course is very well maintained and was still fun to play. I would expect a good player to birdie almost every hole in a round. Great place to take your friend who has never played disc golf before, but a more experienced player will not be challenged.

A relaxing novice and recreational players course. PROS: + ACEABILITY + Seven sub two-hundred foot holes will have veteran players eyeing the basket or listening for chains. Holes (1) (8) and (11 ... show more ›

A relaxing novice and recreational players course.

PROS:
+ ACEABILITY + Seven sub two-hundred foot holes will have veteran players eyeing the basket or listening for chains. Holes (1) (8) and (11) are going to ring up numerous times a year being both short and open.
+ TEES + Adequately sized concrete tees that are 4 feet by 10 feet in length. They were recently poured and are all in good condition.
+ CHARACTER + In addition to the nice tees, one of the best things about Magnolia is the feeling that you know the space is dedicated to just disc golf. There's effective and appealing hole signage, there's a community board with a beautiful course map, there's trash cans, and there's a practice basket. Things I'd like to see however is definitely some seating. I don't recall a signal bench during my round. I would also like to see some alternate basket placements as funds become available in the future.
+ NAVIGATION + Adequate, I stumbled around a few times between hole transitions and then ultimately checked my map. Hole signage has next tee direction on them but there is definitely a need for some directional cues between holes. Due to how the hole signage is orientated, reading the sign # from a distance is difficult.
+ BEGINNER FRIENDLY + An ideal course to introduce a first timer to learn the game. Lots of open to lightly wooded fairways, but also a few short technical plays. Very little opportunity to lose a disc.
+ QUICK PLAY + One of the quickest 18s I've ever played. At 4,200 feet in length and with short transitions between holes, solo players with an open course could knock this one out in 45 minutes. Groups of four should have no problem playing this one in under an hour.
+ MAINTENANCE + The park grounds appear to be very well maintained. Little trash was observed and the grass was mowed everywhere. A charming well constructed bridge on (5).
+ NATURAL BEAUTY + In addition to good maintenance, the natural look and feel of the layout really added to my experience. A nice shallow valley plays threw hole (5). The little creek running along a couple holes has a gentle Zen touch to it. The woodsy areas appeared healthy despite my visit occurring in the heart of winter. The only real beauty drawbacks were the first few holes and hole (18), which all butted up against the open nature of the rest of the multi-use park.

CONS:
Magnolia is a solid recreational course with only one substantial issue. Everything else noted below are just the inadequacies that come with this style of course.
- SPACING - The layout feels really squeezed in. Several of the fairways feel partially shared. Discs will constantly end up in other fairways. Black aces probably occur here. In addition, if this course were to get full of people, players would be wise to keep their head up and aware of other groups teeing off.
- LACK OF CHALLENGE - Not much of a challenge to even intermediate players as they should have no problem breaking par and being several shots down. I personally shot 7 down on first attempt as a 900ish rated player. Recreational players may be delighted however as it can be a feel good round. It's a great opportunity for those players to finish under par routinely as well. Novice players will even get some birdie looks.
- UNIQUENESS - A touch below average. To start, there are no par 4's or 5's. All of the holes are on the short side with the longest being 345 feet. There is a run of three slightly sweeping shots (14-16) and there is one nice right pocketing shot on (13). Elevation is mild. There are a few holes that have undulations in the 20 to 25 foot range. Water plays are minor with a very small 4 foot wide creek coming into play on two tee shots.
- WIND - About two thirds of this layout is lightly wooded or open. So wind can play a big factor on a lot of holes.

OTHER THOUGHTS:
Magnolia is a really fun course to play. Half of my tee shots were preceded with visions of chains being smashed. If I lived within 5 miles of here I'd be here all the time. The perfect place to throw a relaxing round and hang out with a group of friends. Players looking for a challenge however will have to go elsewhere. I would recommend all of the following Birmingham area courses for a greater difficulty factor; Inverness, Clay, Civitan or George Ward.

Great beginner course. The tee pads were not layed out very good on some holes so the flow was not the best. The tee signs need to be moved or turned to point in the baskets direction to give the firs ... show more ›

Great beginner course. The tee pads were not layed out very good on some holes so the flow was not the best. The tee signs need to be moved or turned to point in the baskets direction to give the first time players better flow also. I've played it several times and knew where the correct basket for the tee was but I had a couple new guys with me that were confused. I've also had to show a few people the correct tee pads and baskets. Also, someone is going to get hurt on the 8-11 holes because they are so close together. I like it as a practice course though.

Great small and technical course. Good for beginners and people who want to play a fast round. The course flows really well and had a good mixture of shots. Most holes are around the 200-250ft range ... show more ›

Great small and technical course. Good for beginners and people who want to play a fast round. The course flows really well and had a good mixture of shots. Most holes are around the 200-250ft range with a few that open up to 300-350 and a few sub 200ft. The big holes are open allowing you to throw your shot of choice and the small holes force you into throwing a precise shot.
I give this course an A- because it is exactly what it is supposed to be. A fun beginner friendly course with a good variety of technical shots. I also love that I could play a round after work in under 45 minutes and still get home before super.