Saturday
Labor Day weekend called for another little disc golf adventure, and this time we decided to head across the state line into Alabama!
Saturday morning started with dropping our dog off at Marietta Doggy Day Care so she could have her own fun-filled day while we hit the road. From there, we headed toward Guntersville, Alabama. We had already checked Kudzu Cove off our course list, so this trip was all about adding another new course to our growing collection: New Hope City Park Disc Golf Course.
But first… food. 😋
We made a quick stop at Nash’s Bar & Grill at City Harbor in Guntersville, and it did not disappoint. Yum! If you haven’t been to City Harbor, it’s a really neat little area right on the lake with several restaurants, shops, Kilwins, a brewery, and even a Home2 Suites sitting right on the water. It’s definitely worth a stop if you’re in the Guntersville area and looking for somewhere to eat, browse around, or just enjoy the lake for a bit.
After our lunch stop, we were off to New Hope to add another course to our “courses we’ve never played” list.
New Hope City Park was a pretty typical park-style disc golf course, with fairly open fairways and marked mandatories (mandos) on many of the holes. It wasn’t an overly technical course, but I really enjoyed it. Sometimes it’s nice to play a course where you can just get out there, throw some discs, and enjoy the round without every hole trying to destroy your scorecard. 😂
It was also HOT. And I mean Labor Day weekend in the South hot. 🥵
There was another player out on the course while we were playing who appeared to be getting some practice in before an upcoming tournament. As we got toward the end of our round, more and more groups started showing up, so I’m guessing quite a few players were out getting their tournament prep in as well.
We finished up our round with:
Scott: -3
Jamie: +4
Not too shabby for a hot Saturday afternoon!
And there was another milestone hiding in this round—Scott collected his 90th disc golf course! 🎉 Ninety courses! Considering how many new courses we’ve been chasing lately, it won’t be long before that number hits 100.
Another course checked off the list, another adventure added to the books, and we weren’t done yet. This was only the beginning of our Labor Day weekend!
Sunday — Two Courses, a Space Center Detour & One Very Strange Disc Golf Round
Sunday morning started with breakfast before we headed out for our first course of the day: Tom Monroe Disc Golf Course at Brahan Spring Park.
This course is currently rated #9 in Alabama, so we were excited to see what it had to offer.
The first few holes were long and open, which proved to be a little challenging for me. When you’re throwing on those longer holes and don’t quite have the distance yet, those extra throws start adding up quickly. I definitely donated a few extra strokes to the course. 😂
Once we moved farther into the course and into the wooded sections, though, it became much more manageable for me. Scott, on the other hand, was having a pretty great round. He managed to pull off 8 birdies, while I managed to keep my damage relatively contained with four bogeys and one double bogey.
And, of course, we ended the round in our typical fashion:
Scott: -6
Jamie: +6
Apparently, we have a thing for finishing rounds exactly twelve strokes apart. 😂
A Quick Public Service Announcement
Do NOT use the restroom here.
I’m not even going to elaborate much on this one. Let’s just say it appeared that someone may have made the restroom their permanent residence, and we decided that nature was probably the better option. You’ve been warned. 😂
After the round, we headed into town for lunch at Farm Burger, followed by a little shopping.
Then we decided to try our luck at one of Huntsville’s biggest attractions: the U.S. Space & Rocket Center.
Well…that plan didn’t quite work out.
We arrived only to discover that you couldn’t simply walk in and buy a ticket. Tickets were assigned to specific entry times, and the next available time was three hours away.
Three hours?!
So, what do two people who drove all the way to Alabama to play disc golf do when their Space Center plans fall apart?
Go play more disc golf, obviously. 😂
Monte Sano State Park
Next stop: Monte Sano State Park.
Before heading to the disc golf course, we took some time to explore the park. We visited the Japanese Garden, which was really pretty, and then drove around the park for a bit taking in the scenery.
Eventually, though, we did what we cameto do—found the disc golf course and got started.
This course was definitely more suited to Scott’s game than mine. It was a tougher course for me, but I hung in there because, apparently, that’s what happens when you’re married to someone who wants to play all the courses. 😂
The course itself was really nice, and Scott especially enjoyed it. It reminded him of courses back home like Gatewood or Etowah—wooded, technical, and the kind of course where placement matters.
But then came Hole 4.
And this is where things got…weird.
The Mystery at Hole 4
As we finished Hole 3 and started walking toward the tee pad for Hole 4, we noticed a lot of law enforcement activity in the picnic area just beyond the basket.
It was odd.
We were trying very hard not to be nosy, but when you’re standing there with a disc in your hand watching several law enforcement vehicles gathered around, it’s pretty hard not to wonder what is going on.
Then we saw them pull a long board out of a van.
Our first thought was that maybe they were helping a hiker who had broken a leg.
That seemed reasonable.
Except…something wasn’t adding up.
We were trying to continue our round and throw our discs down the fairway, which happened to be heading directly toward all of their vehicles. 😂
Then we watched as they began wrapping something onto the board.
At this point, we’re looking at each other thinking:
“Is that a BODY?!” 😳
They wrapped the object onto the board and then loaded it into what appeared to be a black medical examiner/hearse-type minivan, complete with the distinctive chrome scroll down the side.
Okay.
Did someone die?!
Yikes.
So now we had a mystery on our hands.
For the rest of the round, we couldn’t help but wonder what had happened in that picnic area. We tried to focus on disc golf, but let’s be honest—we were also quietly trying to figure out what we’d just witnessed.
And somehow, in the middle of all this, I finished my drive on the hole and made my birdie. 😂
Priorities.
We eventually finished the round and left still wondering exactly what had happened.
Regardless of the mystery surrounding Hole 4, the course itself was really enjoyable, and Scott absolutely loved it.
Final scores:
Scott: +1
Jamie: +9
Not my best score of the weekend, but I survived another course—and that’s a win in my book!
Labor Day Monday — One More Course Before Heading Home
Monday morning meant it was time to start heading home, but naturally, we couldn’t possibly drive all the way back to Georgia without squeezing in one more course.
Because apparently, that’s how we travel now. 😂
Our final stop of the weekend was Rainsville Disc Golf Course in Rainsville, Alabama.
And this one was another big one.
Rainsville is currently rated #8 in Alabama, so we were getting quite the tour of Alabama’s highly rated courses over the weekend.
But the best part of this stop happened before we even threw our first disc.
When we got out of the car, we happened to meet Stacey Sanford, the course designer, who was there getting ready to play a round himself.
What are the chances?!
Stacey was genuinely one of the nicest people we’ve met on one of our disc golf adventures. He took the time to explain the course to us, talk about the layout, and give us some insight before we headed out.
Scott had actually played Rainsville before, so he had a little bit of an advantage going in.
For me, it was another challenging course. Some of the holes were a little long, and I definitely had to work for it, but I survived!
I do have one question, though:
I wonder if this course has shorter/female tees for tournaments?
Because there were definitely some holes where I would have appreciated a little help from the tee pad gods. 😂
We finished our final round of the weekend with:
Scott: -3
Jamie: +15
And just like that, our Labor Day disc golf adventure was officially over.
Another Weekend. Four New Courses. Lots of Memories.
When all was said and done, we had played four courses across Alabama, including two courses ranked in the state’s Top 10, explored Guntersville and Huntsville, ate some really good food, did a little shopping, visited a Japanese Garden, attempted to visit the Space & Rocket Center, and witnessed one very strange situation on a disc golf course that we’re still talking about.
And, of course, we added more courses to our ever-growing list.
That’s really what I love about these disc golf trips. We may start the weekend with a list of courses we want to play, but we never really know what we’re going to encounter along the way.
And just like that, our Labor Day disc golf adventure was officially over.
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