Pros:
Bradford is a fantastic course in northern Mecklenburg County (outside of Charlotte in the suburb of Huntersville). It's legitimately one of the best courses in the Disc Golf Mecca of Charlotte. I rank it behind NC top 5 courses Nevin and Hornets Nest, plus nearby Robbins (which may put me out of step with the majority, who seem to prefer Bradford over it's North Meck neighbor). I rank it ahead of the other Charlotte courses I've played to date (Kilborne, the Eager and Angry Beavers, Bailey Road, RenSke, and Sugaw Creek). I admit that this is partly situational, as I played Bradford on a soggy day and after Parks & Rec pulled two holes for a park construction project. I imagine on a sunny day with better conditions, and all 18 holes in place, I may rate Bradford higher and possibly rank it ahead of Robbins (although I doubt ahead of either Nevin or Hornets Nest).
+ Navigation is simple, even with holes 11 and 12 not currently playable. There are next tee signs everywhere needed, good tee box signs, easy paths. If you're playing alone as a first timer, you won't have any problems.
+ The property is really beautiful, with mature forest and what they call "Cedar Alley," a series of holes with lots of cedar trees. When my son and I got to the first hole of cedar alley, with rows of young, perfectly aligned cedar trees, our reaction was, "Whoooaaa." It's a neat looking hole. (The fog, when we played, contributed to the mystical look of the hole.) Aesthetically, Bradford is one of the nicest courses I've played, and certainly so in Charlotte.
+ The course design and hole layouts are terrific. Great use of elevation. Several holes on ridges with slanting fairways, forcing you to place shots with the right angle and right amount of skip. There are a couple of death putt baskets. A creek is in play on a couple holes. There are wide open holes, wooded and technical holes... Bradford has it all.
+ Long and short tees available. I'm an intermediate player and played the shorts. I thought they were sufficiently challenging for my skill level: not too difficult, not to easy. Very fair. The long tees are significantly longer on a few holes and only slightly longer on others.
+ They did a great job of using the unique topography of the property. For example, a huge boulder is directly in front of the 10th basket. You have to try to hyzer your disc in over that obstacle to the green. I mentioned Cedar Alley already. Hole 17 is a great downhill hole with the basket on a slope opposite the tee -- with a creek bisecting the fairway. There's another creek hole with a peninsula green. The course concludes with a death putt basket on a steep hill for #18. The designers had a lot to work with on this property...and they took advantage of it.
+ Good mix of hole distances, hyzer, anhyzer, and straight lines.
+ Good concrete tees, not too short or narrow. (Some were a little slick though.)
+ Good baskets.
Cons:
As much as I enjoyed Bradford, I feel like there are some pretty easy upgrades that would take this course to a 4.5, in my book.
- First and foremost, it's a bummer to have two holes pulled. I hope this is only temporary and they're able to re-open holes 11 and 12.
- I played Bradford after a day of rain, so I will admit that my experience there would have been better with dry conditions. There's construction going on in the park, so there's a good bit of mud. I didn't see any major drainage problems though.
- The biggest con for me was the underbrush and grass. On the open holes, the grass desperately needed to be cut, when I played. (It didn't help that it was wet grass.) There is some real rough on a few holes, including briars. It wasn't too bad, but enough to land Bradford at a 4.0 for me. I think with a good local club work day, all of it could be taken care of.
- Bradford is par 54. I wish it had a couple of par 4's and 5's, like many other Charlotte courses. (This is a nit-pick, as I stated I played the short tees...I could've played the long tees to get the par 4 difficulty level on a few holes.)
Other Thoughts:
I would love to come back and play Bradford, especially with some of the improvements mentioned above. If you're traveling to Charlotte, make plans to bag this one.