Pros:
Carroll County DGC is a 9 hole park style course literally right off of I-77 . The course starts close to the caretaker's house about 300 yards down the long driveway . I parked my car closer to the entrance in a beat up cement lot close to where you finish this disaster .There is a mailbox close to hole #1 with scorecards in it . The first tee is cement , then the rest of the tee pads are natural . There is no real signage here . The tee pads are marked with 2 bricks , one saying Hole , the other having the hole number . The baskets are the flimsy orange style , single chained that don't hold a putt well . The course is wide open . There is a tee flanking the right of the basket on hole #1 , and a metal barn straight in front of you on #7 , but other than that no obstructions to speak of .The grounds looked like it hadn't been mowed in a while , the grass well over my ankles . If you like wind , this course looks like the wind will be a factor most days .#6 might be the least of the worst of this course , being a drive over a creek into a large green . You have to cross the creek by walking way past the green and coming back . This is the only course within about 20 miles of anywhere else . Disc Risk is minimal . You can fish anything thrown in the creek out , and other than some foliage to the left of hole 6 , and throwing it up on the maintenance barn roof, you shouldn't have to look for your disc . I am trying to come up with positive things to say about this course , but I am at a loss .
Cons:
Pick A Con , Any Con ,,,,,
#1 Navigation : hole 1 is clearly one of the only 2 holes on this course worth playing . It has a cement tee , throws up on a plateau with a set of the only trees on the whole course close to the basket . There is a place where I stood to get my bearings after parking , where I could see all 9 baskets in this course . After #1 , you have to play Where's Waldo and look for the bricks , especially if they are hidden in high grass . The course kind of runs clockwise around the front yard of the park , moving close to the front , then making a right turn and sliding to the left of the creek , which really only comes into play on one hole ( 6 ) . I couldn't find the bricks for 8 , and #9 pointed me to nowhere , so I safaried the last 2 holes .
#2 Safety . The safety isn't horrible here , but worth mentioning . There is a walking path that winds back around some of the back holes . Also there is a blind shot that wraps around a utility barn that I could see a maintenance worker of kid get hit on the other side . Please be considerate .
#3 Equipment . These bricks to mark the tee are worse than toe boards , which I also don't like . At least if you are going to have natural tees , make them dirt so people will know where to throw from and in which direction . The baskets are flimsy and cheap . No next tee signs to get you to the next bricks .
#4 There was a big construction rut somewhere near where you tee off on #8 . It looks like an abandoned project ( much like this course ) . The course wasn't very clean when I was there . There was no map , no kiosk , no garbage can ( take out what trash you take in , but don't accidentally throw away the baskets ) .
Other Thoughts:
I really am all for the promotion of disc golf . Carroll County can fill the void by having the only course in the whole county , but it falls way short . I don't want a course to dissuade those newbies and make them think that this course is the norm and not the exception . I guess you can safari the course , but most of it is so wide open that it leaves little to the imagination . It looks like the park has more land on the sides and in the back ( even some woods ) , but I guess that they can keep an eye on the course and keep it a little more safe by having it in the front yard of the park . The park rolls some , but not a lot of elevation here . The course lacks anything to make it look appealing to the eye .
My Recommendation . Nobody more than a newbie or local living right down the road is going to touch this course . That being said , it is a leg stretcher for someone travelling from/to North Carolina to stop and throw a few holes , or course bag and easy one . Other than that , if driving north , wait til you get up to Randolph Park or Princeton City Park ,or driving south , Maybe the Vineyards .