Pros:
- Decent variety of lengths, shot types, and elevation changes.
- Multiple pin placements, often making for two completely different holes, which I'm sure adds variety for regulars. Alternate pins placements usually staked with white PVC pipe marker for future reference.
- Well manicured fairways and greens.
- Friendly locals.
Cons:
- Hole to hole signage is non-existant. Very difficult to navigate from one basket to the next tee, even with print out of aerial map.
- Tee signs don't reflect distance or pin placement.
Other Thoughts:
I was in Graham, NC for a wedding and was thrilled to see a high rated course all of six miles from my hotel, so I gave Cedarock a go. The park was very easy to find and sits just a few miles off of the interstate. However, once inside the park things were a little trickier. To my surprise, though I knew there were two courses on site from my research, I was visiting during a tournament weekend, so there was an additional temporary course set up that added to my confusion as to where to start and which course to play. A few locals steered me in the right direction, luckily, but without that help it might be a little difficult to find your way. The practice basket is a good indication of proximity to the first tee, and the course start is directly off of the first parking lot on the left, as this site notes, but the tee markers are low to the ground and somewhat hard to spot. Signage in general could be improved.
I had wanted to play the "woods" course, but I ended up playing the more open course that starts by the parking lot. I'm still not entirely sure where the wooded course began, but there is a "figure eight" possibility after the 8th green, which I'm told puts you on the 16th hole in the woods. I didn't have time to check that out, but I'm told it's much tighter and requires a lot of precision.
My biggest complaint with the course, again, is lack of adequate signage. I was lucky enough to get the heads up from two locals behind me when I mistook an old abandoned tee box for the 3rd tee, but without their help and even with a map, it's still hard to find each hole's start, as there is some significant displacement between some baskets and the next tee, and there isn't always a logical flow to the holes. I could imagine the frustration and wasted time involved in trying to figure it out on your own.
I tagged along with the two locals for the rest of the round, and I really benefitted from their local knowledge. I don't know how much of the traffic was due to the tournament, but it seemed pretty busy and, given the number of courses in the area, it seems like there's a thriving disc golf community in the area. The guys I played with were good players and very friendly, so that's a big plus.
The course itself was in great shape, with all of the grass mowed short (probably for the tournament, I was told). Other than my issues with the signs, all the other amenities were great. There are a lot of complaints on here about the tee boxes, but I didn't think they were bad at all. They're probably a little shorter than some would like, but I didn't have any complaints. There are two pin placements for most holes, and the alternate pin is generally marked with an easy to see piece of white piping, which is a big pet peeve of mine at our local course, who doesn't mark (or use for that matter) the alternate locations, so you're flying blind should they change things up. Some pins change the hole completely, especially on Hole 9, so you might want to walk the hole/course before you play so you're aware of your targets. A lot of the holes on the front are extremely long for par 3s, and there isn't a lot of variety on a lot of the first nine, but the back nine mixes things up well and overall I though the course kept things dynamic.
Overall, I thought the course was great. The guy I played with said they change the pins every month, and there are up to three tee pads on each hole, so there's good variety if you play here a lot. It's challenging but fair, with some makable birdies and some tough pars, and I hope to play again someday.