Mooresville, NC

Cornelius Road Park

2.555(based on 21 reviews)
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3 0
FlyWright
Experience: 1 played 1 reviews
4.00 star(s)

undervalued drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 20, 2023 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Great course through the woods with lots of variation in length, directions, elevations.

Cons:

The teepads are not great and difficult to find in some spots. Once or twice through the course and its much easier

Other Thoughts:

underrated local course
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13 0
Mike C
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 15.6 years 168 played 74 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Superb

Reviewed: Played on:May 11, 2023 Played the course:once

Pros:

- 18 holes featuring a good variety of lines. Left, right and straight tee shots with elevation in play on nearly every hole.

- Two sets of tees. I played all longs, but most groups I saw seemed to stick to the shorts.

- Tees are a mix of paved and shredded rubber pads. All of them worked well for me in good weather.

- Excellent signage. Some holes had three signs - one for the long tee, one for the short tee, and one for the drop zone. Next tee signs as needed.

- Gorgeous property. The first few holes feel like a typical park course, but once you get into the woods on #5 it's some beautiful woods.

- Excellent use of elevation. Most holes featured some sort of elevation change. Uphill finishes making holes feel longer, downhill greens adding to the risk / reward - the designers did a commendable job of incorporating elevation changes into nearly every hole.

- There's a generous amount of benches.

- Lots of trash cans, even in the woods.

Cons:

- All par 3's. The most glaring flaw of this course is every hole can be birdied with a midrange....maybe fairway driver on some holes. It's fun and diverse and challenging at times, but it's short for an 18 hole course in North Carolina.

- Some interaction with the walking path on 4's green and 5's tee. I had to wait a bit to tee off on 5. Not a big deal, but also not ideal.

- On hole 2 a really bad drive would be at risk of flying into the tennis courts. I'd stay away from a flick sky hyzer route.

Other Thoughts:

This was a really fun course. I enjoyed it much more than Bell & Howard Chevrolet DGC, which I played on the same day.

This course is pretty well balanced overall. There's definitely more wooded holes than open, but aside from that you have flat, uphill and downhill shots on fairways that turn left, turn right and go straight.

The wooded holes are gorgeous. Despite playing right next to a busy park and bordering a neighborhood on holes 5-7 or so, it still gave me a pretty isolated feeling.

This is pretty much exactly what I want from a disc golf course, save for some minor shared use concerns and the lack of longer par 4's and 5's. Fun, diverse holes on scenic property.

I'd go out of my way to play here again. This is a solid course. Added to my favorites.
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19 0
dndelli
Gold level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 17.3 years 154 played 150 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Cornelius Road Park 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jan 15, 2022 Played the course:once

Pros:

I never got around to playing The Bridges because of less than stellar comments I heard, but I finally made my way up to play the redesigned, and justly renamed, Cornelius Road Park. What surprises me most, after playing it, is that I haven't heard more about the new course. It was a lot of fun!

The course features Innova DISCatchers, a mixture of concrete and rubber tee pads (depending on the hole), teesigns with nice maps, & adequate navigational signage. The course features a nice variety, opening with four open holes before entering into the woods for some technical golf. Even on a course that is less than 5,000' long, it has a chance to truly open up on Hole 4. Most of the fairways are shaped through tighter gaps that will require players to think about shot selection and accuracy. Five holes have two sets of tees: the short tees are perfect for beginners or Rec level players, while everyone else will still enjoy their round playing from the longer tees.

Hole 1 is a great opening hole, that is a slight downhill hole- it also conveniently serves as an appetizer to the excellent usage of elevation the course provides. There are plenty of uphill and downhill holes here, but there are also a lot of unique elevation features, and ravines, that come into play throughout your round.

Hole 18 is an absolute stunner of a finishing hole. It is a downhill shot with a tight gap heading straight for the basket, and a wide open hyzer line up high that incorporates a lot of risk of its own. While reaching the green from the straight line would be harder, it doesn't incorporate quite as punishing risks as the wide hyzer line. Of course, the hyzer line is the kind of shot players dream of throwing, and watching their disc soar to the basket.

Cons:

Cornelius Road Park would benefit from new tee pads. The concrete pads (other than the cracked one at Hole 2) are all great. The rubber pads were a little more hit-or-miss for me because of how uneven they tended to be. It wasn't too big an issue because the course was mostly shorter holes, but it would be nice to not have to focus on my footwork as much as my throw.

There is a lot of debris in the rough, presumably from the trees that were cut from building the course. A round here would likely be much more enjoyable if this debris could be cleared out, or at least stacked up a bit further off the fairway.

I didn't have any issues with it when I was there, but there is a walking path that crosses Hole 18 and that you tee off from on Hole 5, so there you may potentially have to wait to drive.

If there's room, some holes may benefit from having a long tee installed. Especially in the middle of the course where there's a string of holes that all come in below 250'.

Other Thoughts:

I am giving Cornelius Road Park a solid 3.5 rating. As I said in my opening paragraph, I am surprised I don't hear more people advocating players check out Cornelius Road Park. It is a fantastic Par 54 course that utilizes the land and elevation available in a phenomenal way. It is less than ten minutes down the road from Stumpy Creek, which has an almost mountainous feel to it. The two courses can be combined for a fun, if not tiring, day of disc golf that will make you forget you're in the Piedmont. If I lived closer to this course, I would definitely incorporate it into my regular rotation

Favorite Holes: 4, 8, 11, & 18
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2 2
thermos14
Experience: 6 played 2 reviews
0.50 star(s)

Unplayable Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 25, 2018 Played the course:once

Pros:

Holes 1-4 have been maintained and are playable.

Cons:

Holes 5-18 are completely destroyed. They appear to be completely overgrown with 5-10 years of growth.

Other Thoughts:

This course is close to where I live. I really wish they took care of it.
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7 0
superberry
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 26.5 years 364 played 98 reviews
1.50 star(s)

7 & 18 - you'll understand when you see them 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 7, 2017 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Decent little chunk of woods with a good flowing creek and nice elevation.
The entire sports complex there could provide for a great experience to bring beginners and kids into the sport by installing a set of short tees and eliminating the ridiculous holes (7 & 18)

Cons:

Minimal maintenance after hole 4
Poke and pray airways on many of the holes (6,7,11,18).
Totally odd fairway shapes on some holes (7,16,18)
Horrible pin placements on some holes (4 right next to a poison ivy patch bush)
No short tees on a course that probably sees 1000 kids every weekend rolling through there for other activities.
No alternate pin placements to add variety to the course.
Holes 7 & 18 - yeah. WTF is all you'll say. When your best shot on a hole is to chuck a disc sideways off the tee into an open field, across a walking path, or into the adjacent hole, then you have to ask yourself what the intent of that design is.

Other Thoughts:

While I feel there are portions of the course that are just fine, and even a few that I really like, I've given the 1.5 because it is just that - PASSABLE. You won't regret not having played here, but you might regret having played.
This course could be amazingly better with minimal effort. Shorten up some holes and eliminate the ridiculousness and poke and pray airways, design airways that allow natural disc flights (90 degree doglegs are horrible design elements!), and add some short tees to grow the sport and appeal to all the local kids in the park and surrounding communities.
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4 0
NateB
Experience: 17.4 years 62 played 1 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Maintenance needed 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 3, 2016 Played the course:once

Pros:

Nice topography and lots of potential.

Cons:

Don't be fooled by the nicely mowed first few holes, the next 14 have had ZERO maintenance done. There is waste to head high brush and grass everywhere that makes finding discs and even baskets nearly impossible at times. There is a very deep ravine that runs through the course that has not one set of steps for retrieving stray discs. Possibly the longest walk from 18 to 1 that I've ever seen.
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5 0
ncdgp
Experience: 1 played 1 reviews
1.50 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Dec 5, 2015 Played the course:once

Pros:

The overall park is very well maintained and holes 1 - 5 were playable.

Cons:

- Bad layout of disc golf course
- No safe access to the ravine/creek to retrieve fallen discs. I saw someone slide down from the top to the bottom to retrieve their disc because the ground gave up on them.
- No natural logs or any type of barrier to keep discs from rolling into the ravine.
- Fairways are not clear

Other Thoughts:

Would not play again unless the safety concerns are addressed and the fairways are created.
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4 0
Notverygood
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 15.3 years 76 played 35 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Great potential...but... 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 27, 2015 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

This course is located in a beautiful park! A great example of a city park with a list of nice amenities. Ball fields, tennis courts, walking trails, playgrounds etc. All well maintained and clean every time I've been.

The course itself seems well maintained as well.

-The tee signs are nice, new looking, and mostly accurate. With the exception of one hole in particular on the back nine. Which some local has taken the courtesy of marking with a sharpie...

-There was a bench, or makeshift bench at just about every hole.

-A nice mix of par 3,4 and 5 holes throughout the course. A good change of pace from the normal par 3 courses.

-After the first 4-5 holes, you're mostly in the woods which results in a beautiful, quiet walk through the woods.

Cons:

-Design and layout of some of the holes.... Nice tee pad, nice basket, but no discernable fairway. It seemed like there was great intent to make a nice course, but no work put into clearing fairways. Very frustrating at times just trying to figure out where to even try and form a line. The only guidance being the tee signs. Several times I found myself walking down the "fairway" just to find the basket, then trying to determine the best way to make it there. Frustrating

-Not much variety. The first 4-5 holes are "easy" wide open holes, where the remaining holes are a trip through the woods.

Other Thoughts:

Unfortunately, the tough to non-existent fairways are a giant turn off. This course has all the right things it needs to be a great round of golf if there were just a few improvements. Take out a few trees, and my rating would instantly go up.

The well maintained amenities of the course are it's saving grace and the reason I still gave it a 3 rating.

If you're local to Mooresville, or in the area possibly playing Stumpy, it's worth a stop to play a round!
Otherwise, until improvements to the design are made, there are more rewarding and fun courses to play in the Charlotte area
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11 0
1978
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 16.3 years 402 played 50 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Improving 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Nov 19, 2014 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Great quiet park and a beautiful woods. The natural features here would make for a really amazing course. Great big trees, relatively thin underbrush. The course starts out pretty easy through the first 4 holes. If played in a loop, these would be great beginner holes and should be marketed this way. Holes 5-18 weave through a mature forest up and down hills. There doesnt appear to be a lefty or righty bias. The fairways are fair for the most part. A few holes just dont work or fit but you can score birdies. There are some risk reward shots and that is always a plus in my book. Teepads are large and ok on the grip meter. There are some interesting tee placements that force you to throw over hills before continuing down the fairway. I think this is an underused feature and this reviewer appreciates it here. Signage is nice. The local club is dedicated to improving the course and has regular events and is starting to do regular work days there. The attention shows. The course is trashfree. There appears to be an appropriate number of bridges, although some more could be used. If you are in the area I would absolutly recommend you playing here and I challenge you to see what the course can be with some small improvements and write a fair review.

Other Thoughts:

I figured I would lump the cons and thoughts together. The Bridges has a bad reputation. It is better'ish than the rating. I think the reviews are a reflection of the lack of design consistency and style, attention to detail, the dangerous aspects of the course, and because it is so close to Charlotte. I think most people that play in Charlotte or visit the area expect a better design from such a great piece of land.
The Bridges just leaves an odd feel after many of the holes. There are 1 or 2 things that get you scratching your head on almost every hole that make you wonder who designed the course. 1-4 are so basic, that they dont seem to fit. Then you go through 14 holes where almost every one has something that was so easily avoidable; that it is confusing to review. These are simple fixes that would absolutly leave players with a sense of satisfaction.
-baskets that are way too close to ravines: there are just too many of these and they will only erode away and make for even more dangerous or unrealistic greens. Not every basket has to be on a drop off. If it is, build some retaining walls around it to stop the dirt from eroding away.
-baskets that are in the run off ditches for the park. They will erode out and wash away.
-one of the prettiest, best fairways (#9) is 320' but the basket is like 2.5' past a giant tree...there was plenty of room to make a great looking green. The tree hide was careless,extra punative, and unnecessary. Just move that basket 15' farther. See #9 basket picture in the Media section and look at that beautiful green...50% of that basket is useless and cannot be putted at.
-2 of the tees end directly into a hill...these will continuosly erode down on to the tee box
-a number of the tees are pointed 15-20 degrees in the wrong direction of the fairway.
-Hole 7 should just be completely changed it is dangerous and not appropriate.
-odd fairway lengths. = too many trees and short high par holes or too long/short par 3's
-odd fairway finishing turns with unfair blocking trees. Discs simply do not fly like a number of these fairway ends are designed.
-forced and long parallel or shared fairways with the ravine. Throwing up to and over the ravine or quickly over is sufficient. The designer took care to use the ravine, but obvously from the reviews it was not done in a good way.
Finally, personally I just find that this course seems to be plopped onto some land. For example. Hole 15 is a 460' par 5, then there is a 361' par 3 to a 10' green on the side of a hill into a ravine. (See #16 Basket picture! What happens when this hill erodes!?) It is impossible and not necessary...then you go to a 200' straight no risk down hill shot to a wonky zig zag #18. I'll always mark down a course that has the feel of...I'm tired of designing ill just put in a random 200' hole.
This course appears to be the typical "design in a box." a design is purchased and followed but the details (retaining walls,steps,erosion) go unnoticed or left for a volunteer force that does not get paid for the additional work created by design that is not forward looking.
Small changes of basket locations by 15-30' on 8 -10 holes would bring this course up to a 3.5 or 4. While I personally see better ways to utilize the land, there is a 4.5 level course here. its just covered up with poor basket locations and dangerous fairways.
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18 0
DiscGolfCraig
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 20.4 years 622 played 569 reviews
3.50 star(s)

She IS All That 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jul 15, 2020 Played the course:once

Pros:

Do you remember the bad late-'90s movies where the shy high school girl stops wearing baggy sweaters and giant glasses? **SPOILER ALERT** Suddenly everyone notices she was actually hot all along. Turns out Cornelius Park was that girl.
- Technically, Cornelius Road Park needed to go one step further and disassociate itself from the old layout by retiring the Bridges course name. It also realized less is more, utilizing the space in a fun, mid-range course that offers plenty of fun and challenge.
- To be fair, the old layout did have untapped potential. To be even more fair, the work needed to make that layout a reality wasn't there, or perhaps more likely, not realistic due to time requirements.
- The first four holes give you a false sense of this course's appeal. These are your four open layouts, the only holes where you're throwing in grass and out in the sun. If you're having an accuracy issues, get them fixed by hole 4.
- Standing on #5's tee, I realized immediately this was a whole new layout. A tight-ish, uphill layout that starts in the open and ends in the woods. Your risk here is smacking any of the trees, especially if you end up in the creek/ravine. At 255 feet (or 275, depending on if you trust the tee sign or online info), a mid-range disc should help you avoid danger.
- The beauty of this course is the risk/reward factor throughout. More so than most courses, especially shorter courses (sub 5,000 foot layouts), there could be some huge scoring discrepancies from hole-to-hole, round-to-round. I had 4 birdies and 3 missed due to mediocre putting where at least several of them barely missed smacking a tree. On one hole, I missed my line (going left of a certain tree instead of right) and still had a 15 foot putt. That easily could have hit a tree, kicked 50 feet into the woods and I would have been scrambling for a 4 or 5 instead of getting a 2.
- Excellent use of terrain, creating some true uphill or downhill layouts. Heck, there are even some switchbacks transiting up or down between holes. Here's the unknown secret for out-of-towners. As excellent as the Charlotte DG scene is, Charlotte courses are relatively flat. If you want elevation, you only have to travel slightly west (RL Smith, Torma Town, or Rankin Lake in Gastonia) or north of Lake Norman (Stumpy Creek and, now to a degree, Cornelius Road Park).
- My favorite elevation-related holes are #11 & 14. #11 is a tight, not-quite-gauntlet 215-foot layout. You're throwing over a slight valley back up to the basket that's protected by trees. From the short tee, you're teeing from the edge of the mini-valley. Even though it's only 35 feet variance from the long and short tees, the short tee takes all the challenge out of the layout.
- As for #14, it's a dogleg left, high sweeping hyzer tee shot - only 230 feet. The elevation factor is the drop off long and right of the basket. Anything long or right, or rolling, could end up 50 - 100 feet past the basket. An aggressive tee/approach/birdie putt could lead to you scrambling to get up and down. A player putting for birdie from 30 feet short of the basket could easily end up with bogey or double bogey if they're too aggressive.
- #18 is this course's tribute to the closing hole at Glenn Hilton in Hickory. It's a dogleg left layout with the middle 1/2 of the hole playing over a drop-off. The course offers two main lines - a narrower, straighter line and a more open line that starts out much further to the right. I took the far right, sweeping line.....AND I STILL HIT A BRANCH. That led to a 10 minute way of trying to navigate down the drop-off all the way to water with walls taller than me. I fully expected to come across a snake in the water with nowhere for me to turn. I'm glad I had waterproof shoes on. So.....the point being, this should be a fun closing hole. Just don't end up in the bottom.

Cons:

Some very in-progress problems. The most pressing are the lack of tees. For the most part, it's a none issue due to short hole lengths. There are several holes however where it was a challenge trying to complete a full (or even 3/4) run-up due to uneven ground, roots, or stumps.
- Signage needs to be better in several spots. The biggest culprit was the transition between 14 and 15. After #14's basket, there are several paths that immediately branch off from the hole. Even when you pick the correct path, it branches two more times before you get to the tee. Even using UDisc's app, I wandered down the wrong path for a bit due to the delay in satellite data. More arrows are a must as the course does cross over trails & paths throughout the round.
- Several tee signs aren't very accurate. #10's was one of the offenders. The tee sign shows a straight ahead basket with two routes to the basket. The hole is actually a decently sharp dogleg right. I had to walk two other fairways to find the baskets as the signs didn't fully convey where they truly were.
- There's a discrepancy between the hole lengths posted on the tee signs and the apps/scorecards. For the most part they're within 20 feet. But at least once I landed 40 feet shorter than expected.
- More maintenance related work - piles dragged further away, a little more cutting, stumps cut down or marked. The simple ongoing issue kind of things.
- The panic stricken feeling when coming across old fairways and/or tee pads from the old layout. Walking down the fairway on #5, as I'm about to cross the bridge, I look to the right and I have flashbacks to the horror of the old hole #7. A long par 5 (600-foot range) that was tree-lined on the right and deep ravine creek-lined the entire left side of the hole. Keep your shot dead-straight or make a long walk back to a bridge to cross the other side of the ravine to retrieve your disc. Sadly, you were often better off having to make that walk than trying to scale down and back up the creek walls if your disc ended up down there.

Other Thoughts:

Cornelius Road Park is the hot chick after her makeover. As is the case with certain actresses from the '90s (cough, cough, Rachel Leigh Cook), she wasn't hot, she just looked different because of a wardrobe makeover.
- This is a fun course. Six years and nine days after my only round at the old layout, I gave the redesign a whirl. Looking for a course comp, I think the course most closely resembles Fort Hamby in North Wilkesboro with lots of similarities to Glenn Hilton. This definitely doesn't have a Charlotte-course vibe despite only being 35 minutes from downtown.
- The first four holes remained from the old course, surviving the annihilation of that layout. I had forgotten how simply perfect of an opening hole #1 is. It seems an opening hole should never be too tough. It should be a relatively easy par 3 in case your arm isn't completely loosened up while requiring a quality shot to get that birdie. Here, you start out under a tree, throwing slightly downhill, weaving around several more trees, back to an uphill basket. It's only 273 feet, and it was the only time during the first seven holes I didn't have any look at birdie. Still, an easy 3 so I could start my round on a solid note.
- #4 is the only hole where you can really air one out. It's 425 feet, and it's slightly downhill. Your last chance at a simple layout for awhile.
- There are multiple holes where you'll want to throw multiple discs off the tee. I really think #8 is the best for this layout. At 330 feet, it is the course's second longest hole. It's one of the few blind tee shots as it's a slight uphill flow for the first ¼ before dropping down to a dogleg left layout. It's going to be easy to be in the vicinity of the green with your tee shots. It's going to take extra work to get your disc all the way to the hole due to the tree coverage.
- This is a fantastic compliment to Stumpy Creek. That's the longer, advanced layout. This is the shorter, have fun layout. It's only 10 minutes to Stumpy, so if you're up from Charlotte or down from the Triad, you are playing both courses or you're wasting your time.
- One of the best shorter courses (sub-5,000 feet) that I've played. My first thought when finished was that I really enjoyed the course. My second was of frustration that the course is just a little too far to be regularly played. It's just out of reach and that's not good. Still, I'm giving this course a 3.5 rating. It needs to be played by all Charlotte-area locals.
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5 0
KMynatt
Experience: 14.4 years 17 played 2 reviews
1.00 star(s)

A beautiful disaster 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 3, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

The land this course is on is beautiful, and the tee pads are huge. Sadly that's it...

Cons:

Whomever designed this course grossly misused the terrain in many places. I like both tightly wooded and longer courses, but there are a lot of places on this course where if feels like the designer was just packing in distance, playability be damned. 500' holes with no decernable fairways, holes crammed together when they don't need to be, and almost no green on 90% of the baskets (thorns/brush within 10 of a lot of baskets).

Other Thoughts:

It's truly a shame such a beautiful piece of land was almost wasted with this one. A good redesign is needed badly or this course will always be forgotten with all of the good courses in the area. There is SO much potential here it drives me crazy. I can honestly say short of a near complete redesign I won't be back, and that goes for all 6 of the people who went with me.
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13 1
BrotherDave
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 17.3 years 192 played 189 reviews
1.00 star(s)

What Bravethrower said 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 20, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

Really, just read Bravethrower's review, he nailed it. But I got to write something so...

Great effing terrain for a course. Elevation, ravine style creek, trees galore, and some nice open field holes to warm up on.

Nice park. Nice, big concrete tees. Tee signs.

I wasn't brutally murdered by a marauding horde of Visigoths on their way to sack Rome.

Cons:

Ugh. I feel like this course was put in during the winter and everybody was like "Good enough!" and then it leafed out with spring (way to screw things up as usual, mother nature) and revealed that the course is actually a whirlwind mess of fairways and OB.

Practically every hole in the main woods is just a mystery of what you're supposed to do. The tee signs would have been more accurate if instead of the dotted lines that denote the fairway were simply replaced by a big question mark. Eventually I concluded that those lines couldn't possibly be the fairway but a line of giant ants that happened to be there the day they made the tee signs.

I literally quit trying to finish hole 15 because I couldn't even pitch out safely onto the fairway BECAUSE I HAD NO IDEA WHERE THE FAIRWAY EVER WAS. You could play some holes well and feel like you made nothing but "get out of trouble" shots the entire hole. Plus, if that's not enough for you, how about the appeal of spending almost as much time looking for your thrown discs as you do actually disc golfing?

Also, a navigational nightmare at times. And to further insult you after you unravel the mystery of "how the holy f*#k do I play hole 18?" you are rewarded with a long trail of tears back to the parking lot.

Other Thoughts:

This course can be saved. If some actual fairways are created and certain holes don't force people to use an OB creek as the fairway then this course can jump into the 4's easily. The terrain has that much potential. But yeah, Stan or Pat or any # of guys that worked on the World's courses need to work their magic tout de suite.
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10 1
Bennybennybenny
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 13.7 years 321 played 303 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Finally Well 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jun 4, 2020 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

-Note: Before you read this or write a review. The layout is marked on U disc. If you want to play here, then make sure you get U disc if you don't already.
Teepads and teesigns are coming soon so be patient.

-Cornelius was crazy when he first arrived. Many short par fours and fives with sadistic fairways with trees frolicking in the middle. You'd be more bound to be in good shape with a lucky tree kick than following the supposed fairway. Used to be the scariest man on the streets of Mooresville. Loitering around at midnight dressed all in black just looking for someone to brutally rob and attack with the rings on his fingers. He was escapable, but you had to be lucky in order to lose him when you saw him at his worst. Anything could make him want to come after you and have you fearing for your life. There was a devil inside that created turbulence in the town of Mooresville for seven years. Everybody, not just in the area, but everybody that exposed his antics wanted him out. Instead, he got help after a court order. Now he's much better. He's no longer a luck based, two faced Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Pat and some other locals did a great job turning Cornelius into an approachable par three course.

-This course is very rewarding now. The old course had an extreme variety in challenge. Some holes were very easy and some were just downright nasty. Cornelius found his medium and it's much better than his old two faced ways. He was a master at street craps and you knew it if you played the old layout. He placed bets with everyone he saw and whatever they betted on, he rolled a unfair die that he weighted with a power drill and super glue. That die would favor him and have the odds against you. The fairways were ridiculous and didn't make a whole lot of sense, the odds were against you. You could fly through the woods if you were lucky and have your number rolled, but most of the time you got hustled in the deep rough and most likely lost a disc. He doesn't play that game anymore. All of the fairways require some sort of accuracy, some require more than others (#14 and #18 for instance) but they are all very attackable and fair.

-Some parts (the best parts) of the old course remain. Hole three is the same. The old hole nine is now #15 and the old hole ten is now #16. The first four holes from the old layout have you teeing off on the old tee box, but the baskets for holes one, two, and four have moved a little. Hole one is slightly longer and no longer a straight 228' footer. It's 273' and plays as a righty flick/lefty backhand hole. If you are a righty that struggles with forehands such as myself, this hole will be challenging. But it's fun to throw a few forehands off this hole. #2 is slightly longer as well. The old #4 was really cool (was the best hole on the old course) but it's even cooler now! It was a very soft par four that was just under 500'. Now it's a little bit shorter and a legit par three. The basket was moved back a little and is a little bit straighter from the tee pad.

-Cornelius loves his ravine. It's intimidating and punishing and the old course was notorious for having people trip in there while following the fairway.
Nice to know that Cornelius branched out of his scandals. The ravine is used very smartly now, and a little less frequently. You throw over it on hole five. The long pad is a little more frightening, because the ravine is easier to avoid from the short pad. The fairway is very well defined and straight, but if you hit one of the trees just past the ravine, you will be punished. #11 is a pretty tight ace run across the ravine and up a hill. Being only 215', this hole will have a pretty wide scoring difference. It's aceable for sure, but it's pretty tricky. #18 has you throwing over it one last time. Multiple over the ravine shots, but they are all different and have their own special attributes to them.

-Most holes have at least a little bit of elevation. Nothing is drastic, but some of the elevation changes are moderate. #8 is my favorite hole here. It's a 330' downhill wooded hole that is down a medium width fairway that sweeps left at the end. Great hole to throw a stable disc on! #16 (the old hole ten) has a nice elevation rise and is perched on a hill that drops to the left. #17 is very sweet downhill hole that crosses a path and #18 has you teeing off of a pretty big hill over the ravine and back up a small hill. The hole has a pretty severe left turn, so you have to throw a hyzer through a gap and over the ravine. Ends with the signature hole, which makes it special.

-Family friendly park. That's a bonus. There was a yoga class going on near hole five's tee pad. Other than that there's a walking trail, tennis court, playground, and other athletic fields.

-Some holes have dual tee pads. Holes five, eleven, fifteen, seventeen, and eighteen. I heard that sixteen does too, but I never saw it.

-First four holes are open, allowing you to warm up on your accuracy. None of the first four are particularly easy, but they are forgiving. The remainder is wooded, still forgiving but you'll want to scope out some of the rough so you know where you don't want to land.

-Stumpy Creek is a few miles away and just down the road. Another great course. This course is easier than Stumpy. You can get two rounds in. This is a good warmup course for Stumpy, a more demanding course with less forgiveness.

Cons:

-The ravine is very steep and hard to safely enter if you land in there. There are parts of the ravine that are more than ten feet deep. There's that risk of injury. I love the holes that have you crossing it, but it is dangerous. You may have to walk around looking for a safer place to enter and exit. At least it's more avoidable this time!

-From I heard, some locals are pulling the flags that mark the tees. Smh. When I came here yesterday the flags on #5 were missing and they were back today. Again if you decide to play, use U disc. The layout is already on there. And on holes 14-16, make sure you tee off on the old concrete pads for the old #16, the old #9, and the old #10.

-You'll have to yield to pedestrians because the walking path overlaps with the course. Keep an eye out before you throw.

Other Thoughts:

-So glad this course was revived the way it was. The terrain and space in the woods is perfect for a disc golf course and I'm glad we can finally see the real potential this course had and has. I'm glad I got to see how much better it could've been. Initially as a fifteen year old kid, I thought the old layout was fine when I FIRST played it. I didn't know a lot about what makes a great course back then and I thought it just needed time to improve. I came back before the redesign a couple of times and realized that the old course was just badly designed and the ravine was utilized very poorly for the most part. Too close to the fairways, or even in the fairways past a small gap or before a bunch of small gaps out of the woods.
Now it's a whole lot better! And it ends well this time.

-Here's a comparison I must go into detail about. The 18th hole on the new layout is probably the most memorable. The 18th hole on the old layout was the most memorable pretty much without any debate. On this new layout, you are throwing a big hyzer through a gap over the ravine on #18. A very fun sight to see your disc gliding down the hill!

-The old hole 18 was ridiculous. You were throwing parallel to the ravine on the left down a fairway and then you had to throw over it through one of the many small gaps out of the woods. The basket was blinded by a ton of skinny trees that were so incredibly close together. This hole was legitimately scary to look at. It was a stationing type hole, but there was a mando right off the tee and the second shot out of the woods was just too fickle. This hole was an iconic nightmare and left you with a long walk back to your car. If you ever had nightmares about disc golf in your sleep, chances are this hole was the cause of it. If any hole could traumatize you, it'd be the old 18 along with the old 7 and 11.

-If you haven't been traumatized by the old layout, then be sure to play the new layout. It's really good!
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4 0
terptwerp
Experience: 9 played 9 reviews
1.50 star(s)

Hopefully a work in progress 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 12, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

Beautiful park with hilly terrain, mature trees and a stream. There are also good baskets, tee pads and good tee signs.

Cons:

As others said below:
1. Numerous drag piles right next to fairways
2. A number of holes with no fairways
3. The ravine that about 1/3 of the holes across or play next to, has no safe way in or out of it
4. Next tee signs needed (we never found hole 13s tee pad)
5. 18 may be the worst hole that I have ever seen

Other Thoughts:

I am hoping that this is an unfinished course, sinse it has potential to be a 4-4.5 rated course. Creating fairways and landing zones on some of the holes would greatly improve the course. I assume that the drag piles will be removed. I will not play this course again until I hear that improvements have been made. Once again this course has potential. Lets hope that improvements are made, which could make this another great course in the Charlotte area.
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1 2
Alexmadsen
Experience: 13.8 years 9 played 1 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Fun New Challenge in Mooresville 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 4, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

Interesting & challenging terrain, clean new park, scenic woods/creek, big cement tee pads, very nice new disc catchers

Cons:

Tight fairways, heavily wooded, still some clean-up needed, poison ivy, shortage of river crossings, hard to find tee for 13 and basket for 18, buggy

Other Thoughts:

Fairways could use some thinning, but overall we enjoyed the challenge, and scenic meandering creek w/pretty ferns. Could use map & scorecards. Needs better signs for mandos.
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2 1
pmaxhen
Experience: 62 played 5 reviews
2.00 star(s)

What fairway? 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Mar 31, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

Great land, lots of potential, Very scenic. lots great of challenge on the holes that are finished.

Cons:

Whoever is in charge of building the course did a bad job with about half the holes, massive piles of wood left all over the course to rot (snake hazards) including one that was in the middle of one of the few fairways. Another big problem is all the barbwire on the course, it's a a hazard if you don't watch where you're walking every minute of the round.

Holes 6, 7, 8, 11, 12 and 14 have no reasonable rout to make par on the hole with the exception that hole 8 is one of the shortest holes on the course. Hole 11 is one of the worst I've ever seen, no fairway no approach just a tee box and a basket separated by hundreds of trees and a ravine.

And no benches after hole 3? Why would you put benches on the easy part of the course then leave the other holes like that?

Other Thoughts:

Never thought I'd say this but this course needs to be either gutted or have baskets moved. There are no fairways on some holes but the holes with fairways are great.
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6 0
Urban Bobcat
Experience: 13.8 years 56 played 7 reviews
2.00 star(s)

The shortened version. 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 27, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

- Nice oversized tee pads

- Nice new signage, although it needs to mark OB boundaries

- Unique land and elevation throughout the course

- Course potential for a 4 out of 5 rating

Cons:

- Too many trees left in "Fairways" results in the course becoming frustrating since it relies more on luck than skill.

- OB needs to be clearly marked throughout the course.

- The land that the course is on is under-utilized for its unique features. It seems like they just filled in the back nine with a bunch of uphill/downhill holes.

- Course needs "Next Tee" arrows at the baskets since some of the basket-to-tee transitions are counter-intuitive and often times require backtracking along the previous hole. (Flaws in course design on these, specifically between 12 and 13 if I remember correctly.)

- Style of the course becomes repetitive once you enter the woods. Creek always plays on the left side, fairways are too littered with trees, lanes require luck,even when you hit the right line. "Look, another "Split" fairway!"

- Get the barbed wire off of the course ASAP! As if the ravines weren't sketchy enough without proper steps and ladders in yet, the barbed wire is just asking for an injury.

- Beginner course tease! If I saw the first three holes of this course from the park, I'd want to try out a round of disc. I'd then find out that every hole after #3 is a bit more brutal, unforgiving, and completely frustrating to beginners. I play 2-5 rounds a week and was upset for most of my round. Although the course is supposed to be "Challenging", that doesn't mean that it needs to be a bad experience for beginners.

Other Thoughts:

This is the second time that I have written this review, so, believe it or not, it's a much shorter version this time since all of my last review was lost upon submittal.

Overall, this course has the potential to be both fun and challenging. Unfortunately, they both get lost in the designer's decision to leave so many trees in the fairways. There is a difference between a challenging line and one that is required to be perfect with a side of lucky. I, personally, get really upset with courses that don't follow that idea. So clearly, I was frustrated for most of my round here. Even when I could get a good line off of the tee, I was often times "Punished" by some tree that was still sitting in the middle of the correct throwing route. What's the point? It becomes a toss and pray. This is true for nearly every hole on the course. Instead of having a few stylized holes that require avoiding a center group of tress by choosing the left or right route, it seems like you're always just trying to find a small window off of each tee.

This course doesn't do the best job of utilizing the amazing land features that it plays around, but I still believe that it will become a more enjoyable round with some work. I appreciate the hard work that has gone into the course thus far, and I would likely be really excited about this one if I lived in a city with only a few courses. Unfortunately, this course is located just outside of Charlotte, which means that it doesn't live up to its neighbors, while the potential was certainly there. When courses like "RL Smith" and "Bradford" make such great use of land features and layout, it's hard to see "Cornelius" fall a bit short in comparison.

Removing 50% of the fairway trees would give the course plenty of wood to use for more needed bridges, steps, and ladders around the ravines, which would help.

I intend to play this course again within the year in order to update my review. I don't like my low scores to have a long term bearing on courses that are still being worked in, and I can only hope that the right work will get done here in order to ensure a more enjoyable round the next time I visit. (Fingers crossed)


Take It or Leave It Suggestion:

Since the course begins to suffer from repetition and some minor layout design flaws between holes on the back nine, I would really suggest thinking about making two holes a hybrid, or simply a more effective single hole that adds something different to the course. By doing so, you'll free up #18 to become #17 instead. From there, make #17 stay down by the creek and not work up the hill blindly towards a park patron walking path. It would make for a nice RHBH anheizer hole that follows the line of the creek and fades back left, with the basket and green near the bridge. The bridge would then already be in place for the transitional walk up to #18s Tee pad, which should be out in the open field next to the path. Doing so would result in a safer walkway for other park-goers since you'll be able to spot people from the tee. It would also add variety to the course as a whole by offering a nice long open drive that can fade nicely into where the green is now, or penalize someone that goes too far left by having to approach through the treeline.

Thanks for the hard work and good luck out there! I really hope to see some much needed adjustments the next time that I'm out.
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3 0
g8orade
Experience: 13.3 years 4 played 3 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Pretty good raw course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Apr 21, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

Really nice tee pads. Big. Nice baskets.
Good signs.
Variety of shorter and longer holes.
No? water hazards where you'll need a floater... :)
Beautiful day today, beautiful foliage in the woods, wildflowers, azaleas, violets.

Cons:

4/27
See Other thoughts also. Gulches are very steep and deep. You need to be able to throw FH and BH whether L or R. After the leaves really come out, someone's going to need to do some trimming or a few holes especially 18 won't be much playable.
Other esteemed local courses do give you more fairway with the 300-400 foot distances, woods, and curves.
4/20
A bit rough still, fairways not always defined.
All in the woods after the first four holes vs. Bradford or Nevin or Hornets Nest or Stumpy where you get some breaks in and out of woods. Hole 5 will be a shock to players not used to woods after the first 4.
Crazy steep and deep ravines/ gulches. I agree with the other posters some rope or steps or something will be needed.
Erosion shaped the original terrain here and it's going to need careful managing as increased foot traffic wears on the course and people go scrambling up and down off the path, retrieving discs.
18 seems unfinished, sign doesn't account for three bridges, not two. Really no fairway, you end up shooting against players on 7? coming the other way.

Other Thoughts:

4/27--I still like this course but some additional comments
Played here again today.
First 6 holes comparable to other local wooded courses mentioned in this review, with clear fairways.
1. Starting on 7 where the creek is on your left, If you are RHBH only, and you don't have a disc that will break l-r you are in trouble. You will have the creek on your left several more times. Bracketts has one hole where the deep gulch the creek/river is in can swallow you, but no other of the courses mentioned has gulches like Cornelius Rd.
2. 11 really does have no clear fairways and there is a huge gulch in the middle. I was lucky the first time through. Else, this should be not a par 3 but a 4. At least cut a fairway across the s shaped gulch.
3. 16 also--either give throwers a chance to hang the dogleg left with fairway or add a stroke for par from 3 to 4. Like 11, if you don't have the legs to get in and out of gulch, you have trouble, because you will end up deep in. It's already being eroded by so many people clambering in and out to get their discs.
4. On 18 the foliage hanging down from a big tree (silver birch?) pretty close on right all but obscuring the drive even to the mando. After that, no clear fairway and again a gulch, not a hillside. Nevin, Stumpy, Honets Nest all have hills, but not gulches like Cornelius Road. Placed a long shot on the edge on 18 today and very difficult to retrieve my disc safely without hanging on to flora that are going to get torn up..

4/20
For context, Played here for the first time today. 22 months player.
RHFH driver. 220' my typical longest drive. I normally play Bradford and Stumpy for longer courses, sometimes Hornets Nest or Nevin. Bailey Road when I'm in a hurry.
Have played Bracketts 3 times. I'm a -2 to -5 player on Bailey, +5-10 short tees at Bradford. I was 7 over here today. They signs are pretty good but you have to pay attention *one tee ahead* to remember where to go next, there aren't pointers at the basket.
Not a fan of 18, too low, too tight, weird uphill with no line and like others have noted, across a path.
Some holes seem too close to others.
I played Grand Central Station near Clemson last fall, and it was brand new too, chips still on the paths, not as well defined yet.
I disagree that there are no lines here. I should have finished about 3 over today, and that was my first time through. (maybe the pars are generous or I was lucky).
Will go back with some regular playing friends and try to take some notes hole by hole. I do miss the rhythm of in and out of the woods that the other local courses mentioned offer.
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19 2
BraveThrower43
Gold level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 14.7 years 798 played 59 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Not enough Bridges 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Apr 20, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

This Park is beautiful and the property is exactly the type of property that you would want to put a disc golf course on.


Nice Teepads and Teesigns.

Cons:

However this properties potential was not met.

In it's current condition this course has a gimmicky feel that is greater than most courses that I have ever played. The design feels as if the goal was lucky/impossible= championship level course and I disagree totally.

Rewarding luck, in my mind, is not something that you want to incorporate in course design and that is what this course does.

The design did not take into account newer players. There are places where if you do not throw 200'-250' you will have very few options to save yourself a trip into a ravine.

Even courses like Nevin and Renny have ways that new players can layup and play the holes. This course does not.

All of the holes with the Creek in play have it on the left side. There is no variety to this and it gets very repetitive


Here are issues that can be easily fixed and are new course problems.

Drag piles on fairways and near fairways along with lots of barbed wire just in the fairways piled up in tangled knots.

Lots of low limbs(especially on the back)

No directional signage, trashcans, or benches.

Very few ways to cross the ravine and the course probably needs a few ladders or steps so people can get down into them without getting hurt.

Other Thoughts:

I was incredibly disappointed in this course not only because the design is currently poor but also because I feel that even with many things fixed this property has so much potential to be more than it will ever be in this layout. I can Only hope that they can improve what is currently there and make this property shine as it should.

If the rules of this course changed to where the ravines were not OB in at least some places then it would improve slightly. But knowing that was not the initial intent of the design it's still a con.

I do not recommend this course. Go to Stumpy if you are in the area and you will have a better time. May be just as wooded but there are fairways.

Few holes with issues:

6 is a weird shot with trees galore with OB practically in the fairway. It also starts the RHFH/LHBH friendly holes.

7- This hole is gimmicky. There is Little to no fairway with an OB creek beside it. Even a very good shot the initial landing zone leaves you standing staring a a wall of trees with poke and pray routes. There is no legitimate line to the basket

10- no legit lane to the basket. If you pure the initial fairway the basket ends up being guarded by a wall of trees that requires luck to get through since they are blind to the tee-pad and there is very little space between them.

11- the fairway is a ravine for 200ft. add this to the fact that you must hit a 15 ft gape to clear the fairway that turns into Plinko 250 ft down the fairway and you have yourself a poor hole

14- The Tee is angled towards a large clump of trees. I can see where a fairway was meant to be but unfortunately there is a large tree very close to the pad that eliminates this as a viable option. If the teepad was moved the hole could be salvaged.

16- Ok so the angle of the hole makes it impossible to reach the basket but just in case you do pure the fairway there is a line of trees that run down the center of the fairway that will knock down any disc that is flying on the correct path.

18- the mandatory causes there to Almost no landing zone off of the Teepad. and that is followed by a throw up a large hill into a grassy area next to a walking path. The embankment between the initial landing zone and and the 2nd landing zone is very dangerous if your disc sticks to it.

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5 0
Shuie
Silver level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 22.5 years 951 played 43 reviews
3.50 star(s)

A Raw Gem 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 15, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

- nice concreate tee pads
- Half the course plays along and around a ravine with a nice creek at the bottom.(unsure if it will be OB or not but reguardless if your down by the creek your taking a stroke)
- most holes throw high three hundreds with lots of trees in play.
- i liked that the front four were more open and then you got back into the woods.

Cons:

- Course is very raw and will get better as they clear more holes, add benches and tee signs.
- The Ravine can be quite Dangerous as it slants steeply towards the creek(some steps will be needed)
- Hole 18 can be dangerous as you throw up blindly at a running path as well as just the climb up to the top.
- 18 finishes quite a long ways away from the parking lot and hole 1.

Other Thoughts:

The course is very raw and i am not factoring it into my rating that much but as it stand Cornelous has potential but there is lots of work to be done in reguards to safety around around the steeper sections of the ravine. Also, as state before Cornelous is a HIKE(I Enjoy that) but i went out with a group of 5 and was up and down retrieving their disc from the ravine. Felt it was safer for the young buck to do it. With all that being said i had a blast and enjoyed myself.
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