Hudson Middle School is a pleasant 9 hole course located in the field(s) in front of the school. When looking at the track, it would be easy to roll your eyes at seeing another school course with 9 DISCatcher baskets,9 bare bones tee signs, and natural tees in an open field. Luckily, Hudson Middle School actually has some tricks up its sleeve and is able to provide a fun round, filled with a fair amount of variety, despite the absolute lack of obstacles requiring shaped shots to score well.

Most notably is the elevation usage on this course. The field the course is laid out in has noticeable elevation changes, providing the course with multiple uphill, downhill, and relatively flat shots. Holes 1, 5, & 7 are all downhill shots. Holes 2, 4, & 6 are uphill shots. Hole 3 is an incredibly fun valley shot, down a hill and then back up one. Hole 8 is pretty much pancake flat. Hole 9 is mostly flat, possibly slightly uphill at first, but to a blind basket location that is tucked away into a bowl area which feels pretty unique!

There is also a decent amount of distance variance here. The shortest hole is less than 200' long, but the longest two are just over 330'. This means that even experienced players will get the chance to throw real shots, instead of relying solely on pitch-&-putt tactics a lot of school courses seem to lean on.

There is also a high potential for wind affecting play. Luckily, I was able to avoid having too much wind to deal with, but since the course is located in such a large, open field, players who frequent this course are likely going to learn how wind affects their discs. Quickly.

For these reasons, the course can be enjoyed by just about anyone, while still being an adequate place for beginners and middle school level players. There are likely some really fun safari layouts that could be played here. It looked very enticing to drive at Hole 2's basket from on top of the berm that creates the bowl Hole 9 is tucked into.

As stated earlier, there are really no obstacles on the course. There are maybe a couple of trees you might have to contend with on hole 7, depending on what shot you throw. The rest of the course is barren. This makes it an enjoyable round, but might get stale if played too frequently. Every shot is completely wide open. The only deciding factor on whether I was throwing forehand or backhand from the tee, was what angle I wanted my disc to land.

The course's layout can be confusing. The course is at its worst in that regard around Holes 5 & 6. From Hole 5's tee, I got confused and threw to Hole 6's basket. Perfect drive wasted. This would be incredibly easy to do for anyone who, like me, doesn't realize Hole 7 is across the school road, in its own little field.

When I played the course was mostly well taken care of, maybe some ankle high weeds throughout. Depending on how often the grass is mowed, that could be somewhat frustrating.

Like all school courses, this track is not accessible during school hours.

Hudson Middle School was a happy surprise for me. I didn't expect to enjoy the course as much as I did. Even when I pulled into the parking lot. I think the course does just enough to warrant a 1.5 rating, but will willingly admit that a couple of trees around the course would have made it so, so much better. If there were other trees around the course, other than the ones lining the outskirts of the field, this could have easily been a course people in the area seek out to play regularly.

Can be paired up with the nearby Redwood Park for a fun 18 hole round.

Favorite Hole: 9

Hudson Middle School is a basic, quick 9-hole layout. Course plays in an open part of the campus with a backdrop of the mountains that make you wish you were there instead.
- I enjoyed this course. For a course that plays in an open field with only one tree in play on the entire course (#7), it does offer enough challenge and variety. Plus, proximity of baskets offers plenty of safari layouts.
- #1 & 9 take advantage of a small hill giving nice layouts. The hill plays the duration of the hole on #1; on #9, it's a factor on the final third of the hole. #1, at 181 feet, is a hole you could easily empty the bag on if you're here practicing. Very fun, simple layout.
- On holes #2 - 7, players are going up and down a slight slope. It's enough of a factor that you'll notice it impacting the perceived length of holes. #2 - 6 all range in length from 202 to 252 feet, but you'll be throwing different discs on uphill vs downhill shots.
- #7 is the outlier, both in layout, challenge, and the fact you cross a campus road to play. The long hole, a downhill, 337-foot layout with a tree overhanging the basket. A decent tee shot, and you'll have a putt of some length.
- Course does a solid job of meeting the skill level of middle-school players. If a player can throw a disc 250-feet, you'll do fine on this course. You'll see some birdie chances and should be in good shape to salvage par.
- With a lack of obstacles (TREES), course offers other challenges in its place. The two biggest: crosswinds from playing in an open field, and thick, semi-tall grass. The wind can easily blow a disc offline and the grass grabs every disc, eliminating skips and rolls. I had several longer than needed putts as my shots landed 20 feet short, and rather than skipping along the ground towards the basket, they died in place.
- #9's basket ends very close to #1. Good for playing a second round or getting right back to your car.
- The mountains, the mountains, the mountains. Your backdrop past the school buildings is the Appalachian mountains. Absolute beauty. Coming from Charlotte, Hickory is always the halfway point to the mountains. From here, you're only 40 minutes to Blowing Rock & Boone.

Layout is poor. With all the baskets in the same field, not easy to determine which one to aim for and/or where to walk after completing a hole. For example, on #5's tee, I threw to #6's basket. After retrieving my disc, I played to the correct hole.
- To add to the poor layout, Then, after finishing #6, I walked past #5, spotting another tee and assuming it was #7's. Nope, that's #8. I had to backtrack again, to find #7. At which point, after finishing #7, you walk past #6 & 5 to get to #8. Confused yet? Point being, on a 9-hole course, you should be the furthest point from the beginning of the course when you're on #7.
- The mix of wind and tall, disc-grabbing grass can be frustrating. You're almost playing a completely different form of disc golf here compared to everywhere else. On a windy day, you're really going to be challenged because you can't throw too low (tall grass) nor too high (wind). Perhaps this is the ultimate practice course.
- Course isn't open during school hours. I played in the summer, a couple weeks before the new school year. Already, I felt as if I shouldn't be playing when I did.
- Lack of variety in the layouts, both length and look of holes. The area of grass to the right of the main school entrance (the area past #1 & 9) has the best elevation and most trees that one or two holes down there would be better than any of the open holes in the stretch of #2 - 6. Get or two down there, lengthen a couple of holes in the field, and you have much more variety.

This is a nice, basic course at Hudson Middle School. Far, oh so far, from perfection. But an excellent place to practice or unwind.
- As stated earlier, I repeatedly came up short on my approach shots as there is no roll/skid on shots. It did most likely cost me a stroke or three. Had I played again it would be interesting to see how differently I approached the course. There's a definite home-field advantage here.
- Give me something different than what #2 - 6 had to offer. Just by changing two holes, you break up the repetitiveness and create a more enjoyable layout.
- You are a ¼ mile from 321, so close to every chain restaurant. Also makes this an easy course to stop at and bag.
- I liked Redwood a lot more than I liked this course. They're only 5 minutes apart, so you can make a quick 18 out of the two courses.