-Panther Creek has all the land and topography needed for a 4.5-5 star course. It does have some very excellently thought out holes. The first five are all very good. The first hole is a nice double dogleg left that allows you to bomb a nice drive that leads you to the woods where the basket is maybe 150' in from the gap. #3's rock green is very interesting and the dogleg right on #4 really is epic. Slightly uphill out of a shoot and into the open down a 60-70' hill. It's a very sweet view looking down at #4's basket from the top of the hill. You will want to throw multiple shots down that hill!

-ELEVATION!!! Man it is insane out here. You will be deceived when you play the first three holes. But then........ you see hole 4. But then you see hole 5. It's a 520' par 4. Now, this hole is shorter than #18 at Rotary. But it plays like 820'. About 100' up in elevation change. Hole 11 is another major uphill that rises more than 80' feet. The approach shot is very cool too being immensely uphill over a few rock surfaces. Love this hole!

-Few major downhill shots too. #12 is a long way down and #13 is off the top of another huge hill that leads you into the open. #15 is a nice huge downhill rip.

-There are three drink machines. Don't think that you won't need a drink, or maybe five. Another cool thing about this place is how big it is as a park itself. It's like a course was approved and the county picked the hot spots for where the holes can be! Also a family friendly place. There is a family pool with a deep end of 12 ft.

-Long tee-pads and neat tee-signs. There is a practice basket. There are also ample parking spaces.

-This course is a par 71. That's like a traditional "ball-golf" par. The average hole length is 533'. It consists of six par 3's, seven par 4's, and five par 5's. The two hole stretch of holes 10 and 11 may be the most extreme. Hole 10 is a huge uphill dogleg right. It goes really steep uphill for the first 400' and then the remaining 340' is in the woods and back downhill. #11 may be the scariest par 5 you play. Being only 620', you feel like you should easily birdie this hole. But the tee-shot is frightening because of the trees to the left side.

-Has an ending that isn't too risky. An uphill 365' par 3 that is open and onto a wooded green. Bland? I don't think so at all.

-Initially I gave Panther Creek a 4.5. That could very easily be arranged. I was so excited about the extreme elevation changes to the point where I would upvote this course. Problem is, whenever HB designs a course, he does a least a few ridiculous things and I wish he would stop doing this. #6 is down maybe 70-80' in elevation but it's one of the worst holes that I've ever played. It's 400' and nothing but pinball from pad to pin. There's no real lane to get there. It's an extreme sharp left turn and frankly just downright impossible.

-I think #7's design is a little peculiar. The tee area is nice being maybe 50' in the woods and has you throwing into the open. It plays as a fish hook. The angle at the landing zone is maybe 45 degrees. Now you could throw a short putter shot and be short of the huge pine tree (maybe 300' ahead) and have a nice look at the basket but if you execute a relatively good shot and follow the alleged line that the tee sign shows, you'll probably be faced with the huge pine tree in the way. You can either throw short or very long. Hole is shaped as the letter "P". Not particularly a bad hole, but I think pros would enjoy it more if the basket was further down the hill and tucked into the woods on the other side that you see from the pad. #8 is a steep uphill, at least 30' maybe 40' in elevation. It's 405' and under a canopy tree. Terrible idea. A real tweener. You have no real option except to rip it as hard as you can and hope you don't go into the woods because the woods consist of tons of pines. Hole should be a par four and maybe pushed back another 50-100'. It wouldn't be as hard, but would still have some hazards to it along with more options off of the pad.

-#13 is a huge downhill shot from the woods but has multiple trees not far from the tee pad and they are close in proximity. There's not really an optimal line. It's 590' and is a par four. The hill doesn't descend for the first 100' or so and the rough is dense on both sides. I've lost two discs on this hole because of the weird line I had to take and the bad flight of my disc. You really want to rip it on this hole since it's wide open and majorly downhill after 200' or so but if you do, you'll more than likely hit a tree or land somewhere in the woods. The gaps you are faced with are not well formed. #16 is sharply downhill and forms a left to right fairway. Problem is, there is a low ceiling you have to hit and it's pretty instant. The ceiling is at least 20' below the pad and the trees are maybe 100' from the pad. So you have to throw nose downward and hope you don't go too low but very low to where you are able to hit the fairway without hitting some low tree limbs.

-It's really just extremely flawed design. Course could be amazing but HB really screwed it up on some holes here. Just like he did on the other courses in Morristown. Please dude, just stop trying to do something "unique" or "different". I know this is supposed to be a championship level course, but based on the round ratings in the Tennessee State Disc Golf Tournaments, it's more of an advanced level course that requires a lot of distance. Even par is usually around 950 rated. Which is good too. But no hole here is longer than 750' and there are like six par fives and there were many eagles made in the tournaments here. Real pro level courses don't have that many eagle opportunities. The other holes (like 6 and 8) can't be birdied without some sort of luck. A course with nearly impossible lines to hit and then holes that average an entire stroke below par creates a disjointed layout. Only reason why it's even called a championship course is because it's nearly 10,000 in length.
The holes I mentioned here in the cons really need to be adjusted. So many more people would love this course if they were improved. They could all be much better than they are now.

-I really hope at some point Panther Creek will have second pin locations or second tee pads. This course has everything it needs to be amazing and I do not think what was done did the justice it deserves.

-I know I already got 20 helpful votes on this review before it's update but I gave it a 4.5 in 2017 because I figured that it was raw and needed more time to be worked on. But the holes with weird fairways haven't changed at all. They are still bad holes when they have a ton of elevation change and have the appearances to be some of the greatest holes in the area. Everybody loves downhill shots, but not when they have no line and are sharply to the left side (#6). #8 is a gorgeous hole up a nicely mowed grassy hill edged with pine trees. But it plays over 500' and is extremely punishing if you miss the fairway. #13 is a hole you want to throw a disc over 500' on, but you can't because the gaps off the pad are crapshoots. #13 could be an epic hole if it was maybe pushed 100' ahead. You have a more defined look at the pin and it'd be a long par three still down a huge hill.

-To be fair though, this course does have some excellent holes that you'll find very enjoyable. #9 is a fun downhill bomb that passes through a wooded tunnel where the basket is immediately out of. #10 and #11 are very unique par fives. Along with many others. I think the first five holes are great and several on the back nine are great too and the ones that are bad could be a million times better.

-I try to come up with a rating based on how the fairways are designed, and how much variety the course has, and the creativity used, and the effort spent on signage. The signage here is great and there is a good amount of variety and the rock holes (such as #3 and #11) are very fun to look at. Some of the fairways are hideous, and this property needs to show more options for gameplay rather than just one layout with one set of pads and pins. More ideas need to come to mind here in order for this course to be what it could be because some of the best courses in the world all have dual pads, alt pins, or both and Panther Creek does not. I think a 3.5 is more of an appropriate rating. I upvoted it before, but just because it's a long course with a good amount of variety and elevation doesn't mean it should receive a high rating every time. I don't upvote short courses, but courses I've given 4.5 ratings to such as Inverness, Clay, Glenwood, City Lake, or Ashe County are not as long as Panther. They are all more of an average length for advanced players. They all have a lot of elevation change too, but they also have different layouts for different skills and better fairways that are rewarding if you hit and do not reward luck.

The course resides in a beautiful state park with some amazing views that provide peaceful, awe-inspiring serenity. The course itself is a juxtaposition to it's surroundings; it's brutal, intimidating and exhausting.

We stopped by the Welcome Center to grab a course map and said 'Hello' to the owl before starting play. I recommend this as you'll want to start the round with as much joy and optimism possible before the course beats you up for several hours. For the most part, you'll be playing up, down and around a small mountain. Longer drives will help immensely here as par 4's and 5's abound.

I really liked hole 9 -- a downhill bomber, and hole 17 -- a 635 footer cut through the woods. Hole 9 is certainly the 'signature hole' in my mind.

Holes 14-18 are across the road and away from the ridge/mountain that provides the bulk of the terrain challenges for the rest of the course. These are some of the better holes in my opinion.

Hole 5 and hole 11 they are certain to be etched into your mind long after your finished. They are extremely uphill, often leaving you with a standstill option only. It's easy to get discouraged at Panther Creek, but it's set up to be this way.

At times, Panther Creek feels unnecessarily challenging. It opts for difficulty and placement shots too often instead of providing choices and fun. On many holes, an error on the teepad leads to a trickle down effect leaving you in your own world of frustration.

Hole 4 could shine as one of the best downhill holes, but you'll have a hard time getting uphill to the ideal spot on the landing zone. Perhaps a short pad on this hole? It's just too fun of a shot to miss out on, yet in both rounds I played only one person landed a drive there.

To me a course with frequent and grueling uphill shots would offer some equally rewarding downhill opportunities. But the downhill options are often limited from the teepad by tight fairways and low ceilings (hole 6, 12, 13, 4). Hole 9 and 15 would be the exception here, they will likely tempt you to unload a few more drives.

I think hole 7 is a bad hole. It's shaped like a question mark and has an unintended shortcut that 90 percent of people will opt for (short RH hyzer flick). If the basket were placed straight down the fairway it seems like it would play much more like the designer intended.

This course was certainly built with the other Morristown courses in mind. It's a good compliment to Cherokee and Rotary in a sense that you'll never complain about their difficulty anymore

Final thoughts:
* Scores could get in the 90's and 100's if you are a Rec player or new to the sport.
* The teepads are going to need to be lined with additional support or they will wash away in a few year's time.
* Discs that go in the tall grass are extremely hard to find.
* Pants or high socks are helpful when in the tall grass.

Ultimately, Panther Creek is a beautiful and extreme course. it was clearly created to be challenging but at what costs? I played it twice and I'm not sure if I'll be ready to tackle it again in a year's time.