Like the other course on this private, pay to play, site, the Ripple course winds its way through the oaks in a low land park setting by the White Oak River. Because the grounds of the course are mowed regularly, but the trees are large, mature and plentiful, you get the best of both worlds, with some very tight, interesting lines to hit, with mixed use of low ceilings, but also plenty of places to let the disc fly. The distances weren't overwhelming, usually 300 feet plus or minus, but all were solid, challenging white level holes. The shorter holes presented more challenging lines.

There is rough, and scrambling can be a challenge, but one doesn't get the sense that discs are likely to be unfindable, unless they find the river. The river can be in play, but none of the holes do so in a particularly punitive or unfair manner. If you do find the river, however, I wouldn't expect to get the disc back, as the water is black, deep and wide enough to make raking a disc an unlikelihood.

The course very much has the feel of a local course that is intended to be played by locals. The baskets are not mounted in sleeves, but are mixed bag of various movable baskets. One gets the sense that baskets and tees may be moved, perhaps not regularly, but when a better hole design is arrived at.

The pace was as relaxed as I wanted, with just one other disc golfer on the two courses on the property when I was there on a Tuesday morning. Overall, the experience was truly a joy.

As I said, this feels like a local course that is meant for the locals. Indeed when I talked to the person primarily responsible for the courses here last year, he said as much. As a result tee signs and directional aids are highly variable. You'll need to be prepared to scout each hole. When I played there weren't even uDisc maps for most of the tee signs and holes.

Edit: I should also mention the design probably wouldn't work as well if this course had more traffic. There are definitely a few holes where I could see other holes tee pads being in play, etc. That said, it because it is a low traffic course, it's not the kind of issue it would be in a public park,

The baskets are a mixed bag. Some of them are old, without bright top bands and some rust, making them hard to locate. Some were new and shiny, but not necessarily the best catching baskets I've ever played.

The tee areas were definitely not the most premium, mostly synthetic turf laid down without a frame, with others being rubber pads.

Holes 14 through 18 were a little bit of a departure from the rest of the course, playing much more open. This was initially a little bit of a letdown, but after playing the holes, each presented a unique challenge that I ended up liking very much. Still, having unmarked/ not clearly delineated OB in what appears to be someone else's field, that might have been a wastewater treatment field of some sort, wasn't the best experience (although there was no odor at all, so I'm not actually sure what the deal was).

I feel like this is a course that would be more and more fun to play the more times you played it. Other than the tee pads themselves, I think almost all the issues I had would be resolved by just knowing the course already,

The cost was only $5 to play both courses on site, quite reasonable. I'll be happy to pay again, probably next year when I am at the beach again. The short drive from Emerald Isle was well worth it.