I just wanted to say thanks to all who have posted here about the Charlotte courses. With guidance from this site my group put together an itinerary for Easter weekend this year. We tried to balance course proximity, length, and ratings. We left Hornets Nest off only because most in the group had already played it.
In thanks, I thought I would post a few thoughts that I hope helps others in planning a Charlotte area trip.
For reference, I would rate the group as average hacks – max distance ranges from about ~280ft - ~375ft. We typically play modified doubles, which we did on Friday since we only had three, or doubles.
Friday:
1. Winthrop - Lakefront
2. Boyd Hill
3. Angry Beaver
4. Eager Beaver
I enjoyed playing Winthrop and would have been bummed had we skipped it. But now that I have played it, I doubt I would include it in future trips. Boyd Hill was nothing special, but it was an enjoyable shorter course that paired well with Winthrop with respect to its length and its closeness to Winthrop.
The Beavers were wonderful (he says with a juvenile snicker). Having a longer and shorter course together like that is great. I certainly hope to get back and play 'em both again.
Saturday:
1. Robert L. Smith
2. Plantation Ruins @ Winget
3. Renaissance Park
A light rain had started on Friday at the end of our Angry Beaver round, hit fairly hard Friday night, and stayed with us all Saturday. The up side is we had the courses all to ourselves on Saturday. Downside – it took a while to get around RL Smith and Winget and so we did not hit Renny.
R.L. Smith was beautiful, but I wish I had a brought more base plastic. Water is in play quite a bit. I am not sure how much water normally flows in that smaller stream, but it was enough to swallow five discs from our group. We would have lost six, but there was a diving save to keep a crappy putt from heading a long way down to deeper water. Thank you Billy, I owe you.
Plantation Ruins @ Winget - RL Smith beat us up a little (I still loved it though) and so playing this shorter, easier walking course was quite welcomed. I dug it. Although it is a shorter course, it is very well designed and not just a pitch and putt.
Sunday:
1. Nevin Park
2. Bradford Park
3. Bradford Park
3. Fox Chase
Nevin was my least favorite (probably in part because I played my worst there, and maybe because there did not seem to be as much variety) but it is a beautiful course. For my next trip, I would not mind if we skipped it. However, it was a favorite of another in the group, so do not write it off based on my opinion.
I had a great time at Bradford and it might have been my favorite, wait, no, what about RL Smith or….
We were going to play Bradford twice but at the last minute decided to pick up Fox Chase on the way back home. Glad we did. Another fun course I had not played.
The only negative for me that even comes to mind is that I am not a big fan of ponds behind the basket that you do not see from the fairway. I'm looking at you #18, RL Smith (stole my friend's Buzz) and you #2 at Bradford.
For more specifics on the courses, it would be better to hit the reviews in the Courses section of this site. I kept it a little general because I do not like to evaluate/rank courses until I have played them a few times and each of our group favored different courses, anyway. Really though, they were all so nice it makes picking a favorite about pointless. You Charlotte folks sure do have it good!
Much thanks to all who have contributed to developing the disc scene in that area.
Note - We printed out the scorecards and maps from this site, which proved very useful. Well, except for hole 8/9 on Angry Beaver where we needed some local guidance for the new setup. I am sure we are not the only group that has run into this, but I must have looked a little stupid staring at the map saying, "I am pretty sure the basket should be right about where we are. I am looking at the map correctly, right?"
In thanks, I thought I would post a few thoughts that I hope helps others in planning a Charlotte area trip.
For reference, I would rate the group as average hacks – max distance ranges from about ~280ft - ~375ft. We typically play modified doubles, which we did on Friday since we only had three, or doubles.
Friday:
1. Winthrop - Lakefront
2. Boyd Hill
3. Angry Beaver
4. Eager Beaver
I enjoyed playing Winthrop and would have been bummed had we skipped it. But now that I have played it, I doubt I would include it in future trips. Boyd Hill was nothing special, but it was an enjoyable shorter course that paired well with Winthrop with respect to its length and its closeness to Winthrop.
The Beavers were wonderful (he says with a juvenile snicker). Having a longer and shorter course together like that is great. I certainly hope to get back and play 'em both again.
Saturday:
1. Robert L. Smith
2. Plantation Ruins @ Winget
3. Renaissance Park
A light rain had started on Friday at the end of our Angry Beaver round, hit fairly hard Friday night, and stayed with us all Saturday. The up side is we had the courses all to ourselves on Saturday. Downside – it took a while to get around RL Smith and Winget and so we did not hit Renny.
R.L. Smith was beautiful, but I wish I had a brought more base plastic. Water is in play quite a bit. I am not sure how much water normally flows in that smaller stream, but it was enough to swallow five discs from our group. We would have lost six, but there was a diving save to keep a crappy putt from heading a long way down to deeper water. Thank you Billy, I owe you.
Plantation Ruins @ Winget - RL Smith beat us up a little (I still loved it though) and so playing this shorter, easier walking course was quite welcomed. I dug it. Although it is a shorter course, it is very well designed and not just a pitch and putt.
Sunday:
1. Nevin Park
2. Bradford Park
3. Bradford Park
3. Fox Chase
Nevin was my least favorite (probably in part because I played my worst there, and maybe because there did not seem to be as much variety) but it is a beautiful course. For my next trip, I would not mind if we skipped it. However, it was a favorite of another in the group, so do not write it off based on my opinion.
I had a great time at Bradford and it might have been my favorite, wait, no, what about RL Smith or….
We were going to play Bradford twice but at the last minute decided to pick up Fox Chase on the way back home. Glad we did. Another fun course I had not played.
The only negative for me that even comes to mind is that I am not a big fan of ponds behind the basket that you do not see from the fairway. I'm looking at you #18, RL Smith (stole my friend's Buzz) and you #2 at Bradford.
For more specifics on the courses, it would be better to hit the reviews in the Courses section of this site. I kept it a little general because I do not like to evaluate/rank courses until I have played them a few times and each of our group favored different courses, anyway. Really though, they were all so nice it makes picking a favorite about pointless. You Charlotte folks sure do have it good!
Much thanks to all who have contributed to developing the disc scene in that area.
Note - We printed out the scorecards and maps from this site, which proved very useful. Well, except for hole 8/9 on Angry Beaver where we needed some local guidance for the new setup. I am sure we are not the only group that has run into this, but I must have looked a little stupid staring at the map saying, "I am pretty sure the basket should be right about where we are. I am looking at the map correctly, right?"
