Near the heart of Dalton, the Christian Heritage Academy course features heavily wooded and very hilly terrain that is a fine addition in the city known as "The Carpet Capital of the World."

The layout doesn't pull punches as there's a couple rugged and challenging uphill holes early on. The variety is excellent as the course includes numerous shot shapes without repetition. The grueling climbs are offset by Hole #15 and its enormous downhill jaunt. Also, take a look at the sky on the teepad of Hole #1 – you'll disappear into the woods and not emerge until your upshot on Hole #18.

The elevation is utilized well. One user commented that the elevation makes the short holes seem longer, plus accuracy is paramount to scoring well, as wayward shots will usually require tough scrambles to salvage par. Only a couple holes on the course don't require a noticeable amount of walking up or down.

The course is a par 57 layout with three par 4s, including the last two holes. The course difficulty resembles a s'more: the shorter and softer (marshmallow) birdie opportunities are in the middle while the most challenging holes (including a couple holes that will be near-impossible for most users to birdie) are the firm graham crackers that bookend the course.

The teepads are solid. They're overlaid by turf similar to the greens in miniature golf. The signs might be temporary; they're from a previous tournament and made of corrugated plastic, but the design is good and includes hole number, distance and a map.

The fairways and their edges are still a little rough in shape. A few of the fairways aren't rounded enough to offer a pure line, and a few holes would be improved by removing "that one tree." Hole #6 is one of the main offenders as the best available line appears to be six inches to the left or right of the central tree.

Because of the significant amount of cutting required to create a course in the woods, there are plenty of downed trees and piles of brush just off the fairways in spots. Even some areas on the fairways are tricky to maneuver as uneven footing can be an issue.

The teepads have already accumulated a lot of sticks and leaves, and keeping them clean in the depths of the forest will be challenging.

Walking this course is not for the faint of heart. Good footwear is recommended. Some patches of the course can be a bit treacherous to navigate, especially if there's been any rain recently. Hole #15 has one of the most significant drops in elevation that I've seen on a fairway – and tripping here may result in a bumpy and bruising ride.

The course has limited play since the campus is off-limits during school hours (Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 3:45 p.m.).

The first challenge at Christian Heritage is locating the start of the course. Consulting a map might be helpful, but Hole #1 is near the entrance for the high school campus. You'll have to drive up the road a few hundred more feet and turn right to spot the most convenient parking lot. As you walk back down the hill toward the academy entrance, turn into the woods right before you reach Martin Luther King Blvd. and the first teepad will be right next to a large utility pole.

Once you find the course, navigation is pretty good. Each basket features a yellow half-disc attached to the bottom of the basket as a directional guide toward the next hole. There usually isn't much walking between holes. The course travels in a clockwise manner around the school, and Hole #18 ends on the other side of the parking lot; you can probably spot the last basket in the distance when you park.

The Christian Heritage course is a hike and a half, but it contains excellent variety and some really good holes. The grounds have the bones for a 4.0-rated layout, and I would anticipate an increase in quality. For now, as the previous reviewer mentioned, the course merits a good rating but needs to get beat in and cleaned up.

In a joint effort between Will Schustrick and local pro Win Griffith this course was featured in a tournament series I played recently. It's cut into the woods surrounding the school and is a tightly wooded track with a ton of elevation and winding lines that can have even great players frustrated.

The course has large turf pads that are pretty nice, and I think a recent Shaw product as their sponsor name was on some of the signs which look somewhat temporary but have full color layouts that are pretty helpful.

Between the elevation and tight wooded lines it's got a lot of Edwards vibes and some legitimate multi shot par 4s that could have you scratching your head.

Baskets are T2s that are perfectly fine and show up well in the woods.

Flow is pretty straightforward and easy to navigate even though there are no signs or arrows.

It's still new and raw, the rough is very hard to navigate in spots. I gave some blood to briars on at least two holes.

Some of the shot shapes are a little extreme and it could turn people off.

The pads are good but they have some soft spots under them in places that can make it tough to pick the ideal spot to tee from.

It's good but until it's been in a full year it will be hard to tell how good.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this one develops and the general response as it wears in a bit.