Excellent course. If you are out there playing and you happen see a man doing maintenance on the park be sure and say hello. He might just be the course designer Brian Carter working hard to keep this course in such great shape! Thanks Brian!

For whatever reason City Lake seems to have managed to fly under my radar for quite a while now. I ended up playing it on a day when a friend and I visited Albemarle to check out Fox Chase, and figured stopping here would be a great way to pack in even more disc golf since we were already going to be out that way. I can tell you that things could not have worked out any better because it ended up being my 50th course and was a lot better than I was initially expecting!

The course is set next to a small lake, which gives off a very pleasant atmosphere when you're playing. When you play here you can expect nice concrete tee pads, decent tee signs, DISCatcher baskets, a bench at pretty much every tee (the ones that didn't are just waiting for their benches to be put into the ground), and a whole lot of fun. The course has two practice baskets, one of which is elevated, which is a nice way to let you get warmed up for uphill putts, or even just to get ready for Hole 9. There are two layouts here: the red appear to be a nice beginner friendly course, while the blue is fun for both intermediate and advanced players. We played the blue tees, so a lot of my review will be focused around that.

The front 9 features quality disc golf with forgiving fairways, but enough variety to keep you hooked. There are some open holes that allow you to flex your shots around if need be, and some wooded holes mixed in. What I really appreciated, especially once I drove in and saw some baskets in the middle of the field, is that outside of two holes, even the open shots have guardian trees, gaps to hit, or some form of obstacle impeding a free birdie. Even the two wide open shots are unique. Hole 1 plays up a surprisingly steep hill, while Hole 9 features an elevated basket - both turn what should be relatively simple birdies, into a potential blow-up hole.

The back 9 is where this course really gets its moxie, as the gaps get tighter, the elevation changes become more severe, and the consequences become more punishing. While playing Holes 11 through 15, I was continually surprised by just how good the use of elevation was. Staring down the fairway from Hole 15 is absolutely daunting, there is a safer FH hyzer shot to the left, but I decided to attempt to thread the gap straight up the gut with a midrange - crossing my fingers I didn't take a bad kick into the abyss out to the right. I was almost rewarded with an ace with that throw, but loved the options the hole presented me anyway.

The course is still in a state of constant improvement. I have heard there may have been a redesign, but in any case it is noticeably still being worked on. There are some trees that are down around some fairways. Hole 3 even had what looked like torn caution tape around where a tree had fallen down. The tee signs could use some work as well. They were all okay, but some were already falling apart.

Navigation here isn't always straight forward. Luckily a lot has been done with arrow signs along the transitions to point your towards the right hole. The only other thing that I could see as a benefit, would be a sign somewhere along the drive in pointing you towards Hole 1. Once again, nothing too big, just something that might be helpful.

The fairway from Hole 13 seems to have some flood damage at the moment. I'm sure this will eventually be addressed though.

Being so close to Fox Chase, this course seems to get overlooked by many people. Personally, I enjoyed City Lake quite a bit more than Fox Chase, and would play there again in a heartbeat! Of course, everyone has different tastes, but being only 10 minutes from another great course - it is worth driving to check out because you're sure to love at least one of them.

For now I am going to give City Lake a 4.0 rating, but am excited to see how it grows in the future. This course is a lot of fun and packs in a decent challenge without ever becoming stale or overbearing. Plus it seems there is a lot of work being done to improve the amenities of the course. In an ideal world, the basket to hole 1 could be moved a bit to create a slightly more interesting opening hole, but for now it does an okay job.

Favorite Holes: 5, 8, 13, 15

An outstanding mix of 18 holes, all challenging but fair, and thoughtfully designed. Open/wooded, uphill/downhill, left/straight/right, long/short, you name it, this course has some of everything.
+ Short and long tees on every hole allow you to not just adjust the difficulty, but also the angles and the experience, as they're frequently very different.
+ A year after first playing the course, I could still remember a majority of the holes, and that speaks to how memorable and distinct many of these are. Many of the open holes feature a beautiful view of City Lake down below, while many of the wooded holes work up, down, and alongside significant elevation, crafting interesting shots out of your bag.
+ One of the signature highlights is hole 13's short tee, which tees off from a solid wooden deck next to City Lake's dam and spillway, and the running creek alongside. The play is a big hyzer finishing to a basket perched up the hill, a really fun shot from a beautiful tee. (For the long tee on this hole, see below)
+ Especially from the long tees, the course challenges both your distance and your accuracy, of course thanks to the mix of open and wooded holes. But all of these challenges are very fair, and thoughtfully designed, with clear fairways and intended lines.
+ The course has worn in quite nicely already, and is quite easy and smooth to play.

- Signage and navigation seem to have improved in the past year from what I remember, but a few points are still a little loose. There are small arrows on trees near the baskets pointing towards the long and short tees, but these can be easily missed. Some of the longer walks could use additional arrows to clarify/confirm as well.
- A few of the long tees use the same design motif, where a very tight tunnel off the tee finishes just in front of the short tee. Examples include holes 7, 10, 13, and the (in)famous 18. Generally I don't have a problem with this design, it's a very easy way to add additional challenges to a long tee. I was just a little disappointed to have this motif repeated so many times, where the other 14 holes show more varied long tee placements.
- Hole 13's long tee was particularly disappointing, as a spectacular and scenic hilltop tee location is tempered by an extremely tight tunnel requiring very careful placement. This tee location is begging for a big open hyzer! The short tee is far superior.
- The wide open field on Hole 5 had too much thick grass and weedy growth on 2/3 of my visits, making it difficult to find discs. Maintenance on the rest of the course generally seems solid, but this is an area that seems to require more regular attention.
- For such a well-designed course with so much land seemingly available, plus so much elevation, the course is surprisingly short in length, even from the longs. All of the par 4s are on the back 9, and a few feel more like soft tweeners, with par being dictated more by the shape than the distance. Hole 18 is a par 5 from the long tee, but this is mostly because of the very strange/unique tee shot shape, not because of the length. You can see that the longs are a par 59, but with a distance of only 5976 ft., and a lot of that is downhill.
- The tee shot from Hole 18's long pad is a very strange one, I don't think I've seen a design quite like it before. Your tee shot is probably the most tight, technical, and controlled tee shot on the whole course, and then if that's successful, your next shot is a wide open no-holds-barred crush. I can't say I dislike it, it just feels a little split-personality and strange, and contrasts with how smoothly designed the rest of the course is.

Albemarle and Stanly County still seem somewhat unknown to many NC disc golfers, but there are now three outstanding courses here. Well worth a long day or a short weekend to experience all three. Personally I'd rank them 1) City Lake 2) Goose Landing 3) Fox Chase, but really all three are outstanding, and I wouldn't argue with any order of them. All three are also in excellent condition currently. Kudos to the Albemarle-area disc golfers for all of their hard work on these courses!

2020 Mar 09 update - moved Hole 13 long tee from pro to con list (short tee stays as a solid pro). Added con on hole 5's thick grass. Minor edits for clarity. Rating stays at 4.0, but loses some solidity.

To date, I have played 14 of the current top 25 in NC and 7 of the top 10. If the rankings were up to me, City Lake Park would be in the top 25 (and will be soon, once it has enough ratings). The combination of Fox Chase + City Lake Park is one of the best 1-2 punches in the entire state. Of all the courses I've played here, Nevin and Hornets Nest are the best pair of courses within 10 minutes of each other. Fox Chase and City Lake Park are second. These courses are simply not to be missed.

+ Terrific combination of open and wooded holes, uphills and downhills, long and short holes, incredibly difficult and easier birdies. The variety here is fantastic. Some of the long holes are easier, some of the short holes are harder. Excellent course design.

+ I admit that I was underwhelmed and not expecting much after playing holes 9 and 1 to start the round. (See cons below, but never having played the course, I parked and came to hole 9 first, not knowing where hole 1 was, so I played those two wide open, fairly run-of-the-mill holes first.) These holes are wide open and not much too them, although #9 has an elevated basket. Well, I was quite mistaken. The front 9 has a mix of lightly wooded to heavily wooded holes, all makeable birdies. then the back 9 gets MUCH harder, with 3 par 4's, many longer holes (both wooded and open), and even an extremely short hole that might be the hardest 2 on the course (hole 15 -- an extreme downhill, blind tee shot, to a tough green).

+ You will get a workout on this course! The back 9 has a ton of up and down elevation. Don't be fooled by the name of this course like I was. I was expecting more "park golf." Nope. This is hilly woods golf (with a couple of open holes mixed in). Very challenging and fun.

+ The property is beautiful and well maintained. While there are no water holes, you get glimpses of the lake and one tee is near the spillway, where you hear the calming sound of water flowing. It's a serene setting and aesthetically pleasing course.

+ Nice concrete tee pads, longs and shorts. Players of all skill levels will enjoy this course and there's something for everybody with the option of long or short tees.

+ Good DISCatcher baskets.

+ This course is the hard-to-find combination of extremely challenging and extremely fun. (Fox Chase hits the marks here too, by the way.) This is what disc golf is supposed to be.

There's not a lot in the cons category for me, but two points of note:

- As mentioned above, holes 9 and 1 are very close to each other. For newbies to the course, it's not clear which parking lot to park at and which hole to begin on. I accidentally played 9 first and then saw #1. Both of these wide open holes are underwhelming and perhaps the worst two holes on the course. Also, the #18 basket is close to the #9 tee. Not an issue if the course isn't crowded, but be aware.

- Navigation was the biggest issue for me. There aren't enough Next Tee signs or markers in between holes. It's usually not too big of a problem, but there is a long walk in between some holes, specifically 7 and 8. I wasn't sure I was on the right trail, so doubled back. I probably walked around aimlessly for 10 minutes before I found #8. This could be easily fixed with some trail markers or signs.

This is an absolute must-play course. I'm trying to play all top 25 courses in NC, so City Lake Park wasn't initially on my radar (only because it doesn't quite have enough ratings to be eligible for the top 25). Boy was I glad I did some research and read the previous reviews of this course. It's about an 8-minute drive from Fox Chase and nearly as good. These two courses are worth the day trip to play in tandem.

Follow the road back to the bottom of the parking lot.
Concrete pads and two tees per hole
Next tee signs to help with navigation
Beauitful park tucked away in the middle of nowhere. Fall foliage was a real treat to see surrounding the lake and course.
Had the course to myself on a Monday morning
Tight and challenging, but fair lines
Pars are all fair and attainable.
Course requires a ton of different shots, I used almost my entire bag
Some real fun natural barriers and backdrops throughout the course- #8 barn hole, #13 alongside the dam and running stream, #15 along gully, #16 log wall...etc.

No real cons on this course. It hasn't been rated much, and I feel it's a solid 3.75 course. Don't sleep on this course of you're in the area to play fox chase or goose landing.
Some concrete pads still need to be poured.

Man yet another awesome course Stan and his team have put together here. This course demands placement shots. I used tons of mid ranges off the par 4 tees here. Only a few wide open bomb holes. This course has a little bit of everything. Very demanding shot selection. I'm suprised this course is so under the radar! I haven't heard a thing about this one...but please don't take it from me... check it out next time. It's worth the drive from Charlotte!

City Lake Park redux is an impressive sight. With a mixture of some of the older, open, scenic holes and a bunch of new wooded layouts, you now have a better taste of what this park has to offer. That said, there's an elite-level layout still in hiding here.
- This course has a tremendous amount of variety, from short and wide open holes, to long, heavily wooded layouts. One of the underappreciated aspects of the course is that the course constantly weaves easier and tougher holes throughout the round. You go from back-to-back birdie chances on #8 & 9 to shoe-leather-tough layouts on #10 & 11. My scores on this four-hole stretch: 2, 2, 4, 5.
- Another great aspect of this course: hole length and hole difficulty don't correspond. One of the shortest holes on the course, #15 (170 feet) might be the biggest risk reward holes on the course. It's a tough, tight downhill shot. My 20-foot downhill birdie putt led to a 20-foot uphill par putt. Contrast that to #18 (600 feet from the shorts; 750 from the long tee), which is a wide open (after the initial 100 feet on the long layout), downhill hole. Many players are going to get a lower score on the hole that's four times longer.
- Even the harder holes are enjoyable. On many courses, more challenging holes can be frustrating due to being too tough, gimmicky, poorly designed, you name it. You can tell a lot of thought was put into the layouts to make them tough but fair.
- Excellent use of the elevation. The elevation factor is used to varying degrees from impacting the entire hole (#14 & 15), a portion of the hole (#5, 11, 13) or even just as a detriment for errant shots (#4), where the fairway slopes away if you go too far left and/or long.
- Tee signs are solid. With the course still having many new course 'problems' no course map, signage issues, having clear, accurate tee signs is crucial. A lot of my enjoyment for the course is because each hole was easy to play for a first-timer player thanks to good signage.
- From the short tees, course is tough, but fair for beginners through rec-level players. You're going to be challenged, being forced to through well. Having the variety of harder and easier layouts interspersed throughout the course will also help many players catch their breath after the tough stretches.

My biggest problem here is the signage, specifically transitioning between holes. For 17 of the 18 holes, the course itself is solid. For the transitions between many holes, especially on longer walks, and or transitions that overlap the walking trails, there's a lot of room for improvement. Two of the biggest 'problem' transitions are from #4's basket to #5 tee - where I first found the tees for #12 & 18 (which should show you how much the course overlaps) - and from #7 to 8 (where you cross over walking trails multiple times. If the walking trails can continually have navigational markers on trees, the disc golf course should follow that lead and have more than one (or at best, two) white arrow markers on the long walks.
- The other navigational issue is the lack of signage or any markers for #5's tees. It's the only hole where there isn't a tee sign or a clear long or short tee area. I saw one of the course's staple wood boards in the open field, which I assume was one of the tees. If it was, it was the only hole on the course where the online hole length didn't match the distance. Perhaps this hole is a work in progress? Also, it takes a compact course layout to have holes #4, 5, 12 & 18 so close together.
- As much as this course has improved, there are still a couple of 'weak' holes. #1 is wide open, 225-305 feet and uphill. It's the course's worst hole, and not the best first impression this course could offer. #9 isn't much better. It does at least have a raised basket - and I parked my tee shot three feet away - so it's more tolerable. That said, I'd like to see both pulled - use #9's raised basket for #18 - and make two better holes in the woods. And figure out something better for #5. I love the area around the basket, set back in the woods; just not a fan of the wide open fairway.

City Lake Park's 18-hole layout is a stark contrast to the old, pitch-n-putt 9-hole layout. I was really concerned the course hadn't improved after the first hole (see my Cons note), so it was a great surprise that the course is as good as it is.
- I'll reiterate that there are some work-in-progress problems still with the course (as of June '16). That said, my positive feelings for the course are based solely on the 18-holes from tee to basket.
- There's a calming presence of teeing off right by the dam on #13. The sound of the flowing water and seeing the dam wall is a great backdrop. Two other smaller, similar aspects on this course are the walk past the wooden amphitheater next to #8's fairway, and the small rock walls on #14's fairway. Oh, and the tee signs show a historical photo of the dam from 1923. It's the little things like this that give a course its distinct personality.
- One of the subtle things that made this course so enjoyable for me: three of the shortest holes on the course are holes #14 - 17. It's a great move to not feel like a course needs to end with one gut-punch after another to close out a round. Have tough holes throughout the course, and allow for birdie chances at the end of the round. What a novel concept!
- This course won't be confused with Fox Chase. That's this area's centerpiece, and deservedly so. This course might not even be as good as Goose Landing - that's a good debate. That said, Stanly County now has three excellent courses - I rated all 4.0 or higher - and City Lake is a solid part of that trio.

9 Discatcher 28 Chain Baskets with an elevated practice putting area (old 4's basket). A balanced variety of shots with an average of 300' per hole (shorter from shorts). The course is fair, both rewarding and punishing.

If you've played the old course you know the first 4 holes were safety issues and played too close to pedestrians. The updated layout takes that front 4 area out of play.

2 sets of tee pads. The Parks and Rec department wanted to keep a beginner/senior friendly layout, much like the original design, but the longer tees bring in an intermediate/advanced line to the basket.

Much like Fox Chase the land has lots of elevation changes. City Lake has ravines and a "dam hole" that will be revealed on the back 9. This is just a great piece of property with a lot of natural features.

Beautiful, well maintained park. Nice lake for fishing and is very kid friendly. No stranger danger vibe. Biking trails, hiking trails, amphitheater, dock access.

The baskets were installed today and most of the issues will soon be resolved. Just so you know what to expect...

Raw.

- Unlevel tee pads.
- Direction arrows but no signage.
- Small stumps.
- Some slopes are waiting on steps.
- Invasive bushes near the fairways and greens.

Raw.

This is one of our club's courses and I'm involved so I'm totally biased.

We've taken a great senior project, 9-holer, and are trying hard to develop a unique, high quality sustainable 18 hole course on an amazing piece of property.