Eastway DGC reviews
14
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It Disappeared When I Hoped It Wouldn't But Thought It Would. Then There Came A Comeback!
Reviewed:
Updated:
Played on:Dec 4, 2021
Played the course:2-4 times
Pros:
-Charlotte golf is known for its technical difficulty. The old Eastway was an open course with many par threes that require maximum distance for a good percentage of players. The new Eastway is a whole lot different. It's very wooded with only a few of the same parts from the old course. The new layout did not come easy. The parks and rec staff promised that a new course could be designed, but the crew basically started from scratch. They cut down tons of trees, cleared tons of poison ivy, and got rid of the underbrush. The amount of hours put in by volunteers was over 1500 to make and shape this whole new course.
-Brand new disc catcher baskets. Tee signs and tee pads are already installed. There are benches and bridges built along with it. Seems like project crashing occurred in parts of the installation phase so that locals could play this course sooner and be pleasantly surprised.
-Several practice baskets behind the building where the course begins. The field is big enough to throw some practice upshots. I saw a basket on the other side of the ball field where the old hole one was located.
-I strongly agree with dndelli on the signature holes. His favorite holes were my favorites as well. #2, #3, and #18. None of them are par threes. I think the longer holes are the stand outs, even though I enjoyed many of the par threes too. #2 is the only real open hole. It's 618' and slightly uphill with the greenway to the right side in play. The fairway is very wide but trouble might await you if you rip one too hard or throw too early toward the woods on the left. If you remember the old #14, you know, the par three near the old shed that had you tee off on the pavement? The new #3 is down that exact same fairway, so you are essentially playing the old #14 but an updated version. The woods toward the pond past where the basket USED to be were cleared, turning this hole into a nice downhill par four. The water hazard is about 30'-40' past the basket. I was able to birdie this hole throwing a driver right to left and throw a sidearm sharply right down the path and have an easy birdie. The finishing hole is a very memorable par five. 700' and down a medium width fairway. Pros will want to eagle this hole, but there is OB to the left side starting on the second half of this hole. The approach is intimidating. It's over an OB ravine that isn't deep, but it's lengthy. A good drive could land in a spot that allows you to try and reach the green in two shots, but it's very difficult since some trees spread apart right before you face the ravine.
-My favorite par three was hole four. It's right in the area where the old hole #15 was. This hole is a much better anhyzer than the old hole #6 was (couldn't stand that hole). #4 is right around 300' and is more open than all except a few of the holes here. It's a very fair sidearm shot that allows righty backhander to throw a big anhyzer. It's ideal to have a sidearm, but a big anhyzer could still reach this hole. Another par three that I thoroughly enjoyed was #8. This hole capitalizes on the available elevation. It's the shortest hole on the course distance wise, but it's up about 20' in elevation and it's very tight the whole way. Bring your straightest midrange!
-The course has its own special entrance gate, like the one at Hornet's Nest and the ones at the IDGC courses. With Charlotte being the disc golf capital, it shows how much the crew and volunteers wanted to bring more of the Charlotte style to this new layout while giving it some of its own merits as well.
-The whole park has been renovated as part of a funded project and has been upgraded for the better. There is now an indoor pool and a greenway you get to walk on if interested. It's like a miniature YMCA.
-Offers a beginner nine hole loop with short pads for holes #1-7 and a short #8 and #9 that remain in the woods but closer to the edge near the ballfields.
-Brand new disc catcher baskets. Tee signs and tee pads are already installed. There are benches and bridges built along with it. Seems like project crashing occurred in parts of the installation phase so that locals could play this course sooner and be pleasantly surprised.
-Several practice baskets behind the building where the course begins. The field is big enough to throw some practice upshots. I saw a basket on the other side of the ball field where the old hole one was located.
-I strongly agree with dndelli on the signature holes. His favorite holes were my favorites as well. #2, #3, and #18. None of them are par threes. I think the longer holes are the stand outs, even though I enjoyed many of the par threes too. #2 is the only real open hole. It's 618' and slightly uphill with the greenway to the right side in play. The fairway is very wide but trouble might await you if you rip one too hard or throw too early toward the woods on the left. If you remember the old #14, you know, the par three near the old shed that had you tee off on the pavement? The new #3 is down that exact same fairway, so you are essentially playing the old #14 but an updated version. The woods toward the pond past where the basket USED to be were cleared, turning this hole into a nice downhill par four. The water hazard is about 30'-40' past the basket. I was able to birdie this hole throwing a driver right to left and throw a sidearm sharply right down the path and have an easy birdie. The finishing hole is a very memorable par five. 700' and down a medium width fairway. Pros will want to eagle this hole, but there is OB to the left side starting on the second half of this hole. The approach is intimidating. It's over an OB ravine that isn't deep, but it's lengthy. A good drive could land in a spot that allows you to try and reach the green in two shots, but it's very difficult since some trees spread apart right before you face the ravine.
-My favorite par three was hole four. It's right in the area where the old hole #15 was. This hole is a much better anhyzer than the old hole #6 was (couldn't stand that hole). #4 is right around 300' and is more open than all except a few of the holes here. It's a very fair sidearm shot that allows righty backhander to throw a big anhyzer. It's ideal to have a sidearm, but a big anhyzer could still reach this hole. Another par three that I thoroughly enjoyed was #8. This hole capitalizes on the available elevation. It's the shortest hole on the course distance wise, but it's up about 20' in elevation and it's very tight the whole way. Bring your straightest midrange!
-The course has its own special entrance gate, like the one at Hornet's Nest and the ones at the IDGC courses. With Charlotte being the disc golf capital, it shows how much the crew and volunteers wanted to bring more of the Charlotte style to this new layout while giving it some of its own merits as well.
-The whole park has been renovated as part of a funded project and has been upgraded for the better. There is now an indoor pool and a greenway you get to walk on if interested. It's like a miniature YMCA.
-Offers a beginner nine hole loop with short pads for holes #1-7 and a short #8 and #9 that remain in the woods but closer to the edge near the ballfields.
Cons:
-Not as much elevation as the old layout. The old layout wasn't VERY hilly but it had many holes with solid elevation changes and more than a couple of holes with grade changes around 25'. The old #2 long pin was an awesome downhill par four with a lot of room to bomb a driver and a lot of trouble consisting of an OB ravine and deep woods. #5 was a sweet downhill creek hole in the woods to a slightly elevated basket. The old #18 was a rough and challenging uphill par four from the longs that I miss as well, and I loved the approach through the "V shaped" tree. That's another hole I miss, even though the new #18 is a standout.
-The variety is a bit more limited on the new layout. The par threes are all quite close in distance and there's fourteen of them. There was a better mix on the old layout. Especially on the longs since there were short holes around 250' and par fours over 600'. There was more variety in length on the par threes ranging from 200'-440' and you wouldn't have a good idea on how the next hole would look. The wooded holes are well put, but there is a lot of similarity until you reach #17 and #18.
-With the three year intermission between the removal of the old course and the opening of the new, expect LOTS of crowds. A grand opening tournament was held and 180 people played in it. The day I came, you would've thought a C-Tier tourney was taking place when in actuality, there were just many eager people on a Saturday morning.
-#15 and #16 I'm not wild about. #15 is a very tight 331' par three with a slight right fade. The rough is incredibly dense. Just too punishing for missing a very difficult line. #16 is my least favorite. Basket is perched on a small hill a good bit to the left. You have to throw right to left. Right before the pin, there are a bunch of retentions trees guarding the basket. You could have a good looking shot and right as you fade left, you could kick a tree and roll OB into the creek. Just an aggravating hole.
-The variety is a bit more limited on the new layout. The par threes are all quite close in distance and there's fourteen of them. There was a better mix on the old layout. Especially on the longs since there were short holes around 250' and par fours over 600'. There was more variety in length on the par threes ranging from 200'-440' and you wouldn't have a good idea on how the next hole would look. The wooded holes are well put, but there is a lot of similarity until you reach #17 and #18.
-With the three year intermission between the removal of the old course and the opening of the new, expect LOTS of crowds. A grand opening tournament was held and 180 people played in it. The day I came, you would've thought a C-Tier tourney was taking place when in actuality, there were just many eager people on a Saturday morning.
-#15 and #16 I'm not wild about. #15 is a very tight 331' par three with a slight right fade. The rough is incredibly dense. Just too punishing for missing a very difficult line. #16 is my least favorite. Basket is perched on a small hill a good bit to the left. You have to throw right to left. Right before the pin, there are a bunch of retentions trees guarding the basket. You could have a good looking shot and right as you fade left, you could kick a tree and roll OB into the creek. Just an aggravating hole.
Other Thoughts:
-I didn't want the old course to go. I liked it for what it was. The day after I played the old layout in 2011, I saw in the course conditions that the vegetation was getting a hold of the park and there was a possibly that it would be pulled a couple years later. I was strongly hoping that it would stick around. It was different than the rest of the Charlotte courses because it was diverse and had its own challenge while giving many chances to make birdies too. But it would get extremely rough in parts over the summer to where it was hard to spot your disc in the snake infested overgrowth. I've seen them here, along with many others. The new layout is much cleaner and polished with different aspects and appeals. The challenge is consistent, even though a few of the last six holes were more difficult. It's very big on rewarding accuracy. Big pros will probably shoot around eight under here regularly without much difficulty. Advanced players will sink or swim here. Some will be able to shoot three or four under and others will struggle to save par on many holes.
-The old layout at Eastway was my first ever disc golf experience in the town of Charlotte. Played there with my church group as a short kid in the eighth grade that hadn't hit his growth spurt. The church leader said that it was less difficult than most courses in Charlotte and I called him a liar after the round. I thought 350' was pushing to be a par four and I thought that anything over 400' would automatically be a par four. Since most of us were kids who played only for the fun, we played every hole on the old layout as a par four instead of a par three. I saw the tee sign for the old hole ten and my 5'2", 95 lb fourteen year old self was outraged to see that a 402' uphill hole would be a par three. I initially thought that the old Eastway was only for pros because it's not entirely easy to throw 350'
-Standing on the old hole twelve. 439' par three. I said to my church leader how a hole this effin' long could possibly be a par three according to the tee sign and we only played it as a par four. All I got from this crazy hype eager guy was an enthusiastic high pitched "Yeah it's long but it's straight as an arrow
!" Then I was all like "How in the name of ALL THAT'S HOLY does "straight as an arrow" make it any easier?!?! IT'S STILL FRICKIN' DAGGUM FAR! WHO TF THROWS THAT FAR?!?!" I learned soon after that the old hole twelve was after all, not the longest par three in the world. The holes at the old Eastway gave me a better sense of how long the average par three is in disc golf. It's actually not 240', it's probably 320-350' and I needed to learn to throw that far to really love the game. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would throw 30' past the basket on the old hole twelve five years later in 2016.
-And never ever in my wildest dreams would I have thought that this course would be redesigned by the only other guy I know that also starting playing disc golf at the Bonclarken Conference Center. David Weaver! It's so cool to think about that. Well done sir. This is a great course! The many crowds that came the Saturday morning I played all believed so too!
-The old layout at Eastway was my first ever disc golf experience in the town of Charlotte. Played there with my church group as a short kid in the eighth grade that hadn't hit his growth spurt. The church leader said that it was less difficult than most courses in Charlotte and I called him a liar after the round. I thought 350' was pushing to be a par four and I thought that anything over 400' would automatically be a par four. Since most of us were kids who played only for the fun, we played every hole on the old layout as a par four instead of a par three. I saw the tee sign for the old hole ten and my 5'2", 95 lb fourteen year old self was outraged to see that a 402' uphill hole would be a par three. I initially thought that the old Eastway was only for pros because it's not entirely easy to throw 350'
-Standing on the old hole twelve. 439' par three. I said to my church leader how a hole this effin' long could possibly be a par three according to the tee sign and we only played it as a par four. All I got from this crazy hype eager guy was an enthusiastic high pitched "Yeah it's long but it's straight as an arrow
!" Then I was all like "How in the name of ALL THAT'S HOLY does "straight as an arrow" make it any easier?!?! IT'S STILL FRICKIN' DAGGUM FAR! WHO TF THROWS THAT FAR?!?!" I learned soon after that the old hole twelve was after all, not the longest par three in the world. The holes at the old Eastway gave me a better sense of how long the average par three is in disc golf. It's actually not 240', it's probably 320-350' and I needed to learn to throw that far to really love the game. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would throw 30' past the basket on the old hole twelve five years later in 2016. -And never ever in my wildest dreams would I have thought that this course would be redesigned by the only other guy I know that also starting playing disc golf at the Bonclarken Conference Center. David Weaver! It's so cool to think about that. Well done sir. This is a great course! The many crowds that came the Saturday morning I played all believed so too!
