Pros:
Elon Park is home to two separate CDGC courses, Angry Beaver being the longer, more challenging one. From what I was able to collect before my round, I was expecting a course slightly worse than Charlotte's big 3, but easily better than Scrapyard or Eastway. However during/after my round, I noticed that the course has been changed slightly, maybe over the past couple year(s)?
-From what I could tell, the course used to start at the Eager Beaver parking lot, and old holes #2 & 3 were across the road. I would like to know the story behind all of this.
-Although the course was different in some ways, its current layout is absolutely phenomenal. I played the short tees to long pins (when available) and it was incredible.
-There is a great mix of par 3's and 4's. There are no par 5's from the shorts, which is a bummer, but the split between par 3's and 4's worked great. After a couple of par 3's, boom, here's a par 4 or two for you.
-The course is mostly played in the woods, however, it's not all just tight fairways. There are multiple wide fairways and a couple open holes toward the end. Therefore, multiple shots are needed.
-Elevation isn't crazy here, however there are some holes that stand out to me due to their elevation factor. #3, par 3 that plays straight uphill over a small creek, #4, par 3 that plays back downhill over the same creek, and #12, par 4 that starts off going straight downhill, the short basket (par 3) off to the side.
-The little details that are present on this course are nice. Multiple raised baskets (#3, 7, 10, 16, & 18), and smart use of OB (more on this later) forces you to play placement shots on a lot of holes. It really takes a good round to post a decent score.
-There are four real stand out/signature holes on this course, all of which have the same quality as some of the signature Renny/Nevin holes, arguably better. I think this is mainly because of the OB usage. The first of the four is #12. I mentioned earlier about its downhill start, but what makes this hole special is the island green to the long pin. You have to cross two OB creeks to get to the pin, with another OB creek a couple feet long.
-The finishing three holes are the other three signature holes. Not only are these holes great, it makes such an amazing finish to your round. This is why I think the current layout might be better than the old one (but no certainty so don't take my word for it). #16 is a par 3 with a fairly open tee shot, down to a raised basket with OB only a couple feet to the left and long. It takes some balls to throw a putt that's not within gimme range. #17 (old #4, I think) is a par 4 (to the long pin) that has an easy tee shot, but the last 200ft to the pin is incredibly tight and funnel down to the left, which is another creek marked OB. It's going to take some luck to get a par on this hole. #18 (old #5) is a par 4 from the short tee, and has a completely open landing area but has OB marked on either side. The second shot requires a good RHBH shot past some trees to a blind basket. These three holes are just absolutely amazing and ultimately earn the 4.5 ranking for the course.
-There are multiple arrows directing you to the next tee, and they decipher between long and short tees. This is helpful because there are many holes in close distance, and navigation could've been difficult.
-The park is very nice and the woods are very clean. White banded DISCatchers are nice and tee pads were great. Benches on most, if not all tee pads. There is a nice practice area near the first tee with two baskets.
Cons:
-There is only one major con, and it's the hole maps. How can a course of this caliber have no map of the hole? The signs have good information on them, but no direction of where the hole goes. This was a major problem only once or twice, but it would be nice to have. Also, I noticed that Eager Beaver had the standard CDGC maps, so why not Angry Beaver?
-It might be confusing where to park and find the first hole. Thankfully I did not run into this issue, however, I could see it easily happening. The parking lot near the Rec Center is where Eager Beaver starts. If you do happen to park there, you could start on #16 since it is literally right next to that parking lot. However, I don't recommend it because you could screw up the pace of play, and you should save those holes for the end. The parking lot next to the ball fields is the correct parking lot. (UDisc says that you should start at #16, so don't get confused!)
-One thing I think would've been better is if #15's basket was down by the creek near #16's basket. I think old #18 was that exact layout, which would have been yet another test to finish out the round.
Other Thoughts:
I was really impressed by Angry Beaver. I think caliber wise, this course is definitely below the big 3. However, after playing it, I would prefer to play Angry Beaver over any of the big 3. Why? Probably because of the final three holes, but honestly, I'm not sure. The park is in a nicer area of Charlotte, and is more aesthetically pleasing than some of the others. I think this course goes under the lower 4.5 end, but there is just no way I can rate this a 4.0. This park is cool because it is the only park with two completely separate courses, Renny and Nest overlap. Definitely one of the best in Charlotte!