Garden Grove is one of the many new courses that has opened up in the Triad region since I moved away. It is an advanced level course that places an emphasis on accuracy and placement. The course seems like it is still a work in progress, but the technical nature of the course is very apparent. There are new Veteran baskets on the course, all of which are in great condition. 18 white rim baskets on the course, and a blue rim basket for practice. Each hole has concrete tee pads and nice, durable tee signs.

The area behind the Town Hall, which is where the course is, also features a picnic shelter (with a soda machine), dog park, and a playground. On the far side, at Volunteer Park are a couple of ball fields.

At the start of the course there is a kiosk with a nice map of the entire course layout. The kiosk also seemed to be stocked on scorecards that were printed on nice cardstock paper. I didn't see this until I was already on my way out, so I forgot to check to see if there was a picture of the map on the back of the scorecard. Either way, this was a nice touch.

The course itself will require you to throw many different shots with a wide variety of fairway distance and shapes. While there isn't much elevation to be had at all on the course, it will still test the full range of your skill set through multiple tight gaps and guardian trees. Multiple par 4s and par 5s are featured here, and they truly stand out as some of the more memorable holes on the course.

You can tell which holes have received the most treatment to make the course really grow into its full potential. If I had to describe this course with one word, I think that is the word I'd use: potential. To me the course felt like it opened up a lot once I reached Hole 13, and some of these later holes really showcase what some of the earlier holes will become. Hole 13 also features an elevated basket, which really mixes things up.

The course features two 9-hole loops that allow you to return to your car at the turn if you need to restock on water, snacks, etc. It also features many holes that will offer split fairways, giving players choices on how they want to approach the green.

The course does a great job of introducing itself to you with a nice Par 4 on the first hole. You throw a placement shot down an open fairway to one of two gaps in the tree line, where you are rewarded with a slightly wider fairway for your second shot if you can reach the farther gap. Hole 18 is a beautiful par 5, that is definitely eagle-able. If I had not had my second shot slip out of my hand a tad early I would have reached the C1 within 2 throws. However, if you miss your line slightly or throw even a touch too far, you might be scrambling for par.

Garden Grove currently is suffering from the same "new course woes" that almost all new wooded courses suffer from. While frustrating, they are something that many of us are already used to and I am sure most of these will go away with time. as the course sees more traffic. The rough will certainly clear out as time passes. My only real concern here is that the course is definitely built for Advanced level players, and that could limit the amount of traffic it sees.

The tee boxes here feel like postage stamps. I almost never use an entire teepad, but I was forced to start off of the pads here because of their short length. I was informed by a local there there are plans to extend the teepads. This will be a huge help because other than their length, the tees are in great condition.

I imagine that Brother Dave designed this course using the Stan McDaniel thought philosophy for wooded courses. In the sense that Stan often removes a few trees as possible and let them fall over with time as the course beats in. I enjoy this style of course design, but there were a couple of holes that felt like the fairways needed some TLC. Some of the split fairways seemingly disappeared before reaching the basket, and others had awkward elbows in them that didn't seem to have natural disc flight in mind. If I remember correctly Hole 15 was like this, where what seemed like the most obvious line (the outside line on the right) was built to where you could be 30 feet from the basket and be forced to plinko through walls of trees to reach the basket or continue past the basket to reach an actual gap. Of course, over time some of these trees will probably fall over, leaving just enough guardian trees to keep things interesting. Hole 12 is a great example of this, once that fairway is groomed around the edges, to where every path is playable, I think it has the potential to be the kind of signature holes that people want to travel to come play.

Most of the putting greens could use some work. Many of the baskets are placed right at the edge of the fairway and give you zero leeway for driving even 15' past the basket. However my biggest concern with the greens, and the course in general, was how often I noticed a crushed wire fence in play. I ended up getting my foot caught in it on one hole while throwing in what would usually be a tap in. I may have been 10' to 12' from the basket. The buddy I was playing with noticed it as well.

The navigational signage could definitely use some improvement. While the two nine-hole loops are nice, they felt a bit contrived, which makes the overall flow of the layout confusing at times. There is decent navigational signage using mini discs, but more obvious signs would be helpful finding some of the holes, like Holes 9, 14, & 16.
Holes 10 & 11 were probably a low point on the course for me. Neither of them are bad holes, but I actually thought I walked in a circle for a moment, as they felt nearly identical. Both were just over 200 feet long, and had split fairways where the left line was a hyzer flick and the right line seemed a bit too tight for me to want to mix things up. If something could be done to distinguish these holes a little better from one another, even something as simple as a raised basket one one of the holes, I think it would really help keep the whole course feeling fresh throughout.

Garden Grove is a course with a lot of really cool ideas and concepts. When playing, you can tell that it has been designed by someone who loves the game, and has developed a lot of ideas while playing. I am giving Garden Grove a 3.0 for now, but I think the course has the potential to grow into something that deserves a much higher rating. I've played a couple of brand new wooded in Charlotte before (Squirrel Lake, Angry Beaver, The Scrapyard) and got to watch them grow over the years into some of my absolute favorite courses as they saw more work and traffic. I look forward to playing here again in a year or two to see how it has grown. With the effort BrotherDave seems to be putting into the course, I wouldn't be surprised if, when I do, my rating rises to be somewhere around a 4.0- and possibly become my favorite course in the Triad. It definitely has that much potential!

Favorite Holes: 1, 8, 13, 18