I'll be honest, I'm not seeing how Goat Island has stacked up some many above average (if not glowing) reviews, including from many Diamond reviewers I trust and respect. I did not have the same experience. Perhaps being a first-time player at this track was my downfall: I played in the spring...*maybe* a few days after a rain? But when I played, the course was almost unplayable it was so muddy. The fun factor, save a few holes, was next to nil. My 2.0 rating is likely due to some peer pressure and all the 3.0-4.0 ratings I see from better reviewers than me. It's honestly a borderline 1.5 for me, but I'll give it *a little* benefit of the doubt. I'm sure that in the winter--when the underbrush is more manageable and the bugs under control--or after a few months of drought conditions to dry the course out, it's a fun and unique course to play. That wasn't my experience though, so take warning. That said, it has a few pluses:

+ The signature hole and only water carry on the course (tragic since it's on an island with water in view everywhere that it's really only in play on the last hole), #18, was by far my favorite.

+ I will say this, the course is unique--with the two beginning holes playing on one side of a river, then you cross over to the island for the next 15, with the finishing hole playing back over the water to where you started.

+ Certainly a challenging course. Not a fun one for me, but challenging.

Lots of reasons to go elsewhere in Gaston County (I played Rankin Lake years ago and it was good) or across the Catawba River to Disc Golf Mecca. Here are a few:

- MUD. It's everywhere. Unless you're wearing boots or don't care about caking mud on your shoes, you're not going to like this track. Not surprising as the course is situated on a small island in the middle of a river. Not to "pile on" the mud negative, but beyond the annoyance of walking through it on most of the course, many "tee pad areas" are just patches of mud. Fun! Also, many of the fairways and greens are mud. In other words, you simply cannot avoid it.

- BUGS. Also everywhere. And from a few previous Course Conditions updates I saw, I may have played Goat Island on a "good" day. I'm guessing that summer evenings here are absolutely brutal.

- UNDERBRUSH & HIGH POTENTIAL FOR DISC-LOSS. I literally lost a disc on my first throw. (Amazingly, I made it through the rest of the round without losing another one, but I spent a lot of time searching through nasty, muddy, disc-snatching underbrush.)

- Navigation can be tricky. The UDisc map worked though.

- Despite some interesting hole layouts, technical challenges, and that fun finishing hole over the river, it's just hard to enjoy a course with these rough conditions. Low on the Fun Meter.

This course is only worth a stop, in my opinion, if the confirmed course conditions are very dry and without a mosquito infestation. Otherwise, you're better off trying one of the many other options in the area.

Holes near the water made it kind of cool.

Good walking paths from hole to hole.

Really nice signs to designate pars and a map of the course.

Holes are very long, which isn't that common around the area.

Out of bounds woods are EXTREMELY thick! If you throw a disc in the woods, you're not getting it back.

Very Straight holes, which make it very tough for a mediocre player.

Not all tees were bricked off as should be.

The maps were not that accurate, making it very hard to find the tees.