This is a great little course that offers a consistent challenge for intermediate and beginner players. Advanced players will eat this course up, but it still maintains its fun factor. It offers a lot of tight shots through the woods that will challenge your precision. If you're in the area, you'll have a great time and can play a couple rounds in quick succession. It utilizes a good bit of elevation change, and will challenge your upshot abilities. This is a great place to play to get yourself ready for Bradford, Eastway, or Nevin.

I've played there when all the signage was available, and I've played there when some of the signage was missing. It can be confusing when the signage is not all in place. It's a solid little course, but you'll have more fun playing some of the more advanced courses in the area.

Great course! I've been playing through the various courses around the Charlotte area, and i'm upset with myself that I haven't played this course sooner!

I've driven past this course several times putting my boat in at the ramp just past the park, but never thought much of it. Was I wrong

This course has some very challenging, tight shots that resemble "the gauntlet" at Hornet's nest. Punishing fairways that will ruin a good game with an errant drive. I like it!
These challenging holes are well balanced though and not overbearing. There are several that are not "easy" birdies, but with an accurate drive a birdie is well within reach. I needed several of these birdie holes to even out my score from the punishing tight shots! In summary, I felt like the challenging holes throughout the course are well balanced with the less challenging holes. A great, fun mix

Elevation! Who would've thought there could be so much variance in terrain in Mooresville near the lake. The course design uses every bit of it as well. (nice job 1978) From shots over valleys, uphill shots and downhill and "off camber" greens.

Tee pads! Great Long pad locations, which really change the way you play the course. Most holes have Long and Short pads. Also important, the length of the pad! These pads are plenty long on most holes, allowing adequate room for a run up, without worrying about a foot fault, tripping, etc.

Course layout! This course seems to use most of the parks real estate. The holes and fairways aren't stacked on top of each other, resulting in a nice hike through the woods.

Signage! Although there were some arrows pointing to the next hole, and a few signs at the tee pad showing the length par layout etc. it did get a bit confusing where there were missing signs.
Although the long vs short tee pads are generally easily identified by 6x6 posts painted Blue or White.

Baskets. Some of the baskets were missing the inside set of chains, and were missing or had incorrect numbering.

The signage is really my only Con for this course.
I thoroughly enjoyed how this course plays, and had fun with the challenge that each new hole presented.

Definitely worth heading North from the city to check this one out!

Tough, scenic holes that will punish mistakes and several long bomb holes to open up on!

With a few updates to the signage and baskets, this course has some serious potential

Very challenging tunnel shots and elevation changes. Great distance variations from 600' to 150'. Long course in general. The trees are awesome and make for some tough shots. I did like a lot of the shots out there and the hole layout.

The course layout was tough for me to follow. Without a map or signage, it's tough to get through. The signs that were there were not very good and torn down or half missing and it would be great with a hole layout and pin locations/distances. It's simple enough to add some better "Next Hole" signs. I did see some, but you know what I mean. The layout had some long walks to some of the back holes and I was tired of looking around, so I left after maybe 12 or 13 or something. I could see some of the holes being very tough to play while baseball/soccer games are going on. A little too close for comfort, but risk/reward is pretty cool.

I'll go back and play this on again for sure. Maybe I'll try to play with a group of locals to show me the way next time.

-Very nice mix of wooded, and open holes. Start in the open, then hit the woods. Just when you grow tired of chopping down trees, back out in the open you go.
-Dual Tees, so when you have a group of 9 like we did the shorter length helps out the novice players.
-Makes excellent use of it's large elevation changes. Hole 4 felt like throwing across a canyon, heh.
-Good facilities. Bathrooms, drink machines, and snack bar.

-Some of the signage was missing, so finding the next hole was a bit hard. Also nothing pointing you to Hole 1 start. You do drive by it when you pull into the park, and there's no number visible from the street. There's a community billboard, and it says Stumpy Creek Disc Golf Park, but had nothing to do with disc golf. No layout, no maps, no arrows. We found some helpful players who had just finished who directed us where to go.
-The park can get real busy with other sports. Baseball and Soccer mostly, so parking can be a premium.
- Garbage left at holes by other players. There weren't a whole lot of garbage cans out in the wooded holes, so it made some players lazy I guess. Sad.
-Since there's a lot of elevation changes, there are many wooden steps to take down the hills. But they have been packed down past the wood frames, making them almost more of a hazard than the hills themselves.

-We went on a Saturday at noon in what can only be described as perfect weather and were only one of maybe 4 groups out there. We had 9 people so this worked out well for us. Maybe because of how busy it was from the other activities, local players know to steer clear at these times. Which could make sense, since some holes are very close to the fields, and may influence your shot choice.
-Overall the more experienced of our group liked this course, despite the long walk, and seemingly endless game time with so many people at once. It was good fun though. Seal of Approval!

Course is in an 83-acre municipal park on typically rolling (although the more queasy might say 'heaving' in this case) piedmont landform, in parts accentuated by grading for other park amenities. Most of the course is under mature canopy. It should be noted that this park is one of two 'official' parks in the county (a third is in the planning/fundraising stage) and may be considered Iredell's flagship. It has been many years since I've visited the site, and the course overall is vastly improved.

A quick note about 'course conditions': Considering the overall economy and this county's relatively small budget, this reviewer found the property's conditions to be above average. That being said, I was disappointed to find copious litter on nearly every hole, many of the targets lightly vandalized and a few other noxious 'indiscretions'. Granted, there are not trashcans on EVERY hole and there appears to be very light foot traffic at this site. Conscientious and observant golfers will bear in mind the aforementioned local constraints and act accordingly in an at least a quasi-responsible manner. Screw the rest of you, while I dismount my high horse.

Course circles the park in roughly a counter-clockwise fashion and does not feature returning nines. Targets, including a nice variably sloped practice green, and pads are above average. Signage, benches and other amenities are poor to fair; the lower ranking due, in the main, to incompleteness. Park amenities are good, but park is often officially closed after rain events to forestall damage to the more maintenance intensive facilities. So preparedness may be in order. Way finding is straightforward and intuitive, although signage may be lacking at times and transitions are often extended and sinuous affairs, especially so between #'s 13 & 14.

For a piedmont course in general, Stumpy Creek has tremendous elevation changes throughout (#3 being the sole exception), and there is extensive bulk heading in place to aid walking (green sites too) and despite it's lightly played nature, erosion is already an issue in many areas, which is a good indicator of this parcel's steepness of slope. Proper footwear and hydration will enhance one's round.

The heavily wooded portions (12 of the 18) exemplify 'tightness' especially off the tee. While making good use of the land available, the designers' hand in forcing a particular play style from golfers is undeniable (I believe 'placement golf' is the term). One might say that Stumpy Creek DGC is a disc golf course in the same way scales are for the piano player, while the holes change and one moves through the landscape, the types of shots needed to efficiently negotiate the course do not change much.

From the shorts, average hole length is just over 310' (for the longs add 100'), so no surprise, straight flat shots of up to 300' with good fade control are what's required for good scoring. (A note on the term 'fade control': no doubt some readers will understand what is meant, which is not the same meaning as the golf term. Fade control means the ability to control the disc's angle and attitude at the flight's end, when it is losing momentum. Naturally the higher the disc's speed rating, the more difficult this is, even if one plays it to 'hyzer out' and this skill is really a big key in getting it to come to rest exactly where one intends and another reason why many players prefer a stable or 'over' stable disc. They are more consistent and predictable under a variety of conditions).

Conservative controlled play is the only rewarded style at Stumpy. From either short or long tees, half the holes are blind, which, combined with other factors, translates strategically into the question: Just EXACTLY how aggressive can I afford to be here? Fairways, two-shot in particular, are often a tunnel, distinguished only by the convolutions of slope, with no obvious landing zone visible from the tee. Some experience with the course will help one find that 'sweet-spot' for your up. In defense of the designers, some very nice features will be taken up later in this review.

By my count 13 holes are 'straight', most with no other option. The remainder is equally divided between right-left and left-right shot shapes. Thick penal rough awaits mildly errant shots and in most instances the scrambling or recovery chances are limited at best. Reviewer observed some limited attempts on the front nine to ameliorate this condition via select clearing, which brings up an interesting issue. Given the limited resources available to husband the course, combined with the low foot traffic and desire to promote the sport to 'locals', is additional labor of this sort the best expenditure of effort? Even from the short tees, I feel this course is a bit much for the novice, even a motivated enthusiastic one, and I'm equally as dubious as to Stumpy Creek's 'family friendliness'. Stumpy Creek, while a decent course, just doesn't seem to fit the situation too well. Certainly unless one belongs to a particularly sadistic fraternity, Stump Creek DGC is not for the uninitiated.

Greens, given the elevation changes throughout, are strangely neutral in character. 11 of them are either flat or dead up/down hill conferring no great receptivity advantage to either spin from the approach. The rest are divided 4 clock/3 counter and should be noted, the clock 'ad' is gained mainly on the 'outside' finishing holes, where a counter spin thrower must be PAST the pin have the disc work into the slopes, but don't worry, most of the holes there are 400'+.

Did I place my foot in the high horse's stirrup again? Pardon me. I realize that's just how things work out sometimes...

Several holes here have the raised basket feature, as has been discussed ad naseum on many disc golf forums. I feel it more proactive to just deal with it and create a special shot with a special disc one carries for just that special occasion. It's not going away anytime soon.

Several holes and features deserve particular mention and for varying reasons.

Several greens at Stumpy, #2 comes to mind, are 'pocketed'; their shapes resembling something like the appendix hanging off one's colon. I enjoy this feature. (lol) It adds complexity to the approach game and depth to the course without obvious contrivance. I also believe this type of feature is relatively simple and cost effective to employ. Another feature on several holes here that I appreciate is what I'd call 'gate variability', which is placing the fairway pinch points at various distances from the tee and having gates of varying width. The effect actually makes a tight 'frozen rope' shot even tighter, and is a good idea with so many straight holes.

#6, despite its need for a spotter off the tee, is a wonderful hole. No surprise, the best shot seems to be a frozen rope, but the distance of 400' tempts one to swing it out wide and (typically) there's trouble waiting everywhere for shots with poor spin control. The green sits pocketed in a terrace below.

#8 is possibly the low handicap hole on the course at 180' and deserves mention, as it is one of the rare instances where a left-to-right hole can actually favor a clock spin thrower, especially if it's BH, as it's much easier to get the needed shot height for an uphiller like this one when the fairway is shaped in this manner. In addition, the slight angle of the slope to the line of play makes this green a bit more receptive to the clock spin, certainly if the shot is decaying on entry. Most players won't find this hole an issue. It's an interesting little hole.

#13 isn't that tremendous of a hole overall but the green is certainly the best on the course, aesthetically speaking. One emerges from the woods into a gently sloped shady grassed glade with just enough obstacles to make your putt interesting and challenging.

The long tee pad on #14 is absolutely the best look on the course, a long downhill tug in free air, especially nice after just emerging from the woodsy cloister of tunnel shots, but don't let down your guard there's trouble everywhere on this hole too.

#15 is the lone 'cookie' for the power counter spin player. A better hole might have been dead straight ahead, but 'fair is fair', no?

#17 is a good experiment, albeit somewhat controversial in the 'contrived' manner, with the forced dogleg (a bit paradoxical considering all the free air in this part of the course. Ah, there's that heavy designer's hand on your back again...), but a small bit of thinking about it should reveal the logic, utility and purpose behind this hole's design. I'll leave that up to the player.

In sum, Stumpy Creek DGC is a decidedly mixed bag, which favors a clock spin control thrower by a few shots at least, but overall it's a worthwhile experiment and solid application. Insofar as a design school characterization goes, Stumpy Creek is primarily a penal golf course with a dash of the strategic and freeway. Pacing isn't the best, as the major rhythmic variation comes with the player's emergence from the woods - very deep into the round; there is no intense and memorable sequence of holes, despite several excellent individual ones. While I doubt, for many reasons, this course will become the favorite of any but locals, it IS a difficult test of golfing skill primarily for more advanced and above level players. I feel it also a great place to practice a certain type of golf and a certain mindset while golfing. That being acute self-knowledge (of one's game and capabilities) as they relate to a certain course. This gap will be starkly evident to even the thickest golfer immediately, myself included. On the downside, I don't feel Stumpy Creek is the most fun place to golf by far, as there's just too small a margin for error to ever really let loose and there's more fun close by, which is the thrill many seek when golfing.

very challenging. for those who have played glen hilton in hickory will like this one. a lot of different shots are required to tackle this course. you do think twice about how you want to throw the next disc.

very hilly and a lot of walking required. stumps throughout the course to trip over. a lot of blind shots so you kinda throw your disc wondering where it might end up.

could use some better maps for the holes but the ones they have work well enough to know where to throw. spent more time looking for discs on the holes that have blind shots than it took to actually play the hole. would take a walking stick cause im sure you might run up on a copperhead being close to the lake and deep in the woods. during summer and fall months bring a can of OFF cause im sure mosquitos will tear you up. dont walk during the day.....unless its under 80 degrees and bring water.

A tough challenge, lots of up and down holes in the woods that take a great deal of thinking twice about shots.

The name is very fitting for the course, stumps and roots will be tripping you all along the wooded holes.

While it makes the course more technical, the way the hills are along the course it's not wise to try and tackle this place in the middle of the day from June to August unless it's below 85 degrees out. This course at one time was a 9 hole course and it has two ways it can be played one with 18 holes one with just 9 that stays pretty well out of the wood. There is a way to play 9 holes without going deep into the hills if you play the old basket on 4 from 5's white tee box.

This is a great course. Very long course surrounding Iredell counties first park. The first hole is hidden up by the road near the outer most baseball diamond. The pin in the middle of the parking lot by the big brown "Disc Golf Course" sign is the practice pin.There are very technical holes with tight fairways and many elevation changes. This course takes some good accuracy. Also like everyone has mentioned there is hardly ever any one at this park on the week days. Tees are all concrete pads with disc catcher baskets. Most holes at least have a white or blue post denoting the original and pro tee pad.

Only one hole has a trashcan and bench that being #9 if I remember correctly. Looks like it was someones Eagle Scout project. Also signs are very lacking with most holes having a handmade sign or nothing at all. Be careful on the fairways when walking around. There are some large stumps and some at ankle height that could really trip you up. This is a very long course. Make sure to bring water and probably at least tennis shoes.

I really like playing at this course. Wouldnt mind getting a group together to clean it up a bit and gather some money for some trash cans and benches. With just a little bit of work could be a 4-4.5 star course

terrain....the use of elevation is this courses biggest factor. challenging lines for the average player. new concrete pads on all but 4 pads. nice steps through out the course to help you with all the up and down fairways.

there needs to be a couple more benches out here, cause it is a hike. lots of uphill shots so be prepared for a work out. trash cans on a few more holes would be nice.

i played the longs out here the last time i played ,and thought the course was very challenging. tight, long fairways on most of the wooded holes. alot of the holes required the same shot...straight down the middle. great course outside of charlotte. the amount of work that went in here shows...

Tough, solid course that's 3/4 wooded, the open holes play around the various sports fields. Short and long tees on nearly every hole, better than average variety from left to right (hyzers, anhyzers, straight, etc). A good mix of distances as well, with short holes being cleverly designed, such as the elevated basket on hole 8. Lots of elevation in play, you're constantly throwing up and down the hills. Fairways are still fairly rough around the edges but very playable.

What really shines here are the little things done to facilitate walking and navigation, such as steps, erosion control measures, cedar chip paths, etc. Very nice touches that don't take away too much from the naturalness of the woods. A very secluded course once your in the woods (after hole #2), the duck definitely flies at midnight I'd imagine.

Not all the tees are in yet, roughly half, but the ones that are in are great. Very smooth and long enough for those of us that need a runway. Tee signage is still temporary I think but it gets the job done.

Be prepared to make some spiders homeless if your disc leaves the fairway.

The elevation makes this a great course if you're a running back looking for a workout, it's constantly up and down, up and down. It's even worse than Ashe Co., which is in the mountains. This isn't necessarily a knock on the course, I'm just advising the more out of shape disc golfers to be prepared for a workout.

What the elevation does do is make the holes, particularly the wooded holes, seem a little repetitive. Another concern is that open holes have ball fields very much in play on virtually all of them.

Navigation/flow: There's some tricky spots thanks to a plethora of little trails randomly crisscrossing between holes, but the next tee signs do a good job of pointing you in the right direction. Many of the open holes could use some next tee signs, especially on the back 9 where it's not apparent where to go around the fields. There's also an excruciatingly long walk to hole 15(?), but the "beware of dinosaur" sign along the way provides some levity.

Some of the fairways are pretty tight, but that's characteristic of Charlotte courses. Still, it's definitely not aimed at beginners who prefer a spray and pray style of pitch and putt.

The open holes were kind of meh, but a nice change of pace from the woods.

A little bit of litter here and there, hopefully some more respectful golfers will use the trash cans provided on a few of the holes.

This is a really good course and I'm excited by the work that's being put into it. The designers deserve a pat on the back overall, as soon as all the tees are put in this course is a 4.0 easy. It's mostly challenging in a good way, the wooded holes are pleasant and secluded (except for the spiders), and it's quite a hike for 18 holes. I'm not a big fan of ball fields being in play but most seasoned golfers worth their salt shouldn't end up taking out a Little Leaguer or soccer player.

Needs benches!!!! My out of shape arse was exhausted by hole 5 (I spent 15 minutes looking for a disc up and down the hillside in the humidity).

Two sets of tees. (We played shorts after getting input that, "many longs seem long for the sake of being long"). Short tees provided nice blue player level course.
A bunch of "tunnel" (narrow, tight fairway) shots to test accuracy.
Two extreme elevated baskets (one more than 7 foot above ground/I'm happy to say I deuced the first one from short tee).
Good signage (I believe this is a recent improvement) with correct footage and great next tee info. (except for #17 and #18).
Long tees appeared to provide Gold level players with a challenge.

Long tees did somewhat appear to long for the sake of long. However, without playing them; I am giving designer the benefit of the doubt. Locals may only give this one a 3 rating; you will have to read their input, come and play, and decide for yourself. It is at least a three rated course; and therefore, worth a trip.
Gate was closed off in March; but no signs or anything prohibiting us from entering; and was no big deal to get to course.
A couple of longer walks between holes. Again, no big issue for me. Walks were marked well (with the exception of #16 and #17/which I imagine has already been corrected).
We were here in March. I imagine all of the courses in this area (2 hour radius of Charlotte), have the potential for big undergrowth issues during summer months. Course maintenance will probably vary between courses. In any event, I suggest keeping a sharp eye on plastic, and bug spray is probably also a must. Fluids, a good idea.
Mental toughness necessary for an enjoyable round on most of Stan's courses. Long tees here would fit that bill...be prepared.

This is a course still in a bit of transition. One of the many courses being improved in the Charlotte area; on a nearly weekly basis. Stan McDaniel designs have found a place in my heart as some of the best in the country, and Stumpy is no exception. He uses land available to him in wonderful manner; and this one is no exception. Even though we chose not to play long tees; I can say with near certainty, that these will be enjoyed by Gold level players. If you're a local, I know you're thinking, these are pretty general ideas; but, heh, a traveling player can only add what input he can. Navigation was easy, course was fun and challenging.
I tend to reserve 3.5's for quite quality courses; and even though I would recommend Renny, Hornets, Nevin, Ashe, some of the HGT courses, etc.; higher than Stumpy; I am still giving this one a 3.5. In other words, a two hour radius around Charlotte is filled with top quality, and Stumpy fits the description....

This course has just about everything I like! Clean, multi-use park type setting. Great mix of open & tightly wooded shots. Long & short drives. Good elevation changes with long & short up & downhill shots. Huge concrete tee pads (on most holes). Sturdy wood beam landscaping frames some of the baskets & provides safe steps up & down the hills. Long & short tee pads on a majority of holes. The second pad is enough of a change to make it a challenge. Plenty of 'next tee' signage & directional arrows.

No benches. The tee signs needed work. If you didn't have a map, some of the basket locations are difficult to find. Hole #6 is hard to see players finishing up their putts. Check before throwing. Some tee pads were dirt or framed earth (will be concrete soon I would guess). Could use a couple more trash cans.

We played the 'long' tees. The course wraps around the perimeter of this multi-use complex so the disc golf play is kept separate. They have any possible conflict areas protected by OB markers. I can't wait to go back!
Favorite holes: #13. It is a long gauntlet across a valley of possible fame or misfortune!

This course now has 18 different holes and was very challenging. I am from CA and this was my first experience with NC disc golf. The terrain is heavily wooded and favors a long accurate throw. I spent a lot of time finding my disc that had veered from the fairway. I would recommend hiking style shoes or boots for this course. Miraculously i did not get a bug bite despite having to go through 100 spider webs while searching for discs. Holes 1 and 2 shoot from open field into the woods and from 3-13 you are in for a treat. I was playing mid afternoon in the summer and the canopy from the trees kept it nice. Bing lots of water you'll be glad you did.

1 year later, I am back to stumpy and although my game has improved this course is still tough, but very fun. Yes you need to wear shoes with good grip and the cement tees are coming this weekend I believe. Very peaceful and serene in the woods, great effort has been made on a course of this caliber that gets very little play. Kudos to the designers, I played a number of their other courses this trip and all were great.

Tried to play the first saturday and sunday of the month and there was a 2 day triathalon taking place. I played the first day,but had to start hole 1 with a drive over windshields and cars. Holes 14-18 were in the path of the finish for the running portion of the event and I ended up not playing them. I went back on sunday to find the same mess. I don't know the schedule, but my guess is maybe they do this the first weekend of the month, but I don't know if its every month or just summer. I was there in August.

Park at closest parking lot to woods, near beverage shack. Walk up hill to top of park, you'll see tee with distance details. Hole 2 is right up from hole 1 another shot from clear field into woods then follow the most beaten trail and look for signs pointing to next hole. The course design is really great. Unless you are great I wouldn't bother keeping score its tough. Be thankful if you manage a few birdies but be prepared for double bogeys.

What I personally like and how this course stacks up in my list of 18 hole courses:

1) Holes with good risk/reward. Fair, but harsh punishment for bad decisions or execution. == B+
(The is a boatload of punishment on this course. Lots of trees, narrow fairways, and huge slopes to fly or roll down. Usually I complain that there is not enough of this, but this course might just be over the edge. I believe pretty much all the trees that are coming out have been removed. If so, on the wooded holes you may as well leave your driver in the bag and throw mids and putters and settle for a higher score than you want, or take 2-3 more strokes than you could have settled for. That lessens the fun factor big time.)

2) Holes that have rewarding birdie opportunities for me. I throw 300' accurately, 360' max. == B
(Mostly this course is too long for my arm, so pars are expected not birdies. I did not deduct too much off for that since on several holes par is rewarding to me.)

3) More wooded than open - lots of variety of shots required caused by hole shape and topography == B+
(There is a ton of variety of up/down, left/right and wooded/open. There are a ton of unique holes....and I love that! Holes 3 & 4 left me puzzled - the drive was lame in that you had to lay up or leave things up to random chance if you tried for more than 150' or so.)

4) Natural beauty (Appalachian beauty preferred) and seclusion. == B
(The woods are very nice - beautiful & secluded. The holes around the ball fields are not so pretty.

5) Bonus points for multi-throw holes with defined landing zones, good risk/reward and multiple options to play them. == B-
(There are several par 4's out there, but not great one's IMO. As said before, the risk is too high to get aggressive. That takes the exhileration and fun out.)

I fear that most will not find this course fun and it will not get much play. Those of us who have masochistic tendencies and like pure challenge will play here sometimes. There is only 1 fun hole on the course - a nice chute down a steep hill. This is a pity since an amazing amount of work has been done. Kudos to those who have busted their butts!

It's all about feeding the addiction, so I ranked this course subjectively based on my own "personal addiction factor". The grades above tell how well the course will draw me back to itself again and again and again. Since I have played a decent number of courses (149 18-hole, 91 9-hole as of late 2009), my hope is that players/explorers who have similar addiction tastes will find my ratings list helpful as they choose courses to play and explore.

I fully expect others with different tastes/philosophies to disagree with me....that's the fun of things here. See my profile for my rating philosophy.