In reading my review, understand that I played Swinging DB's in the spring (which is the same as summer in North Carolina) after weeks of rain. The result was an underbrush, mud, and tick explosion. Those are aspects of disc golf that I do not particularly enjoy. Some may not mind, and that's OK. Their ratings will be higher than mine. This *is* a very unique course and I will go into my pro's and con's, but I just want to put this out there to explain why my rating is lower than most (or all) others.

+ Of the homegrown courses I've played, this is the most unique. It has a wide range of challenges: very short and technical holes, a couple of longer open holes, creek hazards, and *of course* the patented swinging baskets on nearly every hole!

+ Very challenging, tightly wooded course. This course has some of the tightest lines you'll find on a disc golf course. It will force you to come up with some, shall we say, creative lines. This is more of a finesse course than a power course, but does have two long, open holes to bomb on. Hyzers, anhyers, flicks, and flex shots -- all are needed.

+ Swinging baskets! This isn't something I'd want to see in all courses, but for this one, it's a really fun and unique feature. And I didn't think the baskets caught poorly at all. In fact, some of the baskets caught better than new, "professional" baskets. Many of the swinging baskets are over fast greens or near OB creeks. I love this aspect of the course. All putts are a challenge.

+ Chuck does an amazing job keeping up with this large property. I don't know how he does it. Thanks and kudos to him!

I think many of my con's are circumstantial based on when I played the course. I'd like to come back in the winter to see how it plays. That said, here are my con's for when I played in the spring/summer:

- The underbrush and thorns were pretty bad on a few holes. You really want to keep your disc in the (very narrow) fairways here!

- Ticks. Swinging DB's has 'em. I don't think that's any big surprise or that there's anything that can be done about them. This is a very rural location. This is Carolina Scramble golf, the good and the bad. Many of us love it, but the downside can be these little Lyme Disease-carrying critters. Wear bug spray and check yourself. There are also mosquitos, but I considered that a secondary issue to the ticks.

- Drainage and slick tees were a problem when I played after many days of rain. Lots of mud pits and some standing water. All of the creeks are muddy brown, so anything in the drink was hard to locate and likely lost. And the tees are either natural or carpet and some of them were very slick. I almost wiped out on one.

- The only real design flaw, in my book, was that some of the lines were just so ridiculously narrow to the point of being non-existent. There are quite a few poke and hope holes that are more about luck than skill. That could be because I'm not very skilled. I'm self-aware enough to put that out as a possibility. But again, in my opinion, luck (which always is part of the game and should be *some* part of the game) was more involved than on most courses due to narrow fairways or a complete lack of fairways on some holes. I think the course could stand to lose some more pine trees.

- Swinging DB's shares some tees and fairways with its big brother course, Rock 'n Roll Fairways. The flow of the course is fine, but don't get confused by the tee signs, some of which are for the other course, or the dual basket locations on some holes.

If you're able to play Swinging DB's, go for it. And tip Chuck for all of his blood, sweat, and tears in keeping it running. Just come prepared, (lots of bug spray, long sleeves and pants if you can take the heat), or time your visit to the winter when the less appealing aspects of the course are diminished.