River Street Park is a nice little neighborhood park along the river that features among many things you'd typically find in a neighborhood park, a boat ramp into the river and this gem of a 9 hole disc golf course. The course features DISCatcher baskets and numbered gravel tees. (Hole 7 tees off from the parking lot.)

The course manages to utilize the limited elevation of the park very well. There are a couple of memorable uphill and downhill shots. Water comes into play on a couple of holes, most notably on Holes 5 & 9, if you launch your disc too far past the baskets.

The park had a nice relaxed vibe, which translated well to the course. None of the shots were overly challenging, but the course provided a lot of fun.

A couple of the holes featured low ceilings. The downhill shot on Hole 8 with the low ceiling made the hole fun to throw, but also a challenge to keep your disc low enough.

The course seems like it was designed with beginners in mind, and it would definitely be a great course to learn the game of disc golf. It was forgiving, without just being 9 baskets in a field.

Parts of the course weave through other aspects of the park, in a way that could be problematic on a busy day. Luckily, I showed up on a Saturday afternoon/evening and the park was, for the most part, empty.

The course could do with better tee pads, the gravel pads were a bit rutted when I was there. Either redone gravel, concrete, or pavers would be nice to see. Better/actual tee signs would help too. Right now they are just numbered on small 4x4s. New signs that have the distance and par labeled at each tee would be a nice touch.

For a beginner course, having the water so close on Holes 5 & 9 could be frustrating. Especially on hole 9, where the basket is blind from the tee.

Other than Hole 9, I was able to reach C1 by throwing a gentle hyzer off the tee for every hole. While a couple of the holes (3 & 7 in particular) had more obstacles to avoid, the lack of shots required to score well here was very noticeable.

In the pictures there are trees near the tees on Hole 1 and 5 that would make the shots more interesting. Those trees appear to have been cut down, making more open shots.

The flow is a bit awkward at times. Luckily the course map helped me find all of the tees.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much fun I had playing at River Street Park. I am going to give it a 2.0 rating for now. If there were concrete tees, better tee signs, and possibly a bit more variety to the shots required to score well, this course would deserve a better score from me. Still, if I lived nearby, this would make an excellent, quick course to play after work before heading home.

Favorite Holes: 5 & 7

Nice layout in this small, neighborhood park. Borders a creek with a nice boat launch to the Catawba River. The creek comes into play on a couple of holes.
Nice DisCatcher baskets, very easy to see.
All baskets are in sight from the tee.
A few challenging holes.

No tee pads, and the markers are just a post with the hole number.
Most holes are straight, not a lot of shot shaping needed.
Two holes (3 and 7) are in the middle of the park and there could be interference with park goers.

Real short course in a small town, neighborhood park. A good course for beginners and families to learn the game.
There were a few good holes to play here - #6 uphill, playing to the basket under a low hanging tree. #8 tees from the hilltop in the middle of the park, downhill thru a "tunnel". #9 goes left to right for a blind hole, the creek is lurking beyond the basket and almost got me!
I played this after my round at RL Smith, a fun wind down on mostly open holes. This could be a good warm up round also, for anyone going to or from the west side of CLT.
As I was leaving, I talked to a guy that had finished up work in Charlotte and was headed home to Statesville, said he stops here often to get some practice in.

Decent starter layout for the land, good baskets, playground, fishing, picnic area, docks on river (i'm not sure the fish are healthy but people are keeping them).

WHY have a beginner 9 hole rec course with two baskets arms length from a DEEP BROWN river.. You want people to lose discs so they hate your park? Com'on use your head and move the baskets a little further away from river. Hole 5 and 8 you are throwing DIRECTLY at the river on a 150ish foot hole.. My dog can throw it in the river from there.

No tee pads, no signage for holes (distance, map) no directions after hole 3, should have an extra hole between 3 and 4, needs a practice basket.

+ Baskets are in good shape.

+ Navigation is pretty easy.

+ Hole 3 and 9 are pretty fun.

+ Water comes into play on a couple of holes, adding some risk to the tee shot.

- No tee signs, no tees, poorly marked tees, no navigational signage at all. Just baskets and a stick in the ground where you're supposed to tee off.

- It's incredibly short, wide open, and easy. I'd feel bad taking a 3 on any of these holes.

- It plays through a park and offers zero privacy from the other activities such as volleyball courts and a play ground.

- There is little diversity between the shots.

This is a very short, easy, boring course. If I lived in the neighborhood I'd come here with some putters and a mid or two for a warm-up, but living far away I don't plan to ever come back.

A really nice course for beginners. Not too many technical shots required; but, drive long on 1, 5, 8, and 9 and you will be in deep trouble.
Very easy to navigate this course - except for the missing 8th tee post (see below).

Very easy to navigate this course - except for the missing 8th tee post (see below).

Hole 1 crosses right where 2 of the 4 outfielders would be lined up if a softball game was in progress. Thankfully, there wasn't one in December. The hole is unplayable otherwise.
Also, the wooden post marking the 8th tee is missing and being fall, the leaves on the ground covered the high traffic area a natural tee leaves behind. A look at the course pics would have shown the tee is right on a walking path.

A little research on my part prior to playing a course goes a long way.

Restrooms - "Closed for Winter." Shame on you Mount Holly!

Not a whole lot of pizazz on this course, though drive long on 5 and 9 and you are in the drink. Long on 1 and 8 places you in very tall grasses. Hazards are in play on 4 of the 9 holes.
Holes 7 and 8 introduce dramatic elevation.

Bottom Line, the course designer did everything possible to place 9 decent holes in a very confined space and solidly succeeded. With the exception of hole 1 crossing the softball field, the course is well designed.

Though many courses in our area rate higher, this course deserves a look.

Played 2 rounds in this nice, beginner level course. Really liked how quiet it was. I was the only one playing during the hour I was there. Hole 1 starts near bathroom. All tees were natural and boxes are marked by small wooden posts with each number on them.

All holes are under 300 with a few of the, having water and road OB's in play. Each basket had a next tee sign hanging from basket. Course is maxed out on land that is there from what I could tell, but that's fine

Tons of ace run holes. I hit basket on hole 4 and 8 and pole on 6.

Needs tee signs so it's easier to see where a box is at. Distances on each hole would be nice. Possibly concrete or rubber tee boxes one day would be good, but I don't mind natural boxes.

Hole 4 could use a mando on the big tree on the right so you don't try to throw a spike hyzer over hole 7. Only issue I thought could be a safety issue.

Not a con since it's a 9 hole course, but no trash cans and no benches.

Great 9 hole course. Overall it's one of the better 9 hole courses I've played. Has room for potential, but it's fine for what it is. If you're ever in the area and have 30 minutes, it's worth the stop

Great course to practice form, approach and throw multiple discs without fear of losing them.

It's a little too straight.

This course is perfect for what it's meant for...beginners and intermediate players working on short game. This is also a great course to introduce disc golf to a friend without scaring them away or spending all day in the woods tracking discs down. This is a perfect course for kids and I personally enjoyed it because I could throw multiple discs, try new techniques without fear of losing discs.

good warm up course for people with a long day of disc golf ahead.

river makes holes five and nine very complicated since the river is not even five feet from each hole.
don the side of hole three is an electrified fence that makes it hard to get lost discs back.

it was a nice park kind of hard to find unless you are actually looking for it.kind of on the back roads of belmont tees and markings could use some work kind of hard to find hole fours tee.

The course is pretty much maxing out what land is available, so that in mind I think the designers did a fair job. Mostly open, city park style golf with some old growth trees here and there. A couple of basket locations will punish bad blow-bys with a dip in the river and there is surprisingly some decent elevation too. It's a small park, so it's hard to get too lost if your navigation skills fail you but I thought the course flowed fairly intuitively. Would be a really fun lid course.

Definitely suffers a lot from too much straightness (somewhere, George Takei stares into space and nods). Not a hole here that can't be reached with a putter if you're decent.

Natural tees that can be tricky to find. There are wooden door stop looking things that sit on the ground to indicate the tee but one of them was missing, 5 or 6 I think. The tee is just behind those two trees right beside the volleyball court, look for the bare patch of ground.

My biggest con was the tee for hole 7. It's actually the best tee but it's because it's spray painted on the park road. That grinds my gears. It's also easily the least fun hole b/c it throws up the hill. Whatever.

It's worthwhile to stop and get some approach and putter driving practice in. The designers did a really good job of keeping the DG safely away from other park areas and that was no small task I'm sure given the space limitations. It would be better if the holes required more than just straight lines for the most part, maybe spice up the wide open field holes with a raised basket or something.

Hole 8 rocks, a fun, downhill shot through a gap of old growth trees. Those are the kinds of holes that get people hooked on disc golf.

-Very nice, scenic park in Mount Holly with a short pitch and putt nine holer

-Very nice green benches around #7. They are in great shape.

-Really nice use of elevation on almost every hole. #7 was steep uphill, maybe (+25) but only was maybe 170' feet. #8 was nicely downhill. Not quite a "Top of the world" shot because it's slightly wooded and not severly straight downhill but definitely a fun downhill shot and way more downhill than slightly. Also, #6 can mess up your score since it's on an eight foot hill. I caught two rollers, which sucked.
-Great use of the river on two holes. They are not around the fishing decks which is an advantage to fishers like my dad.

-Beginner friendly. It's definitely easy, no holes over 300', #1 is the longest about 280' but slightly downhill. Only difficult holes would be #6 because of its green and #7 is just way uphill on an island green but I don't think it's going to be OB if you miss it. Still, it's pretty easy. It's not like Fewell or should I say "Weenie hut Jrs."

-Arrows on the baskets pointing you to the next tee.

-I loved that it's different than the other three courses in Gaston county. It's not heavily wooded but trees do play as a factor. It's just a fair nine holer that is still a course I'd gladly come back to. Crookston, Fewell and Lowell Elementry are the other nine holers that I've played and would consider undesireable and I won't bother coming back to.

-Well, the bathrooms beside #1 were for some reason closed. No idea why but it seemed pretty dumb.

-#5's tee marker was stolen. #5's tee is behind the two trees and in front of the volleyball net. There are also no tee signs.

#7 and #8 are both great holes, but, the limbs hanging down really need to go, particularly on #8. #8 was my favorite but when my friend Drew and I emptied our bags on #8. We really got annoyed by the limbs hanging down.

-Transition from #3 to #4 is a bit of a walk. If long tees come, I would find it fun if the long for #4 was to the left of the basketball court. It would be a sweet slightly downhill 350+ footer. The transition would be shorter.

This nine holer is okay. But not great like I thought it first was. I will gladly say that the Gaston County disc golf club definitely used the space very well.

-#3 is probably going have a mando pointing you left. #3 is beside #7. I don't know but I can see it happening.

-So, ya, this is beginner friendly. Goat Island, Bradley and Rankin are not. If you live within twenty minutes from here and want to give disc golf a try. This is where you start. #1 and #2 are long for beginners but #3 through #9 are under 260' with #8 being right around there. For you players with long range throwing skills, #5 and #9 are under 200', throw your putters. This isn't a course to bomb your drive, it's a test of your putting. Have fun.

-I gave this a 3 because I previously said this will be an eighteen holer. But four years later, it's not. It's an okay pitch and putt, but not really worth it.

-Signature hole, there really isn't a signature hole here but for me, I'd say #8 because it's pretty much the best hole to empty your bag. I think it will be by the time the limbs will be cut down. It's not major downhill but it's got a pretty good view up on the hill.

-Go to doubles, seriously. Check the Gaston disc golf website and when doubles is here, you got a good chance for an ace and you get the ace pool if you ace one!

River Street Park was a pleasant surprise. It's a fun nine-hole course that could put more emphasis on the 'river' aspect of the park with just a little work.
- Course was better than expected. I was picturing a pitch-n-putt level course, but was impressed by the relatively good layout. It's not overly challenging, but the course does require some good shot making in order to see your birdies.
- Great variety of hole layouts, especially for a limited space, nine-hole course. The best thing going for this course might actually be the elevation, which really comes into play on four of the nine holes - #3 (don't sail left or long), #6 & 7 (uphill) and #8 (downhill). A couple other holes have slight elevation, are doglegs and/or open shots. Oh yeah, and the water really comes into play on #5 & 9. Water is less than 40 feet past the basket on #5 and less than 25 feet past the basket on #9. This hole (#9) is a dogleg right, very slightly downhill, so if you're not careful, your disc could sail, or roll. And with the water pretty murky, you're probably not going to find it.
- Some very strategically placed tee and/or baskets add to the challenge. You see this best on #7 & 8. #7 is a short, uphill hole that has a couple low branches overhead. #8 has some branches and trees that come into play on this downhill shot. A good shot still leads to a birdie putt; but, if you're not careful, you suddenly have to work to get your 3.
- Good risk/reward factor for such a beginner-level course. You see this on the two water holes (#5 & 9), along with #3 & 7. Good players are going to see a lot of birdie chances here, which is why you might also be frustrated when you have to scramble to save par on a couple holes, or fish for a disc.
- Great view of the water. It's a tributary creek that runs into the Catawba River. Standing at #9's basket, you're only one big throw from having your disc land in the Catawba. It would be nice to see a little more of the course taking advantage of this view by playing closer to the water.
- Very basic amenities at the park - restrooms, picnic shelters, basketball court, playground. The most popular feature at the park, however, seems to be the two fishing piers. There was a group of guys fishing while I was playing, and I got the sense they were regulars here.
- The next hole arrows on each basket were a big help. Without a map, or tee signs/pads, the arrows were the key to making the course easy to navigate.

These are all relatively small things. For the most part, this course is pretty close to being as good as it could be, given the land.
- The flow and layout of the course is a little weird, on two fronts. The first part is the sequence you follow. It took me a minute or two to find the first tee. (It's near the bathrooms and abandoned ball field.) After you finish the third hole, the next basket you see is for #7. The next arrow sign is pointing towards the water, and it's a long walk to #4's tee (FYI - the tee is down the path, just before the pier.)
- The second part of the layout is that the first hole (and to a small degree, #2 as well) doesn't fit into the flow of the rest of the course. You basically throw down an open field on #1, and straight back on #2. It seems to be a matter of space and/or logistics (if you throw down an open field for one hole, you will need to come back up on the next hole, or have a really long walk). Instead of having this layout, and the two simplest holes on the course, it'd be great to replace one of these holes (say #1), and take advantage of the hill where #3's basket is located. I say a tee shot over the park road with a basket near #4's tee would eliminate that long walk.
- The other problems are all typical new course and/or nine-holer problems. There aren't any tee signs, just wooden hole markers and flags. Without tee signs, there are also no distances listed, which isn't a huge problem on most holes. It's an annoyance on seven of nine holes, but it can result in a lost disc in the water when you estimate the distance wrong on #5 & 9. Also, there are no tee pads, but the tee areas are all pretty flat and/or short, so that isn't much of a problem.
- Seeing how this seems to be a beginner-friendly course, having two potential 'lost disc' holes, seems like it could turn off new players. If you're just starting out, you don't want to lose one of your only discs because it sailed 30 feet too long or rolled into the water.

Overall, I thought River Street was a solid course. The course puts premium on accuracy rather than distance. Other than the first hole, everything else is mid-range length or shorter.
- The first two holes did seem to have that 'filler' feel to them, but starting at #3, the remaining seven holes all were solid. I guess I'd just rather be throwing near the river than in a field.
- I don't know why, but this course seemed like the long, lost cousin of Gower and Holmes parks, the two nine-holers in Greenville. Something about the layout, variety and elevation felt like it belonged with both of those.
- My favorite hole was #3. It's a relatively straight, slightly uphill and slightly wooded shot. The hole slopes to the left and long, so errant shots will be penalized. I had an easy birdie the first time I played, and a more challenging uphill shot the second go-round after my tee shot went a little too far left.
- I'm optimistic that there's room for growth here. Without tee pads or signs, I'd like to think changes could be made if so desired. If nothing else, this could make a fun safari golf layout.
- This is one of the better nine-holers in the Charlotte area. It's not to the level of Mint Hill, but it's still worth a play. And, you're only 10 minutes from Robert L. Smith when you finish up.