-A light to moderate wooded course with a handful of open holes starting at the park and playing away from the park. The course is mostly flat with one elevated tee, and a few holes with a slope. A few roller greens into the ditch, If the wind is blowing, it will be dominant. You have the feeling of playing a mostly meadows course, and likely scenic with foliage.

-There are two layouts on the course with a main course having tee signs. There's the DEP Cup Layout used for a yearly tournament and available thru out the year. I played the DEP Cup layout.

-The DEP Cup course uses some of the fairways of the main course, and some DEP holes crosses main course fairways, thru tree lines, and over brush. Both courses use the same baskets, and share most of the concrete tee pads. Main course is 5380 feet long, DEP is 5672 feet long, the DEP layout is more difficult.

-Navigation for both courses are counter-clockwise. For both courses there's a ditch that separates the course. On main course holes 1-11 are on the south side of ditch, 12-18 the northside. DEP holes 1-8 are on the south side, 9-18 the north side. Hole 1 DEP cup starts on hole 2 main course, but DEP switches around as you progress thru the round.

-Tee signs for the main course have hole number, par, and distance. Only a few posted temporary signs from the DEP Cup tournament remained from the previous year, and you'll need UDisc to navigate. All tee's concrete, and baskets catch well.

-On the tee, from the bag used a good variety of putter, mid's, fairways, and driver.

-Beginners and Recreational players will find the main course very manageable. Intermediate and Advanced if you're looking for a good enough challenge DEP Cup layout will be preferred.

-Without UDisc the DEP Cup layout will be a navigational nightmare, and I would think impossible to play without UDisc. No tee sign information to know if you're on the correct tee, basket numbers won't match the hole you're playing, and tree lines/brush crossing fairways giving the impression you could be playing the wrong basket or a "where I am going" moment. You should be okay on the main layout.

-On some portions of the course it will look like a cluster of tee pads and baskets adding to the confusion for first time players. It may take a few repeat visits to nail down navigation for both layouts.

-The course is repetitive and mostly not memorable. Fairways with the tree lines looked alike to me for the most part. Some holes were ridiculous such as No. 7 DEP that led you thru a wall of trees, likely more difficult with full foliage.

-No. 11 tee box DEP had a large tree laying across it and not possible to pass by on the trail to the tee. Looked like it had been laying there for quite some time and maybe a few years? I played 10 basket to 11 basket about the same hole distance.

-There were the telltale signs of very little course maintenace with high clumps of dead grass in the winter, telling me mowing is infrequent in the summer or was stopped in early fall. The region had a dry winter, Ayden was 1 of 2 courses I played out of about 30 during the winter months that had standing water, I wonder how flooded the course gets during a year with heavy rain.

-Easy to walk up and find my disc in the month of January despite the high dead grass. In the summer the foliage returns bringing heavy brush along the fairways, possibility grass not mowed, and water in the ditch holes 1-3, and 17-18 high possibility to lose a disc. The water in the ditch was murky.

Ayden Park's brightest appeal was when the wind picked up on the B9 to about 25 mph. That made playing tree lined fairways challenging, and some difficult putting. Personally, I only found a handful of holes interesting mostly on the B9. If the wind hadn't of picked up it would have been a ho hum round, and a walk thru the meadows. My biggest personnel con can wrap all of the other cons in one big bow, it's the lack of course Maintenace just glaring out. It seems to me that the DEP Cup in the summer has some course preparation to become presentable, then tournament is over, and we'll see you next year. It's also possible I may have played a few wrong tees to basket, hard to tell a few times even with UDisc.

-My overall rating is anchored on a solid 17-18 finishing holes with both being completely different, an interesting DEP Cup layout, and the wind when its blowing at a 3.5, without wind a 3.0. The time to play was one hour.

The Wind:

-It's an open field from the north to the course about 3/4 to a mile, nothing stopping it. Holes 1-2, 18, and baskets 13-15, on the edge of tree line with gaps are exposed to it, and basket 17 open. With the wind whipping around at about 25 mph starting on the 12th tee it made some interesting play a few disc slams to the ground, and creative putting choices.

Notable Holes:

No. 5 Par 3 at 336 feet is the only hole I found interesting on the F9. Open tee across an open field at the halfway mark a ditch with brush standing about 6 feet high across the fairway and only about 10 feet to cross ditch, not very thick in January, but I would imagine thick in warmer months. Not able to see past the ditch you'll have a blind tee shot with a dogleg right past the ditch, a clump of trees guarding on the right making it difficult to cut the fairway. The basket sits on a rise with a few guardian trees. This could be one of the most scenic holes with full foliage? Didn't get my disc high enough and got caught up in brush on the basket side of ditch.

No. 18 Par 3 at 363 feet open tee to open basket straight down slope ditch crossing in front of the basket. To cross ditch I would plan on 330 feet, ditch is about 60 feet to clear. I like the simplicity of the closing hole, but dangerous to lose a disc. If the wind is at your back it's a fun ride, the wind was at my back, but I laid up. Had the weirdest par putt with the wind blowing in my face wind side of basket. My pig was lifted up and looked like it suspended above basket and then slammed into the basket.

Signature/Trouble Hole:

No. 17 Par 3 at 347 feet teeing out of the woods with the narrowest gap on the course of about 15 feet with heavy trees and brush on each side, and branches hanging above. It's about 150 feet to get out of the woods to the open, and you're looking straight ahead at the ditch about 250 feet away, so you need to move the disc to the right to an open fairway sloping right to left. The basket is in the open, the ditch just outside of C1 a roller green. The hole represents all elements of the course woods, open, slope, ditch, and a roller green. With the wind blowing right to left across fairway towards the ditch added to the fun! I hit a tree halfway in the gap, watched my approach in the open flip up and rolled into the ditch, and managed to save bogey ramming a Star Destroyer into the basket against the wind, after pitching out from the ditch. My favorite hole on the course!

-this course got a ton of cleanup for the Down East Players Cup. It is much more playable now (compared to reading the old reviews and the "condition" status).

There is plenty of room. Variety in hole length and open fields for warmup or practice.

Tees are concrete and mostly in fine condition. A few are cracked badly due to improper substrate.

I doubt this course gets very busy due to the few reviews and previously bad condition.

It is nice have other amenities present but not affecting play - playground, shelter, bathrooms.

I would consider this a practice course. It is good for starting players or folks looking for something different. Not much challenge. No memorable holes.

I played the course as part of the Down East Players Cup. The TDs did a great getting it ready for us, including temporarily renumbering and replanning many of the holes. So it worked fine for the tournament but the navigation will be bad for regular visitors at other times. Some tee signs are missing, some poor flow, etc. It is hard for me to elaborate because I had to play the modified tournament layout.

Course is virtually flat. Criss-crossed with ditches that help with drainage but are a bit annoying to step over and fish your disc out of.

A couple holes could use further clean out to establish an actual fairway.

No benches.

stop by if you're in the area, but don't go out of your way for this couse. I hope it can continue to be maintained!

Better than expected 18 hole course in this small town.
Concrete tee pads, not really large, but flush to the ground. DisCatchers have a little wear, but in good shape overall.
Good distance for a park course, 5400' from the whites. Pars were appropriate for the distance, except for #10, 442 ft Par 3?
After the first three holes, the rest were in scattered trees (mostly hardwoods). This required shot shaping, without the undergrowth that hides discs.
Grass has filled in on the whole course since most of the pics were taken. Not a difficult course to play.
A few Par 4s and a few Ace runs, #3, #7 (annie/RHFH) and #17.

Some areas were pretty wet, probably because of the time of year that I played. #4,5,16,17 and 18 were soft in some places. Lots of standing water on #8, before and around the basket.
#11 - The tee sign is missing, perhaps this hole shouldn't be played, because ... it is an extremely tight tunnel between large thorn bushes, over one of the drainage ditches to the other side of the course. The bridge over the ditch? not anchored on either side, so it teeter-totters as you walk over it.
Tee signs are basic, hole, distance and par, BUT they were at every hole (except 11) and had bag holders, so not a big Con.

As I mentioned, this was a better than expected course for this small town. Perhaps the closeness to Greenville (and only 6 miles from Covenant) earned a better layout than normal.
Plenty of room to air out shots, almost no tunnel shots and a few Ace runs. Most of the course reminded me of the ECU course. Not as many pines, but trees for shot shaping.
The drainage ditch along #1 and 2 looks pretty deep and there is also one running right down the middle of #10, but discs can be pulled from these.
#4 was a fun hole, Par 4 slightly downhill through scattered trees, probably several lines available,
#10 with its drainage ditch made driving accuracy important, to a slightly elevated basket,
#13 was probably my favorite hole, drive was mostly open, across a small ditch, then the basket was through a tunnel of LARGE thorn bushes only about 15' wide, the basket was in front of an embankment,
#16 (par 4) required an accurate drive shaped around trees, for a chance to go at the basket on the second.
The course starts at the very front of the park, then goes straight to the back, probably DG only part of the park. Good use of the area.
The course was a little rough around the edges when I was there, long grass, leaves on the tees, but is probably in better shape in the warmer months.

One of the most challenging courses in the area. Short and Long tees on several baskets. #4 and #16 are vicious short or long! Rec Dept keeps the course mowed fairly regularly. Mix of shots. #1 & #2 are wide open to start it but if you play the ditch as OB they are a tough start. The city has done a lot of work on the course to prevent water puddling.

Mosquitoes but that goes for all courses in Pitt County and Ayden has been much better with those this year. Some tough baskets for beginners but it'll make em better players lol.

-Baskets are in good shape
-Nice concrete teepads.
-The layout is pretty good. The flow is not bad. The course has tree's spread out well throughout the entire course to make for interesting lines.
-Trash cans throughout the course
-The park has two vending machines near the entrance and bathrooms.
-Grass was freshly cut

-I played on a pretty dry day and there was still a lot of standing water throughout the course. Still very playable but I found myself walking through and inch or two of water quite a bit.
-There still is a lot of much because it is wet. Please watch you step because you will slip.
-The map flows okay but if you do not have a map your first time playing, you will get mixed up. I found myself finishing hole 8 and actually playing out hole 10 before I saw my error. I had to back track and then play out hole 8 and 9. At the entrance to the park, there is a sign with a map of the layout of the disc golf course. I do recommend taking a photo of it to take with you. I did this and still got a few holes mixed up.
-If the area gets a good rain, forget about the course. It seems like it holds water and will be very muddy.
-Each hole does as a placard with the hole number and distance, which is nice. If they ever replace those, please replace is with a small map of the tee box and basket along with a directional to the next tee pad.

Overall, it was not a bad experience. I did enjoy the layout and the flow of the majority of the wholes. Each hole made me stop and think of the line I was going to take and what I was going to throw. There are quite a few long holes which allows you to break out your distance driver and rip it.

As the course develops and ages, I think more distinct throwing lines will develop as with new ones.

I think the mud issue will eventually go away as the land settles and grass/vegetation grows in thicker on the ground level. Try and avoid staying out of the woods. The uncut area is extremely thick and will eat discs.

- Course seems relatively well designed with decent flow. Nice use of trees to shape shots without making it overly difficult.
- Concrete tee pads in good shape
- Innova DISCatcher baskets also in good shape
- Park has restrooms, vending machines, playground, spray park, picnic shelters that are all nice. This is also close to the course without being in the way so that an errant shot might hit someone.
- Signs at every hole, although these only have the hole # and distance (no map)

- As the review title states, this course is terribly overgrown. Most of the course has waist high weeds that are terrible to trek through. Wear long pants if you go and be prepared to spend some extra time finding your disc.
- Several ditches crisscross the course and I found myself jumping over them frequently. Not a huge deal for me, but if you have a youngster with you or are not comfortable/capable of jumping a few feet over a ditch this could cause a problem.

This course has a lot of potential. Someone clearly spent some time planning it, and with the exception of the first couple holes (which are rather uninspired) the holes force you to use a variety of shots and do not seem repetitive. There was also clearly some money put into the course, with nice concrete tee pads, nice baskets, and scattered trash cans and benches. However, this course is nearly unplayable due to the weeds being so overgrown. I only saw one other group on the course on the day I played and they quit after the first several holes. If someone could go around with a bush hog and clear it occasionally, it would be much better. But it appears the most of the course is not ever mowed. It's a shame because it could be a very nice course otherwise. Unless this changes do yourself a favor and drive down to Kinston or up to Greenville for a better maintained course.

Good tee pads - multiple on most holes which make for a two very different holes.

Good flow.

Good, long holes w/tough lines

Course has incredible potential, whether it will be or can be realized is a different story.

Mud, bugs, wet, maintenance, mud, signage.

Hard to follow if you don't have a map.

Honestly 3 days after it rains may not be enough.

Not a destination course, but if you are in the area and it's been dry lately, go for it.

Course has incredible potential, whether it will be or can be realized is a different story.

The Mud is gone. Very open.

Good Distance, love having some Par 4's.

Glad they added some trash cans.

Needs hole maps on placards.

Alot of bugs, bring at least 30 deet bug spray.

I wouldn't play for at least 3 days after rain, but very enjoyable course.

If you get one in the water at hole 11 in the creek, it might be hard to get the disc, but the ground in the creek is hard. Had to remove shoes and socks to get a disc but wasn't as bad as other creeks.

It has great potential!

We could not finish the course because there was to much mud, every where, even in the middle of the fare way and it had not rained for a week.

The tee signs do not have the hole map. And it does not tell you where the next tee is.

I think if they were a few improvements and someone to take care of it then it could be a great course.

Update:
I was just informed of this and wanted to pass it on ...

There is a lot of the work being done (on the course) is to get the grass growing, and expand drainage to prevent the flooding/muddiness.