Here in Charlotte we are blessed with tons and tons of disc golf, featuring some of the greatest courses. A recurring theme for these greats is that they are heavily wooded with very little open holes. Well, the Rotary Club DGC here at Frank Liske Park is the complete opposite. Almost every aspect of the course is in a wide open field, making this a unique addition in Charlotte.
-This is the course to throw some max distance shots. Not only is the course wide open, but is is quite long, and people with a big arm will be living in dreamland here.
-If one is in need of longer throws and a variety of shot-shaping, then this course is perfect to come to. The course has very little hazards and obstacles, so I can definitely see someone playing this course as a way to increase their shot distance and shot-shaping.
-I felt that the designers did a good job of putting baskets in tricky locations when they had the chance. There were a bunch, but the 2 that stand out to me are #5 and #11. #5 is up against a mound that slopes toward the wooded area. #11 sits inside a protective area of trees, and is one of the only real ace runs of the whole course.
-The course is in very good condition. Tee pads are very nice, as well as the hole maps that go along with them. Baskets are in good shape, and they have flags on the top of them, which I think is a cool look that should be used at other courses.
-You can pretty much bail out whenever you want if you had to, but if you wanted to play a loop, I suggest playing the front 8, or the back 10.

-The course is just too wide open. A course can be wide open and make for a very enjoyable round, but a course like this can be very boring and forgettable. I feel like course could have given off a Rob Wallace vibe, but the course is more wide open even to that standard.
-I credited the designers about the basket placements, but some of the actual hole designs just baffle me. A lot of holes have you throwing close to the parks road, and a miss-throw could easily hit a car. #5 goes partially across a parking lot, and the fairway on #7 is the walking path.
-One thing that I tend to notice instantly is what skill level the course is designed for. Here at this course, however, I am still unable to infer what skill level this course is calling for. I feel like this course could be good for beginners, but the course is too long for that. Higher level players will feel bored and unchallenged.
-One thing I miss about this course is the old pin placement for #15. The hole goes straight through an interesting gap of trees, and the basket used to be to the left and inside a little wooded area. For whatever reason, they moved the basket out of the wooded area, and is now placed straight through that gap of trees. Its those little things that are making me dislike the course more and more as time goes on.

You can see that there is potential for this course to be a lot better than it is. There are good things that can put this course above others, as well as bad things that drive your interest away from the course. Frank Liske park is a beautiful park, and has many other amenities, such as tennis, soccer/baseball fields, playgrounds, mini golf, and more. I still do believe that this course is a good addition to the Charlotte area, being the only fully open course around. I highly advise players to visit this course if they want to practice their long shots and new discs.

This course is WAY better than it is currently rated at 2.88 stars.

Great Tee Pads

Fantastic Tee Signs

Ample Benches and Trash Cans

Nice level Discatcher Pro Baskets

While the course is very open for this part of the country there is a good mix of hyper, straight, and turnover shots. Good mix of length with most holes being well over 300 feet. Its really nice to have a "bombers" course so close to Charlotte.

A lot of the holes are straight and some have few obstacles. However, this gives a great opportunity to practice long hazers, bomb turnover shots, and flex straight shots.

In the summer, I could see this course being very very hot and challenging to play for those hoping for a short or shaded round.

Scoring separation was interesting. While I found myself outdriving card mates by over 100 feet on some holes, it often didn't matter because the holes were very hard to 2 and sometimes unreachable. As often happens the players that shot the best were the ones making some 40-60 footers and not missing short putts.

A few holes play along walking paths and areas that would normally be OB. This is a bit of a design flaw and I think a few holes should be changed with added OB for safety issues.

Overall, I don't really have any major problems with this course. Its very different from most of the courses in this area but its nice to have something different where players can work on things like long open shots and putting in the wind.

2 Thumbs up for this course. Its nothing super fancy but I could see myself using this course in preparation for a tournament on an open course where distance and wind play are going to be critical.

Excellent new DISCatchers, nice informative tee signs, and ample concrete tee pads (for the yellow tees). This part of the course was very nice and well taken care of, in fact, they were ready to put down more mulch around the tees, the day I was there.
Plenty of long, open holes, if you want to work on your distance. Do 5 holes over 500' and another 3 over 400' sound long enough for you?
There are 11 open holes and the other 7 partially to heavily wooded. So, more wooded holes then I was expecting, but most are clustered together on the course.
Absolutely beautiful LARGE park with tons of other activities, lake, ball fields, soccer fields, tennis courts, picnic areas, miniature golf, barn area and plenty more. Pretty much something for everyone.

THE PARK IS GATED AND DOES NOT OPEN UNTIL 8 AM.
C'mon Cabarrus County! Not everyone wants to wait until your staff comes in to get their outside exercise in! There are plenty of things to do in this park without needing park supervision. Because of this, it limited my visit to only 12 holes played. Found the same thing at Rob Wallace Park ... WWHHYYYY?!?!
Mowing, there is so much area to mow on the open holes, and the grass so long, that you have to hit it on the right day, I didn't. Some of the holes were mowed, but i had to walk uphill on 18 in really long, wet grass.
Probably used just too much area for the open holes, they could have made them shorter, used less area and still made the course long and challenging.
#6 and #7 - 6 is a Par 3, across a sharply sloping fairway, parking lot on the high side, and thick, eat-your-disc rough downhill. 7 - #6 leads to this Par 4 that uses a gravel walking path as the fairway, what looks like OB fence on the left and more eat-your-disc rough on the right. It's nice that the designer tried to get two wooded holes in to balance the course, but these really felt forced and #7 could be hazardous.

As has been said in most other reviews, if you want to work on your distance, try out new discs or learn rollers, this is the course for you! It wasn't too windy the morning I was there, but I can see that being the main challenge on the open holes.
There were some holes I liked - #5 is a very cool looking hole, slightly elevated tee to a long mound fairway, with the basket on the back side, at the end. However, if the parking lot that borders the left side is even partially full, it will really make you think about throwing on this hole. #15 is a mostly open hole, but a perpendicular line of trees guards the basket, you have to pick your hole.
As I mentioned above, #6 just feels forced and #7 uses the gravel walking path for too much of its length. On busy days, you could be stuck on that hole a while, waiting for the path to clear. I would scrap #6 (eliminating another interaction with the parking lot) and clear a path through the trees to a shorter #7.
Looking at the Park map, this park is so large and they gave the designer so much room for the course, I can see why he put in so many long, open holes. However, I would think a lot of advanced players would be bored with that much distance and not much challenge around the basket. And its just too much distance and too many boring holes for families (already in the park) and less advanced players.
Obviously, I don't know the budget or parameters for designing this course, but I think this alternative would really increase its playability - (after eliminating #6) break several of the open holes up into two holes, putting the baskets to the side with maybe some bush or tree guardians. Then the second tee on the hole would be also to the side of the existing fairway, so they don't obstruct the fairway. Make 18 holes in this layout, primarily in the area where, 1,2,8,9,14,16,17 and 18 are. Then for a longer (Gold) course, they would play these current long holes, plus the ones further away, 10-15, enough to make an 18 hole layout. (Kind of like the long, open holes at Renny.) That way, you would have 18 less open, challenging holes, and another 18 hole course for the big throwers.
I probably will return and play all the holes here one day, but the 12 hole layout I played gave me a pretty good feel for the course. I'm not going to let my feelings on the 8AM opening affect my rating for this course, I'm sure a lot of you aren't up at 8AM!!
However, the quality of the equipment and beauty of the park kept my review from going any lower.

If you live in the Charlotte area, and you're looking for a course to air out your drivers - then Rotary Club DGC is calling your name. Located in the beautiful and well manicured Frank Liske Park, Rotary Club DGC boasts long, open, grassy fairways where you will get the chance to see your discs flying in their full glory. The park features all sorts of amenities, including nice restrooms, benches, picnic areas, playgrounds, ball fields, a clubhouse, paddle boats, and much, much more. The course is outfitted with decent tee signs, numbered DISCatcher baskets, concrete tee pads, and plenty of space for you to bust out your high speed discs. Usually when I am playing at a Charlotte area course, I find myself reaching for a midrange or fairway driver on most tees, but here I usually end up throwing something with a much wider rim. If you find the distance from the Gold Tees daunted, fret not because there are additional blue tees that you can play from. Although there are two layouts, the rest of my review will be focused mainly on the Gold course.

Outside of holes 3 through 7, the course plays through mostly open, grassy fairways that are very forgiving. This means if you have new discs that you want to test out, this is a great place to do so. With an average hole length over 400 ft, this course will test your ability to gain distance off the tee. It is also a great place to try out different throws. Want to work on your roller game, here's a great place to try to bust one out!

Often when I've played this course, there has been a lot of wind. Which makes it a great place to practice that aspect of the game. Especially since most (if not all) of the baskets have flags on top to show you which way the wind is blowing.

There are a few holes that take advantage of some interesting elevation changes. Hole 5's basket is located on the backside of a grassy mound. Hole 6 plays in this weird half-ditch environment where the fairway steeply slopes down to the right. Hole 18 plays up a surprising steep hill. Usually the elevation changes are mild, but these three holes stood out.

The park does a great job maintaining the fairways, keeping the grass cut and fairways free of debris. There are also a couple of Igloo coolers around the course full of ice cold water to refill your water bottle. This was a really nice touch! Half the course has a pretty pond down the hill, which adds to a pleasant backdrop for the course, and makes the course feel pleasant to play.

Some of the holes have really awesome design. In particular, I loved Holes 10 & 11 for a one-two punch right in the middle of the round. Hole 10 is a big open shot with short trees on one side of the fairway and big trees on the other. This way you have options to try to shoot straight up the fairway, or go over the top of the small trees. Hole 11 is a nice little flick pitch that is tucked into some guardian trees.

I've heard rumors that Russell Schwarz had a lot of restrictions placed on him when he was designing this course. If that is true, it shows - because for everything this course does that it knocks out of the park in terms of quality), there is something else this course does that falls flat.

Despite having two layouts, the blue tees aren't concrete and it can be hard to find their markers in the ground. I'd love to see them become a bit more visible, and I think this wouldn't be an issue. But as they are now, for first timers, it can be incredibly challenging to find them. I still haven't seen all of them.

The most apparent is the sheer number of holes that take the concept of "open hole" way to literally; where the only thing you have to contend with on your way to the pin is the air between the tee and basket. This would have been fine once or twice, but it is done far too often for the course to be considered a destination course. The safest play shouldn't be a big hyzer on 80% of the shots you take.

There are a few holes that could be considered somewhat wooded, and these are not nearly good enough to make you forget that the rest of the course is in a barren, grassy field. Hole 3 could have been really interesting, but you're throwing through and open field to a blind gap to get into the woods, and the gap just really isn't shaped well to reward players consistently. Hole 4 is probably the most egregious poke-and-pray hole I have ever played. There really is no realistic gap to hit, and any that do exist don't really allow you to get near the basket without a lot of luck. Hole 7 would be a great hole, but two-thirds of the fairway follows straight down a walking path. You then throw through a gap to get into the woods, but this time it isn't a blind shot which makes it easier to score well here.

Hole 5 is a super disappointing hole for me, because I think the hole is actually really well designed. I love the tee location, the angle of the shot, the risk/reward of throwing out over (what I think must be considered) OB vs playing it safe down the grassy fairway, to a very interesting basket location on the backside of a grassy mound. But the OB I was talking about, which is also the straightest line to the basket, is a parking lot. I really don't like the safety concerns of throwing over a parking lot on a busy day (or monetary concerns from damaged property). If the parking lot were actually a body of water, this would easily be a signature hole on almost any course.

Hole 6 is a tough hole for me to judge. It is really interesting and challenging, but the treeline on the right side of the fairway would need to be pushed back just a tick right before the basket for it to feel like a solid hole to me.

I wish the tee signs had better maps on them. There are some parking lots and reforestation areas that are not designated on the map. Some felt like they should be played as OB, others would be really weird as OB, but none of this is marked. I usually play the parking lots as OB though, because it adds more challenge and excitement to the holes.

While Rotary DGC is a gorgeous course that has the frills necessary to become a destination course one day, it currently lacks some of the challenge/fun that nearby courses already have. The course feels more like it was designed as a basic outline, with room for the Parks Department or a local disc golf club to enhance the course and mold it into a destination course.

If the people who maintain this course were to talk with some other course designers in the area and strategically plant trees , bushes, or other obstacles around the course - then this would probably become one of the better courses in the state. Unfortunately, over the years, I have seen zero signs of this happening. So for the time being I am going to give it a 2.5 rating, and keep my fingers crossed that one day somebody realizes the untapped potential that is this course.

Favorite Gold Holes: 10, 11, & 15
Special Mention the concept of Hole 5

18 holes
Decent 5x10 concrete tees
Discatcher baskets

Only one concrete tee in a huge family park where newcomers could learn to play from nice short tees
Squandered use of wooded holes with odd doglegs and poke and pray entrances into the woods from an open tee shot
Hole 6 throwing at and likely into the adjacent ball fields is a disaster waiting to pull the course.
Distances that may test a pro, but no obstacles to challenge a advanced player on the open holes. Distances that simply discourage new players and kids.
Only one pin placement for lack of variety
Mostly flat and open greens for no putting challenge or fear of rollaways.

Definitely passable.
Not unique and mostly wide open
Wind can wreak some havoc on your throws (which may be the biggest challenge aside from odd wooded fairway shapes)
Many other users of the park tend to interfere with play, especially errant throws.
With as open and bland as the entire course was, why not kick it off with hole 1 playing 18 backwards??? You'd stand on top of a decent hill with a nice horizon view, lake at the bottom, to a basket 500' away and maybe 75' below for a potential ace run with a great rip!!!

-Note: In this review, I'm going to be immature. I will not act my age. So either quit reading, or grab a snack and something to drink. I'll pour some coffee.

-This course is wide open. So wide open that you could play it at dark if the park lights are on by then. Because you hardly ever see woods. It's perfect for testing out new drivers and seeing how they glide.

-The signs are helpful and they now mark the short pads. They can be hard to spot, but if look closely then you will be able to find them. They are easier for players that haven't been playing as long. The tee pads are also lengthy and the baskets are in good shape.

-I liked a few holes out here. I will also say that there is a good course in here somewhere.

-This is one of those places that is filled with open fields. Meaning that it was a place for Schwarz to design an open course. But every now and then, when he designs a hole, there is a great hole beside it, or somewhere in his designed hole, and he sucks all of the fun away from it and makes up something bland or just plain mediocrity in the woods. The open holes are so bland to where, from I've been told, ropes were set up in the C-tier back in June just to get people to sign up. Don't get me wrong, he's designed a few courses that are in my favorites. But those courses I am referring to do have a few letdowns.

-The open holes have nothing to them. The only obstacle you face in the open holes are maybe one tree and then basic math and physics. Just throw at the right height and right timing. The holes in the woods seemed unfinished, but intentionally because "That's part of the fun! Right?" Yeah sure.

-^^^^^ (Last statement was sarcasm). There are safety issues throughout the course. Usually doesn't bug me, but when the hole design isn't good, it does bug me. Because not only is there a road beside the fairway, or pedestrians walking, or a fenced field, but along with it you are playing a hole that isn't up to par as far as design goes.

-Frank Liske is the equivalency of a long boring sad song that's an hour long with a vocalist so monotone and sleepy. Or the equivalency of the song "Blurred Lines" because it's so long, boring, and sucks so much.

-You won't find a hole here that you will remember. You'll forget most of them after maybe an hour.

-Frank Liske is to disc golf what Virgil's is to Root Beer and what Great Clips is to hair cuts.

-It's like receiving the greatest customer service from a beautiful blonde-headed chick at a store, and then you see all the good stuff they have, and you purchase some of their items, and you see that you got ripped off once you try and use it. That's how I felt when I stepped on every tee.

-It's like the way I felt when I saw that Rockstar Energy made a strawberry energy drink. Called " Rockstar Strawberry Whipped." Got so excited when I took the first sip, and was so frustrated when I tasted it. It's a strawberry and a whipped cream taste put together. Nice move Rockstar. Guess what I'm trying to say is that this is a perfect place for a course, but you get nothing out of it.

Hole by Hole: (Mostly going by the golds)

Note: Bear with me. As you made it this far.

#1: I realize it's normal for the first hole to be rather forgiving, but it's just a slight downhill that is wide open. There are trees back behind the pad, but don't bother.

The short pad is another bland toss. A hole you'd see on a feckless nine holer.

#2: Back uphill, and there are some trees back there maybe 320' ahead. But the basket is not around those trees, it's short of them. Another lame hole. And the short pad is an ace run with nothing to avoid except a shank. Yippee!

#3: There are some woods to the left, that are taken advantage of. So I was like, "Hmmmm, this one might be good." But nope. Drive is a wide open hyzer into a gap you cannot see. Now you may have a perfect drive with a nice skip, but what's more likely would be the retention trees pointing at you and saying "F U!" But don't worry, you'll probably three it.

#4: WAAAAAAA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-HA- HA- HAAAAA- HAAA. Ca-HOUGH! Ugh. This hole is to disc golf what GG Allin is to rock music. This hole idea has number two shmeared all around it. No real fairway for maybe 250'. Rusty probably wanted a wooded hole without taking time to make it any good. Come on! Chester State Park = Great wooded course.

#5: There is a good hole in this one. This could be a neat sidearm hole and having the pad be lined up with the parking lot around the fence. But instead, Rusty wanted to make it over the parking lot but angled toward a big tree. Nice pin position on the hill though. JUST MOVE THE PAD DAGGUMIT!

#6: Again, could be a great flick ho.... "OH NO! Let's push the pad back behind the tree and make this a bigger challenge." This could be a great anny hole around the ball field, but Rusty rubbed tomato jelly on the steak and eliminated that option because there is a tree preventing you from throwing an anny drive. But to be fair, the short pad is similar to a good idea.

#7: Another good hole in there somewhere. The walking path is in play most of the way. My complaint is the upshot, it has some bad trees that aren't needed. Not that bad of a hole, but could be better.

The short pad is terrible. It's a goofy slight anny in the woods making it flumpergumpity difficult to birdie.

#8: Interesting tee shot from the gold with a couple of trees. The hole is a 550ish par 4 that is completely bland for 450 feet. This hole would be better off throwing toward #9's basket and placing the actual further down a little.

The short pad is a wide open par 4. Not a tree in sight. One of the holes that isn't needed here.

#9: It's hole 8 except the other way around. Boring, wide open until you get to the guarded green. Nice green. The short pad is a bit more appropriate as you can throw a drive down to the green from there.

#10: We've issued a good hole here. Gentle left to right par 4 about 650' with trees in play the whole way. Short pad is a bit more bland. Good hole from the long, but the only rational option.

#11: Decent ace run onto a well guarded wooded green. Good hole.

#12: Woods are to the left side, let's make another good one and make a nice dogleg. Nope, fun while it lasted. Straight par 3 through two available openings. And no room for an anny either because of hanging limbs. I think Rusty was prohibited from using the woods to the left.

#13: Open and downhill. A little longer for a par 3, but still reachable. I think this hole might be fun in ten years because I think I saw a few tiny trees. But if #12 was in the woods, you'd be playing a better hole 13.

#14: Long par 4. Wide open. Plays 700+. But the green is wide open, while there are trees slightly further up and left to where the ditch is in play. Good hole in there somewhere.

#15: Oh wow! Lookie here. There are woods and a left turn 360' ahead. Maybe make a nice dogleg left? "Nope! just throw it however you like." Go through the gap in the woods or hyzer around them.

Still an okay par 3. But screams wasted potential. This hole could EASILY be better.

#16: If #15's basket was where I think it should be, we'd be followed by another dogleg left, but with the water in play. But since #15 is straight ahead from its pad. We are greeted with yet ANOTHER FRIGGIN 400' bomb.

#17: May renew your faith a little. Neat downhill drive through a fair gap. Another good hole, if anything a great one!

Now the short pad is a corny forced hyzer through the gap right on the walking trail. BLEH!

#18: Yes! We have reached the ending. Hear me chant 2 Timothy 4:7. But ends with it being a bland significant uphill bomb with the basket wide open on top of the hill.

-SO MUCH WASTED POTENTIAL. If you like this course, you might be thinking "OH! That Ben guy doesn't know anything. He's not out there designing courses! HE'S A PUNK!" Well, you're two for three on that! But about me not knowing anything............,

Oh no! You are severely mistaken! I know how hard it is to get a course into a public park. It takes time to get the approval. But when it's given, put great ideas in and think. What would make disc golfer's enjoy this course? When the county pays the money they pay, or what volunteers give to regulate it, show that you actually care and put your best effort into it! If a bunch of red lights pass, then you should find another place to put a course in.

-I couldn't stand this course. I'm giving it a 1.5 even though my enjoyment was maybe a 0.25-0.5. As it is well maintained.

-A course with more potential has been exacerbated in many places. And much to my surprise, a few people I know that go to my college enjoy playing here when they are home. Well, just wait until you see more courses. You'll be hooked in no time.

-Russ has done better. I've heard Lake's Edge is a great course and think that some holes at The Bridges are fun too. Chester State Park, Tyger River, PIPELINE! Awesome course! But sadly, this course is boring. And if you get heavy restrictions on where you can put holes and they so happen to interfere with a great hole design, it may be best to say "This probably won't work out."

I updated the review. I do think Schwarz could've done better, but I should've realized that he designed some pretty awesome courses. It seems like he got so many restrictions placed on him, but said "Eh, it's all good." If I designed a course and had restrictions to where it's as boring as this one, I'd say "Forget it. I'll find some place else."

+ Numerous chances to air out some max distance throws. Few courses in the area can compare to Frank Liske in terms of raw length. This is a good place to test out some new distance drivers without worrying about hitting gaps.

+ Very windy. I'm listing this as a pro because few nearby courses offer the ability to master the effects of wind as well as Frank Liske, but depending on your perspective this could be a con.

+ Some variety in hole length. While most holes are long, and will require multiple throws to get inside the circle, this is balanced by a handful of shorter holes such as #1, #2, #11 and #12.

+ Superb tee signs.

+ Flags are on each tee and basket, and help players gauge the direction and speed of the wind. I thought this was a wonderful touch and I'd love to see more courses do this.

+ Beautiful property.

+ Various other amenities, such as a nice playground, tennis courts, etc.

- Numerous design flaws. #5 plays over the corner of a parking lot, and it would be easy for an inexperienced player to hyzer out early and hit a car. #7 has a busy walking path running down the entire fairway and a pin placement that seems poorly thought out. Various holes have you throwing at the park entrance road (10, 13, 14, 18). #4 just seems like a bad hole from a design perspective.

- The short holes are incredibly boring. While the longer holes at least have the raw length to make them somewhat entertaining, holes like #1, #2 and #12 are completely forgettable. #1 is essentially the same as setting up your practice basket 300' away in an open field, #2 is an easy, open sub-300' shot, #12 is remarkably easy etc.

- Way too wide open. It stands in stark contrast to the typically heavily wooded Charlotte courses, but it swings too far in the opposite direction. Its so open it gets boring, fast.

- Quite repetitive

- The course does not cater to any particular type of golfer. It is too long to appeal to beginners. It is too open and forgiving to appeal to advanced players. I have no idea who the target audience is for such a course.

Cutting my teeth on open bomber courses in Ohio, Frank Liske was a course I expected to enjoy much more than I did. I've played it a grand total of one time, and don't have any plans to make a return trip.

I feel the only redeeming qualities are the ability to learn wind management and the chance to rip some wide open bombs. Unfortunately many of the holes are essentially throwing at a basket in an empty field. They often don't feel like legitimate golf holes.

This is one of the least impressive designs I've played. Even ignoring the various safety concerns, the golf here is just plain boring. I'm someone that throws far and enjoys some open bomber holes, but even so I found Frank Liske terribly uninspired.

Its very unfortunate because various aspects of this park are top notch. The tees and the signage are absolutely fantastic, and the flags on the baskets are a nice touch. I feel like there was effort put into this design to make a nice course, but the person who built the holes doesn't seem to know what they were doing.

I don't view this as a destination course, rather I view it more as a place to come test distance drivers before you know them intimately enough to want to throw them on a more technical course like Nevin or Angry Beaver.

It's not very often I come away feeling like the course could have been so much more with a different design, but that is definitely the case here. Frank Liske fell very short of my expectations. It's a shame seeing what is an obvious effort to make a nice course be ruined by a poorly executed design.

I debated between giving this a 2.5 or a 3, and ended up going with a 2.5 because I feel its a clear step below courses I've rated 3.5.

The gold course is situated predominantly on a largely cleared hillside of typically rolling piedmont terrain, which is a part of a donated farm site. It is Cabarrus County's flagship park, offering a selection of activities typical of a large regional park. Driving the entrance road to the hill's top, gives one a preview of almost the entire course, which is unusually long and open, certainly considering this region's typical offerings. Rotary disc golf course offers the perfect opportunity to discuss the formal design concept of 'fairness' as it relates to disc golf courses. This review is 'limited' to the gold course.

Fairness, often the subject of controversy, is more of a Platonian ideal designers need strive for, but never reach. It is impossible to make any course perfectly fair. So in practice, fairness consists of a 'fair test of golfing skill', which determines the 'best' golfer. Therefore, fairness consists of a balanced and well-rounded test with opportunities to use precision, strategy, as well as power to negotiate the course well. This demonstrates consideration of players not only of similar levels but players of different skill levels, while allowing equitable competition between players with different play styles, or fortes, if you will. Fairness attempts to avoid favoring a particular play style over any another.

As noted, Rotary is very long and very open. Any competitor unable to throw 450' on command may fall way behind, unless he is matched with competitors of nearly equal ability - a highly contingent occurrence. Even strategy underperforms at Rotary, as the course is so open with so few hazards, placement is frequently and for all intents, irrelevant. This demonstrates exactly why Rotary is 'unfair'. As in the cases of some other area offerings, Sugaw Creek (vast preponderance of holes within a small distance range) and RL Smith (strongly favors counter-spin play), Rotary's imbalance intrudes on every golfer, morphing this track into a grinding endurance test. A typical exemplar being #18, a difficult, tiered uphiller, no doubt inspired by Laurel Spring's finisher. Thank goodness for the views, which are certainly the course's strongest aesthetic points.

It should be said that merely because a course is strategically lopsided, it is not necessarily a 'bad' course. Of course, if the desire is to improve one's distance off the tee and from the fairway, Rotary is excellent. Rotary features largely unobstructed putting. Sugaw Creek has very good pacing and tight-to-open variety. RL Smith exhibits superior use of elevation changes, a pleasant creek and is very secluded. So, binary evaluations lack quality and nuance. Formal design concepts are tools used to create situations where players may express the depth and range of their ability, as well as evoke differing moods and attitudes. Fairness is just one of these tools.

I know that many, if not most reading this consider me and ones like me to be dumb mass dinosaurs who don''t appreciate or understand the nuances of modern disc golf. Granted, we came to the sport in an era when DG courses were allowed to be a visible, intregal part of the parks in which they were placed, rather than being relegated to the woods and forests and sewer runs where they are most often placed today.
Rotary is a grand exception to that practice, with holes of open air and green green grass, with just enough truly wooded holes and holes with trees well placed in play to NOT be boring or monotonous. Every shot is a golf shot as every shot is made during a round of golf. This course allows driving for show, so that you can putt for dough. And dependent on one's skill level and distance off of the tee, Rotary can well test one's fairway game, with a vaiety of distances and approaches to the basket on the Par 4's, as well as the longer Par 3's, which most of them are.
Equipment is excellent and amenities are outstanding. New DisCatchers and big beautiful concrete pads at the long tees, and superb signange. Well spaced and placed benches, along with trash and recycling receptacles spread throughout. And this course has the two most magnificent amenities that I've encountered on a disc golf course; two permanently constructed water stations at the 10th and 15th tees, complete with paper cup dispensers. The one at 10 was pretty much empty, but I was able to reach between the slats to tilt the cooler forward to get a couple of cups of cool water. The one at 15 had plenty of very cool, maybe even cold water, which was SO much better than what I had in my water bottle. .

Course skill level designation and par assignation. This is NOT a Blue Gold course, unless it is meant to be the the most ridiculously easy Blue Gold course ever constructed, especially considering the Par assignations like calling Long 5 a Gold Par 4. Though much of the fairway does run alongside a bordering forest, it is primarily an open hole and shouldn't be rated as a 4, even if designated as Blue. Guess that that might fall into that tweener category, but I believe more in tough one step lower par assignation that I do in easy one step up assignation. The Par assignation of 3 for the short #7 is also miscalculated. That is a HEAVILY wooded hole, so that even at just 275 feet, it qualifies as a Red Par 4, and Rotary IS a Red/Blue course. I've played it twice, both times from the shorts, and have shot a little under par both rounds. I am not, as I've never been, nor ever shall be, of a skill level to break par on a legitimate Blue layout. Well, maybe once in a Blue Moon. But certainly not the first two times I play it, with only one bogey during those 36 holes.
The blue discs marking the short tees are adequate, and are generally easily findable, as they are well marked on the signs at the back pads. I do hope that Cabarrus P&R, the course named sponsor, and/or a local players' association will replace them with pads at some soon future date. But they are all well placed on level ground and generally give not only shorter, but variously angled runs to the baskets.. .

Though this type of ball golf style, mostly wide open course is not all that popular and well received, for my personal preferences and proclivites, Rotary is damned near a perfect disc golf course, in a very pretty, picturesque park with TONS of other activities, from ballfields and tennis courts to picnic shelters and playgrounds, to boats on the water. For somebody who learned the sport on courses such as Hahamogna Park, La Mirada, Bryan Park, Cedarock, Johnson Street and Barber Park, Rotary Club DGC is a most welcomed addition to the North Carolina DG scene. I wish it were closer to home.
If the short tee discs are replaced with pads, with similar signage as that at the back tees, with the occasional bench and receptacles and the color designations change to Blue/Red and both levels are reassigned to Par 60, this would be an absolute, beyond phenominal 5 in my book.

This course has 5* star features!
Beautiful, spacious concrete tee pads (For the yellow tees)
Accurate, color tee signs. Also in great shape
Manicured, landscaped areas
Trash cans a plenty! Recycling cans too, which is a nice touch

This course has all of the things needed for a 5* rated course...except challenging disc golf

Although mostly boring, there are several fun and challenging holes winding in and out of the limited woods.

Can be a great area for practicing the long bomb drives.

This course really has the "ball golf" feel thanks to the tee signs, trash cans, crosswalks, warning signs for other park users, and even water coolers!

Aside from the disc golf, this course has it all! A great place to bring your family. Ball fields, sand volleyball, playgrounds, picnic shelters, a lake, even mini golf!

There are TWO sets of tees. The "Yellow" tees are the concrete pads next to the tee signs, where the Blue tees are simple Innova round markers fixed in the ground.
Although the blue tees are natural tee pads, they do offer a shorter, different look at most holes.

Given the land/trees/elevation situation, this course does make the most of the available land.

A small, but nice touch that I really apprecaited were the warning signs placed throughout. In areas where a pedestrian trail nears the disc golf fairway, there are signs warning others. Very nice

Although a beautiful park, and well manicured course, there just isn't much in the way of a challenge here. Most of the holes consist of long open field shots in the neighborhood of 300-600' with a few scattered trees that sometime come into play

The wind.. Not the courses fault, but due to the open field nature of this park, it seems there is almost always wind. Although educational, it can be a bit annoying constantly dealing with the strong winds

The park, being as impressive and packed full of great activities does draw a lot of people during the peak hours. Inevitably they end up finding their way onto the fairways. Dogs/runners/families/bikers etc.

Several fairways play right along popular walking paths. Not only a safety concern, but can be annoying waiting for a break in the foot traffic.

Great park, great course amenities, but an unfortunate lack of difficulty and challenge.

I would still recommend playing this course if you're a local, but if you're just visiting or passing through, there are better options in the area.


Cliff notes:
Beautiful park with tons of family friendly things to do, beautiful disc golf course. Mostly open long bomb (boring) holes.

This is a very well manicured course in a really wonderful park. All tees have accurate maps of the hole layout as well as directions to the next hole. (don't forget to check after you tee after... it's not always obvious!) Most holes also have baskets for both trash and recycling as well. Despite being a pretty active park the layout manages to wind around in a way that helps keep disc golf separated from the other activities going on for the most part. There was also at least one water cooler on the course, and most (if not all) tees also have a bench.

Course is extremely monotonous... there are a few slight elevation changes and a handful of holes that wrap into the woods. For the most part, however, you are just throwing into wide open fields. This is a no-drinking, no-smoking park; most holes radiate from the road leading to the parking lot, so you area also out in the open for the vast majority of the round... very little shade...

I'm not really sure who is the target audience for this... most of the holes seem too long to really allow beginners to enjoy the game, and it's too boring to provide much challenge for more veteran players. This is definitely a park that happens to have some disc golf baskets more than it is a disc golf course. If I lived closer or if this course was closer to some others I would consider playing it again. As it is, it's not worth the 30 minute drive from uptown Charlotte

The course designers did the best they could with what they had to work with here. Holes 1 and 2 make up for no practice basket with them being pretty open and simple. holes 3-7 are the best part of this course. All are in and out of the woods making the front 9 feel like a fun course for the area. the signage is awesome and the flags on top of the baskets help with trying to see what the wind is doing on this mostly open course. the shorter blue tees are what I first played here before I got a big enough drive to play the longs and there great for newer players. the Mandos 15 and 17 help add something to the back 9.

The back 9 does get a little repetitive at times. the course is so open it is unplayable on windy days. the geese tend to get in the way on 17 and 18 and you sometimes have to clean there poop off your shoes before you leave. The blue tees could use some kind of better indication then just the markers in the ground and a dot on the map at the back tees.

This course tries. It really does. So I'm not going to knock it to bad. It is a nice course to work on big arm stuff or new disks or to shake the dust off if you have't played in a while.

The course is kept quite nice. Strong winds most days. Room to practice booming.

Not enough technical shots. This is not like any other course in the area. Most Carolina courses are based in the woods, which I prefer. I can only play here every once and a while because it gets old quick.

Reading the previous reviewer I noticed a lot of odd reviews. I actually enjoy holes 1-7. The rest are basically the same shot over and over.... and over. Yes holes 1 and 2 are simple but they are a fun ace run type hole. As a lefty I usually have a different perspective on fairways and I really like hole 4. The previous reviewer said "discs don't fly that way" and the only thing I can think is they don't have a good tunnel/turn over shot. To each their own.

I would like to see them plant some more trees out there at the lease.

Frank Liske has great land, and is in a really pretty park. It appears to be safe. Teepads are sufficient at around 10'x5' Probably could have been textured better but time will tell on that one.
This course is ok for what it is good for. What I mean is, that it is a wide open course and it is good for practicing wide open up slight up hill and down hill shots, with some wind added in. It has baskets and teepads, so it makes what would be field work a little less monotonous. Signage and amenities are great, there are bathroom, and every tee gives you a feel of being in a country club. They even have golf course trash cans and a water station (that is handy when it is filled.) You probably are not going to lose a disc here and you can really practice your long throws. My favorite hole is #10

Man, I visit every few months to see if my last impression was what I thought it was, and it always is... disappointment. To have such a poorly conceived layout on a large property with a park department that obviously is hands on, is a real downer for the sport, IMO. Holes 3-7 are one of the worst stretches of holes I have played and they are 60% wide open! (Ill clarify, they are some of the worst use of land holes I've played). So many of the holes at this course are ALMOST fine holes, but then a twist, turn, odd pin placement or odd distance ruins the great hole. This appears to be a common design strategy for the designer of this course. The roller coaster of the initial AWESOME, ugh the basket is where? is tiring. Holes 1-2 are ok blah open 300' holes. #3 you hyzer into a narrow gap that you can't really see from the tee and hope you fight through pines into the woods. 4 is just a bad hole. A 370' par 3; the first 185' being a tight S-shaped low canopy fairway through pines out to another 185' uphill wide open fairway. A disc simply cannot traverse 185' of a slight U shaped (turning right) 15' wide fairway tunnel shot, then miraculously turn left and go uphill 200'. Discs do not fly like that. It is another example of a design philosophy that does not match reality. Then #5 ugh. It appears the designer saw some neat shade trees and a side hill green, BAM! you have a dangerous 450' elevated shot over a parking (lot on the hyzer side). Hole 6 is a big side arm, I guess, but they just planted trees in the fairway; to a teenie tiny green. I usually skip this hole it is so bad. 7 is a par 4 50% straddling a walking path that always has slow moving traffic just spaced far enough apart that you have to wait 10 minutes to throw. Hole 11 is kind of a technical shot, at 230' BUT as with the rest of the course there is just that one thing that ruins it. You clearly see #13's basket instead 70' beyond, way more visible and Id bet most first timers throw to that. There was so much open space #13 could have been 200' away from # 11. #15 could have been something special; 350' shot to an opening in a woods line with a beautiful pond backdrop in the distance. Nope, you are asked to throw a 320' shot to a 30' gap where the basket is 90 degrees and 60' to the left, hidden in the smallest green imaginable.. it is impossible to reach. Unless 5 feet from the basket, all putts are impeded. I didnt cover all the rest of the open holes. They aren't conceived well. 450' par3s 550' par 4's With the openness of the course. The par threes should be in the 350-415 range and par 4's in the 650'+ range. They just end up being tweeners and kind of boring.

So ...Holes 4-7. # 4's basket should have been just outside the gap a nice technical 300' par 3. Then a tee box and a throw across the field to where 5's tee is.(#5) Then another tee near the woods for a technical shot to the woods by 6's teepad. Transition through the woods and #7 is a technical par 3 with no walking path involved. Just eliminate 1/2 of 5, all of #6 and half of #7. That would be WAY safer and reduce frustration. I play this course every time I am in the area for field work practice, but Im annoyed most of the round if I look at it from a design point of view. I really like having teepads and baskets to aim to but thats all I get out of this course. I think moving a few baskets and some quick changes to teepad locations would really help its layout and playability. All the flags and stuff don't do much for me. You can see most of the baskets, Id much rather a great design, kinda like putting lipstick on a pig. Despite this review. I would suggest people try this course. It is so different than most Charlotte courses, and it is valuable to practice the open throw.

-very nice concrete tees and signage
-great, clean park that is family friendly
-flags on top of the baskets
-makes reasonable use of the obstacles available
-plenty of parking
-great amenities

-lots of long, wide open holes
-tweeners and NAGS
-holes 5-7 have possible hazards: parking lot, ball field, jogging path
-not enough variety, feels repetitive

i really think a shorter course designed with the beginner/recreational player in mind would have been a better choice for this park

Frank Liske Park is exactly the kind of community park I'd like to have near me. It is large, clean, well-maintained, and has a nice family atmosphere. The addition of a course was a great idea and the trimmings of the course are well-executed with excellent tees and signage.

That said, I wish this course had been designed as a Red/White level layout. For such a family oriented park, a beginner-friendly track would be a better way to bring attention to the sport. Of course, it's easy for me to say that since I don't live here but I think I'd still prefer my closest course to be a fun rec course than one that tries and fails to be a good blue level course.

Some of the longer holes don't really do anything to make the holes more interesting or increase the challenge. Some of BrotherDave's comments below are pretty accurate (except I liked hole 5 how it is, minus the parking lot). I think 5, 9, 15, and 17 are the best on the course. 1 and 11 are easy but fun for a beginner, 3 and 4 try to be decent and maybe 10 could get more interesting as the trees grow in some.

I can see how some people really like this course since it is rather different from the other courses in the area, the amenities are great, and it fills the gap for an 18 holer in Cabarrus County. However I also think most of the previous ratings are a bit inflated. A worthy course for locals and visitors in the close vicinity. Not a draw if you're just passing through the area, there are better courses that aren't that far.


**Like this review? Hate it? Message me and let me know why! I want to make them better!**

The best part about this course doesn't have much to do with disc golf. Amenities are terrific as the park is really nice. The concrete tees are very well done and tee signage is pretty good. The land is well-mowed and maintained. Little flags atop the baskets are a nice touch.

Design-wise, at its best the course is really monotonous, like a bland folk song. Then it gets a lot worse like that song skipping repeatedly. Throw long and straight, repeat over and over with gimmie putts and NAGS (not a golf shot) galore thrown in.

If you've got a really big boy arm, you'll be bored to tears b/c it's mostly deuce or undramatic birdie/par on par 4's/3's. If you aren't David Wiggins/Avery Jenkins/insert random long throwing Pro here, you're also bored from repeatedly dropping hyzers into your putting range after pointless max drives. I say pointless b/c this course suffers horribly from lack of scoring separation. My brother and I could have played a 1000 straight rounds and I'm positive that the difference would be just a few strokes. Good throws are rarely rewarded and bad throws are rarely punished.

Variety wise the course is really poor also. So much unremarkable straightness it's like being in a Southern Baptist Church. The only hole with some character is hole 5 and even it plays across the corner of a parking lot and I don't think they got the pin placement quite right. Hole 6 is just bad, too close to the ball field and unrewarding green. Hole 7 is just straight up wack. A very popular jogging trail is the fairway and then the basket is just randomly tucked into the woods w/o any discernible fairway to it (A Schwartz trademark). Holes 11-13 seem terribly forced and odd-fitting, hole 11 screams filler hole. It isn't uncommon to see multiple baskets from a tee or multiple tees from a basket that seem logical so getting mixed up is easy to do. By hole 15-16 I was ready to run down to the water and hijack a paddle boat to make a break for better courses in Charlotte. Hole 18 has some of the best elevation used on the course and insult to injury they use it backwards, a boring slog uphill.

The course is pretty flat so not much elevation change but what there is seems to leave something to be desired. I like throwing in wide open fields as much as the next guy but there are some trees here that just seem blatantly avoided in certain sections of the course. Not much to work with but still better than nothing; this is one of the most obstacle-less courses I've ever played. You'd need copious amounts of artificial OB and obstacles to make most of these holes worth a flying f*$&.

Holes 15 and 17 asked me to hit a gap! (hole 15 didn't give me much of a putting green though).

Literally no one is going to play the short tees here. They're natural and marked by hard to see blue disc-shaped circles.

The park is absolutely gorgeous. It's very, very well maintained. Tee-pads are nice and long. Baskets are top quality with flags on top. A lot of long holes for big arms.
There are two holes with water coolers by them that are refilled often.

A lot of long holes for big arms. Yeah, it's a plus and a minus. They've done very will with what they had to work with. The open holes do get a little repetitive but they've tried to do things to mix it up like putting the T-pad right behind a large tree or making you shoot through a large gap of woods. The wind can really affect your shots sometimes.

I think there are a few things that could be done to make this a really top level course. Put in more obstacles and out of bounds markers.

If you watch pros play open course online there are often markers/flags and such to mark out of bounds and make the hole much more of a challenge.

They could also do some things like a ring of hay bails around a hole or a big wooden fence you have to through through like the Winthrop course has. I do know that they have planted some trees to aid in the design of some of the holes like #6 is by a parking lot but they've got a row of trees there that will block the parking lot when they get full grown.

I love that it's on my way home from work too.

The teepads, signage, and baskets are top notch.
The park itself is beautiful with plenty of activites for any non-disc golfers in your group.

The course is not for your typical disc golfer. While the rest of the park is designed for family fun, this disc golf couse is not. Too many Par 4's and not enough Par 3's for family play. It is wide open and designed for players with "big arms". It seems to have missed its target audience if it was designed for the people who most visit the park.
It was not windy when I played it, but it will be a "bear" when the wind blows since there is very little to break the wind.

Very nice course but too long and not technical enough for the finesse player.

This is a test of the DGCR reviewing system. We will see how long it takes anybody to notice this. I deleted this review on 6/6/23.


Will anybody notice? Based on recent trends, none of them are reading this.

Great course for beginners and veterans, it offers a variety of good ooen shots and a few nicely placed strategic shots. My personal favorites are the 600ft + holes as it gives you a chance to just rip it. Hole 3 is the first of obly a few wooded spots on the course but Im sure that will change in time as the course matures with the additional trees they planted around the more open holes. Discs are sold in the park which is a nice change from other parks in the area. Multiple water coolers throughout the course also make it a joy to play.

Needs more seating at the tee pads and trash cans. Some more technical holes would have been nice but that is by no means a deal breakerfor me as I love the wide open layout. As a few others have mentioned there are a few danger spots, hole 5 which crosses the corner of the parking lot, and hole 6 as well one stray disc and you may hit somones car, hole 7 shates the fairway with a crowded jogging/walking path and is frustrating sometimes b/c it gets crowded.

This is by far the best course to play in the concord/kannapolis area. I would highly recommend it to just about anyone new or old to the sport.