Charlotte Bachelor Party

[uNicedmeMan]

Piggy backing on this thread

Planning a bachelor party for my buddy and thinking Charlotte might be the move. Thinking Thursday-Sunday and looking for some suggestions on the following:

1. Courses to hit.
Is Winthrop worth playing without the lines?

2. Where to stay.
Looking for a nice blend of affordability/proximity to the courses we should play/nightlife.

3. Nightlife.
My buddy is big on craft beer, what would you recommend in the area? Good music venues?

 

[Olorin]

Planning a bachelor party for my buddy and thinking Charlotte might be the move. Thinking Thursday-Sunday and looking for some suggestions on the following:

1. Courses to hit.
Is Winthrop Gold worth playing without the ropes?
No, not at all, unless you like long wide fairways that you just throw full force shot after shot. Even the Lakefront course is nowhere near as enjoyable as many Charlotte courses. And Lakefront is very hard to navigate and figure out. You guys would get really frustrated.

But to answer your question about courses we need more information...
What is your player level? Do you have a PDGA rating?
Skills will probably vary in a group like that so what is the skill level of the least skilled players?
What kind of courses do you like? Woods courses? Open courses? Short courses that you can score well on? Epic courses that beat you up? Charlotte has it all, so describe more about what you want.

 

[Olorin]

uNicedmeMan,

If you can get groups of 5 similarly skilled players I suggest that you play Wolf. It is alternating partners and takes lots of pressure off of individual performance.
Ript cards would also be great for a Bachelor party, but players need to be of similar skill level or the better player will win most of the cards.
Even a game like Worst shot doubles could be fun for your group.

How many guys will there be?

 

[uNicedmeMan]

Let's see.

The bachelor is by far the best of the bunch (980ish rated) but we are all used to and like challenging woods golf. Looking at ratings and proximity to the city, I've got canaan, renny, nevin, and hornets nest, is that a good start? I was thinking a lax doubles/triples event would be cool, do any area courses have something on Thursday/Friday/Saturday?

 

[Olorin]

Renaissance Gold is my #2 All Time Top Favorite course! If you go to Renny, then stay and play all 3 courses onsite.

What is your favorite course and your home course?

 

[bhadella]

When do you plan on visiting? NC currently is under a Phase 2 for COVID so bars are closed and it's 50/50 on breweries being open. Resident Culture is my favorite Charlotte brewery but they are only selling cans via drive-thru; no on-site drinking right now.

Nevin and Hornets Nest are 5 minutes away from each other and pair well together. Both are excellent courses. Renny Gold and Camp Canaan also pair well together. All four of them are in the 960-980 rated for par rounds. Bradford, Idlewild (also known as Scrapyard), Kilbourne are all mature, well designed courses in the area. If you venture North (Stumpy Creek) or South (Chester) you will find more really good golf.

Normally staying in Uptown (what we call Downtown in Charlotte) is the best area for nightlife, etc. Typically on the expensive side for hotels but with virtually no business travel I bet you could get a good deal.

 

[uNicedmeMan]

Homecourse: Woodsboro
Favorite Course: Tough to say, so many in the mix: Maple Hill, Heros (dunno if it's still around), Warwick, The Blockhouse, Hawk Hollow, Druid Hill

 

[uNicedmeMan]

When do you plan on visiting? NC currently is under a Phase 2 for COVID so bars are closed and it's 50/50 on breweries being open. Resident Culture is my favorite Charlotte brewery but they are only selling cans via drive-thru; no on-site drinking right now.

Nevin and Hornets Nest are 5 minutes away from each other and pair well together. Both are excellent courses. Renny Gold and Camp Canaan also pair well together. All four of them are in the 960-980 rated for par rounds. Bradford, Idlewild (also known as Scrapyard), Kilbourne are all mature, well designed courses in the area. If you venture North (Stumpy Creek) or South (Chester) you will find more really good golf.

Normally staying in Uptown (what we call Downtown in Charlotte) is the best area for nightlife, etc. Typically on the expensive side for hotels but with virtually no business travel I bet you could get a good deal.

Good stuff.
We are planning this for May '21, HOPING things are normalish by then...

 

[bhadella]

Good stuff.
We are planning this for May '21, HOPING things are normalish by then...

Yup. If you can lock a good deal in on a nicer Uptown hotel I'd stay there myself. If not; Huntersville, Ballantyne and University City have hotels and food/bev in some proximity.

NODA, Suffulk Punch, Legion, Wooden Robot, Heist and Resident Culture all make good beer and are great places to hang and eat.

The smaller venues in Charlotte that book good shows are Visulite Theatre, Neighborhood Theatre and The Fillmore. We have a 5000 seat smaller outdoor amphitheater (Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre) and a bigger 20000 seat amphitheater (PNC Music Pavilion) in the area. The Whitewater Center also books decent acts and is a great place to hang.

 

[uNicedmeMan]

Are there low-key/local-hang type craft beer bars in the uptown area? Not sure if that makes sense but like funky/non-tourist trappy spots.

 

[Olorin]

Mint Hill is a really fun 9 hole course that gets overshadowed among all of the great, epic Charlotte area courses. And there's Elon. I'm a noodle armed intermediate level player, so I think the Eager Beaver is more fun than the Angry Beaver.

 

[Discette]

Let's see.

The bachelor is by far the best of the bunch (980ish rated) but we are all used to and like challenging woods golf. Looking at ratings and proximity to the city, I've got canaan, renny, nevin, and hornets nest, is that a good start? I was thinking a lax doubles/triples event would be cool, do any area courses have something on Thursday/Friday/Saturday?

Canaan and bachelor parties do not mix. No alcohol and no smoking and no shenanigans allowed at Canaan. Play Canaan in the morning while you still have hangovers or you are waiting for the breweries to open.

 

[uNicedmeMan]

Canaan and bachelor parties do not mix. No alcohol and no smoking and no shenanigans allowed at Canaan. Play Canaan in the morning while you still have hangovers or you are waiting for the breweries to open.

That's a good tip. Any courses on the opposite end of this spectrum?

 

[EarthRocker]

All of the rest, basically...

It sounds to me like you're going after the best of the Charlotte courses, with Nevin, Hornet's Nest, and Renaissance. Those are all really great examples of NC golf, and you and your buddies can play in whatever state of mind you prefer.

BUT: Canaan is a killer course. Feels like a different world down there, all bamboo and leafy vegetation. Soil is sandy, so it never really feels wet/muddy. Aside from the no dogs/alcohol policy, it's one of my favorites, and I can't recommend it highly enough as a golf destination. I've seen people get away with some rule-breaking down there, but that's an At Your Own Risk deal.

 

[JKieb704]

Nevin, Hornets and Renny are all tough, challenging courses. Challenging, but great (and must-plays if this is your first time playing in Charlotte)! You'll definitely be tired after those rounds...
Some that are easier on the arms and legs are: Kilbourne, Reedy, Sugaw and Scrapyard. These are all fairly close together and are classics in the Charlotte disc golf scene.

 

[uNicedmeMan]

All of the rest, basically...

Meaning alcohol is tolerated most everywhere else? Still illegal? Any courses where alcohol is permitted?

 

[EarthRocker]

Meaning alcohol is tolerated most everywhere else? Still illegal? Any courses where alcohol is permitted?

First: Bill Hicks is the man.

Second: all the Mecklenburg County Parks have a no-alcohol rule. We've found over the decades, from softball leagues to non-sanctioned DG events, that being circumspect and responsible about one's intake tends to cause temporary blindness in anyone who might happen to care enough to say anything about it - from other park users and rangers to law enforcement personnel.
In other words, be respectful of others and don't be out there doing keg-stands. It may not be strictly legal to have some beers out in the woods, but neither is it something that is enforced with any prejudice.
Been doing it for a quarter of a century; never saw, or even heard of, anyone being given a ticket or hassled in any way. They care more about dogs on leashes than anything else.

There are some private courses around that do NOT have rules against alcohol. Brackett's Bluff is one I know of for sure. And that's a fun track, well worth playing. Make sure to donate generously if you go.

(The thing about Camp Canaan is that it is owned by a church. I try to respect their wishes, but I still have a few cigarettes while I'm out there. And I never litter, so....no one ever knows...except me and their God.)

Edit to Add: Short answer: yes, alcohol seems to be tolerated if not condoned. Sorry!

 

[superberry]

I lived there for over 18 months. My suggestions for solid, mainly wooded courses with elevation that challenged me as a 966 rated played, but were still mostly fun -
Nevin
Stumpy Creek (was my personal favorite by far, NEVER busy and some insane holes)
Bradford
Ready Creek
Renaissance
Elon

As far as breweries, I have no clue what is open, but I love hazy IPAs, so would recommend...
Heist in NODA
High Branch in Concord
Sycamore in Midtown
Wooden Robot
and Legal Remedy is an awesome smokehouse/brewery a few blocks from Winthrop, which makes it worth the trip for sure. The course is solid, although open, without ropes

 

[uNicedmeMan]

Looking at an air bnb near renny, would that be a good home base for this trip?

 

[sidewinder22]

I think I would rent the cottage/course at Wintersun and take a trip up to Sugaree and Ashe Co. You would be closer to Asheville than Charlotte which is probably better for music and beer, but could still take a trip to Charlotte easily. Charlotte courses are good, but kind of overrated IMO.
https://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=9942