This is a review from someone who is currently fairly new to the game, with a noodle arm. I'll attempt to assess both one time (traveling) play, as well as repeatability.

This course is a fairly tight wooded course with some demanding lines. A course guide might be recommended if possible in order to point out the available lines to the basket.

Despite statements that the course is "short", I'm not sure that this is really the case. The course plays at 4478 feet and only has a single set of tees. By PDGA Course Design guidelines, this is essentially at the length limit for a single tee course, as they require a "recreational level" tee be available at every course. Thus, for new players, this course actually plays quite long compared to what you are used to. In comparison to what is likely the most celebrated course in the area, Valley Springs DGC, the average length per hole of about ~250 feet is the same as the White tees there.

What the course really lacks is a second set of tees for more advanced players. It appears from other reviews that at one point someone installed some version of these, but I saw no indication that they are currently available.


So from a "new/rec" level player perspective, here are the pros:
- You definitely feel tested by the course. Even a par here feels well earned.
- You will be asked to throw distances and lines which have not yet been asked of you, if you have heretofore only played the rec tees. This will begin to stretch your game.
- There are some quite interesting holes, with elements like significant guardian trees, or basket grottos, that ask you to get creative either on your drive or, more frequently, your upshot.
- Apparently this course used to suffer from not being "beat in" enough, but that is no longer the case. The fairways and greens on the course are quite defined.

- See all of the things mentioned as pros. Any and all of those, and especially the combination of all of them, could be also cons for the rec/new level player. Most holes seem to ask something I am not capable of.
- Even throwing a putter just into the gap mostly isn't really a good choice. You are frequently left with a tricky 150 foot shot without much of an attackable line.
- The navigation is absolutely atrocious if you haven't played here before. There are walking trails crisscrossing with the DGC beaten in paths and no signage anywhere indicating the way to the next hole. For example, #13 is 200 yards away from #12 basket, over a road, tucked deep behind some trees near a baseball field and no pathing signage. The tee signs only have yardage. Be prepared to scout. (I'm tempted to go out with some cheap survey stakes and just add some indicators of pathing at some point).
- The course doesn't seem like it is quite well maintained enough. I have a feeling that some of the intruding branches into the fairway from relatively young trees aren't intended to be there.
- Sometimes I just couldn't see a line to the basket at all. Holes that require you to push straight for 100 feet and then turn sharply for another 150 don't seem to be in my wheelhouse at the moment. Some holes have quite the variety of seemingly random trees in the fairway 50 feet past the only hyzer gap that would let you get to the basket otherwise. Good shots frequently seem to be punished.
- The par 4, despite being another reviewers favorite, seems more like an exercise in plinko. The best play seems to be to lay up with a putter and then throw well right or left of the basket and hope you get lucky when you crash back in. I think removing about 10 trees, 4 of them already dead, would improve this hole quite a bit.
- Hole #9, in order to get to the basket, requires you to hit a 5 foot gap about 100 feet off the tee, and then stay in a 5 foot wide tunnel for 50 feet. If you hit a tree without clearing the tunnel, you likely won't have a path to the basket for your upshot. It's only 191 feet, but it seems fairly capricious to me.
- It is an NC woods course with some low-lying areas and a nearby pond. Bugs and poison ivy abound, but that's NC for you.

- After having played this course twice, I feel like the replay value is much higher than it is for single time play.
- I could see coming out here at intervals to see where my game is, now that I have an idea of what to do on the course.
- That said, I won't be trying to play this frequently. Despite having similar scoring on the Valley Springs course from the white tees, I felt like Valley Springs was far more fair.

So, altogether, I'd probably skip this course if I was only going to play one round, but otherwise I'd say it's worth it to get a chance to test your game, or even push it to higher levels, if you are still a relatively new player.

Anderson is a short, wooded course on the western outskirts of Chapel Hill/Carrboro. Of the three public courses in Orange County, it's a distant third for intermediate players and up. UNC is the must-play; Southern Community is above average and worth the trip if you have time for two courses. I would recommend Anderson if you like very wooded courses, want to work on your short game, or if you're a course-bagging addict and need that notch on your belt. But if you plan a special trip for the express purpose of playing this course, you'll be disappointed.

+ Very short, but still a decent challenge due to the narrowness of the fairways.

+ Beginners can manage it, because it's short, so this course would be acceptable for introducing someone to the game. I wouldn't say it's *great* in this respect (reasons below in the Con's), but it's OK.

+ Good mix of hyzer, anhyzer, flick, and tunnel shots.

+ Decent elevation changes.

+ Up-to-date tee signs with correct yardage.

- My number one and two gripes on this course are the mud and the underbrush. You'll ruin a pair of shoes, lose a disc, or both. I like wooded courses, but I also like a nice, relaxing round of disc golf. I didn't really get that here. I was worried about footing, trying not to slip in the mud, avoiding poison ivy, and focusing on retaining discs as opposed to having fun or shooting well.

- To go along with safety and worrying about slipping, the green carpet tees were a struggle. (Disclaimer: I have terrible knees and probably worry about this more than most.)

- No navigational signs directing to the next tee. Most of the time, the trail is easy to follow and the next tee is close. However, after hole 12, there's a long walk across the road and no signs pointing to #13. You have to hunt for it. (It's by the left field line of the baseball field.)

- The 17th fairway was a jungle river when I played it. The entire fairway was mud or standing water and the underbrush was so thick, I didn't find it walkable or playable. After skipping 17, I couldn't get to 18 either, as it is behind a fenced in dog park.

- If you're looking for a much better wooded course, Southern Community is 10 minutes away. That course has short, medium, and long pin positions, which rotate in the winter (longs), spring (mediums), and summer (shorts). The Southern Community short layout offers an equal challenge to Anderson. It's slightly longer, much fairer, has less mud and underbrush and a higher fun factor.

Anderson Park is worth playing if you want to up your course stats or practice upshots and putter drives on a wooded course...but there are better alternatives in the area.

This course was surprisingly challenging. The fairways are very tight and the course has some angles that aren't seen too often.

On face value, the course seems much like so many wooded courses in the area. But this one might just test you more. It's tighter than Valley Springs. The holes are generally longer than those at Bethesda or Southern. It is worth at least one round.

Additionally, it boasts the best teepads that I've seen. I'm not usually one who cares too much about tee pads. Don't mind dirt if there is a quality sign but I love the turf here.

Unfortunately, much of the challenge stems from two factors. First, many of the angles are cut sharper than a disc is supposed to go. Many of the holes cut to the left or right so early that there is no chance go right to the basket from soem short holes.

The bigger issue is the plinko nature of many of the fairways. The fairway may not be actually tight. It will just have trees scattered across the middle of it. There are many holes that really don't offer realistic paths to the pin.

And while the first twelve flows pretty well, it is impossible to find thirteen without a map. I can't even recommend a next tee arrow, you would need about a half dozen to direct people there. Just bring the map or memorize that transition before you go.

Taking a bunch of key trees down could make for some nice flight paths. The fairways are fine. Just take down the individual trees blocking the middle of them.

Layout - It's a short tight and technical type course that's all in the woods. Requires you to be very accurate through tight gaps on hyzers and annys.

There's a bit of elevation change on some holes.

The underbrush off the fairway is fairly thin here which is a plus because it's so tight and you'll find yourself in it.

There are multiple tees here but only the longs have pads. The shorts are a good way to practice upshots in the 120-200 range.

Overall it's a good place to work on your short game and shaping shorter shots.

Equipment - The baskets are in good shape. There are signs showing the hole # and distance. There's a map at the beginning.

Atmosphere - It's an fairly nice park, not the most pristine or best looking wooded course you'll ever see but it stays fairly clean. There's never anyone here so if you want a quiet round all to yourself this is the place.

Layout - For what it is it's just to tight. To many single trees were left stuck in fairways that makes getting to the basket more luck than skill sometimes.

Highly repetitive, most holes are just a short hyzer or anny and in a few places you can't even see the basket even though it's short.

It's just not a fun course to play. It's boring and a bit frustrating at times when it shouldn't be. I think the designer just tried to hard to make it difficult when he should of thought about playability first.

Equipment - Only the longs have a pad and those pads suck. They're turf and in more than a few places they're not level. Some of the worst pads I've seen.

I wish the signs gave you a pic of the hole layout, especially since some shots are kinda blind.

Atmosphere - There's better looking courses in the area and because this one rarely gets played there's bugs and spiderwebs everywhere. I'm pretty sure I got chiggers out here.

I don't like this course and there's much better choices in the area. It's not terrible and there are steps that could be taken to make it much better but it's been open a while and I don't see anything happening in that vain.

It's just incredibly repetitive and needs to have more trees chopped down. If you're coming in from out of town go play UNC, Leigh Farm or Valley Springs before you come here.

The course has nice discatcher baskets and is rarely crowded. It is a good place to go if you are into tight wooded courses and you can throw EXTREMELY accurately. I don't know if the turf tees are a pro or a con. There are many other nice park amenities, even a dog park.

In my opinion, this course is way too tight. I have spoken with some other players in the area and most of them agree with me. Also, there isn't much variation to the course. Almost every hole is just throwing down an insanely tight fairway that bends either left or right at the end. When I was there, not all of the tees were finished, so I had to throw from an empty wooden box with uneven earth in the middle. There were no trash cans or benches.

If you are looking to play a game in the woods, head over to leigh farm, valley springs, or cornwallis. They are all very close, and have not-too-tight fairways, unlike this course. Even though this isn't my favorite course in the chapel hill-durham area, I am still glad to have it. If nothing else, it encourages you to be more accurate with your throws.

DISCatcher baskets, very good use of signs and directions on signs telling you where to head.

No concrete Tee Boxes, no realistic hole in one opportunities, few birdies. Way too many trees, no ground clearing, lots of stumps and ivy. Tee box placement not well planned on most holes, some have trees impeding back swing. TICKS GALORE!

Disappointing Russell Schwartz design. In one years time could be good course with lots of hard work and numerous trees removed on each hole. Unlike the 2nd review of this course, I experienced little to no elevation change, and I did not keep track, but would guess 13/18 holes are dog leg lefts. Also make sure to park immediately when entering the park, the DGC is to the right and has a print out of hole locations.

It is another DGC in the Chapel Hill/Carrboro area, but almost not needed. If you want challenging heavily wooded holes, I would suggest traveling 5 minutes down the road to Southern Community Park.