This has to be one of the greatest backyard courses ever. In a relatively small space---far too small for 18 individual holes---they've packed a ton of disc golf fun, and a few unforgettable shots.

The place is beautiful and peaceful; some pretty extreme elevation in a gorgeous hardwood forest. The amenities, and the work that's been done, are absolutely jaw-dropping.

Having made the best of an unfortunate situation, they've squeezed 18 holes in by overlapping them. It is, essentially, a 9-hole course where each hole has either two very different tees, or two pins in place from the same tee.

It's all wooded and pretty tight, not a con in itself unless it's not to your disc golf taste. Unfortunately, there are also a number of holes with trees in the fairway so that, the first 200' may be well-defined but the last part of the disc's flight is more prayer than technique.

I describe Brackett's Bluff as a "backyard course" because it's like that---a relatively small area with a lot of baskets and a lot of ways to throw to them. Except that it's the backyard course to beat all backyard courses.

Others have mentioned the clubhouse, and it is impressive.....unless, of course, hanging around is not what you're looking for in a disc golf course.

There is absolutely no way you can play this course and not be overwhelmed with appreciation for what they've built, and the obvious time and effort that have gone into the tees, fences, retaining walls, decorative items, clubhouse, and the rest.

Private course with 18 holes over some great terrain, ravine and steep elevation through mostly woods with nice brick paver tees and Discatcher baskets. Some great basket positions with a couple par 4s. Nice benches and protective fences near the tees and baskets that play close to other holes. Ladders and steps to help traverse the terrain. Neatly manicured property. Nice unique course features like a tiny water fall, small pond, trampoline, and a massive boulder with a basket on top. Some lights for night golf. Club house, pro shop, and vending machines. Primitive camping available.

Overlapping layout with a few crossing fairways and several holes using the same tee or basket.

It really is unfortunate what happened with the previous course design(s) and the land dispute because I could easily see why people gave this course 5 disc rating when that land was previously playable. This course page should probably be RIP'ed as an extinct layout and have a new page for reviews since the major redesign. Despite that, this course is still one heck of a course with some of the more memorable holes in the Charlotte area. Definitely a course to check out if you like a chill atmosphere and playing some unique holes over steep elevation and woods.

Bracketts Bluff is probably the most well maintained course I have ever played on, and I appreciate that as a disc golfer. Most every hole is played in the woods so get ready to get your accuracy game on. There are many holes that make you shoot in between two trees or go around one main tree which can be a lot of fun or make for a long day. It tests your elevation game as well with a lot of uphill tees shots. But probably my favorite thing about Bracketts is the absolutely creative pins. The coolest one I think is the hanging basket. Literally a pin hanging 30 feet over a gully and no bottom to the cage and a 20 foot net drops your disc down to you. So cool. And right before that they have to pin on top of humungous bolder. Two very cool pin locations. And the sideways trampoline on hole 1 is very creative. I usually hate 90 degree holes but when you can bounce it off a trampoline that makes it really fun. Being a private course I do like that they have a pro shop, so bring your wallet. Every hole has very nice benches and even a broom to brush off the tee boxes which I thought was an awesome touch.

The main reason I gave Bracketts only a 3.5 is that I guess I was expecting a little more. Which is not there fault but for one, they just changed the price from 3 dollars to 5. Which again is not to bad, but just expected more than what I got for 5 bucks. A high majority of all the holes use either the same pin or same tee box, which I am not a fan of. All though there are signs to the next hole, if your playing without a veteran of the course it can be a bit difficult to navigate. The pro shop is not much, maybe a half wall, mostly Innova but hey, at least they have one. And last but certainly not least, I would have not known where this course is if my buddy would not have talked to someone who had played there before. The address DGCR gives gets you close but you need to go down a very "unlikely to be disc golf course" driveway on the east side of Shearer Rd. Which the big yellow rock is almost not yellow any more and its probably the size of a basket ball, and you follow the driveway all the way to Mr. Bracketts house and the Pro Shop "Shed" is to the right. I may have just had this vision that the course was more than it actually is.

Not to take anything away from this great disc golf course. It is a well, and I mean well maintained course with very unique holes, but I don't know if it deserves a 4.5 Average rating. It has its great things and a lot of potential and Dave Brackett and the Brackett family do an absolutely phenomenal job on the up keep of this park but I feel there can be more. I don't know if it is from the recent layout change but I am not a fan at all of sharing pins and tee boxes but you got gotta do what you gotta do. I just see it hard for me to play it more than 20 times a year to get my moneys worth for a season pass, especially when the Charlotte area is littered with Grade A disc golf courses. But its defiantly worth even the 5 bucks every now and then.

Bracketts's Bluff is a major conundrum. The current, overhauled course is a great one with some great holes, including new ones that didn't exist before. If you never played the old, epic layout, you'll never know what's missing. But, for fans of the old layout, oh how it feels like there's a major void.
- When it comes down it, this course has that 'it' factor of offering both a tremendous fun factor and plenty of challenge. There are parts of this course where you feel like you could be in the mountains (look around you while standing on the tee at #11) or deep in the woods, rather than being on the outskirts of a metropolitan area.
- That said, you have to love how Brackett's is a disc golf scene. How many other people do you know who have built a clubhouse for their course on their property? Intentional or not, after the nature preserve fiasco, I like how the Brackett family ratcheted up their efforts to make this even more so of a disc golf scene. We don't need no stinking' nature preserve for our course.
- There are some great holes here, with plenty of challenging layouts throughout the entire round. There are 21 holes in total, with some layouts being used twice. A couple of these duplicates could be eliminated (more about that in the cons) if you wanted to eliminate the weak links.
- That said, you've got some great elevation layouts, the best by far in Mecklenburg County, even better than Robert L. Smith. I loved the uphill/downhill combo of #4 & 5. #3 has always been an amazing hole, being a survivor from the original layout. Both layouts for the Rock hole (#11 & 20) are awesome. These holes can leave you with one of the most daunting putts anywhere, with the big drop-off right behind the basket. And the closing hole (#21) has an intimidating looking tee-shot, followed by a lovely stroll straight up the hill towards the basket. This is a steep uphill shot, which reminds me a lot of #14 at Ashe County in Jefferson.
- Overall course quality. The upkeep here is amazing. This is where the public vs. private debate is completely one-sided. Most public courses won't get anywhere close to the TLC that Brackett's gets. There are trashcans, benches, even brooms on many holes. Tee pads are in great shape as well. For a course having holes playing so close together, it was actually very easy to navigate the layout. The course essentially is a very rough looking, very uneven figure 8 layout, which you play through twice.
- Course puts a big emphasis on accuracy. There are no big-arm, open holes here. There are longer holes (350 feet plus) or uphill holes that play long, but even on these, if you're not accurate with your tee shot, a big arm won't matter. With the accuracy emphasis, there's plenty of risk/reward going on here, especially with some strategically placed baskets.

I'm not going to rant about the whole Nature Preserve dispute that led to the redesign. If you don't know what happened, it's a moot point. If you are in the know, you know a ton more than I do. Whatever happened, the end result is that the course got knocked down a peg or two in its overall quality level. You lose that much land, and nearly half of your holes, there are going to be some consequences. To the credit of Dave & company, there's still a great course here, with just a few flaws. I will not focus on the holes that were lost, rather point out a few concerns with the existing layout.
- A couple of the duplicate holes could be done without. #2 & 14, 8 &18 and 9 & 19 are all essentially the same hole with only a slight variance: 2/14 play from same tee to a baskets that are 50 feet apart. 8/18 is different in that #8 is teeing from a higher up a hill, but both end up playing straight ahead to the same basket. 9/19 have tee pads 25 feet apart to the same basket. One simple way to remedy this repetitiveness is to create a safari-esque hole, teeing off #18's tee to the basket for 9/19. That gives you one long hole with a completely different look. Oh, and just eliminate #14 altogether. By doing this you now have 19 holes instead of 21, but I think this is a case of less is more. Other holes share a basket but they offer such variety, they are two different holes.
- There's little to no penalty here for playing safe/boring. Without any long holes, one could realistically throw play the whole round with only a midrange disc/putter and still see par on every hole. If you throw straight/accurate and 225 - 250 off the tee on every hole, you're going to see 3s on every hole. I feel the elite courses force players to pull out every type of shot/disc in a round. That's one of, if not the only, thing missing here.
- With the course being so tight, it's very easy to throw onto other holes, or into other groups. When this course is crowded, you'll have to keep an eye on other holes as well.

Here's my thought about the Nature Preserve land dispute. Regardless of the cause, it's a shame some great land is now going to waste. What was once well maintained green areas have become unkempt fields with tall grass. This land was once enjoyed by many, now the government website boldly proclaims "AT THIS TIME THIS NATURE PRESERVE IS CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC." It might just be me, but that seems like somebody (or elected somebodies) missed the boat on this one. Not the most efficient use of government land and money.
- Even with overlapping holes/baskets, I'm not sure how they squeezed 21 holes into this land. It's a true testament to some people with quality eyes to use every inch of land and create this many great holes.
- With that said, the redesign produced my favorite one the course: #16. It's one of the longer holes, a true par 4 that includes all aspects of the Bluff: woods, elevation, drop-offs, a risk/reward factor, and attention to detail. A well placed tee shot on this hole will result in a second shot to a basket protected by a ravine in front. End up in the ravine and you get to enjoy climbing up the ladder after a straight-up shot. A three is a real possibility at this hole, as is the chance for a possible blow up score with one bad shot.
- There is a lot to like at the Bluff. The old layout was in easily in the top 5 courses I've played. The new layout can't match that elite level. The course now is now very comparable to Glenn Hilton and Robert L. Smith, with the Bluff being the best of all three.
- Brackett's should be played by any serious disc golfer. It's not the same layout, but it's still a solid course. And whatever this course can't offer, you can get with a solid 1-2 punch while playing at Bradford afterwards. Or, if the clubhouse ever got a tap added, you might never leave this place.

It is really unfortunate what happened with the beautiful land lost at Brackett's. This course used to be in my top 5 and had some of the best and most beautiful holes I have ever played. While the new design is a lot of fun and the course is perfectly manicured and has a very homegrown and unique vibe, the course really doesn't come close to the old course. Definitely give Brackett's a shot if you have a chance and contact Dave about playing if you are not a member.

This course does have some truly unique and magical things like beautiful elevated rock greens, custom teepads, groomed fairways, and crazy gullies and ravines.

Don't play this course if you don't enjoy the homegrown crowd. The course is pretty tight so if you don't enjoy tight fairways you wont like this course.