I really enjoyed my round here, it gives you a full round of disc golf in a great setting.

Layout - The course is set up well so that it flows in and out of the woods to mix it up. The open holes really let you rip it and the wooded holes demand accuracy through gaps and placement around the basket. The fairways are also extremely fair in that the longer holes give you more room to operate while the shorter ones really pack it in.

The greens here are well placed, you'll really need to set your shot down in the right place to have a good putt. I'd say the course does a good job of creating risk/reward with nicely placed OB and punishing rough if you go offline.

I really like how the course uses the elevation in the park. Although more than few holes are relatively straighter shots you really don't notice it because each hole has a unique look to it.

Multiple teepads on some holes but both are definitely aimed at more experiened players which is nice in its on way. I played the shorts and was still given ample oppurtunity to bomb some drives.

Some of the holes have you throwing over topped cedar trees which throws a different aspect in to the course that you don't see on most courses.

Equipment - Brand new baskets and teepads; the teepads are large and close to the ground which is key when you have a long course like tihs. There's a bathroom and vending machine in the parking lot which you swing back around to near mid round.

Atmosphere - The park is a great place for disc golf, some really beuatiful holes out there. I love the cedars and how they are utilized. It's a pretty secluded place, not sure how much the park is used regularly but not many people were out there when I played it.

Not many cons to this one, and a few of those are really just because it's so new.

Layout - While the course does make you have length and accuracy it doesn't force every shot you have. More holes are straighter shots and that's primarily what keeps me from rating it higher.

I think the addition of more basket locations would really serve the course well to help mix things up even more.

Equipment - I don't think there were any benches or trashcans out there yet but it's new and that stuff will come. The signage is just numbers and with the long blind shots on some holes that could be a problem. I had a guide but I can see that being frustrating to people new to the course.

Atmosphere - The course still isn't beaten in that well and you can tell it's still a work in progress. I'd like to see the immediate rough off the fairway open up just a bit and that will come with wear.

I had a blast playing this course, it really sets up to what I like about disc golf. I love to get out and drive and this is a drivers paradise. Even the wooded holes let you rip some mids down the fairway.

Go play this course, your feet on the ground will only make it better and it's a great experience.

brand new concrete pads at all holes,a few holes have long tees as well. tee signs are nice and simple. the course is only a few months old but has a finished feel to it, its like its been here longer than it actually has. good mix of open and wooded holes, open holes are fun for big arms.. and the wooded holes are technical enough to even things out, the rough can be just that... rough...didnt see much in the way of trash, so people have been picking it up as they play...always good to see. every time i get back out there, something new has been done. the crew of workers doing the course work are busting ass...

location... not way out of the way, but enough that i dont seem to get up to huntersville, for the traffic in that area is horrible.really no big cons as far as the course goes...

this is a really great piece of land, and it is used well, great design...i cant wait to see what the longer open holes look like in 5-7 years...the charlotte area is truley blessed to have the amount of top quality courses at our dispossal

Really solid course. In terms of Charlotte, probably one of if not the most well-rounded course around. A little elevation, great tees, short holes, long holes, open holes, wooded holes, water in play, this course has a little of everything. It's like a smorgasbord of disc golf holes, a sampler.

The course flows really well, design is quite good as no two holes feel the same. Concrete tees and accurate tee signs give the requisite amount of polish. Feels like it would appeal to a wide range of skill levels as some holes definitely favor bigger armed vets but none really punish too much in terms of tight fairways or being rife with obstacles/OB.

The variety really stands out, it's a hard course to dislike b/c it's wooded enough to appeal to NC traditionalists and open enough to appeal to those that like to let'er rip.

This isn't a con so much as a warning: Hole #12 is a tough cookie to crack. You'll need some decent D (300' or so) to get to the bend of this fishhook. The drive is a good bit downhill so that's not too bad. The bend is pretty acute though so the farther your drive, the better. Here's where it gets rough. The basket sits on a modest finger of land with a nasty, brown reservoir to the left and a steep bank immediately right and behind it. So you're approach needs to be done with surgical precision. Tough but thinking man's hole that one.

I'm not usually a complainer of this but I think this course would greatly benefit from having a picture of the hole layout on the tee signs, especially for holes like 12.

Some of the long tees look dumb, like hole #2. It's just a wee bit longer but sits in a hole. Maybe I'm just biased against teeing off from inside a bunker.

I'm also not fond of using water catchment areas and reservoirs for well, water. They're just gross and ugly 8/10 times, purely an aesthetic con as design wise they're used well here.

Be wary of the creek on the back 9, it gets very deep like a gorge (elevation, not water depth) and if I had little kids with me I'd be worried about them falling in or off the many large boulders.

This course is very pretty, if more of it was like the holes on the back 9 with its gorgeous rocks and mountain creek, I'd be in love. The open holes kind of brought me back down to Earth.

After a 2nd time playing, I really appreciate the balance of the open to wooded more. Highly enjoyable round of golf.

It will be interesting to see how this course ages. The 2 holes that play over the forest of little cedar trees, for example, are basically just open holes but as they grow I swear it's going to be a wall b/w the basket and tee. There's lots of nice land here, so there's room for adapting.

Large Tee pads
Beautiful layout
Well groomed fairways
Large greens
Short and Long pads.. "big difference"

Needs better signage..

A true gem to add to a already amazing collection of courses in the Charlotte area. This one is a little different though. It seems like your in another state. Each time you walk to the next tee pad you are blown away. Each hole is different from the next. To me that make a great course. In time it will be the nicest in Charlotte..

Excellent mix of open and wooded.
Plenty of elevation, both uphill and downhill.
Literally almost brand spankin' new discatchers.
Solid mix of shots required to have a good round here.
I personally find the thick trees along the fairways a pro, as long as you hit your lines, you don't have to worry about it being a con : )

When I was there( two months ago) I can't remember any big flaws, maybe a lack of trashcans and benches.

Per usual my pros and cons sections suck, so I'm just going to tell you what to expect playing the course.

Lots of cool holes on this track, hole sixteen is one of the cooler holes i've seen in a while, definitely my favorite one on the course. A shorter hole, straight downhill with a tight gap, with water coming into play at the bottom, very cool view from the top.

Hole 12 is another one of my favorites, cool par four with water left of the basket, and a steep rollaway green to the right of it, be patient and play it smart.


This course blends everything almost seamlessly, a nice mix of distances and hole shapes, it's always nice to be able to use every disc in your bag, and I definitely did that here.

When I played there wasn't concrete tees, and I haven't looked at the other more recent reviews to see if there are now...alright i just did, there are now teepads which makes this course even more excellent.

I feel like this is one of the more balanced courses surrounding the Mecca. Definitely one to play if you're nearby, and as I got to play with a whole bunch of locals, this course will only improve.

When you drive by Bradford Park for the first time you see a basket on a rugged looking hill, a big open field, and lots of trees You will also see softball fields and a playground and you think to yourself "is this course worth it?" That's what I thought when I stumbled upon this course in suburban Charlotte. I decided to try it out not realizing it was new. The first few times I thought, this course has potential with cement tees in the works. Those are in on all holes as of last week and it makes this course one of the best I have played. There is a mix of wooded holes, tight fairways, elevation, and open holes. There is even some water that can drown your discs as well. The front nine has a mix of wooded to open shots and wide open shots. I like #2 because it gives you a chance to launch a disc as far as you can. The use of terrain throughout the course is great too; there are downhill shots, throws that go around large rocks, and even unique throws over small bushes on two holes that are like anything I have seen on a disc golf course. The signature hole on the course is #12 which is 500+ feet dog-leg right with a large dead tree as an obstacle and water coming into play on your second shot. I think with the new additions of cement tee-pads this course overall is one of the best in Charlotte. And it is a must play for someone who wants a challenge, or is just playing for fun.

As much as I praised the course above I do have to say there are some cons to the course as well. It is still rugged and throughout some of the wooded portions there are holes in the ground you could turn your ankle in if you aren't looking. Also, in some spots there is standing water after a hearty rain that will be in the middle of the fairway. I assume in the summer the course won't be as fun to play because of the the amount of insects that will be flying around. Lastly, for more advanced players some of the holes may seem short, but dual tees are in place on many holes on the course.

There is plenty of parking for the course, they have a practice basket, and the the course doesn't get too crowded, but enough people come by and play so it's not empty. It is still a little bit rugged but it has come light years from when I first played it months ago.

Good distances
great mix of short and long holes, wooded and open holes, and use of elevation
Each hole has a sign with distance to basket

when it rains, things don't dry out well.
Could get a little lost, no maps of course (but the course does flow pretty well)
Good luck finding your disc if you land in the hole-12 pond

There are plans to add more long tees (from what I'm told). This is a very enjoyable course to play.
For me, Holes 13 & 14 are difficult to traverse since I'm a stay at home dad and I usually am pushing a stroller.
Even with the fallen trees on these holes, they have cut parts of them out so that people can get through.

Bradford park is a solid addition to the Charlotte/Mecklenburg County disc golf scene. It's not the most challenging of courses (maybe it will be once all the long layouts are finished), but offers an enjoyable, refreshing, change of pace.
- Course is suitable for casual to intermediate-level players. From the short tees, only two holes are longer than 375 feet, with 14 of the 18 in the 200 - 310 foot range. If you can throw accurately, you're going to see your share of birdies, or at least avoid high scores. There's also the open field on #2, as well as the soccer field near #12 & 12 that give you a place to practice throwing.
- It begs you to be aggressive and shoot a low score. Fairways aren't tight on the wooded holes (think Reedy Creek) nor are the woods overly thick, so even if you hit a tree with your tee shot, you should usually have a chance to save par. Even on #8, if you miss a "landing zone," you still will be able to advance your shots forward. 5 years from now as some of those tree get bigger, this may not be the case.
- It has a good variety of holes - from wide open holes to wooded, holes with water to ones with some decent elevation. There are also some hole layouts that are unique to other Charlotte-area courses. #9,10 & 16, the three shortest holes on the course, all had very cool layouts.
- Solid use of the limited elevation that's available. #10, 16 & 18 have the most "extreme" elevation, but plenty others use it well. For example, #4 is a slight downhill, 305 foot hole with basket nestled by a large rock and a small creek.
- Course is almost completely isolated from the rest of the park, so very little chance of running into others. Only places where there could be issues are: #11 (behind basket), #12 (road on left side of fairway) & 18 (parking lot behind basket). I felt like I was out in the country in the back of the course. So much so, in fact, that when I stepped into the opening from #7 to #8, my first thought was that it'd be a great place to camp. That is if parks & rec let you camp on DG courses.
- Course is very "November" friendly. There are some wooded courses around Charlotte (Kilborne, Nevin, Stumpy Creek amongst others), and probably everywhere, where you can lose discs in the fairway with all the leaves on the ground. When I played this the first time in late November, I was impressed that the wooded holes were easy to play, and locate discs, with all the leaves on the ground. The only think leave area I noticed was behind and to the right of #17's basket.

You have your typical "work in progress" issues here, so you can understand those. The biggest issue had nothing to do with that.
- Retention ponds/large puddles that comes into play on #2, 3, 12 & 15. I had issues with them on a variety of fronts. They're way too close to baskets, and come into play a lot more than they should. On #2, if you're just a little long, you're going to end in the water; on #12, if you're slightly left of target, you're in the mud puddle. That doesn't even include any disc that may roll down the embankment into the water. The water is brown and murky, so even if your disc is in a couple inches of water, or just a foot or two in, you're not going to see it. If your course is designed to attract beginners/casual players, chances are they're not going to be the most accurate of throwers, or carry many discs. You should never have a high "lost disc factor" on a beginner-friendly course, at least not that close to a basket. A simple barrier, or fence, even to stop discs from rolling in, would go a long way to helping.
- There are a lack of amenities throughout the course - trashcans, benches, water fountains or bathrooms. There a bathroom behind #11, but I don't know if it's always opened.
- Tee signs need to be improved. They're only hole number and distance. I had to walk a couple holes to find the basket before throwing.
- Other basic new courses include: dirt tee pads, better signage needed between holes (and to the first hole) and an updated course map.

Bradford remind me a lot of Sugaw, both in difficulty level and layout. Just like Sugaw, and Reedy Creek, it's a good course to bring newbies to. Other than the water holes (listed in the cons), there aren't any real blow-up holes, where you could easily shot double or triple bogey if not careful.
- As the course keeps getting improved, I'd like to see more holes with true risk/reward elements. The average player could play it safe here and shoot 18 pars in a row, without facing much danger.
- I think #4 could be an awesome hole if the basket was placed 40 feet back, on top of the big rock. It'd bring the hole further back into its nook and bring small creek into play (there's no lost disc factor with the creek), which could add risk/reward with stroke penalties.
- #9 was a fun, potential ace hole. It's a 200 foot, straight hole, with big trees running along the entire left side of the fairway. Basket is just left of center enough, that you can't throw it straight off the tee, or you'll hit one of the trees.
- This is definitely a good change of pace course. It's not far from Bailey, so you could hit up two beginner/intermediate-level courses. If you don't mind sitting through the traffic snarl on NC 73, this is worth checking out.

18 holes with a decent mix of open and wooded shots. The open holes are a nice change to a lot of the technical wooded courses in North Carolina. There is also a few pretty long holes here that add to the variety and fun.

Not much elevation on this property, but the course does manage to use what there is. Nothing dramatic, but it doesn't take much sometimes to change a shot or disc selection.

Signs at all the tee pads showing hole number in HUGE writing and the distance to the basket also.

There are some painted wooden arrows and orange ribbons to aid in navigation right now.

A lot of straight shots. By my count there are 12 holes that require you to throw pretty much a straight shot. Not a ton a shot shaping to be had.

Signs are there, but they don't show the hole layout at all. For holes like #2 that is 610' up hill and blind, or #8 which is 710' and blind better sings are almost a must. I also had to walk almost the entire 565' #12 before I could find the basket.

Anything else that could be considered a negative here is mostly due to its age. Once this course is fully finished and broken in it will be better.

Overall this is a pretty good course. It has a few unique things that will make it worth playing once in a while. The variety in hole lengths and open versus wooded holes makes it nice. Sometimes it's fun to get out of the woods a little and watch the discs fly.

I'll also be interested to see how holes #8, #9 and #11 play as the trees they play through grow up. Right now you can throw over the trees as they are mostly 4-6' tall. But down the road those holes are going to present a heck of a challenge. #8 from the shorts has the chance to be an infamous 360' tunnel shot.

I like using the boulder on #10 to hide the basket. Putting the basket on top of the boulder has been done so many times, it was nice to see something a little different here. They could always use the boulder as an alternate position in the future if that's what people like.

Overall this course is definitely worth a stop. Right now it has the same issues any new course would have, but with age and tree growth this may turn into a very challenging course that will flat out kick you in the teeth. Just another good round in the Disc Golf Capital of the World.

12/12/13 Update: Course has come along way since my original review. Everything is in great condition, and in top shape. Tee pads, signs etc are all well done. This course is truly a fun round. Lots of variety, and a good change of pace if you are used to the
He tight, heavily wooded courses in NC.

Great use of terrain. Very creative layout of the course to use the trees, valleys, and water to add some difficulty to the course. The baskets are brand new Innova discatcher baskets with deep baskets and forgiving chains.

The biggest con I can come up with on this course is the distance between baskets and the next tee on a few holes. There are no trash cans or benches at this time, but I am sure that will change in the relatively near future. Permanent tee signs have been installed with yardage but no description (not that a description is really needed since most of the holes are visible from the tee. Concrete pads have not been placed yet. If they make the pads level, this will be an awesome course.

I have been anxiously awaiting a new course to open closer to where I live. I finally have one I will love to play as often as I can. This course offers some wide open holes and some tight fairways. Absolutely fair fairways on every hole. Some creative obstacles (a huge boulder blocking the number 10 basket, a tree within feet and in front of the 9 basket - how I aced this I really don't know). There is a 575ft dogleg right par 4 that I thought was crazy when I looked at it, but upon playing it I thought it was perfect.

When you get to the #2 tee (short), you will see two baskets in the distance. Throw for the one on the left.

Finding the next tee is easy due. Just follow the pink ribbons hanging on the trees or the Orange paint at the bottom of a few baskets. The only exception to this is finding the 16 basket (still not difficult - just take a moment to scan the trees once you find yourself on the asphalt).

If you find yourself in the area, give this course a look. You will not be dssappointed.

I usually don't rate a course that I design but I was encouraged to update my initial review that introduced Bradford when it was raw. We have a really nice putting green that welcomes a player to throw some mid range throws in its direction from the parking lot. About a third of the green is in the shade of trees for putting out of the summer sun. All holes have well built concrete tee pads, most are 5'X12', except on some of the shorter holes. Tee signs are on every tee pad, both short and long. The benches, done by local Jerry Adams, are unique and beautiful cedar benches and are on every hole and tee pad. The course flows well. If you are short on time you can play 1-4 and then 14's tee is near 4's green so you can play 14-18 to complete a 9 hole loop. There is a restroom and water faucet after hole #11. The gentlemen who maintain the course, the Bradford Brigade, are carving some longer tees and longer pin placements as part of an ongoing improvement. They have boxed in and backfilled some of the tee pads that had dropoffs behind them, which allows for more runup. The open holes with cedar trees continue to get attention and trimming. All in all, I think it is a well balanced course that is fun to play and is still challenging.

There are places that the rough can make finding an errant shot challenging. The muddy pond that lurks out of sight on #12 can be tough for a first time player on the course. There are some transitions that still need to be more obviously marked.

I am proud of the guys who have stepped up to maintain and improve the course, Schleppy and Bravethrower in particular, although there are others who are loyal too. This course will continue to morph under their loving care.