Brevard College is a small college in the foothills of the western North Carolina mountains about an hour's drive from Asheville. It is a beautiful campus with a remarkable sports complex for a college its size boasting a football/soccer field, large track, and many tennis courts, ball fields, and basketball courts. Adding a disc golf course feels like a natural fit.

The disc golf course itself has a mix of short, medium, and long holes, mostly par 3's, and provides open field style holes, park-style holes intermixed with large trees, and a few woods holes to boot. The first hole begins near the track and then the next four holes play around the outskirts of the track next to a creek that winds its way along the right side of the course. The water never comes into play, but it provides a nice aesthetic. Hole 5 is the longest on the course providing a big bomber opportunity that finishes towards the creek along the tree line.

After hole five, make your way over the field toward the little church and you will find a number of holes in a park style, with large trees that you must maneuver around to get close. Most of the holes here are in the mid to upper 300's, so rec players (like me) will need to keep their drivers out. The golf here is fairly straightforward and makes for some easy pars.

Holes 12 and 13 move around a large hill back toward the parking lot, but then hole 14 plays back up the hill (this appears to have been a previous hole, hole 16). This is a beautiful hole and makes for a challenging shot. Holes 15 and 16 are two wooded holes along the side of the hill, fairly short and birdie-able as long as you miss the trees (I did not). Then, Hole 17 plays along the top of the hill and hole 18 travels back heading down the hill for a technical 207' ace run.

Some perks: The signs are small, but easy to see and the tee areas are clearly marked. The baskets are high quality, with numbers of the holes on the pole inside the chains so you don't get confused. There are navigation signs near the baskets directing to the next tee. I liked the variety of holes on the course, some hyzer, some anhyzer or forehand (I'm RH), and the mix of styles means this course doesn't get redundant.

There are many improvements that could be made to the course.

First, the natural tee areas are not in great shape. I played in the winter, so the tees tended to be muddy and slippery. Even right next to the tees was not always conducive to good footing. Holes 7 and 10 play from similar areas and I had to work hard not to pull a groin. The college needs to put in some concrete or turf tees.

The signs were not very descriptive. They provide the hole number, distance, and par. Some of the markers had old, faded maps attached, but they were not very descriptive, meaning I had to refer to the course map a lot just to find the right basket for each hole. Larger signs with hole maps would be a big improvement.

Though the baskets are of high quality (decent Mach New 2 baskets) they are painted a dark blue and often difficult to see. They sometimes had flags on them, but the flags were quite small and not always the brightest color. I like to be able to see where I am throwing, so something brighter would be quite helpful.

The thorns are pretty bad, my friends. If you get off the fairway at all, you are met with a thicket of thorns the concentration of which I have rarely seen. It's my fault for making the poor throw, of course, but I'd rather not have my blood drawn while trying to get back to the fairway. Cleaning that up would be beneficial for the overall experience.

The design does not make much sense. The first five holes play along an area that is open with finishes into the tree line. These holes are actually the best of the course, in my opinion. But then to get to hole 6, you have to walk a quarter of a mile across a field. Plus, holes 7-10 are all played in a park-style area and feel a bit shoe-horned in. Holes 12 and 13 appear to exist just to get you back to the highlight of the course, which is the hill you finish on. Those holes are a bit contrived and unappealing.

The overall experience of playing this course was below average. I have played some terrible courses and some fantastic courses. This is somewhere in the middle, but leaning more toward bad than good. The overall experience was not a lot of fun (which is an important factor for me).

I am aware that this course has gone through at least one redesign, so the lack of intention about its design is explainable. But that is probably the thing that was most frustrating about the course (except for those tees!). It didn't flow naturally from one hole to the next. It didn't provide interesting holes that I was excited to play.

That said, with some improvements, this course could be a solid 3.0 course. It certainly has some potential. But for now, I will have to rate it below average. Until those improvements happen, I doubt I will make the trip again.

Good use of limited space on campus. A much more inclusive course that is approachable by beginners and the general community, as evidence of vastly increased usage after the redesign. Good signage for the first time in many years.

Highlights:
Hole 5 is a bomber, 500+ basket perched on a mound. Nice to air it out on a course that has many sub 300' holes.

Hole 6 is a really fun birdie to get, 300+ with a sharp left to an island green.

Hole 9 takes a big rip to get close on a 420' shot with low ceilings to access the green.

Holes 12-13, recently redesigned with more technical and longer shots to better utilize the forest portion of the course.

Hole 16, really nice use of elevation on a ~270' hole that plays more like 340' uphill to a beautiful green.

Hole 17 is a very good scoring separator at the end of a competitive round, especially if you play inside the rock wall = hazard as the locals do. Left to right shot shape encourages a RHFH drive.

Lowlights: Losing hole 4, which was probably the signature shot with the RHBH flight path entirely over a King Creek (unless you crush forehands). It is now hard to pinpoint a clear signature hole, but there are many fun ones in the redesigned layout. For me, it is probably hole 16.

Natural teepads, some see them as a negative, they only bother me on rainy days. Saves on the shoe budget

The local crew is showing a lot of love to the course right now. Constant improvements so if you've played since the redesign, keep coming back to check out the newest changes. Most recently (7/29/2020) holes 12 and 13 in the woods were extended. 13 is still being tweaked but they are both more fun now.

-A man sat on a bench in disgust. For many years he was in debt before he lost his wife. He kept all that he could and once he found out his home was going to be foreclosed, the only sunshine he had was the Sunset Rum. The sunshine that always turns to darkness and headaches. He lost his most valuable assets. Court ordered that he's allowed to keep some of his belongings. The old #6 is now the starting hole (#1). A few other holes are the same, many are different now or modified. Few more assets were acquired after the man had his crisis. The new layout has a few more trees in play, and one hole (#15) has a mando gate.

-The old #8 was split into two different holes. Those holes are now #3 and #4. Both are shorter and more fair par threes. The wooded green on #4 is nice. The green on #6 (what used to be #11) is very cool too around a ditch. Some of the same perks to the old course exist on the new one. Something nice the man got to keep.

-The new #16 utilizes the available elevation the best. Steep uphill and toward the woods. Only a couple trees to avoid, but a bad release could cost you. A par is a good score. Easily my favorite hole on this course. Looks very cool, as it isn't really wooded. It's "dimly open" as you see a few trees to avoid and the woods border the left side and a little bit past the basket. A dark open hole. Love it! The new #17 is next to an old building. The remark macfleming1 made about it looking like a haunted frat house was spot on! You tee off on top of the hill next to a building with no trespassing signs. The tee shot gives two different lanes as you throw on top of the hill to the other side of it on a more open green. Very unique. Probably the signature hole! Gives a whole new look to disc golf at Brevard. The man found a purpose to something he never used!

-Nice new tee markers with hole distances. The baskets have new black number stickers on them. Nice to know the redesign was quick.

-A little more beginner friendly than the old layout, generally speaking. Few holes are under 200' or right around that distance.

He lost a lot. The hole by the creek no longer exists. The big hill where you teed off on the old #12 is no longer in use, even though the basket position and fairway are in use. Why take away the hill? A good portion of the land was taken for a construction project and the best parts of the old course are no longer in use. This man lost his most valuable assets. This is what happens when the government attacks.

-Many holes are cramped. I thought hole #10's basket was #9's. #9 is actually to the left a little bit. I thought it was the one to the rightside. Holes #7, 9, and #10 are all very close in proximity. #18's basket is awfully close to #16's fairway. Along with it, few holes are very close to roads, fields, or the running track. I could go on but those are the main issues as far as my point goes about it being cramped. This is what happens when the government attacks.

-A couple of dumb short holes. #12 and #13. Wasted potential. After #11, you walk up a very steep hill just to play a filler 120ish footer in the woods. Plays on the side of a hill, but just isn't fun. I was hopeful #13 would be better and it appeared so for a second. I saw a tee pad on the hill and assumed the basket was down the hill and into the open out of a small wooded area. Nope. Basket is 160' and similar to #12 playing once again, just on the side of a hill. You are making your way down there slowly by playing a couple of boring holes. A general rule to making short holes: Make them interesting! There could've easily been a steep downhill ace run on top of the hill and all the way down. But instead you are playing two flattish holes that are very short and uneventful. This is what happens when the government attacks.

-What may raise an eye would be the fact that along with a couple of crappy dinker holes in the woods would be #5, a 500+ par three across a field. Wide open yes, but the right side eats a lot of discs. Course seems to send a few mixed messages. #12 and #13 are welcoming for starters with their short lengths and #5 is more than long enough to be a par four. Confusion! This is what happens when the government attacks.

-Grass gets long and the rough gets very messy in the summer but that happened even before the government attacked.

-Course has many ace runs and a couple of holes that are hard enough to make a par on. I think #9 is good for a pro par three but #5 is a little too long and boring. Seems like an appropriate course for rec players with many discs or intermediate players. Some of you may enjoy this course. I think many disc golfers that would not enjoy this course may have enjoyed courses like this one at some point in their disc golf interest. I liked a few of the holes here. Most of them were pretty boring in my honest opinion. The old layout was long and not entirely kept up, but it was better than this new layout. If you are an advanced player looking for a fun yet not so casual round, you won't love this course as a whole. Not that it's bad, it's just not very fun.

-Really not much to say about this course.

Holes 6-11 are park-style holes playing around a church property. Nice trees, not too many, but I managed to find several. 6 and 9 have really cool greens. 12 and 13 are short, but in much thicker woods, plus have roll-away risk. 16 plays up a hill toward an abandoned building, looks like a haunted fraternity house.17 and 18 play across its formerly well-manicured lawn, the former with a nice drop-off to the green.

Holes 1-5 are filler holes, flat and mostly open but with nasty rough on the right as they play around a soccer field/400m track. Thorns (blackberries) and other thick stuff, so stay out. At least #5 offers 500 feet of distance with the basket perched atop a 2' mound. Natural tees, but level (except for #12). Long walk from #5 to the church property, similar walk back from 18 toward #1, it's a big loop that doesn't circle back after nine.

My son summed-up Brevard nicely as "above average for a college campus course." I could live with this as my local course, but would frequently make the drive into Hendersonville to play the outstanding Jackson Park DGC.

Located on Brevard College's campus so it's very lovely. A nice mix of really clear shots and wooded shots.

The first few holes are pretty unforgiving with really dense woods to the right hand side. We saw lots of people searching for their discs.

The course has recently been revamped leading to some confusion of some of the players around us who had played this course before. But as we were newbies, we weren't turned around.

The journey from hole 5 to 6 (I am pretty sure that is correct ... but it could have been hole 4 to 5) isn't the most intuitive transition. The first few holes have the woods on the right side. Then you have to walk to the other side of the track towards a church (there is a steeple as a point of reference) ... then you will find a little trail that puts you back on track. I would recommend printing out a map of the course before visiting if there is one available.