You've probably never heard of Matt Carroll. He was a *very* marginal NBA player that only stuck on a roster with bad teams, on the bench usually, because he did one thing well and that's shoot 3's.

What does that have to do with a 9 holer in Hillsville, VA? Well, Carroll County DGC is also very marginal. It's disc golf, but just barely. And like the Bobcats, Matt Carroll's team, it's greatly forgettable.

There are some nice things though. Hole 1 is decent with nifty elevation change. Hole 9 is decent for the same reason, plus has some length to it. Hole 6 plays over a nice creek. The rest of the course is mostly a wide open pitch-n-putt but that's okay, especially for beginners. At least nothing is forced here, like fairways running through playgrounds or ball fields. You can probably safari some decent holes out of the ones here since it's so open and probably seldom crowded.

So if you need to do some fieldwork or work on your 100-200' upshots this is worthwhile if you're nearby.

Disclaimer: It was snowed over when I played so I probably didn't tee off from the correct tees on some of the holes, just approximated the best I could with UDisc. There are no tees (well, hole 1 uses the end of a sidewalk) but just a small paver on the ground. No tee signs either so finding the tees could be a pain even in non-snowy conditions. There are occasional signs pointing the direction of the basket which is good b/c you can spot multiple baskets on a lot of holes.

The baskets are absolute garbage. Two of them are broken, with the tray resting on the ground. These baskets have all the dignity of an elderly man with his pants fallen around his ankles. The intact baskets are single-chains that can't even catch COVID-19. So it's not a great course to practice putting or padding your ace count.

Some of these tees seemed really close to baskets or other fairways so bring a hard hat if the course is crowded (Ha! - Mrs. Krabappel).

Not much else to say here. At least, Hillsville is a nice hilly place to look at. If the course had decent equipment it would be an okay place to get a quick round in or work on stuff.

Carroll County DGC is a short, 9 hole course that is set in a small park right off of I-77. I decided to stop in for a quick round on my way to WV to check it out. There was a stocked box of scorecards at the first tee. The scorecard has a color map that should help with potential navigation issues, as well as lists viral hole information such as Par and distance.

The grass seemed like it was being mowed regularly, and even the "rough grass" was being kept in check. At most it was probably a foot tall. There is a bench by Hole 6's tee, and a couple of picnic tables scattered about.

The tees are marked with two stone pavers and each basket had a numbered flag on top that helps orient the direction you need to throw. Some holes even had arrow signs in the middle of the"fairway", pointing you towards the intended basket.

The park doesn't really have much in the way of obstacles, and only really has a small amount of elevation to play with, but the course does utilize these features decently well. There is a small creek that is thrown over a couple of times, that makes for a couple interesting holes. I was happy there was a bridge to help cross the creek. Hole 7 played around what appeared to be a maintenance shed, which creates an interesting and challenging tough shot.

The course is a great place for beginners to learn the ropes. Most of the holes aren't very long. In fact I was able to reach the putting greens on almost every hole by standstill throwing my midrange or putters off of the tee. However, the last set of holes do offer you the chance to air out a driver, which was what I desperately had been wanting to do as I navigated the field this course is set in. For most players the Par 4s are gonna feel like tweeners at best, but considering the course's intended audience the Par felt fine. At worst I had tap in birdies on those holes.

The course seemed empty enough and had enough interesting basket placements, that locals who aren't beginners could probably create their own layout. I really wanted to throw from the top of the hill, down to Hole 6's basket, but unfortunately, the sun was setting.

Navigation at this course has the potential to be a bit rough. I parked my car in a lot that was right next to Hole 4, so I just started my round there since I couldn't tell which direction Hole 1 was. This meant I didn't get my scorecard/map until I was near the end of my round. Even with a few signs pointing me towards the next tee, I struggled to find them at times. I probably spent more time looking for Hole 9's tee (which was not level) than I did playing the rest of the round. The map would have helped some, but probably wouldn't have solved the issue entirely. They've already got the signs directing fairways around the course, so they're not opposed to signs - so I think they should consider installing some nice tee signs that include par and distance, in case the box of scorecards ever runs out. Plus if they put maps on said tee signs, they could create/indicate OBs that felt like they should have existed anyway. The walking paths and beyond could be OB, the tall rough grass could be OB, and Hole 6 could play as an island green. Doing even just this, the course would feel more like a round of golf and less like just throwing in a field.

The baskets that are used are nothing to write home about. Even for single chained baskets, these things felt really squirrelly when you were putting. Still a bit bummed I splashed out of Hole 8, costing me an Eagle. Many of the baskets were also leaning heavily.

Construction (or something) around the tee to hole 8 made it to where I couldn't actually find the pavers on either round. So I just used pictures from DGCR to play as close to the right tee location as I could. I ended up doing the same thing to help me locate hole 9's tee.

The course plays really close to a walking path at times, which could become frustrating on a day the park was busy. Luckily it never became an issue for me. People seemed to respect the fact that I was chucking plastic out.

When I was there, the grass was mowed and the course looked decent, but there was litter everywhere. It was very disappointing to see, but I didn't notice a single trash bin while I was out there.

There is more to Carroll County DGC than meets the eye. With a few changes, this course would actually get a decent rating from me. But for the time being I am giving it a1.0 because it falls short on a lot of course basics (tees, navigation, baskets etc. A small makeover and this course could warrant a slightly higher score from me. But to score decently higher, there's probably need to be a few tweaks to the course tohelp differentiate the holes; something along the lines of OB implemented. Plus I'd personally love to see Hole 6's tee moved back 30-50 feet and/or for it to play as an island green. If the OB were implemented well, the course could offer more for intermediate players.

All in all, I could see myself stopping here again when I'm traveling along I-77, since you can almost throw a disc to the interstate from the course, but I likely wouldn't go out of my way to return (unless the course was tweaked/improved).

Favorite Holes: 6 & 8

Park course consisting of 9 mostly wide open holes with blocks in ground marking the tees, and arrows pointing to the single chain baskets. Next tees are relatively close to baskets so navigation is very easy and quick to play.

Good variety of distance and use of available elevation and creek coming into play as well as the maintenance building. Great course for rank beginners. Bridges to cross the creek. Grass was freshly mowed. Very little chance to lose your disc.

Baskets aren't of the best quality. Never seen a basket using carabiners to hold the chains, and the carabiners were all worn out and hanging open, and could potentially damage discs, but still holding the chains well enough.

Natural tees although they were flat enough and work ok. No real tee signs. Mostly flat and wide open, so there is not a whole lot of challenge. I nailed the door on the maintenance building on hole 7 which is probably the most challenging hole. There is some drainage issue on hole 8 and was a bit muddy.

I was staying in the hotel across the street and happened to notice some baskets when I was leaving and decided I had to play it since it was literally right there. It was enjoyable enough and certainly convenient. If you happen to be staying in any of the HIllsville hotels the course is really close to all of them and about as easy a course to bag as possible.