BEST MOWING EVER! - Once you get to the meadows holes (#4), each fairway is mowed to about 20-30 wide, approx. Circle 1 around each basket and a path to each of the next tees. You kind of feel like you are at a PGA event, on the short grass, ""inside the ropes"".
Excellent tee signs, in the Nature Trail type, hole map, hole details, DG tips and nature facts (and even some history facts of the area).
Nice wide paved tee pads, two on most holes. Could be a little longer, but plenty of run-up available on most holes.
Nice Discatchers, not as bright as they once were, but pretty easy to see on this course.
Most of the property is pretty flat, but they used the elevation available on the first 3, and on several holes, up near the road.
A few Par 4s were worked in for variety.
Separated from other areas of this large, multi-use park.

Long grass and a lot of undergrowth on #3, everything else was kept up very well.
#18 was a pretty short, simple hole. I would have liked for #17 to have been shorter, then put a little more challenge to the finishing hole.
All, pretty minor Cons.

For this large park that has a ropes course, ball fields, greenway access and several large picnic shelters, they found a large, separate area for the course. Plenty of parking, restrooms at the first tee and a practice basket. The course starts near these, then moves to the meadows, with plenty of space and the greenway on the border.
As I mentioned in the Pros, they used the elevation that was available for a couple of elevated tees and a short, uphill hole (#7).
#10 is pretty cool, with the basket behind a large tee, on a downslope to the greenway.
#2 features a death putt, with a retaining wall to hold the pin over a kudzu cover streambed. (They did clear a landing area for missed putts.)
#16 is also pretty neat, downhill, tunnel between the large, old growth trees, to an elevated basket.
Two tees on most holes, they generally just add distance and not another look at the hole.
Overall, the holes in the meadows are pretty open holes with just some shot shaping around the large, old growth trees. No true "tunnel" holes here, that can be a nice break from a lot of NC courses.
It looks like this would be a fun, everyday course and great for tournaments. Since the meadow is so flat, and the primary trees are large, you can see a lot of holes from just about any spot.

A reviewer before me described the course as "ball golf" style. Couldn't agree more.

But it works. It's fun, mostly open fairways with mild to medium obstacle. Some Charlotte area greats are frustratingly tough. I appreciate the difficulty, but sometimes it's nice to just open up and have some open air. This course has that

The tee pads are all in great shape, but could be a tad longer in some cases.

Thanks to the more open real estate available in this beautiful park, you get a nice length walk around the "meadows"

Just a great park in general. The playground is something to be seen. Great for the non golfing family members, or a nice walking trail that skirts the property.

Great tee signs, multiple tee pads and multiple pin locations also add to the rating and enjoyment of this course. It flows well from basket to tee pad, and the tee signs give a good overview of each hole.

This course lacks some variance, as most holes feel like deja vu. Weaving in and out of the trees available in the park help break up the feel, but don't expect wooded tunnel shots. Not a huge con, as this type of course is a nice change.

An unfortunate by-product of this being an awesome park is the amount of people. I can foresee a packed disc golf course with not just golfers, but walkers/joggers/park goers. A few of the holes on the back nine do play somewhat close to the trail.

Hole #17 & #18 seem almost like they ran out of room. Keep an eye out holing out on 17 as 18's fairway is almost over top.

Ball golf feel disc golf in the "meadows" near the river. Gorgeous location, with scattered trees make for some scenic fairways. A fun downhill bomb hole or two, and some shorter ace runs make this a low stress, fun golf.

Definitely worth stopping in and playing if you're driving through! Don't hesitate to bring kids, the playground is cool

This course is one of the most well taken care of courses I've had the privilege of playing. The park that it is situated in has many nice amenities in addition to some really cool things you don't see in most parks (ropes and zip lines etc...)

The relatively new tee pads and associated retaining walls (where applicable) are exceptional. Concrete, adequately sized and many have masonry stone retaining walls that function as benches.

Beginners will love playing here. Not that I didn't fall in love with the game playing Richmond Hill, it's just that Catawba Meadows would have allowed me to play more frustration-free rounds as I was learning technique. The course is mostly open, with nothing more than a few large trees along fairways or near the basket on any given hole. It's mostly flat as well, with a few holes having some slight elevation change. There is virtually ZERO chance to lose a disc (exception being hole #2 ???) all while giving a novice player many chances to try discs out.

There are plenty of ace runs for the slightly more advanced players. I even hit basket in the most recent tournament on hole #6 (401' hole) which was a thrill. The course offers advanced players a chance to hone each disc on some of the longer bombs, while mostly catering to putt and approach from the tee. If your short game needs work, Catawba Meadows is the place to do it.

The course isn't without several long holes either. Although shorter on average, Harold Duvall doesn't make many Eager Beavers. You'll still pull out drivers on probably 4 holes, with hole 8 being the signature down the hill bomb which is a blast.

There is a huge picnic pavilion between hole 1 and the practice basket, providing a great place for tournament headquarters along with picnic area. Additionally, you'll find ample parking and bathroom facilities on your walk to hole 1.

There are also multiple tee pads on many holes, along with excellent tee signs to boot. The details didn't seem to be spared. Baskets are top of the line DISCatchers.

Perhaps a bit too easy to be taken too seriously by Advanced and higher. At the tournament I was at, nearly every Advanced and Open player finished better than -12 through 2 rounds, with Schultz shooting a -17 round two.

There aren't any official benches, however as I mentioned, you'll find retaining walls on at least 4-5 holes which will allow you to rest if you didn't bring your stool.

There are a couple spots where you'll have a chance to throw into another tee pad/basket area if you aren't careful. Just be aware of other players/park-goers.

Honestly, I don't have a lot to complain about with this course. It is maintained at the top level among the best I've ever seen. The amenities leave nothing to be desired, the tee pads are excellent, baskets are top notch and the atmosphere is wonderful. I simply wish it offered a bit more challenge for higher rated players, other than that I'd be proud to have it as my home course.

If you get the chance to play here, definitely do it. You won't regret it and you'll likely have some chances at a few aces!

I have been playing this course alot in the last 2-3 months. I just wish I had found it sooner.

CM is laid out in a very nice, well kept, park. That being said, the course is also very well kept, they even have brooms hanging on some tee signs to brush off the teepads if needed. Speaking of the teepads, they are quite possibly the NICEST I have ever teed off of. They give you plenty of runup, are flat as they should be, and some have retaining walls where needed.

The course itself is a mostly open, field type course with old growth trees and some elevation for that extra challenge. I did just say that it is a mostly open course but there are trees to hit if you throw an errant shot and a creek that runs behind hole 2 and through holes 3, 17, and 18 that can come into play also. New tee signs have been put up recently which are a nice addition. If you are on the fence about going out of the way to play this course, DO IT! Its well worth the trip.

The only con I can think of is there are no restrooms once you leave hole 1 so you better handle that before you head out.

This course is like a walk in the park because, well, it really is.

First I feel it important to say this is my home course, I'm currently the local club president, and personally poured every tee pad with help from other club members. It has been a joy watching our little club & course grow. With the city's support and a grant from Blue Ridge Parkway Foundations Kids in Parks program a impressive renovation has recently been concluded. Upgrades/improvements include trapezoid shaped tee pads, with a launch point six feet wide tapering out to twelve feet wide at the rear and twelve feet of run up. Addition of benches and retaining walls around the tee pads that required them also make great seats as well. Kiosk located between am/pro #1 tee pads houses top notch scorecards with a map of the course & score card on one side & pictures of indigenous fauna and flora on the other.
On to the course review, It's very open, it's where I learned, so imagine my surprise when I played a wooded course. Still all in all a great place to "drive for show". Oh, I still hit these trees too. I've either seen or heard of aces on 1,2,3,9,11,14,16 & 18 so it can be done. Course & club host several charity tourney's each year and a PDGA "C" tier event is currently being held each year also. City planted some trees last year which will come into play as they grow & fill out. Things are looking up at Catawba Meadows!

Currently no bathroom once you have begun your round & left parking lot area, however it has been tossed around by city Parks & Recreation to add a restroom.

Very nice course to step back and throw it hard! It's a lot of fun to work on your distance and technique, while still having trees to consider when picking your lines. Holes 4 - 18 are field with tree holes. The grass was freshly mowed when I played, making for ease when looking for my discs. Course is well laid out. Very nice, flat course! Reach back and bomb it!

Would love to see true tee pads vs. ground and markers. Markings were sometime difficult to find the first go through

I happened on this course by chance while planning a zip line tour for my kids. The park, itself, is a ton of fun, if you have kids. And, if your kids like to play disc golf, Catawba Meadows is a gold mine.

My background on this course: This is my home course, which I have played 200+ times.
-Baskets: The baskets are Innova Discatcher Pros. They are very visible and in great shape.
-Tees: The tee pads are gigantic trapezoid concrete slabs. With run-ups perhaps a bit more important on this lengthy course, the size of these pads is a bonus. These tees were brand new as of October 2012. They were funded by the city and installed by the local club. Many of them have retaining walls that can serve as a bench.
-Signage: Each teeing area has a painted post (red for amateur, blue for pro, both for shared) with a sign attached to it. The signs have a nature trail theme with information about various topics and have nice maps of each hole.
-Maintenance: The course is pretty well maintained and is mowed on a reasonable schedule, especially given the size of the area to be mowed. Often times you will see defined fairways mowed, which frames the holes in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Efforts have been made to eradicate poison plants throughout most of the course. The Parks & Rec department has shown dedication in keeping the course in playable shape.
-Local Support: There is a local disc golf club who helps maintain the course as well. They assist in clearing the course of debris after storms and with construction and general maintenance projects on the course.
-Design: The course has a lot of wide open space, but almost every tee shot has some sort of obstacle to navigate and the course will often leave you with the feeling that you played a slightly more wooded course than it would have seemed upon first glance. In other words, the designer did an exceptional job in utilizing the property available to him. That said, the massive amount of trees that have fallen in recent years have weakened that original design.
-Tee Selection: Having amateur tees helps make the course a bit more beginner friendly, as the pro tees heavily favor players who can consistently throw over 300 feet. I have observed a tremendous amount of beginners playing the course off of the red tees, so this is a positive aspect in growing the sport in this area.
-Alternate Pins: A substantial number of alternate pins have been added in recent years by the local club, largely in response to the loss of dozens of trees on the course. The local club changes the pin positions periodically, which helps to break up the monotony of playing the same shots over and over for the local players.
-Other Amenities: The course is located in one of the nicest parks in the region. There are three massive shelters right next to the first hole, in fact one of the shelters falls right between the practice basket and first tees and is an ideal place for staging tournaments. There's also a nice bathroom near the parking area / playground. The practice basket itself is a nice green rimmed Discatcher located in the most logical location it could have been placed; out of the way of other people in the park, but not too far from the first tees. There is also a huge kiosk with course information and (sometimes) fantastic scorecards. The nearby office for The Beanstalk Journey zipline course has a small assortment of discs for sell, but it is only open intermittently, mostly on the weekends. Lost discs are often turned in / kept there as well. The course itself contains 4 benches on Holes 4/17, 8, 12, and 16 and a trash can on Hole 9.

-Navigation: While there is a nice map of the course located on DGCR, the course can still be a bit difficult to navigate for first time players. The angled tee pads should get you pointed in the right direction toward the baskets, and mowing lines have helped, but occasionally it can be difficult to find the next tee correctly.
-Nature: The area around 17 tee / 4 tee / 16 basket floods even after moderate rainfall and sometimes the basket on 16 cannot be reached without getting your shoes wet. Consequently, mosquitoes are abundant here. Consistent mowing has eliminated a lot of the poison oak in the open spaces of the course, but it still thrives on the occasional tree and in the brushy areas along the stream. However, the biggest natural obstacle that the course faces is that it is "bleeding" trees. The grounds that the course was built on used to be a tree nursery, in which the state experimented on the flora, resulting in weakened trees that were never meant to survive for a full life span. New pins and new mandos have helped to keep the design interesting, but without tree replacement, the course will eventually be likened to an open field.
-Other Amenities: Since the course is a full 18 hole loop, you do not return to the bathrooms until the end of the round. Some people have mentioned this as a con. I would say it is a minor one, but there has been discussion about how and where to put some sort of bathroom in the middle of the course.
-Outside Interference: With this being a public park, you may occasionally find some non-disc golfers on the course. This happens most frequently around Hole 1, when people who rent the nearby shelters spill their activities over into the area around the practice basket and even into Hole 1 fairway. A couple of the new alternate pins have brought the greenway into play, so you will likely have to wait for walkers when the pins are in the alternate positions on Holes 10 and 11, although new signs have been installed to let walkers know they are entering the disc golf course area. It is worth noting that the course is usually closed for apx. a week leading up to and during the City's Bluegrass Festival. Visit this site to find out the dates: http://redwhiteandbluegrassfestival.com

Mandos: There are now 4 officially recognized and signed mandos on the course (a double on #11, one on #14 blue, one on #17 blue, and one on #18 blue), indicated by white arrows. Any blue arrows you see spray painted on the trees were temporary mandos that were added without permission and you are not required to play those. There are two yellow blocks installed into the ground denoting the drop zones for the mandos on 11 and 17, while the mandos on 14 and 18 require a re-tee.
Least Favorite Hole: Holes #13 and 15 feel both the most bland and most similar of any two holes on the course. Both have received new pin positions, but remain pretty ordinary.
Favorite Hole: I love hole #8. It is one of the few holes with a significant elevation change and has a beautifully framed, tee shot that opens into (more or less) a meadow, perhaps invoking the namesake of the course.
Outlook: The course has shown much improvement over the years and despite the loss of trees, its outlook is exceptional with the support of the city and local club. The primary focus moving forward needs to be on tree replacement. The club does have plans to add some more alt pins and even some structures on the course to make it more interesting, such as elevated baskets.
Most of the greatest courses in the world have an amazing balance of wooded to open and hilly to flat holes, among other things. Catawba Meadows will always be mostly flat and mostly open and that is the character of the course and that can't really be changed, consequently I feel that this aspect somewhat limits the maximum score that the course can achieve.
The course has experienced significant upgrades in the past several years and is approaching a level of quality that it is going to be hard pressed to move beyond within the scope of a public course. I do encourage previous reviewers to revisit this course and update your reviews.

Well marked tee boxes, family friendly environment, easy course to get the hang of, usually well kept fairways, nice catchers.

Very little terrain variation, natural tee boxes have the potential to be muddy, running track crosses the course at points (can hold up the game).

Overall a wonderfully simple course that is exactly as it appears, many long straight holes for you to practice your driving. Great course for newcomers to the sport, but it probably won't be very challenging for experienced players.

Great course for practicing different shots without worrying about trees. It's virtually wide open with old pines scattered throughout. Never gets too tight or technical, so you aren't forced to throw much of a variety. While it is open for the most part, there is good use of trees on many holes. You can rip it off the tee from the blues quite often. Several ace runs and good birdie opportunities on plenty of holes. A few par 4's that also provide a great chance for birdie, perhaps an eagle. While being open makes things easier, watch out of the wind picks up. This course can go from one that you'd expect to shoot under par in good conditions to a struggle in the wind.

Most old gripes have been solved over the past couple years. Very nice concrete pads have been installed. Some of the best I've seen or thrown from. Several benches have been installed and the concrete walls behind the large pads can also be used as benches on some holes.

Some of the big pines have fallen over time or been cut down. This will happen to even more trees in the future. But this issue has been countered with several new basket positions as well. Most of them add a degree of difficulty to holes, which is a good thing while keeping the original positions as well.

New trees have been planted and there was recently a fundraiser there to get more in the ground.

This course is just fun. Not as stressful as your typical more wooded course. You can build your confidence here and see the lines your discs fly on without much interference. I see it as a great place for beginners to come work on their game without being discouraged. It's also a breeze to play. I get through in an hour or so every time. Playing solo, you could get through within an hour.

Course has improved quite a bit overall due to nice new pads, fairly new signage, new baskets, etc. I bumped it up a full point. Go check it out for yourself!

*Terrain beauty. Most of the course is played in grassy meadows with old scattered pines, and some of the fairways also have a carpet of pine needles. I really like this kind of terrain that has trees to throw around but without punishing undergrowth.
*Layout variety. 2 sets of tees.
*Length variety. Blue tees: 5 of 230-290/ 9 of 300-400/ plus some longer holes of 485, 535, 560, 610.
*Good map and scorecard online.
*Very nice, new, clean restroom

-Highway noise. On holes 3-10 you can hear lots of traffic from a busy road and this detracts from the natural serenity of the course.
-Repetitive terrain. As much as I like the terrain, it's all the same throughout the whole course, so most of the holes look similar.
-Low fairway shape variety. Too many straight holes. Blue tees: 13 Straight/ 3 Left/ 2 Right
-Long grass. There's lots of grass and the "fairways" are mowed shorter, but the longer grass can hide discs so watch your drives carefully.
-Personally, I thought that the double mando near the basket on 11 was gimmicky

Blue tees Course Level: Blue (most suited for Advanced players rated 950)

~There are some moderate elevation changes, ranging from 2 to 15 ft, but half of the holes are flat. Blue: 9 Flat/ 2 Up/ 7 Down.
~Tees. Since the course is new it's a wise practice not to put in permanent tees so that adjustments and tweaks can be made. Nonetheless, the current tees were inadequate. Only the front of the tee is marked. Also, they're grass and dirt, so they can get muddy if wet. I imagine that they'll eventually put in better tees after the course settles in more.
~Tee signs. Only colored posts, with a sign at hole 1, but hopefully better signs will come with time. They may well be waiting until the tees are finalized to make better signs.
~I think that the mando on 17 would be more fair if it was moved 40 ft to the left.

This is still a new course, so it has potential to get even better. Since I like this kind of terrain I'd like to play it again. It's the kind of course that's worth driving up to an hour to play, or if you're driving by on I-40 it's definitely worth stopping to get in a round.

Note: To have my reviews delivered to your Inbox join the Yahoo group "DG Course Reviews" . More detailed "Overall Rating" notes and "Hole-by-hole Ratings" are also available there in the Files section.

Lots of open flight potential. Good use of mando's - ups the challenge level - but can easily be played casual as well.
Common sense will get you from hole to hole with ease.
Clean park! Keep it that way.

Natty pads. Need Trash cans throughout course. A bench or two would be a plus.

Really looking forward to playing this course again in the spring and summer. I live and play in Charlotte as often as possible, but will make the 90 minute drive to catch a breathe of fresh air anytime.

Very Clean area

Opportunity for big drives on several holes

Mandos on a number of tight shots require accuracy

A good number of forehand-friendly holes

Two different tees (Red and Blue) provide for multiple levels of difficulty

A very good use of predominantly flat terrain. The elevation changes that do exist are used very well.

Layout gets a little confusing around hole 7, doesn't flow well for the next few holes after that.

Tee Boxes are currently just two PVC Pipes stuck in the ground. This is great if you've got a big run-up, but if there's been any kind of weather slipping on the drive becomes an issue.

Mandos are inconsistently marked. Some have orange flagging tape around the trees, some are rows of little orange flags, only one hole has actual arrows.

Grass on the course is not mown often enough, can make discs difficult to find.

I'm very glad to have this 18 hole course so close to my home (less than a mile). This is a very new course with lots of room for improvement, but the play itself is top-notch. Almost every time I pass this course there is somebody playing, and frequently there are 4-5 different groups moving throughout the course.

The popularity of the course suggests to me that the City of Morganton will further invest in this course and address the concerns the public has voiced about it.