-An 18-hole course with great variety of open holes with some open tee to basket, and others tee gaps with guardian trees protecting baskets all on the F9. A few heavily wooded holes on the F9, and the last 8 holes on the B9 heavily wooded and tight. A creek comes into play on the B9, and a lake provides scenery along the last few holes on the F9. Slopes are in play on most holes with a few roller greens, with the first 6 holes flat. On the F9 wind will dominate.

-If you've played here in the past changes have been made which looked like were completed in late 2021? Most holes now have long tees, and what used to be open holes on the first 6 holes long tees have reduced #2 to being the only open hole from tee to basket. Others have either a tee gap from the wood line or a basket placed in the woods. #5 and 6 have now been cut into heavy woods to reduce the non-playing walk to #7. #8 may have been shortened to avoid a gazebo? Holes 7-9 are still open tee to basket. I don't think any changes were made to the B9? IMO the changes have enriched the course!

-The new tee signs feature hole number, distance, par, and hole map. Multiple concrete tees on most holes, with some being new, and some being shared. A variety of distances and pars. A handful of distances 300 and 400 feet plus with #10 at 629 feet, and a few under 200 feet. I played long tees.

-The open fairways #1 thru 4 are kept mowed with thick grass on the borders reminding me of the John Walter Smith DGC in Snow Hill, MD. Fairways that are well shaped by the thick, rough grass.

-#15 hole a short Par 3 ranks in my top 15 in difficulty for holes less than 200 feet.

-Navigation is counter-clockwise easy, and mostly short walks. Only had to pull out UDisc navigation once when I missed the trail from 12 basket to 13 tee.

-From the bag on the tee a variety of putter's, Mid's, fairways, and drivers. Some holes you can bomb it, most holes need to hit that line.

-Beginners and Recreational you'll play a variety of disc golf with good scoring, and some cringe holes. Intermediate and Advance will enjoy the variety of looks from the tee and bag, some holes will test you.

-If you enjoy woods (me) golf on the F9 you'll think too much open space, you'll get your fix on the B9. If you prefer open golf, you're going to think the opposite. However, the course has a good balance for both types of players.

-The course is mostly under 300 feet in distance from the long tees at 5365 feet, one of the shortest courses I've played with long tees. If you like more challenge in distance golf, its going to be lacking.

-With holes 5 and 6 newly cut into the woods, lots of debris in play. Over time those holes will be beaten in and clear. Holes 1 thru 4 are flat and the tell-tale signs of past flooding were on those holes, future flooding will likely include holes 5 and 6.

-There is 2nd parking at hole 10. I was surprised to see it after coming out of the woods at 6, and the threesome and twosome as well that were getting ready to start on 10. They let me play thru, but on busier days you may find flow interruption. A bad throw to the left off the long tee could find the parking lot.

-Lost disc can be high in the B9 with blind shots into heavy woods, brush, and the creek looming. The grass bordering the fairways holes 1-4 was thick in January, but I would imagine thicker in warmer months. Like my experience at John Walter Smith DGC, you may find yourself walking right past your disc before finding it.

-There's a gazebo just off to the left of #9 tee but should be out of play for skilled throwers. To the right of #9 basket outside C2 is a pavilion. Which means you may have walkers on #9 and a few other holes.

I really like the upgrade at Creekside Park with additional long tees, and eliminating a few open tee to open basket holes, and adding two wooded holes I found the course a pleasure to play. The added variety is a plus! I don't have any personnel cons on the course. But I do have personnel preferences. Just still too open and short from the long tees from what I prefer from longer tees. Despite my grip, I really like the open tee to wooded basket on No. 4.

My overall rating is anchored on the variety of the course at a 5.0. The time to play was 1 hour it's a quick round with good flow despite my hiccup on hole 12.

Notable Holes:

-No. 4 Par 4 long tee at 462 feet is a straight away open tee to a basket with woods protection. The fairway is about 40 feet with thick grass for rough. At the 360-foot mark the woods await you and hooks left towards the basket with guardian trees. To the right of the green is thick heavy tall grass. Very eye appealing from the tee, distance throwers will love it! I kept my drive on the fairway and managed a turnover (lefty) into C1 on my approach.

-No. 15 Par 3 long or white tee at 164 feet heavy woods and likely brush with foliage. From the tee straight up hill with a dogleg left at about 40 feet from basket, basket not seen from tee. The gap is narrow as 10 feet and the look from the tee is a pinball game. The short or red tee is at 197 feet has an easier tee shot its wider and meanders right with a slight upslope a totally different angle and location from the "long" tee. From the long tee should have gone with my first impression and teed a putter, but with a mid I pinballed off a tree on the left across fairway pinballed a tree off the right deep into the woods and managed a bogey.

Signature Hole:

-No. 10 Par 4 long at 469 feet is an open tee with a straight away fairway until the halfway point, then meanders to the right with canopy closing in on both sides. Fairway at its narrowest is about 50 feet. At about 80 feet out the fairway hooks right to a roller green with guardian trees to the basket, with heavy brush downhill, and shouldn't reach the lake. It's a transition hole that represents the course with open tee to wooded basket, with the rest of the course in heavy woods, very scenic look from tee to basket as you walk. The parking lot is off to the left from the tee, if you're having a bad day going to the left off the tee, either make sure parking lot is cleared or move up to shorts. Down fairway canopy sticks out from the right on the side of the basket. Best line from tee is center left to clear canopy for best chance on approach. I threw a poor tee straight ahead, and caught canopy on the right, picked up a bogey.

Trouble Hole:

-No. 17 Par 3 longs at 296 feet are heavy woods tee to basket with a fairway gap of about 30 feet. A dogleg right at about 190 feet that drops downhill with the fairway slanting right to left. The basket sits on a roller green with heavy brush and trees behind it. From the tee to the left is heavy brush and a creek a tree deflection could send you there. From the tee the hole has a crusty look to it, the basket is blind, and has potential disc loss. Reminding me of some of the holes at Dorey Park in Richmond, Virginia. I threw a nice fade into C1.

Across town from the highly-esteemed Glenburnie Park, Creekside is often spoken of as a much more minor course, but it is not without its charms.
+ Excellent variety of holes, by far the best quality of this course. Essentially half-and-half between wide open vs. tightly wooded, with a full range of distances, and a nice variety of fairway shapes as well. Though the wooded holes are very tight, they are generally fair.
+ Brice's Creek comes into view during holes 7-10, and is quite pretty and scenic, adding to the attractiveness of the course.
+ A few holes have multiple tees, that vary in distance and in the shot shape required. A couple of holes also have multiple baskets to choose between. These accommodate to multiple skill levels, and also add to the variety of the course.
+ Nice concrete tees, Discatcher baskets, and tee signs. Navigation is generally easy and smooth. Two practice baskets are available in the parking lot. The course was very smooth to play and well-maintained on my visit.

- Safety - Hole 9 throws directly at a playground and picnic shelter, and hole 10's long tee throws over a parking lot, which are pretty significant safety issues. I skipped hole 9 because of a children's birthday party in progress right around the basket. Hole 8 is also a completely blind throw towards a gazebo. A walking trail also winds through some of the wooded holes in the back.
- Very long hole transition between holes 6 and 7. I noticed some clearing in progress in the woods in-between, perhaps a new hole is being created to remedy this issue?
- A few of the wooded holes are exceptionally tight, perhaps a touch more than might be warranted. Hole 18 is particularly intimidating, and some players might even opt to jump putt their way down the fairway.
- I think the rough might be cleaner and more worn-in now, compared to what the reviews here from 5+ years ago seem to suggest. But there are certainly still a few spots that are very thick, and if you can even get to your disc, scrambling out could be a challenge.
- There are open holes, and wooded holes, but not really any that incorporate elements of both. Holes 5 and 10 might be the closest to having a mix, as well as hole 1 from the long tee, and perhaps it's no surprise that those were my favorite holes on the course. More holes with that kind of mix would have been welcome.

Because of its sheer variety, I found Creekside to be a much more interesting course than Glenburnie in a lot of ways (whose lack of variety is one weak point), and I think I'm more likely to revisit Creekside on future New Bern stops because of that. I'm not saying that Creekside is better than Glenburnie, just that it's more interesting, and that the gap between them is not as wide as I was expecting.

Glenburnie should be your first stop in New Bern, but don't skip Creekside, I consider it to be a very worthy alternative.

Once you get past the first 5 holes, things start to pick up. The designer made the most of the land they were working with, and wound up with a variety of interesting and challenging holes. A lot of tight lines on the back 9 that create some very interesting and challenging throws.

1-5 are boring, repetitive, and should you stray from the fairway, the grass and shrubbery is tall enough to swallow a disc. The thorny briars scattered throughout make rescue missions a pain as well.
Hole 16 is a satanic creation. The 3 foot wide "fairway" weaves left and right multiple times, and the trees do not allow any discs to pass that are not centered on the fairway. My best on this hole is a 6, and that was due to a miraculous forehand that pinballed its way through the forest.

Hole 8 is a straight open shot with the tee sitting about 15 feet down a hill. River borders the hole on the right. While you are walking down the hill, pick a cloud that lines up with the basket and throw a hammer. You'll be surprised how consistently you can park it within 5 feet of the basket.

If you are in the area and don't feel like playing Glenburnie, it's worth visiting, though I wouldn't go out of my way to hit it up.

Overall, it is a decently designed course that will allow you to use various shots - some open 300' early, midrange/fairway shaping shots in the middle and dense woods. Unlike it's New Bern counterpart, Glenburnie Park, straying off the fairway will definitely produce score separation on many holes. The back of the park is pretty nice and has a number of fun holes - #10 is a great par 4 that has multiple risk/reward options - along with being a visually nice hole. #7 through 9 were actually decent holes with risk options (although there is possible movement of these holes).

Redundancy - the first 5 or so holes are in an open field and zig-zag across this field with no real variety. #2, 3, 4 are the same shot. Again, #6 and 18 are the exact same shot. Once in the woods, it is mostly a similar shot with variance of fairway turn - zigzagging back and forth through the wooded portion of the course. The other component of redundancy is the type of holes played in succession. All the wooded holes are played separately from the open holes. I am not sure of the limitations, but there seemed to be an opportunity to integrate the 2 areas, since they parallel each other in the DGC portion of the park.

No fairway relief - this is not a reflection of the design, but the property is encompassed with briers. Some of the holes are, seemingly, tunnel shots flanked by these briers. Any shots off the fairway leads to a disc finding adventure and potential loss of blood. Yes, don't throw off the fairway will make this a non-issue - but still is a con that needs to be mentioned. A number of the holes do not allow for any recovery shots if you stray.

Tight - Don't let the distances fool you - this is not an easy course. #16 quickly comes to mind (I 3'd it out of luck), but there are a few holes out here that are very tight. I have played numerous NC courses (I think this is # 138 or so), so woods is not something that is foreign. Some of these holes either had incredibly tight pinch point at the tee or tight/protected greens.

Navigation notice - after finishing hole 6, walk to the right and follow the road into the back area of the park, go the right past the portable toilets and the #7's pad is in the corner.

I wasn't able to play #1 due to standing water by the basket and along the left of the entire fairway - making it impossible to go from #1 to #2 without swimming. From talking with the operating club, there will be some changes to the back area of the park, which I actually enjoyed the most. Keep in mind, this is a very new course that needs traction and activity. Fairway relief can come with time and work. There is a great local club (Craven Chains) that is passionate about the sport and I know they will make many improvements to the park. I rarely rate courses that I have played only once, unless there are no reviews or something hasn't been mentioned that other disc golfers should be aware of. My review may seem negative, but it is a fun course. It falls, for me, into that 3 to 3.25 range in it's current state. If you are in the general area, it's worth the play and a decent compliment to Glenburnie.