This one came recommended by Bisco I believe and I have to say it's a very good course. As you pull in the start of the course is across the road from the rest of the park and the dedicate parking area was packed out on a Tuesday evening.

The signs are nice and outline the hole from all teepads of which there are generally three on each hole. What teepads they are, huge runways of a tee pad, James Conrad would be happy with these even. I'm not sure how big they are but most of them would be about 6x12 and I think some might be bigger than that.

The baskets are disccatchers and in good shape, they have a few of these cool concrete barrier platforms that give it a bit of a raised look without being gimmicky or too extreme.

The holes are generally long, but can be shortened from the white or red pads if you don't have the power to ply the longer blue tees. And the shot shapes and terrain are widely varied.

Long bending holes through the woods that have. True multi shot part 4s, up and down hills with some more open looks and several really interesting water carries that bing the whole thing to a more unique spot than your average very good park course.

The signage and upkeep are amazing as well and whomever is responsible is doing an amazing job.

There are a few tricky navigation spots and on a couple of shots the baskets are a little closer together than would be ideal. The greens for 6/8 are probably the worst offenders.

Everything else is pretty great, I won't reach to beat it up.

This is a premier course and I can't wait to come play it again though I don't know when that will be.

- BEAUTIFUL course with lots of challenge. Almost every shot is one that much be shaped around obstacles or straight through tight gaps.

- Drainage issues seem to have been resolved. We played the day after heavy rain, and there was virtually no mud at all on the course.

- Very few chances to lose discs. Undergrowth is well maintained, even when thick. There is a water feature on 8 that even the red tees (playing from the whites because red tees don't exist yet) have to play over. It was a big pucker, but we made it across.

- Even in September 2022, not all red tees are installed, and there's no indication of IF a tee has been installed or not, so you frequently find yourself looking for a tee box that doesn't exist. Some red tees that have been installed have been done poorly, with no signage, different footing from the whites/blues, and a look that makes you say "Is this really a tee box?"

- Additional signage in the middle of the course is needed. Where the Fusion holes kick in, things get very confusing. We never found the tee box for 10 Red. 10-11 fusion yes, but not 10, so we just made our own par 3 and hoped for the best.

- Course gets crowded. We played at 11am on a Wednesday and quickly found ourselves playing with people in front and behind. I guess that's just what comes with popularity.

This is a great course that is not beginner-friendly at all for a variety of reasons. I have a noodle arm. My longest drives top out at 250. I went and played from the reds, which were poorly marked and frequently absent. Birdie chances simply did not exist for me at my skill level, but we had a great time all the same.

One of the best courses in the world? No. North Carolina? Most definitely.

I had a trip planned to Raleigh for work and had circled this course as a priority while I was in town. UDisc had recently ranked this as the best course in the state and #8 or so overall. While I may disagree a bit with this assessment, it was certainly a destination course and would be the best in most any city. I played the course on a Tuesday around 1 PM and it was already bustling, I'd be curious to see how busy it gets.
Pros:
-This has to start with the scenery. This course is stunningly beautiful, especially the back 11. 100 foot pines lining fairways, nice elevation changes, and a small pond all make this course stand out. Seriously, if you've not seen pictures of this place check them out!
-A few of the holes really stood out. Hole 9 threw over a pond, about 30-40 feet above the fairway, with a beautiful fairway, wooded on one side. Hole 10 required a climb up a steep hill but rewarded you with a big downhill shot. Hole 14 and 15 are the most iconic. Tight fairways through giant pines and lovely pine needle fairways, these holes alone made the trip worth it. The final few holes were also quite interesting.
-Even though the course played through the woods, the fairways always seemed fair and the rough was never overgrown.
-3 sets of teepads on most holes
-The best signage I've ever seen. Ever 100' to the pin was clearly marked, next tee signs made for easy navigation, tee signs were very informative including elevation changes. These signs had everything.
-Restroom and water across the street along with a shelter and additional parking. The lot by the course was DG specific.
-2 practice baskets, one of which is by the restrooms
-Neat art statue of someone throwing a disc by the practice basket.
-Benches at most tees

-Red tees aren't finished. Many times we'd notice the red tees simply weren't there (the first time I saw this was hole 4 I believe). I imagine this course is a work in progress and this issue will be fixed.
-Teepads weren't uniform. Most were rubber mats, often on concrete, but some were sand. The mats weren't ideal, but got the job done.
-Long walks between some holes
-22 holes just didn't feel necessary, especially when some holes played so close to each other. We had one shot land on the tee for another hole and it's possible to cross into other fairways on several holes. A few of the holes also felt repetitive and didn't really add anything to the experience. 18 holes would have likely had everything the course needed.
-Could get crowded resulting in complications with so many different layouts. A few of the layouts combine holes so be on the lookout for other groups before throwing.

This course was wonderful, one of the best walks in the woods I've ever had. The course itself was great but is really boosted by its environment, something you can't duplicate. Is it one of the greatest courses in the world? I personally don't think so. But it would be the best in most cities and is certainly well worth your time, including a special stop on a disc golf trip.

Disclaimer: I shot a 1023 rated round on Saturday and shot a 911 rated round here on Sunday in the flex tournament. I had some of the worst drives that I've ever had in a while. I was able to save par most of the time and I made a few birdies but I could've hit the fairway to save my life due to not knowing the course and being sore from the tournament the day before the one here.

-Despite my awful round, I constantly found myself saving par from the rough. My scramble game was solid and my putting was solid. Diavolo can forgive since there are opportunities to save par from a miserable lie, but scrambling to save par will not save an advanced or pro player. The lines are all fair and wide enough to offer fair birdie opportunities. So if your accuracy is off, don't expect to score well here. Diavolo is a prime example of the saying "Trust is like a vase.....once it's broken, though you can fix it, the vase will never be the same again." Accuracy off the pad is the trust here. Diavolo forgives and allows opportunities to save par. It forgives the way a bank forgives a PPP Loan during COVID. It rarely grits its teeth. But you really want to try and birdie as much as you can by throwing well off of the pads.

-Diavolo offers at least two set of pads on most holes. I think all except for holes #10 and #14. Some holes had three set of pads. The blues are an advanced layout. My guess is that even would be 940 rated. All of the lines are fair, the holes are just longer with slightly different lines. The whites are easier for the most part, since the pars do not change on any of the holes from either pad. Some of the lines from the whites could be considered more difficult, despite the shorter lengths. #17 sticks out in my mind. From the blues, it's a fairly simple right to left hyzer to the woods down a relatively wide path. The line is straighter from the white pad than it is from the blue, but since you tee off in the open into the mouth of the woods, it's very crucial to not go left, since you'd be in the open for your second shot trying to enter the woods without a gap to hit from the open. The mistake of going too far left is easier to avoid from the blue pad than it is from the white.

-Part of the forgiving nature is the minimal OB at Diavolo. There is a mando on #19 if you play the blues. A creek runs through the property, but doesn't come closer than maybe 60' long of any basket, so the creek is very avoidable too. Only hole where avoiding OB is a potential challenge is #8. You are throwing out of the woods over the pond. If you play the blues, then you'll have another water carry over the water on #9, which in my opinion is the signature hole on the course. Usually, the worst trouble you can face here is the rough. It's hard to throw from on some holes, but allows you to pitch out at the least.

-#9 blue is truly an outstanding hole. To me, one of the greatest in NC. 789' and down about 30' in elevation. You start off by clearing a pond (only takes about a 200-225' shot to clear) and then throwing across a meadow lined with some trees and a few bushes. One of the hardest holes that Diavolo has to offer. Only a few holes on the blues are tougher than this hole. It's very challenging, but pros will love this hole no doubt. Throwing over a pond downhill in the open brings a ton of joy.

-Several greens perched on large rocks. Two greens (#3 and #5) are placed on concrete platforms. I've seen nothing like that! Interesting look.

-Valley shots are a ton of fun at Diavolo. #7 is a tougher hole. 333' from the blue and primarily downhill. It's pretty tight, tighter than most holes here. Throw a stable mid down the fairway and you might have a chance for birdie. #10 is stunning. Down a smaller but steep hill and back up a wide and grassy fairway in the light woods. In my opinion, most picturesque hole on the course along with #21. Another gorgeous split valley down a valley. Basket is perched, slightly elevated on a large rock. #20's approach makes for an outstanding par four. You start off with a split fairway. Both sides consist of trees in the middle that make it difficult to fabricate which path to take, as neither of them are easy to navigate. If you make it past the split fairway, you'll be faced with a more open and manageable approach down a valley. A true par four. There's probably plenty of debate on which is the better par four. #9 or #20. Both are fantastic holes.

-Excellent tee signs with hole info and hole diagrams. The rubber pads are very large too. Probably longer than 12'.

-They really thrived on making this a destination course. Newbies will probably enjoy the reds. In the event, we played the "All Star" layout, which is a mix between whites and blues. I played a second round from the blues simply because my tournament round was the worst I've had this year and I wanted to play a full round from a particular set of pads. A couple of the par fives (#16 and #21) were very difficult. I think #19 blue is the hardest hole that Diavolo has to offer though. Being a tight dogleg right par four over 600' in the woods. There is a landing zone that is hard to perfectly reach, due to the fairway being tighter for the remaining 300' or so. I enjoyed the easier holes from the blues too. They give a lot of options for redemption. Holes such as #6, #10, #14, and #17. Doesn't mean that a birdie is necessarily easy to get. You still have to hit the lines without luck to comfortably reach the greens.

-Not many honestly. I don't think it's entirely amazing as some would say. I liked the baskets on quartz. Some of the valley holes are very stunning. Diavolo is very well manicured. But many of the holes in terms of quality or shock value weren't as outstanding as I would've thought. The first three holes are solid. #4 was really fun. #5 was neat. #6, #7 and #8 were all interesting. #9 was incredible. #10 was sweet. #11 and #12 were okay. #13 was solid. #14 and #15 were okay. #16 was a really cool par five. #17, #18, and #19 were okay. #20 and #21 were a real blast. #22's tee shot from the blue was great but the hole gets a little dull after that. Yes, there are some awesome holes at Diavolo but several of them were just alright. Several standard wooded holes without much flavor.

-The issue with some of the red pads remains. Not all of them are completely installed.

-Some holes are very close in proximity. My second round, I kicked off on the right hand side on #19. I threw my second shot from #20's fairway. #1 and #2 are very close too.

-If your accuracy is on point, then you'll probably score very well here. If not, then hope that your upshot game is on point. The lines aren't always easy to hit but getting out of trouble isn't entirely difficult either. There are many different ways to make pars but not many to birdie. You will really want to avoid the rough on the three par fives, as the rough is hardest to throw from those holes. #4, #16, and #22. Especially if you play the whites. Those par fives aren't quite as long from the whites, but temptation to go big arises when the prospect of an eagle is present. If you go big and shank your drive, a good opportunity for birdie could turn into a bogey at best.

-Diavolo is great. I've played one other 22 hole course. That is Clay DGC in Clay, Alabama. I like Clay better due to greater elevation change, a better balance of open and wooded, and holes with more character and flavor. Clay to me is like Relient K's Mmhmm album. Diavolo is like Relient K's Forget and Not Slow Down album. I love both albums. But I like Mmhmm better due to a wider variety of songs and a wider variety of messages. That was arguably their breakthrough album.

Please allow me to introduce myself. I'm a man of wealth and taste. I'd heard about Diavolo since its opening the year prior. I've been wanting to check out the course myself and finally got the chance
- Course offers lots of challenge, mainly in terms of length. 22 holes, a tad more than 10K feet in length, gives you an average hole length of more than 450 feet. 8 holes are longer than 500 feet. Your shortest hole is 230 feet (only one under 250 feet), so it's not for the faint of arms.
- Stuck around St. Petersburg when I saw it was a time for a change. If you don't have a big arm, pars are excellent scores. I had 10 straight pars before my first bogey. Out of that stretch, I only had one legit birdie chance that entire stretch.
- Rolling hills create added challenges. #4 is one of the course's great holes. It's a station-to-station, downhill par 4. The downhill aspect makes this hole feel considerably shorter than its 800 foot length. It takes a couple good shots to be approaching the basket. Compare that to #5, an uphill, 320 foot shot. With its elevation factor, the hole feels closer to 400 feet. Then, you bookend this rolling hill section with a nice, (relatively) easier 318 foot par 3. Despite only two feet difference in length, #5 & 6 play completely different.
- Made damn sure that Pilate washed his hands and sealed his fate. Water makes a brief appearance on #8 & 9. It shouldn't be a factor on either hole unless you get an unfortunate roll downhill or smack a tree on #8.
- Pleased to meet you, hope you guess my name. Or correct tee pad in this situation. The triumvirate of tee pads on holes #10, Fusion #10/11, and #22. If you're going to volunteer during a tourney, this might be the best spot as you'll see the most action.
- Baskets on rocks. If you like slightly elevated baskets, you have four of them here.
- Just as every cop is a criminal, and all the sinners saints. As heads is tails I like the blend of grip and rip fairways and shot-placement ones. #12 has a basket tucked away on the right side of this 600 foot par 4. You'll want your approach shot to be coming from the left side of the fairway, or you won't have a realistic angle to make a run towards the basket. Compare that to the wide (by North Carolina standards) wooded fairways on 16 & 22. These are your two longest holes, but the trees shouldn't be much of an issue until you're getting closer to the basket.
- Great tee signs. There are a lot of blind tee shots, so you're relying on accurate descriptions. Tee signs get a 10 out of 10 in terms of quality.
- Add to that, holes have distance markers throughout. On the longer holes, you see the markers starting at 400 feet out, then counting down in 100 foot increments. Even many of the par 3s have markers for 100 and possibly 200 feet.
- Use all your well-learned politeness or I'll lay your soul to waste. Strong local club and involvement. I was the first car in the parking lot, pulling in at 7:32. By the time I got my bag ready and was walking to the car 5 minutes later, three more cars were already in the lot. By the time I finished shortly after 9, the parking lot was nearly full. Did I mention...THIS WAS ON A THURSDAY MORNING!!!!
- If you meet me, have some courtesy, have some sympathy, and some taste. Yeah, the locals like this course. Maybe a little too much so.

The obvious. The locals talked a big game. The course can't match the oversized hype. That's no fault of the course. That's no fault of the course designer. It's 100% the fault of the locals for being a little too exuberant.
- As for the course itself, there is not one single glaring flaw. There are a lot of things you can nitpick about. Disc golfers, proceed with caution.
- Of those, my biggest con is the lack of variety. There are large section of this course that seemingly felt the same. If you were to trim the fat, you could cut four holes (any of the holes between #13 - 19), and nobody would notice.
- There's a long walk from #21 to 22. Then, #22 is seemingly long only because that's how long the walk is from the tee back to the parking lot.
- I laid traps for troubadours who get killed before they reached Bombay. Another not-an-issue-with-the-course itself issue: apparently runners/bikers on the trail don't know how to look up and see people crossing from #12 to 13 and #21 to 22. I had one runner nearly run into me because she wasn't looking past her feet. Another biker seemed a little surprised I was crossing despite being 50 feet away.
- Just call me Lucifer cause I'm in need of some restraint. Even with the wire/catch fences, I don't like throwing shots towards another hole. On #22, I had to wait to throw my second shot so a large group could all throw their tee shots on #8. I know I wouldn't want to be startled by a disc flying my way as I'm about to tee off. You also see this between #13's basket and #14's tee.
- I rode a tank, held a general's rank, when the blitzkrieg raged. There are too many holes that have gravel roads/paths as fairways - #12, 17, & 18. On #12, I threw extremely cautious as I was afraid someone would mistake the fairway for the trail. That was my own issue, I get it. But, it only takes one person.
- A common theme from many players is the poor drainage after rain. Playing in the summer, and with no rain in the past several days, this wasn't an issue for me. I could see where the shaded/sloped portions wouldn't be fun to navigate in the winter and/or after heavy rains.

Diavolo is overall a solid course. Some people will love it more than I do. Some will like it less. Some people are locals. Others are disc golf travelers who have played dozens or hundreds of course across the region, country, or world.
- I've been around for a long, long years. Stole million man's soul and faith. For a relatively new course, this course has a classic, broken-in feel. This course is almost an instant classic.
- #20 had one of the nicest approach shots I've seen recently. Depending where your tee shot lands, your second shot is downhill over a valley, and back slightly uphill to the basket. With the clearing, and the sun shining through the trees just before 9am, this was a magnificent view.
- #21 was my favorite tee shot. It's a split fairway, 295-foot layout. This was my only birdie of the round. But, I knew standing on the tee I should be landing close to the basket. The other nice ones were #8 (over water), #9 (ditto), and the 10/22 (teeing off next to each other from the top of the hill).
- I really liked the first 10 holes. I enjoyed the closing stretch of holes. It's just that middle section that lacked anything memorable, or even noteworthy.
- I watched with glee while your kings and queens fought for ten decades. The course requires patience. It's a grind. The risk/reward factor isn't severe, so feel free to be aggressive.
- I think the toughest tee shot on the course is #19. It's seemingly the tightest fairway. After a poor tee shot, I knew I was most likely looking at bogey, and had to accept my fate.
- The approach on #3, 4, and 20 were all outstanding. #18 was really good too, as was #16. Other than that, there's just a lot of solid, but non-descript layouts.
- Final, we're on to the ratings. This is in the 4.0 - 4.25 range for me. On this site, that classifies a course as excellent. Diavolo is mostly tough, challenging, and fun. If you look at the course in that context, you should be more than pleased. If you come in here thinking this course is the best in the state or #7 in the world based on some website's goofy algorithm/click bait-ness, you'll likely be a little disappointed.
- I shouted out Who killed the Kennedys? When after all It was you and me. Everyone's opinion will vary. I doubt anyone will hate this course and/or think it's below average. As for my ratings, out of 430ish courses played, this ranks somewhere between #26 - 32. It's somewhere between the ninth and 12th best course in the state.
- This is a no-doubt, must play. Just remember that after a rough round here, you may be asking, "what's puzzling you is the nature of my game."

Super long and challenging PRO TEES (short red tees for novices, and white tees which are appropriate for most)! the blues are truly a pro course.
This will stretch every contenders limits of placing long shots and firing long arrows.

Tons of modern features with distance markers on fairways, next tee signs, lots of details on tee signs, best benches (not enough disc chargers tho )

22 excellent holes! holes 4, maybe 15 and i think 20 are world class for sure.

Despite very few trash cans, there is zero litter!

Location on the ATT Bike Trail!!!! <3 <3 <3

Rubber tees are more impressive than expected (i feel some of the pro tees tilt down and forward tho), but all are flat and consistent across blue/white/red tees on every hole

Pro course has PLENTY of challenges to bend 300-350ft shots left/right/rightThenLeft as well as placing 250 arrows on a dime!

Would be one of the most fun courses to watch real pros play!

Fusion holes are VERY well thought out and super cool. (outside of an 18hole limit requirement, i don't see the point tho. they add distance to an already SUPER long course and you lose some of the coolest challenges on the pins you are skipping)

Land is well purposed, spacing is perfect, and not many pedestrians

Great parking/bathrooms

This is more critical than normal directly as a consequence of the article that claims this is the #7 course in the world.
It IS the exact course this area needs and could be 5 stars, but i be trying to manage potential visitors' expectations here.

Tee signs seem to be already out of date in terms of angles and trees? i don't know. (i will work on a good course guide this summer, but the "x"es on the signs aren't exactly spot on).
ppl intimate with the course are going to have a serious advantage over tourists because of the number of blind tees where you really need to hit an exact spot to have a line at the pin

"Diavolo" implies temptation, but the challenge here is almost entirely distance and skill. The lake (only water challenge and only on 2 holes) is a non issue for pros who can clear 200 ft (albeit purty), maybe psychological?. Almost every hole (exception is 4) has an ideal approach location that offers multiple avenues if you can throw (350). but i don't feel any possible shot was easier or harder than any other if that makes sense. in other words i don't see the risk/reward choices, but maybe i just haven't seen them yet, there is one hammer throw that would be risky, but there are branches overhanging tee which eliminate it.

Some tee signs show creeks which would be AWESOME if they existed, but they don't (are dry?). i guess you could paint OB markers around the ditches to add some risk of "going long".

"Raised" baskets been overdone imo, and no need for 4-5 holes with it. 22 is a few inches short which is kinda cool. but the elevated concrete "greens" are dumb imo. If anything they eliminate risk because they have spikes that knock disc down 10 feet past pin? Putting a moat around them like castles would be cool and definitely add risk/reward, (amateurs could choose to count penalty or not). hole 14 could have water behind it instead of yet another raised tee, (although the quartz is sexy AF)

For Am tees there is nothing making this course special enough to stand out from like zebulon or unc or pretty much any of thousands 4 star courses

RE: other reviews, not "exactly" "well-maintained"...Was superbly built, but doesn't look like a lot has been done since. most holes have tons of stumps and "mulch"/giant sticks from its creation, which make rolling on a couple of the 900ft holes impossible and just walking without tripping a chore.

Plays way better than UNC after hard rain, but i don't see some of the holes' grass holding up to increased foot traffic long term. Cary does seem to have budgeted money tho, as i see tons of expensive rubber mats and hints of tiling

Rough is moderately forgiving. i guess if your drive is bad, there is some risk to try an ill-advised long, second-shot through a less than optimal line, but for the most part you can still advance reasonably even if you hit the rough.

No:
huge elevation holes,
creeks,
waterfalls,
Some tight arrow shots, but the only "tunnel" holes aren't true tunnels (this could be a pro, and as course matures, the foliage will change probably for the better)

tl;dr:

Exceptional design and features!
Pro and Am (blue/white) play not only different lengths but different challenges!
every one of the 22 holes is fun!
Perfect complement to other triangle courses (which all tend short)!
but... NOT the 7th best course in the world (especially for amateurs)
Pro tees offer an elite and ideal practice course for ppl trying to master the sport
Am tees offer a fun/new set of holes in the area to throw some plastic, but the #7 ranking was definitely not for Ams. the Am course is probably not even in the top 50 in NC

I'm curious how the medium-armed, super-technical players fare on Pro course against the cannon-arms lacking perfect accuracy or putting skills

course closure schedule: https://www.townofcary.org/re...-golf-course/#ad-image-4

Opening to much fanfare in late 2020, Diavolo has instantly become one of the most popular and highly-regarded courses in NC.
+ A grand, majestic course that combines ambition, thrilling fun, and polish. This is as smooth of a course experience as you can possibly find, and is particularly impressive for something so large-scale, and freshly cut from the woods.
+ Excellent mix of both wooded and open holes, offering challenges in distance and shot-shaping. Fairways gently curve in a variety of directions, and all are wide and fair, with clearly defined lines and landing zones. Many holes feature several available fairways, which I always love to see.
+ Multiple par 4s and 5s are epic experiences, that will leave unforgettable signatures on the mind. In particular, hole 9 is a jaw-dropper, one of the best holes I've played in NC.
+ There are no bad holes on this course, somehow all 22 are excellently designed and fun to play, from start to finish.
+ Two sets of tees (and soon to be three) on most holes, that differ substantially. The white tees are suitable for pretty much all skill levels, being surprisingly friendly and smooth for newer players, yet fun and attackable for those more advanced. The blue tees are much longer, testing most players' distance, and often play from completely different angles and/or fairways than the whites, offering a very distinct experience. And you can easily mix and match combinations of the whites and blues in each round, to match your skill set and preferences.
+ Somewhat unique to this course are three 'fusion holes', where consecutive par 3s can be combined into longer par 4s. And these fusions are very natural to play, even including their own teepads and signage in some cases.
+ Massive tee pads, excellent tee signs, great Discatcher baskets, two 11-hole loops that return to the parking lot, two practice baskets, large benches, etc. The amenities on this course are great.

Though the following cons are somewhat nit-picky (it's a fantastic course!), Diavolo clearly has ambitions of being a championship-caliber destination, and therefore I think it should be judged against that standard.
- Though the fairways all curve gently in one direction or another, I still find myself throwing a straight fairway driver on pretty much every tee shot on the course, just on slightly different angles. Stable discs pretty much never leave my bag, as there are very few sharp angles to contend with here.
- With so many gentle curves, and the lack of sharp angles, some of the holes blur together a bit in my mind, particularly the par 3s. Though they're still very good holes, and the course has plenty of outstanding highlights, this is not a course where every single hole is memorable on its own.
- The long blue tees are nowhere near as challenging as I was expecting. The course designers were very aggressive in removing trees, and by North Carolina standards, the wooded fairways are wide and generous to a shocking degree, and sometimes barely feel wooded at all. In fact, some of the shorter white tees face a tighter fairway than the long blues, and those blue tees actually feel more attackable and scorable by comparison. Even if you do miss the fairway, all of the gentle curves on the course mean that you'll likely still have a very clear line to a par save. It's telling to me that touring pro Nathan Queen arrived to play the course blind, and immediately proceeded to shoot a stunning -17 from the long tees (on 22 holes). With practice, you'd expect some pros to consistently go even lower than that. Given its large scale and the opening hype, I was expecting a championship-caliber challenge, and I had visions of Idlewild, WR Jackson, or Nevin dancing in my mind. But Diavolo falls far short of offering that level of challenge. And given how packed-in the course is on its land, there seem to be few smooth opportunities to add more challenge, other than waiting a few decades for trees to grow back in. I'll concede that this is partly an issue with my pre-opening expectations, but I still think it's fair to say that the course is surprisingly soft for top players, who may want to seek tougher challenges elsewhere.
- The three 'fusion' holes ultimately aren't that compelling. Hole 10/11f is probably the best of them, and is better than the sum of its component holes. But, it is an identical twin to hole 22. Actually, it is more like a conjoined twin - the two holes perfectly parallel each other, from the adjacent tees, curving together down the fairways side-by-side, then finishing at adjacent baskets. As a result, the experience it offers is a repetitive one. Hole 13/14f is the roughest fusion, with an awkward shape and transition between the two component holes, and is my least favorite hole experience on the course. Finally, hole 17/18f is fairly good, but plays nearly identical to hole 12 (another repetitive experience), and I slightly prefer its two component holes separately. Ultimately, while the fusion holes were interesting to play once, I have found little reason at all to try them again. They're an interesting option to have, but no more than that, and if anything may add to navigation confusion for first-time visitors.

Diavolo has immediately opened to high acclaim across a broad spectrum of disc golfers. And that makes sense, given its polish and excellent design. It probably deserves a 4.5 - 5.0 for most people. But for my own personal tastes, based on the hype and the length of the course, I was hoping for much more of a championship-caliber challenge, and came away a little disappointed. I guess I'm somewhat of a disc golf masochist, as the courses I love most are those that challenge me at every turn, brutally punishing my mistakes, but offering sweet rewards when I do throw smoothly, and constantly testing my decision-making and mental strength. And by comparison, Diavolo is just too gentle and forgiving for me. Amongst other Triangle courses, East Clayton and Rock Ridge offer far more of a challenge, while retaining excellent design and polish, and I still personally prefer those over Diavolo for those reasons. But for folks who want disc golf to be more of a relaxing and purely fun experience, which is probably the vast majority of players, Diavolo has already emerged as the very best the Triangle can offer. And all my little complaints aside, this is still a course that I'll come back to over and over again, to enjoy some of the magnificent longer holes. I want to play hole 9 in an neverending eternity of disc golf heaven.

Diavolo has been at the top of my "can't wait to play" list for the better part of two years. A ton of work has gone into the design and construction of this course by Jay Pontier, the CADL team and other local volunteers. There is a ton of hype surrounding this course and it shows upon arrival with packed parking lots and groups scattered all over the course (a great "problem" to have if you want to call it that).

One of the standout Pros to Diavolo is the number of really fantastic holes on the course. There are a handful that would be signature holes on nearly any course in the country and I don't think many will dispute that claim. The 3 holes that stick out the most are the par 4 9th over the water with a dogleg, the par 5 16th, and par 5 finishing 22nd. Hole 9 is easily the most beautiful hole in the triangle and 16 is the most well manicured and ready to play long wooded holes I have ever seen on a new course. It is very clear that the wait was worth it when it comes to trimming and making holes feel "beat in" so to speak.

Tee pads are all very level and well made. I personally would prefer concrete but the course designer decided on rubber pads with fine gravel to fill which I cant say gave me any trouble. My biggest issue with these pads is longevity but with the care that has gone into this course, I feel confident that the pads will be well maintained.

The unique but very functional benches at the tee areas are great and the tee signs are very nice as well. I would have preferred larger hole distances which are nearly impossible to read from more than 10 feet away but with multiple distances listed per hole, this isn't a huge deal.

I really enjoyed the challenge of angles on this course. There are shot angles ranging from steep hyzers to big turnover shots and everything in between. You will have to have a full bag of shots to be effective at Diavolo.

The Bathroom and parking area is very nice. Additional parking across the road with multiple putting baskets that are nicely spread out is a fantastic addition especially when the park is busy or when tournaments are occurring.

I have to reiterate the level of attention to detail and level of manicured-ness this course has. For only being a few weeks old, it is quite possibly the best course I have ever played in that regard (out of the courses that I have played that were say...less than a year old). This is worth noting just from the standpoint of how many hours it takes to make that happen. Bravo to the entire team who helped get this course ready to open.

Special features: Diavolo features some unique elevated greens, natural rocks, and a few more hidden special features here and there that really add to the level of professionalism at Diavolo. While these things are relatively simple, they are all very well done and really add to the course which is flat in spots and really benefits from a few subtle challenges especially around the green area.

There are a lot of pros with this course so I may have forgotten a few here to be honest.

The biggest Con at Diavolo and a huge part of the reason I am only giving this course 4 stars is Course Flow. There are simply too many areas on the course where tee areas are too close to baskets, fairways are too close to each other, or some combination of those things are occurring.

In regards to course flow:
Hole 8 needs to be eliminated all together. The short basket position is way to close to 2 other baskets and hole 9's tee. In a tournament scenario, you could have 3 groups putting within 100 feet of each other which in my opinion is not something a championship or top tier course should ever have. From what I can also tell the planned 2nd and 3rd pin positions on that hole will create a crossing fairway (or very close to a crossing fairway) with the prettiest hole on the course (hole 9). Crossing fairways are a HUGE issue for me.

The 3 tee pad area for holes 10 and 22 is very unique and scenic, but is a backup/flow issue. Especially with Covid going on, I am not the biggest fan of 20 people being bunched up in this area. It was a cool idea but it isn't very functional on busy days.

Hole 22 has hole 8s tepid no more than 40 feet off the fairway which is blocked by a wire fence. Things like this are extremely annoying and just seem avoidable with small design tweaks.

Many of the front 9 holes are simply too close together. Obviously I am not in the know for what land was set aside for the disc golf course but instead of making a 22 hole course, I would have much preferred 18 holes that were a little more spread out. The first 5 or 6 holes feel especially pinched and our group had several instances where discs from other holes were in our fairway from bad throws and bad kicks. While these things do happen from time to time, an excellent course design doesn't exacerbate the chances of this occurring frequently which was the feeling our group had on the front section of the course.

I understand trying to milk every square foot out of a property but several times throughout the round, it seemed that holes were packed together a little too tightly.

Hole length: While there is a good mix of par 3s,4s, and 5s; there is a common theme of 320ish foot holes. I do think this will be less apparent on the fusion layout but several members of our group mentioned that they were throwing the same 1 or 2 discs on a lot of the par 3s because they were a bit repetitive with distance and angle. I do like that several of the holes did have dual fairways creating options for different shots/lines but I would have liked a little more par 3 distance variety. Maybe my mid will change as I play some of the other layouts and log more rounds in general.

Overall, Diavolo is a very very good disc golf course and one that was much needed in an area starving for more quality disc golf. I think Diavolo will be in the top 10 and maybe even top 5 for a lot of Carolina golfers.

So much hard work has gone into the course and it will be interesting to see what the course becomes after a year or two of play and maybe even some small tweaks here and there.

If the course flow and hole proximity issues were to be fixed I would have no problem bumping this course to a 4.5 which puts it in rare company with some of the best courses in the region. I don't think it has a legitimate chance at 5 stars as the property and space simply don't crack into the world class course category.

Again, thank you so much to everyone involved in the design and building process of this course. The triangle is going to benefit so much from a course of this caliber and quality and hopefully this will set a new standard for some of the future course projects in the area that are already in the works.