Good for short game practice. Great for beginners. Great for making you feel good...easy to get a low score. It's well kept. People are nice and respectful.

There are par 5's that would be par 3's anywhere else. Pretty easy course for experienced players.

Not too crowded. You can have a large group of people without holding people up. Clean bathrooms.

- Good beginner course or quiet place for family to play.
- Could be a fun place for an ace run.
- Discatchers and concrete tee pads.
- some decent tee signs.
- hole 6 has dual tees (I did not see the other tee while I was there)

1 missing sign, but it is a 121 feet ace run., so there is no mystery for where the basket location is.
Odd flow, after 2 holes with >125 ft ace runs you hit hole 3 which is a 401 foot which is marked a par 5, which gets to my next point: Graffiti all over the baskets. People signing "EAGLE" every time they get a 3 on what should be a par 3, but then their friends sign the baskets as "witnesses"
For hole 4 you come back to a 113 foot ace run.
Hole 5 has a vague OB. It throws over a circular trail
Hole 6 has a mando that is a clump of trees, but no one tree is designated, so it could be confusing.
The walk from 6 to 7 is another break in course flow and the course has you walk across several fairways.
Hole 8 is a 185 foot shot with a broken basket.

This course is like North Cabarrus's troubled stepbrother . It is lacking the flow, maintanence, and variety of it's counterpart which is only 3 miles away.

Break down: 3 holes under 125, 3 holes between 200-225, a 276, a 276/351, and a 401

One day of course work would improve this course to a 2 disc course.

Dorton Park is a great course for a pitch and putt practice session. This is also a great course to introduce someone to the game.

Dorton Park DGC is equipped with DisCatchers, with one layer of chains. All baskets are in excellent condition.

Concrete tee pads for each hole, with signage of each hole depicting map, distance and par, except at holes 1 and 8 for my visit. The signs are not truely necessary on most holes, as the big DisCatchers are right in front of you, quite literally.

The area of the park where the disc golf course is located serves its purpose well. Park has restrooms next to the parking, and seems to be a very nice park.

The difficulty level on this one is waaaaaay easy. Walking up to the first hole I was standing near the basket and I thought I had walked passed the tee pad. Then I came up to it to see the first basket ~100' away. Hole 2 is listed at 114' but really cannot be more than 90'. This was a true pitch and putt by definition. Ace runs on most holes. Bring one driver and a putter for this one.

A walking trail does sort of a figure 8 through the course, and I imagine it could get alot of traffic during a better season. Be cautious of pedestrians. Holes also run close together, so mind other disc golfers also.

I feel a 2 disc raiting is peak for this course. It deserves at least 2 discs because of concrete tees, nice DisCatcher baskets and tee signs. The holes do not overlap.

To get to the course, use the parking lot. Walk beyond the restrooms parallel to main road and pass the second playground you will see. First tee just behind playground.

My first visit to Dorton Park DGC might honestly be my last, unless travelling up to play North Cabarrus and using Dorton as a warm up if I'm early for meeting someone. Was worth the drive to knock a course off the list, but if it weren't for playing NoCab for the first time also it would have been a huge disappointment.

This course is strictly for the layed back rec player, bringing the young kids out for a round, or a first timer to get them used to the game in a lax setting. Dorton reminds me of a course you might see at a middle school. It is what it is and you won't get more than you're expecting, thats for sure.

- A good variety of left-hand and right-hand shots, so it's a decen place to practice anhyzers, hyzers and both forehand and backhand shots.
- A few different technical shots and one tight, tree-lined fairway.
- Course is part of a large public park, with plenty of activities for the whole family, but the course is situated in a pretty secluded area at the edge of the park.
- Plenty of opportunities to practice upshots and jump putts.

- Three holes were reachable from the tee with a long jump putt.
- Hole 9 is a poke and hope through a bunch of small cedars and shrubbery. A deuce is basically all luck, and if you miss your line you could be fetching your disc out of a tree.
- The course flow doesn't make sense - you have to cross over the main area of the park a few times, crossing fairways in the process.

This is a nice course for a quick workout and has a couple of interesting holes. But the available land probably could have been used to make a better course (maybe 6 longer holes). I played the course at 7 AM in the winter, so there was very little foot traffic, but I can imagine that it could get very difficult to play this course if there are any joggers around (as mentioned by other reviewers).

There are 3 really short holes of just over 100 ft. and a couple 400 ft. shots. The course is bigger than it seems.
-detailed tee signs
-nearby benches
-beautiful and safe park
-mostly easy to navigate and helpful locals for some confusing spots
-beginer friendly as long as they stay on the fairway for the longer holes
-many shaded spots to stay cool from the NC sun

-be aware of the walking paths (just look before you throw and it shouldn't be an issue)
-you will sometimes need to cross other hole's fairways to go to the next tee

From the parking lot walk over the bridge and go straight past the tennis courts and you will run into the first tee. The short holes are begging you to Ace them. Dorton is a nice quick round and a great practice course for the bigger courses.

Quick Hole by Hole layout
Hole 1: Wide Open watch for trail users. Short Ace opportunity.
Hole 2: Short shot between two trees. Ace Opp.
Hole 3: Longest hole. Should be no more then a par 4. Watch for trail users.
Hole 4: Shortest Hole. Hanging limbs block easy ace but still way to easy of a hole. Ace Opp.
Hole 5: Big RHBH Hyzer drive sets up for a eagle chance or an easy birdie at the very least. Watch for trail users.
Hole 6: Favorite hole on the course. Tight fairway needing a very slight left to right shot to set up for an eagle 2.
Hole 7: Sharp (RHBH) Hyzer shot or take the unconventional rh flick shot through the small opening by the trail and skip up towards the basket. Watch for trail users if taking the flick approach.
Hole 8: Nice slight hyzer shot into a tightly guarded basket. Watch for trail users. Ace Opp.
Hole 9: I use a flick shot here to set it up high and fall off to the right over cedar trees towards the pin. Tight fairway. Basket has been broke and is now a little shorter then all the others. Can mess up putts to end the round if not aware. Discs will get stuck in cedar trees or lost in the mess on the left. Watch your disc carefully.
PROS
Nice and easy, beginner friendly course. Concrete tee pads and signs. Great course to fine tune skills and a wide open soccer field to practice drives if the field is open. Great course to go out with a group of friends to play a few rounds no matter the experience level. Ace opportunities.

Very short and crowded due to walkers and joggers. All the holes should be par 3s with maybe hole 3 being a par 4. Only 9 holes.

Park has playgrounds, and tennis courts for non-disc players and kids.

Baskets are in good shape and tee pads are plenty big.

Some variety on the types of shots required. There are mostly straight fairways but #3 bends right, #5 bends left. Holes #6 and 7 give you practice with a canopy. Hole #9 give newbies experience with blind shots.

Always seems to be plenty of helpful players around so if are alone you can probably play a round with one and make a new friend.

This is a VERY short course. Holes 1 and 4 should be par 2's seriously.

As previously stated there are a lot of walkers/runners to watch out for.

This is my "home" course. I take the family there about once a week. The ladies don't mind playing here and the flat terrain allows us to push our baby in the stroller.

A friend and I have played this course as speed golf once. We basically ran the entire course. We both had like 3 over for the round. A neat way to play these easy courses.

The big field at this park before you get to the disc golf course is huge.So, you practice drives there and work on your short game in the course.Very easy walk to play 9 holes.You could play 36 holes here in the time it takes you to play a round at Renny.

Multi-use park means YELLING FOOOUR a lot. Someone has been hit with a disc here before I am sure of it.Be safe and courteous to the walkers by yelling loud.The famous "113" foot hole is hilarious.
I am not going to measure it, but, it is actually about fifty feet or less.I straddle put from the tee without moving my feet.

If you are in Concord play the north cabaruss park and this one.Every course is worth playing once.I would have scored this lower if it wasn't for the huge flat field.In fields like that is where your driving game takes off.Hard to learn a disc when you are in the woods trying to hit the pin.

for new disc golfers this course will give you confidence, very nice park clean and pleasant.

to easy for anyone who has shot for more than a few times, quite a few people walking throught the park so u have to watch u dont hit a walker

nice place to play if u only have a half hour

Great spot to bring one of your newbie friends. Big field adjacent to the course to practice your long drives on when it isnt filled with soccer players. EASY ace opportunity here. Nice, big concrete tee-pads.

Clean park/great atmosphere.

It can become pretty crowded in the afternoon. Walkers/joggers can get in your way when trying to throw a long drive on this course. Caveat: BE WARY OF THE PATH WALKERS ON THIS COURSE! I have heard of several people being hit here.

Water hazard possibility on hole #7, if you let loose with an errant throw.

Stepping in dog crap on this course is a possibility as well: be warned!

No elevation change: its pretty flat.

Every now and then, this course STINKS!...literally! It is right next to a creek that floods quite often and sometimes it holds a faint smell of raw sewage/animal death.

UPDATE: Basket on hole #2 is gone. I have no idea if it was stolen or if the park is trying to replace it.

If you are new to the sport of DG and/or you have other folks wanting to play/learn, then Dorton Park is everywhere you want to be. Its just a good, short walk in the park where you get to "people watch" as well. Its a good place to meet fellow disc-throwers.

I changed up my play on this one, meaning on the hole #1 tee-pad I ignore basket #1 and shoot for basket #2 as long as no-one is playing that hole at the moment. Other folks saw me doing that and they picked up on it as well. Even though its relatively short and easy, I like this little course!

This is a straight-up 3-disc-course for sure. You only need a fairway driver, a mid-range and a putter and you will do just fine.

UPDATE: This park has all but been taken over by illegal 3rd world aliens that play soccer and drink cervezas all day. I would advise just skipping this park all together unless you want a peep into the future of what America is going to become once she opens up her borders to the hordes of those that drain the welfare system, as well as putting a burden on the courts system as well. I saw plenty of "anchor babies" out there as well.

This course kinda confused me. Is it a pitch and putt? Is it a beginner level course? Or was the course designer trying to squeeze a normal (recreational level) course into a very small land area. The course sets on a small area of land with a creek running down the left side. Some of holes are incredibly easy and short like # 1 (121 ft. with nothing in the way), # 2 (114 ft. with just a couple of trees) and # 4 (113 ft. putt with nothing in the way. Then you have a 400 ft. hole # 3 and # 9 is a fairly difficult hole due to trees and thick underbrush on the left. This course has nice oversized concrete tee pads, very informative tee signs and single chain baskets. There are no next tee signs but they're really not needed.

Some very short holes coupled with a 400 footer. In some ways, it's a perfect place to take a beginner. In other ways there are some chances for lost discs and maybe a little frustration factor for the newbie.

The day I played, a 11 year old kid ACED # 4, the short 113 ft. shot. He was thrilled as he should be. So was his father! I'm just not sure who exactly this course designer had in mind when he designed Dorton Park?

if your looking for an easy ace this your course.(basicly glorified putting) great course for practicing putting and midrange shots.

LEAVE YOUR DRIVER IN THE CAR!!! very short holes,way to high pars.the first time i played i went 5 under and ive been playing 2 months so yeah...not braging in any way just pointing out the easyness of the course.

not a terrible course but very very entry level.

- Great course for beginners. I've played this twice with my girlfriend, who isn't a big disc golfer, and it's short enough to not frustrate her.

- Perfect for a quick round or for some midrange/putting practice. As mentioned before, the early holes provide ace opportunities.

- There's a soccer field that you pass on the way to the first tee that is perfect to practice some drives, when empty of course.

- I feel like the course does about as good a job as any of fitting nine fairly distinctive holes into a small amount of space. It's a tiny park compared to many in the area, but the course plays longer than its size.

- That said, the course is short. They could only do so much with the park size restraints, and that is obvious on holes like #1 and #4 that are woefully short.

- As others have mentioned, many holes cross over walking trails, and you almost always have to wait for walkers to pass by on those holes. Even if the course is fairly empty of players, it will still play slower if there are a lot of walkers.

I would have given this a 1.5, but I felt like the course designers really did a great job of squeezing a playable course into the tight space. They could have easily just passed on putting a course here, and that would have been a shame.

What I personally like and how this course stacks up:
1) Holes with good risk/reward -- C
2) Holes that have rewarding birdie opportunities -- D
3) More wooded than open - lots of variety of shots required caused by hole shape and topography -- C-
4) Natural beauty (Appalachian beauty preferred) and seclusion -- C
5) Multi-shot holes with defined landing zones, good risk/reward and multiple options to play them -- NA

I ranked this course subjectively based on my own personal enjoyment factor...more accurately my "personal addiction factor". Since I have played a decent number of courses (115 18-hole, 50 9-hole as of early 2009), my hope is that players/explorers who have similar tastes will find my ratings list helpful as they chose courses to play and explore.

Over time, I expect to fill some of my reviews in with more descriptive verbiage...if what I say adds anything to what has already been written. For now, my list is more important to me than the verbiage of my reviews.

I fully expect others with different tastes/philosophies to disagree with me. See my profile for my rating philosophy.

To many this course would be a joke. You get to the first hole and it is pretty much like throwing at a basket in your backyard, 100 feet in front of you. Then the second hole is still only 100 feet but there is two trees that you have to throw in between. 3rd hole is a par 5 however it would be a par 3 anywhere else. It turns left however the woods aren't that thick so you can opt to go straight over or through if you like. Hole 4 is basically a putt. The sign says 113 feet however it looks like about 60 to me. Hole 5 you can finally let a drive rip as it is a 300-350 foot hyzer shot, a creek and ob come into play so it could be tricky but still an easy hole. Hole 6 is a straight 350-400 foot shot with woods on the left side and a mando on the right. Hole 7 is probably 225-250 hyzer shot (RHBH). Hole 8 is a little 225 mid range shot. Then Hole 8 is for the Forehand as it is a 90 degree right turn with a tight alleyway and some trees to go over if you dont get all the way around.

Does this sound like fun to you? Maybe not but I actually had a great time there this morning on my way to the Renny. It was a good confidence builder before the Renny smashed it back down!

The distances are just a guess from what I remember of the course.

It is what it is, a short 9 hole course. The longest hole is 433 I think.

A great place to start playing. A variety of shots and they give you plenty of strokes so it easy for a beginner to shoot a good score. If you are passing through there is a great italian place to eat at just past the park on your right in the first shopping center. You can grab a bite to eat, play a twenty minute round, and head on to the bigger courses. Also this park is only a five or ten minute drive to another 9 hole course, North Cabarrus park. North Cabarrus is a little harder!

This course was fun to play. The baskets were Innova Discatchers that are in excellent shape. The tees are made of concrete and are large enough to accommodate follow through. Each sign gave a good representation of the hole. There were a few interesting holes that provide players with some choices. Hole #4 was a 401ft anhyzer shot from the tee. Approach shots could also be anhyzer if the drive falls far enough to the right. Hole #5 give the golfer a long hyzer shot from the tee that can be ob if landing on or right of the path. The basket is protected by a creek behind it ready to collect overzealous approaches. The 9th hole is a real interesting hole. The tee is aimed straight towards a maintainance road with lots of brush and trees to the right. The best shot is over the road and working back to the right behind where the baskets front side is completely protected by those trees and brush.

The course was hard to find from the parking lot. It is behind the tennis courts. Find the courts, find the course. The course is intertwined with walking trails that are OB. You have to look out for park patrons, but they are easily seen from all holes. There were some extremely short holes that while fun for everyone to make an ace run, could have been longer and more challenging. The 6th hole was fun but confusing. The sign shows a mandatory that I could not determine on the course. After finishing the hole, I had to search for the tee for #7. I found it, but I can see how others might have a problem. Hole #9's tee was too close to the basket for #8, but I don't know that it gets busy enough to be a problem.

I wanted to play the course again, but had to get to the next course. I wanted to give this course a higher rating, but 6 of the 9 were under 250 ft and the length of those holes was the reason.

This course is an ideal place to practice your short game.
- Every time I have played this course I am the only person playing, making for a very quick 9 holes.
- Holes 1 and 4 are easy to ace.
- Hole #2 has a mandatory throw through a set of closely situated trees which is a nice challenge.

There is absolutely no elevation change.
- Tee Signs/Maps/Markers - The tee signs are ok, at best. There is no direction as to where the next tee is, making it very difficult for the first-time player.
- There was plenty of potential to make this course challenging but it was never realized. Pretty much every hole is a straight shot and out in the open. The course is lined with woods yet no effort was made to utilize the environment.
- Walking trails snake throughout the course, so beware of people and their pets.
- The course is a bit of a walk from the parking lot, making it difficult to find for the first-time player.

In general, the course is more fun than challenging. The park is clean and easy to find.

Well laid out course. Easy to navigate. Good for a quick round.
- Tee pads are awesome. Larger than most. If every course had tee pads this good, you'd never hear anyone complain about them.
- Great tee signs. Some of the most descriptive I've seen around.
- Great course to introduce newcomers to the game. Course is never crowded, so it's also a good course for practice.
- Beautiful, neighborhood park. I think everyone would want such a great, clean, park nearby. Park has walking trails, soccer field, tennis court, picnic shelters, grills, playground and restrooms. Great for the whole family.

Most holes aren't difficult. Three holes are really short, barely more than 100 feet. Lack of variety among holes.
- Lack of variety in holes. Longer holes are wide open, shorter holes are managable.
- Trails weave throughout course, so you have to watch out for joggers and walkers.
- Rough is thick to the left of #5, also comes in to play on errant throws on #3 (right side) and #6 (left).

Course isn't challenging for skilled players. I only consider several of the holes to be tough enough to be seen on more advanced courses. #3 is the most challenging hole by far. It's the only hole more than 400 feet.
- Course is targeted for casual players, as well as families looking to have fun.
- Worth playing if you live nearby or for a quick stop on your way to some of the tougher, better courses in Charlotte.
- Amenities give course a bump in ratings. The rest of the family can easily be occupied at the park while you play.