I was absolutely blown away by Dry Creek. I have never really seen or heard anything special about this course, which is harsh, because there needs to be a lot more recognition. This is probably the best non-CDGC course that is in the Charlotte area!
-This course takes open holes to a whole new level. About half the course is played outside of the woods, and not once was I bored by the design of each one of these open holes. They are not your typical "bomber" holes, they require a solid, well placed shot from tee to basket. Some use hazard and OB stakes, which turned up the difficulty level.
-The mix of these open holes with its wooded holes is great. Each wooded hole is laid out very nicely with defined fairways. You need to have every shot in your bag to conquer this course, both the open and wooden layouts.
-The course offers a gold, par 70 layout, and a red, par 58 layout. Personally, I played the golds, which is what my review is mostly based on. The dual layout attracts all levels of players, as the more beginner level players can enjoy their round from the reds.
-The blend of par 3's, 4's, and 5's is perfect. There are six par 3's, eight par 4's, and four par 5's. Personally, I am the person who wants more long holes, so this aspect appealed to me nicely.
-Great variety. Within the open and wooded holes, there are doglegs, straight shots, and dual fairways. There are even two island greens (#6 & 18), which made things more fun and interesting.
-The flow of the course was nice. After playing a longer stretch of holes, a par 3 is sprinkled in at the perfect time. There seems to be no better way to have laid this course out.
-Navigation was easy and straight forward. There are next tee signs everywhere, and the baskets have gold and red tape, signaling the direction where the next tee is located. The course completes one large loop, which brings you straight back to the parking lot after #18.
-The course maintenance was great. Because of the large amount of open holes, I can see the grass getting way to long. But during my round, the grass was cut to a very considerable length.
-The rough was not thick, at least to Charlotte standards. Losing a disc here seems impossible.
-The first couple holes of the back nine play through a pine forest, which gives off that Bradford vibe. The open holes also have some cedar trees scattered about, which adds to that vibe.
-The terrain on #11's fairway was cool. Very bumpy with lots of mounds, which can produce some unexpected skips and bounces. It adds to the difficulty, which is a con in my book.
-Tee pads are probably the best I've ever seen. Very long and wide, with a perfect texture. Also, the corner of each tee was painted to its corresponding layout, which lowered confusion.
-Innova DISCatcher baskets are installed well and caught well. Very bright and easy to see from such far distances. Also, #3 & 12 had nice raised baskets.
-Practice basket is located to the left of the first gold tee.

-My biggest issue with this course was the incredibly unhelpful hole maps on the tee signs. They show the absolute basics of where the hole goes, but that's it. I think I checked UDisc on almost every hole to look at the map, which was frustrating.
-I mentioned that the rough wasn't thick, however, it is very punishing. Because the woods is mostly pine trees, there are a lot of trees compacted together. So scrambling isn't very easy.
-The road can come into play right on #3. It would take a pretty errant throw, but definitely still possible as you are trying to throw a bomb shot on the longest hole of the course.
-Although I didn't play them, the red layouts for #2 & 9 looked terrible. They are the only two holes that have a different tee pad and a different basket from the golds, hence why I didn't play them. But they looked short, sub 200ft layouts that are very filler.
-Of the gold holes, the only one that I felt was filler was #8. One of the par 3's, it seemed very unfair and gimmicky. There was no real fairway, which is always a problem.
-Transitions between holes were fairly long, at least to Charlotte standards. Although paths were clear and marked well, it can cause some uncertainty and confusion for first timers.
-Finding the course parking lot was tricky. I pulled into the community college that is next door, and had no idea where to go. As it says in the course description, turn onto Rodgers Rd. People who type in the community college address to Google Maps (like me) are going to find this annoying.
-The course was very trashy during my round. Lots of typical litter that you would find at a disc golf course, mostly scattered around in the rough. And now that I think about it, there weren't many trash cans to help resolve that issue.
-There was a crazy amount of anthills scattered throughout the open fairways. It was so bad that even my friend's disc was thrown and landed into one of the anthills. Watch your feet!

Dry Creek is a top course, even for Charlotte. I'm not sure how this course doesn't get the attention like Renny or Nevin does, because it simply is just as good. While were talking about it, I really do think that Dry Creek ranks 3rd best, behind Renny Gold and Nevin. I bet if CDGC adopts this course, it would become more widely known. A definite must play for anyone who is visiting, or living in the South/East Charlotte area!

Multiple pads with some holes also having multiple baskets providing the opportunity for a lot of variation. Locals seem to be always trying to improve the course as well!

Can be very wet after rain.

I consider this a must play in the Charlotte area

What a beautiful course. I played int he summer time. It really had that coastal feel, the smell of the pine trees, sand, loved it. Dry Creek plays through open manicured fields, new growth and old growth forest. I found there to be great variety. I was able to throw technical shots back hand and side arm, thumbers, rollers, and air out some bombs. Tee pads while not consistent were level, set into the ground and appropriate for the throw required. There are very few "surprise" trees that you cannot see from the tee. Teesigns had enough detail for me. No sign is better than viewing the hole first. I didnt notice benches but I dont use them. I didnt see any trash on the course and it appeared to be in a very safe area behind the school. Rough was thick but in the field areas thin and discs area easily found. I really appreciated the variance in shots required....and being able to select a line throw and not cross my fingers. The open air and tunneling of the wind is great for wind practice. I have read about some mud and drainage issues however they have just spread tons and tons of good thick gravel on the walking paths. It was really neat and added to the directions. It seems like there was wind there even though it was a calm day everywhere else. I felt peaceful, the kind of course I would like to be on my property.

Some will complain about a few long transitions...there are many more longer on VERY well respected courses in Charlotte. They were pretty walks through the woods too. I didnt notice any wet areas. I think trashcans and benches will be good. My biggest problem that I hear is being fixed is that the teesigns are too close for comfort, and can be in your way. I hear they are being moved so I didnt mark the course down for them. There was a lack of elevation...but a raised basket made up for that. You can't add elevation!

I loved my play here and would easily fit it in to my top 10 charlotte area courses. To me it had the feel of a pay to play park with all the care and maintenance around individual trees and the mowed fields and paths. Its the kind of regular care that most Charlotte proper courses lack because it is all done by volunteers. Swing by this course and give David and Mike a handshake when you see them out there.

3 courses in one. Each with its own challenge. Open holes the wind really effects throws. Tight pine tree fairways on back nine. Hard wood holes you need to be accurate with drives. The course flows nice from open to woods back to open then in the woods to close. Nice sets of tee pads. Short/long.

Still some thorns out there and the high grass to hard to find disc in. But if I hit fairways I wouldn't need to worry.

Great job on this one. Lets have some big tournament out there.