Decided to try this course during a 7-night stay in a Bryson City cabin. This was a real treat. It appears as though the course had recently gone through some upgrades, likely in the last 2-3 years. Tee pads looked like they had been there, along with baskets and flags on top. Based on older photos in here, they built a retaining wall in front of the #1 basket to make it a raised green. Nice touch!

This course is a really good workout, even if you play the short tees like we did. It only takes 2 holes before you start seeing the dramatic elevation changes from tee to basket. At least from the short tees, I'd say you can see the basket from about 80% of the tees even in summer. This beautiful piece of property has little streams criss-crossing everywhere, and they can come into play (especially if your partner throws it all over the place). The transition from basket 1 to tee 2 is weird, but after that the course flows really well without any guessing.

The new tee markers take a great "nature" approach in highlighting the history of the area and all of the great trees along the course. Some of the baskets have creative and somewhat dangerous locations. Holes 6, 7, and 11 are precarious with some good potential for roll-away on poor putts.

While the whole course has gorgeous views all throughout, the long tee on #11 is a view like you'd get on the Blue Ridge Parkway... see my photo. One other item is that we were just shocked at how well maintained the grounds were through the entire course. Grass (and there's a lot of it) was recently mowed, and there is definitely care taken with weed eater trimming all over the place.

Fontana Village is truly in the middle of nowhere. There's not a lot of places to stop and gas up or buy food, either. Prepare yourself if you get carsick. The road leads out to the "Tail of the Dragon" which is famous for motorcycles and sports cars. That 11-mile stretch of road contains 318 continuous curves! The only other con is the danger of losing discs on this course. With all of the elevation drop from many tees, there are wide swaths of jungle out there that can just eat up some plastic. Keep your eye on it!

I could not recommend playing this course more. It was pretty easy to find the starting point after a little reading here on the site. It was a great physical workout, but the short tees were fairly forgiving. If you're in this area, you can hike Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest (first growth), you can boat on Fontana or Santeelah lake, or you can hike on a number of trails very close by in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Be sure to see my recent photos taken September 2020. Sorry I didn't get more of the course layout itself!

-18 well designed holes. The course flow is good and fun factor very high.
-Great variety. The elevation changes are used on almost every hole. There are a number of awesome down hill bombs. There are long holes and short ace runs. The par 4s are fair but require two good shots for a bird. Some holes are wooded while others are very wide open.
-Risk vs Reward is what this course is about. Several holes feature large drop offs near the baskets which make you think twice about full on runs. There are more than a few pin positions that also have roll away potential.
-Short and Long pads. Very nice concrete pads for the majority of holes. The designers did a great job making the short pads very different and much easier than the longs. The long pads will challenge anyone while the shorts provide fun ace runs on almost every hole.
-Top notch tee signs. All the needed info.
-The maintenance is great. Regularly mowed since its located on resort grounds.
-A bonus is the great mountain view you get on hole 11s tee pad.

-The location while awesome is in the middle of nowhere. Gas up and bring supplies.
-Some of the dropoffs here are very sketchy. The large ravine in the middle of 15 is prime example and pretty crazy. Risk vs Reward!

Fontana is among the best courses I have played. There are so many fun and challenging holes. This course also challenges you physically. Lots of mountain climbing! If you have time check out the Dam. Its right down the road and pretty cool.

UPDATE (1 year)- The recent upgrades made to the course are amazing. New baskets, pads, pin positions, and retaining wall on hole 1 all are great additions. Tons of clearing has been done in needed areas. Best of all are the new tee signs. All the hard work has resulted in a truely awesome disc golf experience.
UPDATE (2 years)- The good work continues. A nice billboard with a course map was added near hole 1. Seating has been added to almost every hole.
UPDATE (5 years)- In the last couple years the resort has changed ownership. There was a fear that the new ownership may pull the course. Thankfully this did not happen.

Top 10% of all courses I've played. Great shot variation, good distances make birdie or boogie possible for the advanced player on many holes.

big arm course, if a 350-500 foot shot doesn't excite you you might want to stick the the pool.

Overall excellent resort in the smokies. If you fly fish, get a campsite, evenings are killer for trout on the adjacent river.

Simply a beautiful course tucked in the middle of no where essentially. It would test any type of player in my opinion. Plenty of holes with wide open fairways which makes it a lot of fun. Why bother getting a golf cart when you can take a nice days hike?

Though well maintained, some areas could use some clearing of brush. Hole 11 in particular.