Course suitable for players of all skill levels, with plenty of elevation used throughout. There is a pretty creek that comes into play on a couple of holes, but shouldn't be cause for huge disc loss concern as it likely remains fairly shallow most of the year. There are plenty of amenities throughout the course, including concrete tees, tee signs with hole maps, benches, and trash cans.

Most holes seemed to have multiple pin locations, allowing the local club to keep the course fresh throughout the years or during different rounds in a tournament, as well as combat erosion. At least three holes have a long tee option, and around four holes had a longer basket that could be used in order to offer more challenge for those who seek it.

Most of the holes are played through the woods, but the course has seen enough traffic over the years that the rough is pretty well fought back. The front of the course has several more open holes that create a nice balance. The course flows pretty well, and there are plenty of Next Tee signs around the course helping when the flow is a little less obvious.

I thought Hole 5 was the prettiest hole on the entire course. It was a touchy shot, along the creek to a scenic putting green. Shortly after was a back-to-back dynamic pair of holes: Hole 7 was the most open drive on the whole course, Hole 8 is a fun shot to an elevated basket, perched up on a landing. Hole 16, from the long, was a technical par 4. Hole 24 is clearly the signature hole on the course though, throwing over a deep, kudzu infested creek bed to what at least feels like it plays like an island green.

While the multiple pin placements/locations is a great way for the course to stay exciting for local players, as a visitor from out of town it was a confusing mess at times. There wasn't any clear indication as to which pins were in place as the course used a mixture of A, B, and C placements throughout. This led to a frustrating number of drives that ended up being a lot less than ideal since I threw the wrong pin placement. It would be super nice if there were a way for this to be labeled on the tee signs.

The course seemed to run out of steam after Hole 16. While it finished off with a fun exclamation point, the holes in between, while decent holes in their own rights, were largely forgettable. Especially when played back-to-back. I would have loved it if the course had featured a couple more par 4s or 5s. So knowing this section of rather short par 3s exists puts a bit of a damper on my round.

Some of the holes in the back half of the course felt a little cramped. Hole 13's basket is pretty close to Hole 14's fairway. Hole 20's basket, on the other hand, is virtually on the edge of Hole 21's fairway.

Like many older courses, there are clear signs of erosion happening around the fairways. Not sure if there's much that can be done about this in many places, but erosion bars on the side of Hole 8's fairway would probably be helpful.

For now, I am giving Glenn C. Hilton a 3.5 rating, and I know I would frequent this course a lot if I lived in the area. Having one or two more truly stand out and/or multi-shot holes, it would push the course towards a higher rating in my mind. Especially if it were done somewhere in the section near the end of the course where things start to feel repetitive. Either way, wonderful course, and I will be looking to play here again when I am in the Hickory area.

Favorite Holes: 5, 7, 8, 24

-There is so much variety out on this course up here. It's straight up north 321 so it's not a scary drive up here. This is a basic park with a creek around it. It is in play on four holes making those holes the better ones on the course. There is an 18 hole layout and a 24 hole layout on this course. On the 18 hole layout, after 7, go straight to 10 and after hole 13, go to 18 and play the remaining holes.
-Some very good greens out on this course. The roll away greens on 2 and 3 are both very cool. Holes 4 and 5 both have great wooded greens. Hole 7's long basket is right by the creek making it the best green on the course. Hole 8 has an elevated basket on a stump on a hill. With this being said. I think the front 12 is much better than the back 12.
-The course starts off with a great open bomb and after that hole, the course slowly makes it's way through the woods. It ends very strong with a great valley shot!
-I had three favorite holes here. Those three were hole 5, hole 7 (My #1 favorite) and hole 24. Hole 5 is just a cool par 3 with the creek in play. Potential roller hole. Hole 7 is an open dog leg left that allows you to go big. 24 is a great finish to the course. A scenic shot across a huge valley. Definitely threw a few discs on this one. Hole 24 was the only super fun hole on the back 12 holes. I liked some of the others like 13, 14, 16 and I liked hole 20, the straight down 165' footer.
-Benches and trash cans on every hole.
-Friendly local people hang around here. Very considerate of the course and even take an interest in how you play. Very family friendly!
-This course is perfect for what is was designed for. It's mostly in the 235' range. However, hole 16 is definitely an interesting change. A 436' monster that is really tight and goes downhill once you get to the right side of the fairway. Definitely the hardest on the course. Holes 11 and 13 have long pin positions too and the long layout has a lot of par 4's but today most pins were in the shorts. Holes 11 and 13 currently have two pins.
-Hilly course. Great use of elevation. Several steep ups and downs!! Some great valley shots too. There are stairs when it gets steep.
-A great variety of fairways 12 Straight/6 left/6 right.
-Concrete tee pads. 16's tee pad is over 15'. They are different lengths but the appropriate lengths for each hole.
-Practice basket beside hole 1.
-Construction is great. Bridges are everywhere they need to be.

-Several filler holes. They are all on the back 12. After hole 16, most of the holes are just there just showing whats next. 17 through 19 are just boring holes. Then 20 is a pretty fun straight downhill ace run but it still has that "filler hole" feeling to it. 17-23 are just okay at the best. It's worth the wait to hole 24 though!
-#15?!?! This hole is so ridiculous. It's straight pinball from tee to basket. If any of y'all know that horrific finishing hole at Wills Park that requires luck or #14 at Brackett's Bluff, wait until you see this. It's just poke and pray gimmicky.
-I don't like the idea that #1's road and beyond rule is OB. You can clearly tell this should be casual here. My friend Kevin didn't have this problem but I did. I threw maybe twelve feet past the basket and got penalized for it. I got a "par" when it was really a birdie. You can't be serious. It's still a fun start to the course.
-Again. The filler holes. They aren't just short and boring. They are so close to each other. Watch out for people.
-Well, it's in the mountains so there will be copperheads.

-This is a great 24 hole course here. Don't let the fact that there are some filler holes keep you from playing here. The front 12 is a great disc golf experience. The back 12 is kind of boring but it starts well with hole 13 and 14 is fun too. The finishing hole is the signature hole so that makes up for it. It starts well and ends well. There is a doubles tournament Kevin and I are both doing on June 7th so we are both looking forward to that.
-It's a bit of a drive down in the neighborhood to get here. You have to cross a bridge and pay attention to the entrance. It's in the better part of town so that's definitely a pro.
-Many signature holes here. The front 12 has several of them. The back 12 has the famous hole 24. Hole 16 is fun too.

Favorite hole: 7-Long dogleg left par 3 that plays slightly downhill. Very scenic shot with the water in play. 24-Short par 3 over a huge valley.

Least Favorite: 15-Plinko shot right at 200' long. Just an easy 3 but almost impossible 2. 23-Boring, generic 239' footer. The main filler hole.

Send me a message if you want to know more.

A couple really great hole designs. Mostly perfect concrete pads. All great baskets. Challenging, in a good way for the most part. A couple really fun holes, like the #20 downhill ace run and of course the grand finale #24 across-the-valley shot.

#15 could use a few trees removed, unless they're going for that throw-and-pray type shot. Some of the tee signs are not accurate (#4 was especially confusing, could just be me). I always prefer when the course loops back to the parking lot after 9 (or 18), but you have to commit to the whole thing on this one.

Why a 24 hole course? Not that it really matters, but that's a bit confusing. Overall though, a wide variety of shots are needed, which is fun. The course is mostly wooded and some fairways are tight, so get ready to bounce around a bit. Definitely not a beginner course, but a great round for advanced players.

As always the course was in good shape. Having multiple baskets on several holes makes it nice to have options. Posting a recreational par also makes it less intimidating for newbies etc.

Signs missing on holes 19 through 24. Vandalism happens sure, but it dismayed me that one of the regulars who I talked to after thw round didn't seem it was a big deal. Having played the course before it wasn't a big deal, but a first timer would be lost because 2 of the baskets are not visible from the tee. Also more arrows/ signs showing where the next tee is located would be nice. The new pin placement on hole 5 is just plain silly- less then 10 feet from the bank of the stream basically on the beach. Seriously do you guys want people to get discouraged or for some kid who scraped his money together to buy a new disc to lose it? Maybe save that one for tournaments!!!!

I don't get to play this course as often as I use to, but it is fun to see how it has grown and matured. One note though if like me you have leg or ankle issues- i have a fused ankle- the length and terrain will test you!

1) Tee signs
2) Variety of Shots
3) benches and Trash cans
4) Bridges
5) Easy navigation with next hole direction on tee sign and after basket.
6) Multiple Pins which are changed often
7) elevation
8) new par 4 on 4 but wish position B was used more.
9) the whole park in general.

1)erosion
2) Some awkward and crapshoot shots
3) Alot of Luck factor on some holes especially with roll aways.
4) 24 holes so when club plays 18 hole events they play different configurations which cuts in front of casuals and can be confusing at times.
5) Not many driver shots, mostly midrange
6) alot of missing s hooks on basket's chains which effects putts

Overall a good home course and strong group of dedicated locals that take ALOT of pride in the course. But it is nice to have a new course in area to throw some different shots.

Good technical holes. 24 bad ass hole. Good view. Easy To find holes. Sign on trees that point to next tee box. Not to many holes u can loose discs long as u keep an eye out. Good amount of seats. One with a shack around it to get away from rain.

Heavily wooded. A lot of hills. To far away

Layout - Bring your big bag of discs and your A game because you will be tested. You will have to hit tight gaps, place shots to make turns, place shots to not roll down hills, place shots to not be behind a grove of trees 5' from the basket. From a technical standpoint the course has it all, if you love to shape shots and think about just what the hell you're going to do this is the course for you.

This course is a banner child for risk/reward on a good many holes. If you go for the basket it can cost you, accuracy and creativity are a key here. The good thing about this course is that you still have multiple options to get there, it's just that rarely are any of them easy.

Got elevation? Yeah the place is hilly and not every hole is on an incline but the ones that are make things really interesting. Even a good many greens are on no joke type hills.

Another huge plus for this course is the multiple basket positions that really change up the hole lengths on some holes.

The course does give you more than just wooded insanity, the front nine while not all open is more of defined fairway type part of the course and has a few park type open holes with sparse trees.

There's a creek running through some of the holes as well which adds a nice touch of difficulty and the brush here can be thick and punishing in parts.

The greens and basket locations are very well designed and really add another layer of difficulty on top of an already challenging layout.

Equipment - Nice large concrete teepads and newer baskets. There signage here is very well done and let's you know which position the basket is in. I think there were benches on just about every hole which is a good thing for a course with 24 holes, hills and punishment. There's navigational clues along the routes as well.

Atmosphere - The park is beautiful aside from the erosion but for me that kinda adds to it all. The exposed roots add another level of difficulty and keep you on your toes while walking. It looked like a pretty heavily used park but aside form the first few holes you are pretty secluded from it all which is a huge pro for me. All of the club graffiti they've thrown in to random parts adds a nice touch.

Layout - One of the better designed courses I've played but... it doesn't mix up the wooded and sorta open holes enough for me. I know it wouldn't flow as well but it does get kinda monotonous at some point and I can't really tell where. There's just some holes that kind of blend together on the back part, you go in to the woods and never really come out.

There's a few long holes on the course but only a couple really let you rip it and that's one thing adds to my enjoyment. If the course had two or three more open bomber holes thrown in the back 14 I'd be in love and the course would be rated higher.

Equipment - I could see this course needing some kind of effort to stop the erosion, hopefully the club will address that looming problem soon enough.

Atmosphere - Finding this course is confusing, there are like 900 6th streets in Hickory so make sure you're going to 6th NW.

I could list the holes I loved but that would take to many words, so I'll just say #24 is badass. I've played valley holes before but this one is special, it's not incredibly difficult but it's just that badass and a great finishing hole; puts the course over the top.

Beautiful park with all the amenities to keep the entire family busy while dads gets a round in. There is a great vibe about this place as soon as you get out of the car. Hole 1 is the perfect "empty your bag out" kind of hole to get you lose before you enter the woods for the next couple of hours.

-Direction signs and arrows on every hole so you always know where to go next.

-Bridges, great signs, tee pads, easy navigation.

- Very fun course to play.

None really, but my only negative thoughts were that there are 24 holes. Sometimes, you can have too much of a good thing. The final 6 holes do not add anything positive to the course, with the exception of hole 24 which is scenic but not very challenging. Although the first nine holes have great variety and some very fun shots, the course started to lose my attention much like a long drawn out story. If I didn't know any better, I swear that I played some of the same holes twice when I hit the next 15.

I've been waiting 10 years to play this course and I didn't leave disappointed. Some people are so lucky. What I would do to have a park like this in my town. The elevation changes, mowed fairways, bridges, landscaping around pins, nice LONGGG tee pads, playgrounds for the kids, Hickory has it going on and they should be proud. Well worth the wait.

Accessibility: Course is at a central location in town. A short drive regardless of where you live in Hickory. Also nearby to I-40 and Highway 321 for those traveling to play.

Maintenance: Course is very well maintained. The local club is devoted to keeping everything in top shape, from blown fairways during the fall to mown fairways during the spring and summer. You'll always know the basket location and the footage to said location. They use letters for different position and there will be a screw beside said letter to let you know exactly where it is. Accurate footages and hole layouts. Benches on nearly every hole, more than one bench on a few. Trash cans on nearly every hole. Keep it clean. These folks work hard to provide us an enjoyable experience, so we should do our part as well.

Variety: A wide variety of holes and shots. Open, wooded, uphill, downhill, left, right, straight. This course will test your game in all aspects. It's rare to have a round that doesn't force you to pull every shot out of the bag. The majority of holes have multiple locations. As noted above, those will be noted beside each tee. These locations can have a big impact not only on the way the hole is played and the shot required but also the difficulty of the hole. Make sure you check before you throw. As of now, many holes are being moved to their closer positions for the winter.

I don't have many gripes. #11 is a tough route. Fairway stays straight and turns dead left. It's not really the ideal route for either location. There really is no identifiable route aside from it other than a squeaker through the trees. Can't complain about the roots. Just a warning, watch out for them, especially with those steep greens.

Just a great course. Maybe a bit technical and challenging for a beginner. Even challenging for advanced players. Demanding. Good flow of holes, even with the several new additions. Looks like at least one more is coming in the near future. From what I hear we could have 27 sooner than later.

I won't make it much more lengthy even though I could go into vivid detail of every hole. Questions about particular holes, etc? Send me a message. I'll be happy to answer.

- Great road trip course. You will not be disappointed to get out of your car to play this one. It's just fun to play.
- Great shots. Soooo many holes have great shots, requiring you to perfectly shape your drive... or else! You'll need to be able to throw hyzers, anhyzers, BH, FH, OH, s-turns, uphill, downhill, sidehill, longish, short, and accurate.
- The fairways are more than FAIR. If you hit your gap with the right disc you have a great chance to birdie. However, if you miss your gap, you could get kicked into the woods and have to pitch out for bogey.
- Beautifully Maintained... benches, tee-signs, baskets, next-tee signs, no trash, etc... The local club (the UFO's) does a wonderful job.
- Multiple Baskets. All of the holes had multiple basket positions. And, a few of the holes actually have two baskets, giving you the option to play the hole as long or short, or both (if no one is behind you).

- Sewer Smell. The city installed a sewer line through the park... and on a few holes, it's pretty rank. Every now and then you get a whiff, and the smelly dense air coats your throat for a while. Gross.
- There was a cop in the parking lot the whole time. "MAJOR Con". You have to walk right past him on the way back to the car, which can be sketch if you're carrying anything you shouldn't be carrying.
- The 4 Extra Holes do nothing to make the course better. A few of the "extra" holes are redundant to what is already out there (13 and 20 are practically the same golf Hole). More could have been done (although I do like 15).
- Driving directions could get confusing. Thus...

- GPS Directions: The house's address directly across the streets from the parking lot is 2080 6th St. NW. Hickory, NC 28601.
- Overall... I had a good time and have come back to play this course a few times. However, the second and third time I played it I wasn't as impressed as the first time. Only a few of the Holes are Championship quality, the rest are good little golf holes, but far from exceptional. Most of the holes were reachable with a putter or midrange, with only a few Holes requiring a driver due to the distance of the Hole, an extreme turn, or needed skip.
- Great shots, benches, signage, next-tee directional aids, etc... all great and make for a fun disc golf experience. However, there's not enough length, and the course is slightly redundant. In the end, I dropped my disc rating 1/2 a disc because the shots just weren't epic enough for me. Still a very good course as 3.5 Discs indicates.
- My Score: -10 (with 2 bogeys).

clean, great variety, good variations in distance, very well laid out, very easy to navigate (there are signs pointing to next tee), not crowded, plenty of parking, trash cans on several holes, benches on every hole, wooded and open holes (wooded holes are clear of underbrush making it easy to spot off target discs), multiple pin placements, great elevation changes

not a lot to speak of here, the only issue we had were other park users on the fairways that didn't seem to know, or possibly care, that we were trying to play the hole

Course is one of the better courses that I have played. The course is beautifully laid out and the local club does a wonderful job of upkeep on the course. When we got to the first hole I was expecting long open holes. Holes two starts out in an open field and you throw into the woods. After that there is a great mix of wooded and open holes.

Once you get into the wooded holes the great elevations changes also start to come into play. They have you throwing up and down hills, and across as well. Holes three has you at the bottom of one of the hills throwing up and across the hill. At the bottom of the hill is the creek, if you have a bad throw that ends up rolling it cold very well make its way into the water.

After hole #3 there is a bit of a walk to the tee for four, probably the worst part of the course, but it is very well marked with an arrow pointing in the direction of the next tee, and once out of the woods, there is a marker on the blacktop walkway that directs you to the tee. These markers are great, other courses should take a page from these guys books and mark all courses this well, made playing the course a lot more enjoyable, not once did we have to look for the next tee.

This course has some great holes worth pointing out, but I will try to keep it short. My favorite holes one the course are 14 and 18. On hole 14 you find yourself throwing an extreme downhill shot, with a rather tight wooded fairway. The basket sits at the bottom of the hill right behind a rather large tree. There was no one else on the course so I let a few loose on this hole, it was great fun until I had to go retrieve all of them.

Hole 18 was the best on the course. The tee and the basket are on opposite hills and you throw over a valley to get to the basket. The valley below is full of Kudzu and can make it very easy to loose a disc, I would say if it goes in, there is a really good chance its not coming back out. I even pulled out an old dx Valk, known as the throw away disc, used mostly for water holes, to throw in case I had a bad throw.

Overall this course, was great. I would recommend this course to anyone, no matter skill level. Each hole has at least two pin placements, some more, that make for a variety of play, and as I said before the local club does a wonderful job with upkeep so I imagine the placements get changes on a regular basis. If this course is any indication of the quality of courses in North Carolina, I can't wait to get back down there and play many more.

I gave this course a 3.5 rating but struggled with giving it a 4. If you look at my rating I would say that I am rather stingy in the rating area, so that's how good this course is.

The park also has many other facilities. Restrooms on site, picnic areas, and playgrounds. They even have a loudspeaker system and when we were on 16, you could here the announcement that the park was closing in 20 minutes. I thought this was a pretty good idea as well, since they close and lock the gate at different times, according to the sunset times. Great touch.

This is a fun course. The course has that "it" factor where you can't really describe it, but you know there's something special about it while you're playing.
- Great tee signs. Some of the best around. Course also has good signs pointing to the next tee. I had a map with me the first time I played, but I never needed it.
- Course has three extra holes, one after #7 and two after #11. None of them are overly difficult or long, but it is 3 extra holes.
- I really liked how the course flows. After the first three holes, the course weaves throughout the park, taking advantage of the elevation changes. I thought it's really cool how the basket for #10 and teepads for # 11 & 13 all were within about 50 feet of each other.
- Good variety of hole layouts allowing you to throw all types of shots. You really don't need to pull out the driver.
- Nice seeing #9 & 11 both have longer basket positions at more than 400 feet.

Course could take even better advantage of the terrain. Very few courses in the region have such a great layout, with the elevation changes, that I was slightly disappointed it wasn't more difficult. Even with errant tee shots, there's still a chance to recover to save par. On a course like this, I feel bad tee shots should cost you.
- Course needs to be longer. Too many holes in the 150 - 250 range. I was throwing a putter or Roc as tee shots a ton. As mentioned above, only #9 & 11 are more than 400 feet. There does seem to be room to expand a couple holes, which would make them even more challenging.
- Course had too many easy holes to be truly elite. #6, 14, 16 and even 18, despite the impressive view, were short and relatively simple. I have no problem with short holes, they actually suit my game quite nicely, but the short holes should be more challenging like #2 & #8.

I left this course with mixed feelings. On one hand, it's a great layout and tons of fun. On the other, I left wanting more - more distance and challenging holes. I felt like this course was searching for a true identity, where it's trying to appeal to both the casual player (with the short, easy holes) and the advanced player (great layout, some tough holes). The simple solution is alternate tees or baskets, like # 9 & 11.
- My favorite hole was #11. It seemed everything about the course, the "it" factor, comes together on this hole. Something fun and challenging about throwing in a ravine with hills sloping upwards on both sides. Add to that the long basket at more than 400 feet. It's going to take 2 great shots to get a 3.
- I don't think this course should get markups simply because of the hilly terrain, as I've seen in other reviews. If that's the case, every course in the Rockies is going to get huge boosts simply because of their location. It's just one part of what a great course.
- Everyone in the Charlotte area should take the 1 hour drive to this course. It's well worth the trip. If this course is ever lengthened, it could be scary how difficult it could become. It's the best short course I've played.

What I personally like and how this course stacks up:
1) Holes with good risk/reward -- A-
2) Holes that have rewarding birdie opportunities -- B+
3) More wooded than open - lots of variety of shots required caused by hole shape and topography -- A-
4) Natural beauty (Appalachian beauty preferred) and seclusion -- B+
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.