Pros:
Hornets Nest is a great course that's both challenging and fun. It has a great variety of holes that test all aspects of your game.
- Hornets has the best variety of hole layouts anywhere in Charlotte. There are enough open holes to please that type of DGer, as well as plenty of wooded holes to please that type as well. Both the open and wooded holes give you a mix of birdie chances and earn-your-par level of holes.
- More birdie chances on the front 9 than the back 9. It gets more difficult in the woods, so par is a good score on many of the holes.
- First 7 holes are pretty open, so you can really let it rip. The rest of the course is heavily wooded so accuracy is key.
- Individual fairways for each hole, no overlap. Only have to pay attention to people playing both course layouts (Nest & Web)
- If you can throw it straight, course is much easier. Throw tee shots into the woods, and you'll struggle to make a good score.
- Signs are aplenty making the course easy to navigate. Lots of baskets and trash cans on the course.
- Course is clean and well maintained. The local DGers put in lots of work to keep the course in top shape.
Cons:
Nothing major, only small things:
- A long walk between a couple holes, mainly from 1st hole to 2nd tee, and 9th hole to 10th tee.
- Some people aren't fans of the raised baskets on #8 & 9. The issue is that they probably shouldn't be on back-to-back holes, plus #8 is a good enough layout without the raised basket. Just a side note that these holes were put in to place several years ago, after park construction eliminated 2 old holes. #8 & 9 were added into the limited space that was available, so you can tell they tried to add a little extra challenge by raising the baskets.
- 2nd tee can be hard to find for first timers. Make sure to use map. 2nd tee is past bike course.
- No restrooms or water fountains on back 9, so plan accordingly.
- On wooded holes, can spend time in the woods looking for errant throws
- Watch out for geese and droppings on holes near the pond, mainly holes 3 - 6.
- Road/parking lot come into play on holes #1, 5 - 7 & 18(Charlotte's Web).
Other Thoughts:
Hornets Nest is a top course by itself. Throw in Charlotte's Web, and it's a challenge for even the top players. The two layouts give enough variety that you don't just feel you're playing the same hole with the tee pad moved 100 feet back.
- With Nevin Park only 5 minutes away, this gives you a great chance to play two top-notch Charlotte courses. This is easily the best 1-2 punch in Charlotte, and probably one of the anywhere in the region.
- #2 is a wide-open field, so it's a good hole to empty the bag and practice throwing drives.
- Water comes into play on 3 and 5; also on 2 & 6 for Charlotte's Web.
- Don't let your drive on #4 sail too far to the left, or have fun scaling the outfield fence to retrieve your disc.
- Front 9 can be crowded by other people using the park- picnic areas, playground, walking trails all near by. Back 9 is for DGers only.
- #12 is the signature hole at this course. 638 foot dogleg right. First part of hole is 280 foot shot to setup yourself up for dogleg fairway opening in the woods. Go too far or too short with your tee shot and you'll miss the fairway for the second part of the hole, greatly reducing your chance to advance with your second shot. The second part of the hole is a much tighter/wooded fairway. Birdies are in play with several good shots. Get off the fairway, and your score is going to suffer.
- It may not be the toughest course in town (Nevin & Renny can fight for that title), but it has that something special that keeps players coming back. It's one of those challenging, but fair, type of courses that most DGers seem to relish, myself included.
- Hosting the World Champs in '97 just further proof it's a must play.