(This is primarily a Nest layout critique)

One of my very favorite courses has been resurrected, this will not suck. Oh, the warm and fuzzies of Nest's yesteryear washed over me like an alcoholic relapse. If you're looking for classic, technical, balanced park-style disc golf than you have found it here on this holy ground.

The Nest is basically the shorter, kinder version of the Web but there's no shortage of venom in its stinger. For the most part, you're going to have to earn your deuces, either with good distance on the 300'+ wooded bad boys, putting prowess on the short holes with those fiendishly tall elevated baskets or by setting up your shots on the exquisitely designed Par 4's. Elevation change isn't substantial but it slopes enough to roll away putts on many and bother footing on others. Nest is more balanced than a tight-rope walker with low blood pressure with literally almost everything you could ask for save mountain holes or water carries. Holes entirely in the woods, holes in and out of woods, and open holes all challenge in their own ways.

The tee signs tell you all you need to know and next tee signs are everywhere to direct you and differentiate from the Web and Nest layouts. New tees are perfectly placed and poured and the old tees are holding up fine. Not a bench at every tee yet but at most.

In its day Hornet's Nest was a destination course but despite the phoenix rising from the ashes it still shows some signs of age. I'm a tough critic, especially regarding safety, so this is where Nest is bittersweet for me. Hole 2 is pretty close to a walking path. Hole 4 is near a ball field and a path and you could easily spill into a parking lot if you overshoot the hole. Hole 5 now has a blind corner with that new pavilion thing on the right, plus the old road along the left and the basket is just in front of a sidewalk and pond. Hole 6 and 7 have the same road issues. The back 9 has no such issues though as you get away from the shared spaces of the park and more into the DG exclusive woods.

Navigation can be rough at times. Decent hike to hole 2 which at the date of this writing has no discernible tee except the tee for tourneys only. Another long walk to the back 9 and if you're playing Nest you'll pass two Web tees before you get to your #10 tee. Flow is intuitive after that but worth mentioning, the red/yellow color scheme of next tee arrows that differentiates Web and Nest layouts flip-flops on hole 11 or so.

Design-wise I can't complain about much. Par seems very accurate and most holes seem strong. All the par 4's seem legitimate and not the dreaded 'tweener Par 3.5s that plague so many courses. The Par 3's are stout, only the elevated basket holes on the front 9, hole 4 and maybe hole 11, 13, and maybe 15 could suffer some Par 2 scoring (I savor the birdie opportunities though). Hole 2 smacks of filler hole for sure but I get the impression it's the best lemonade they could make with lemons. Hole 16 is the only hole I don't really like. I don't think the fairways are quite wide enough to reward skill as much as luck.

So my rating seems fairly harsh considering my obvious man-crush on this course. I tried to rate it on the totality of the course in relation with modern standards and the competition nearby in the Queen City as well as beyond, so as not to fall into the homeboy bias trap. I'd give this course a 3.75 in a heartbeat and my arm could be twisted into a 4, indubitably. But this is what I'm giving it, for now.

Ignore my rating though. This course is a master craft of design and squeezes out every fathomable drop of quality the park and terrain offers. It's no longer the airbrushed super model pinup course associated in the top 10 or so but it's easily the course you wife up in a heartbeat with nary a regret.

Has concrete tee pads for all tees except for hole #16 Nest having a deck

Has excellent tee signs

Has many benches throughout course

Has some elevated baskets

Good mix of open/wooded fairways with doglegs and elevations

Has next tee signs posted throughout - easy to navigate

Challenging, long course with variety of pars

Has two loops of the front and back nines

Well-maintained

Free parking

Restrooms

Some holes play across the road or very close to it (one can expect some delays)

Some holes have fairly long walks in between such as #1 & #2 and #9 & #10 - not really a con in my book but some may not like the additional walking on top of it being a long course

Course can get crowded at times as it's popular with parkgoers and players

This a nice, challenging multi-use 19 hole course in Charlotte that I enjoyed playing on a Friday evening while vacationing out here. I have heard in the past that this course is a must-play and a gem of a course to play if you're ever in the Queen City. I didn't play the old layout and can't make a comparison but this course didn't disappoint and is phenomenal. From the tee signs looking fantastic, the labor involved in creating the wooden deck on hole 16, elevated baskets on holes 8, 9, and 17, and the retaining walls for the baskets of holes 4 & 5 - lots of TLC is evident throughout the course. Innova DISCatcher Pros with the yellow crown are visible from most tees. The course has a few holes such as holes 5, 6, 7, and 19 that play across the road or very close to it and therefore one can expect some delays if the park is busy. Some holes have fairly long walks in between such as #1 & #2 and #9 & #10 but they were not that bad. I can see how the repositioning of hole #2 basket from a peninsula is a bummer but it's not any easier with a tunnel shot now. Lots of action was happening that Friday evening so I can't imagine how busy it is on the weekends. This is definitely a destination course in a destination city that you shouldn't skip out on but you might want to be mindful on when to play as to beat the crowds.

The new Hornets Nest course. It's the old friend you haven't seen in years, but can immediately pick things up without missing a beat.
- I'll try to keep from referring to the old layout. That's irrelevant to anyone who didn't play it before. Plus, the course was always undergoing slight tweaks, so there wasn't ever one true 'old' layout.
- Course feels pretty much the same. The biggest difference is that the back 9 isn't as wooded as it was before. The front 9 is now more wooded, so it's a wash.
- My review is based on the Nest layout, so distances will be listed as such. #1 makes you be on your game immediately. It's a tight, wooded fairway at 270 feet. If you miss your line, have fun scrambling for a bogey right away. I hate starting my round on a down note!
- #3 is the best addition to the course. A long, wooded, multi-shot dogleg at 486 feet. The landing area looks small from the tee pad, but it's much wider once you're in the fairway. That begs you to be aggressive on your tee shot. The hole is going to reward shot making with solid birdie 3s.
- Hole #7 is unchanged. It's fantastically simple, yet great. After all these years, why do my tee shots still always end up behind one of the small trees on the left side of the fairway along the road?
- Hole #10 is another classic, a shortened version of classic Web #1 (current Web #10). Between this hole, #11 & 13, you've got a Bradford vibe going on.
- Putting the tee pad on a deck on #16 somehow makes this hole suddenly much better. It's a better play to chill, a better view, and a slightly easier line to hit the gap.
- Tee signs are awesome. The best in Charlotte. With their blue borders, they do however, look a lot like Blu-ray movie cases. Also, there are lots of benches on most, if not, all the holes.
- Park is solid altogether with tons of amenities. I was also impressed that on the Saturday morning I was playing, I saw park rangers and a police car driving through the park at least 4 times. If that's a regular occurrence, that much security presence is a huge plus.

Navigation is overly complicated at times. After finishing #9, the directions tell you to walk along the edge of the woods rather than following the path. The path is faster, more direct, and, the same path that's always led from #9 back towards #10. Sometimes, less IS more.
- I'm not a fan of #17. My only gripe about the transition from the old to the new Nest is that the old #16 and/or #17 should still be in existence. Granted, I think the old, old # along the creek should still be there, but that's now part of natural preserve land.
- Some of the benches are rather...far...from the actual tee pads. If you notice the tee pad and the bench are far apart, then they must be far apart.
- I do hope this course doesn't get tinkered with any more. Obviously a permanent #2 must be established. The 'temporary' #2 is the worst hole on the course, so I hope a final layout is established. Other than that, leave the course as is. Why was a tee pad poured for the island #2 hole when it was never going to be a long-term layout?
- The weirdest quirk on the course? When you walk from #9 to the back 9, the first tee pad you see is not for your next hole. No. That's #12. You must walk past it to get to #10. If you're playing the Web, it's not because the tee sign for #10 Web is right there. Just be aware if you are playing the Nest.
- As you can tell, there's really nothing wrong with the course. If you spend your entire round comparing it to an old, no-longer-existing layout, you're missing out on what this course offers.

Hornets Nest has changed; but, really, it's still just as exceptional as ever. This was my home course for essentially the first decade I played disc golf. And it's still the course I feel most at home with, even though it's now 30 minutes away. I'm glad it still feels like the Nest.
- Honestly, this is the most complete new course I've played in Charlotte ever. We like opening our courses while they're a work in progress. So, playing a 'new' course with everything completed - tee pads, signs, arrows, etc. - was surprising.
- I always loved the unofficial 19th hole. Having it now listed as an official hole (and one you must play to get an online round rating), it's not as fun. Now I must care about the risk/reward element of the hole.
- Yes, gaunlets and short, birdie/ace-run par 3s are gone (#11). In their place are new classic layouts. Shoot, with the work done around the baskets on #8 & 9, the holes suddenly became much better.
- I like how the course breaks up the 4 long, challenging holes evenly throughout the round. There's essentially one every quarter of the round - hole #3, #7, #14 & 17. You'll have a tough hole, then a cooldown, before another mountain climb.
- You can easily argue that #3 is the best on the course. It's slightly odd having the best layout so early in the round.
- IMO, I think the front 9 is now more enjoyable than the back 9. What's not an opinion is that the two 9s have a better mix of open and wooded holes. Previously, the front was essentially all open and the back was mainly wooded holes.
- Course is getting a 4.5 from me. This is the only course, of the 240+ I've played, that I'll give a rating bump to because of a bias. It's probably only a 4.0 rating. Being 'my' course, you're getting that half-point bump.
- This is still as much of a must-play as ever. And with the new layout, I think returning players have even more reason to play it.

-Glad that the course is finally back after course renovations. It hasn't changed by too much, but if you haven't played the old layout, you wouldn't be able to tell because.......

-Many trees were removed. Some land was stripped away, so the place itself has gotten prettier. I love the looks on hole 15 on the Nest layout. It's just cool to throw a driver out into the open.

-Nice new concrete tee pads, the tee signs are awesome too. The Nest signs are red and the Web signs are blue.

-If you've played the Old layout, you should remember the elevated baskets on holes 8 and 9. Well, those two holes are the same still (which I'm happy about.) The baskets are still elevated but construction has been done. They are now on platforms that you can walk up.

-If you haven't been here at all, you'll probably be goodly surprised. But aside from some holes being the same, there are some newly designed holes. Starts off interesting with a newly designed hole that's very narrow all the way. And I really love hole #11. The short pad is a sweet downhill par 3 that is 312' long but plays maybe 275'. The long pad is a difficult par 4, even though it's only like 472'. The drive is quite technical with a few small routes available. I birdied it because I hit the gap and it faded a bit left.

-The deck on #16's short pad is also cool to tee off on. The deck may not have been NEEDED, but it seems like they really wanted to push the old tee-pad back to make the hole even more challenging, so they made a deck to give stable ground. Love it!

-Love the "next tee" arrows. Navigation is really easy here.

-#18 on the Nest widened up a little bit, making this an awesome anhyzer crush. And you still have that fun island hole that you have to love.

-The worst thing is probably what happened to hole 2. It has hardly been there and they already had to move the basket. The hole was over the pond an onto a peninsula green. But people kept landing in the pond (probably because of a bad tree on the peninsula) and would go into the pond. While I wish that we were allowed to go in the pond to retrieve discs when they are barely in, it's very frustrating that the hole had to be redesigned because some people went in it. But it always happens in disc golf, people go in ponds. And at other courses, when people go in, the course designer doesn't have to redesign a hole that is a lot less appealing. I strongly hope that one day the basket will go back on the peninsula.

-Remember the old #14? "The gauntlet?" I miss that hole. Many trees were cut down so it looks pretty bad. It's actually hole #16 from the long pad now. There are a few small openings, making this hole very frightening, and it's only a par 4? There is absolutely no way this is a 4. You are playing the old #14's tee-pad to the old #15's basket. I think a few trees could be cut down on this hole, but it should definitely be a par 5. We know it's under 600', but I've played shorter par 5's on difficult courses. If this WAS a par 5, it would still be tougher than #17 long at Nevin.

-The removal of so many trees may not have seemed quite necessary. Some were removed when they didn't need to be. #8 opened up in some places, and the strip cutting was a little too overdone. But it may just be how I feel about too many trees being cut down. This is not a con that brings down my rating. Just an opinion.

-It definitely feels the same as the old layout, because the newly added holes are of appropriate challenge and they blend in with the rest of the course. You still get to play the old #12, except for the tee pad being to the left instead of the right side. It's now a very difficult par 4, I think it's the hardest hole if you play the Nest layout, but it won't be if you play the Web.

-If you remember the old Nest layout and how it had short pins and long pins, well it's different now. Many holes from the old Web are on the new Web layout. But there are now very many new tee-pad placements. #10 is the old #1 on the Web layout. But the short pad is angled straight at the basket, being a challenging par 3 that goes into the woods and over the big hill. Brilliant idea for a hole. May be my favorite hole here. And #12 on the Web is the old #10 Web. #12 has a short pad playing to the old #10 web basket. Very unique new ideas for holes. This redesign proves that there are so many holes to choose from when you design a course

-You'll love many of the aspects of this course. I remember in the eighth grade when I DESPERATELY wanted to play Hornet's Nest, and when I did, I was more overwhelmed than I expected. I was no good then but still fell in love with the course. There are many elevated baskets, and some of you will be annoyed by them, but they can be useful for practicing putts that are more intimidating. Most of the holes here are hard, but a few of them are pretty easy birdies if you can stay in the fairway. Otherwise, you'll have to fight just to fall back only a little. My review of the old layout (which I wrote a LONG time ago) was my only really bad review. So hopefully I redeemed myself.

Tee pads - Long and short on majority of holes.
Signage - Good on majority of holes.
Beautiful layout and scenery. Variety of wooded and open holes. New baskets and are placed very well.

Long tee pads are very long and most are through trees. Long walks between some tee pads.

This course beat me. I've been playing for almost two years recreationaly. I found this course to be the toughest yet. I always play the long tees unless I know I can't throw over the water. This is a demanding course. It's a good idea to pay attention to the signage. I will go back with a buddy, but not alone. I didn't see many chances to lose a disc. It's just a tough course with many dog legs.

I was curious as to how the "redesign" would turn out. It turned out great. Mark, Dave, Tony, Josh plus many others did a great job.

- The course has maintained the feel of a Charlotte course, as good or better than any course in Charlotte, but also has some different shots that other courses don't.
- The "new" holes that leverage the old fairaways and baskets are well-done. Particularly good are 13, 14, 16.
- New teepads are well done
- Navigation is good with direction arrows all over the place to help point between the nest and web layouts
- benches on every hole
- very good signage
- Fairways and lines are very fair while maintaining the difficulty of a wooded course. Fairways have been cleared very well by the crew working on the course.
- The clearing of of some of the old fairways has helped on a number of holes. (#3, #8, #10, in particular)
- The work done on the greens on #8 and #9, is incredible.
- New baskets
- Maintained the original par 58

At best minor cons:
- A couple of long transitions between holes.
- A couple of the original teepads can get slick when wet (#8, # 18 in particular)
- Thanks to some uneducated people, the likelihood of #2 staying on the island is slim. Don't go into the pond to retrieve a disc.

My review is of the Nest course, not the web. While the web, overlaps most of the holes, it is a different course that is also great.

The excitement of the reopening of hornets nest will likely continue to drive a lot of traffic to the course. This traffic will help break in a couple of the new holes as well and knock down some of the growth has come up in the last 2 years.

- Great signage
- Short and Long concrete tees
- Good flow from hole to hole
- Variety of shots, you will throw every type of shot you have
- Everything from wide open fairways to excellent wooded lanes to an island green.

I never played the old layout so I can't compare

The wooded teebox/deck (forget which hole) they built is very nice, excellent craftsmanship.

-Kept most of the best holes from the old layout.
-Most of the new holes are fun too.
-Just as challenging as it use to be.
-Hole #2s island shot is a nice addition.
-Navigation is top notch (with the exeption of the transition between 1# and #2 or #9 and #10 but I don't think anyone should have a problem).
-Both front 9 and back 9 end at the parking lot so if there is a big group on hole 1 you can start on hole 10. Also good if you're short on time.
-Nice concrete tee pad and a really cool wooden deck on hole #16
-Maintenance has made this course as clean as you could ever want it

-CROWDED (this could change as since I came on the week it opened)
-Gets pretty muddy in some places after rain
-Maybe a little too many straight shots on the new holes
-The "Gauntlet" is no more
-Charlottes Web seemed to have changed a lot more, but I can't say much as I've played neither the old or the new layout

If you were worried that the redesign would be too drastic I have good news for you. The feel of the old lay out is still here and just as present as it's ever been. Still a great course with the same great challenge. This is more of a review for the people who've played here before but, if you haven't i'm not sure why your not playing it right now.