- Great variety of fairway shapes despite short length.
- Very pleasant park to play through.
- Plays well for both beginners and intermediate golfers.

- Very short, challenge is limited for more experience players.
- Course equipment is somewhat lacking and showing its age.
- Layout is occasionally congested/potentially dangerous

Kentwood Park was a delightful discovery during my first visit to Raleigh. It's proximity to downtown and short length make it a great stop for people traveling to the area, especially those with limited time to go explore courses further from the city. It's short length also means you can easily play this course with one to three discs (also great for travelers). As an intermediate player (rated ~915) I threw a putter on most holes. That said, I still had a lot of fun playing the course, hunting for birdies, and there are a few uphill shots that play much longer than their posted distances where I broke out fairway drivers. My wife (rated ~725) also played a round with me, and really enjoyed playing a course where she had many more opportunities to birdie than usual.

For being so short, there is a really nice level of variety at Kentwood. I threw about an equal number of forehands and backhands off the tee, and many fairways play quite a bit uphill or downhill. Some holes are quite wooded forcing a particular line, while some are more open allowing for options off the tee. Bogie is definitely possible after an early tree hit on many of the more wooded holes. A few holes also have either a creek or ravine nearby to provide an additional challenge to navigate. That said, the average hole length is still only 225ft and more experienced players with better command of their discs may be bored with the lack of challenge.

The course layout is mostly good despite the relatively small footprint of the park. It is impressive that the designers got 18 holes in here, but it does present some occasional issues. Many fairways play close to each other, and two (I think #7 and #16) actually cross. With the volume of play this course gets, I can see this frequently being an issue. My rounds were quite early on Saturday and Sunday mornings, but there were still several other people out on the course, and by the time I finished it was getting quite crowded. Routing is occasionally confusing, and many baskets are close in proximity and I accidentally threw to the wrong one my first time on hole 14. This is mildly frustrating for first time players, but not a problem after your initial play, and the course is so popular I was easily able to ask someone where to go next the two times I was unsure.

The course equipment could definitely use some upgrades. The baskets are older, but still caught fine. The tee pads are an odd type of decoratively cast concrete, most of which have started deteriorating, some significantly. This isn't too much of an issue because of the short hole length, but both my wife and I were concerned with footing on a few occasions. There are no tee signs, but simple concrete blocks at the front of the tee pads with the hole length and number. Descriptive tee signs would go a long way to aiding in course navigation and preventing the occasional confusion as to which basket to throw to for first time players. There are two practice baskets near a pavilion and bathrooms which is quite nice.

One final thing to note is that the hillside the majority of the holes play on is very rocky. Footing can be precarious while walking up or down and throwing from the fairway. The ground surface can also wear discs quite quickly, especially DX plastic and its equivalents. I left with a handful of new scrapes and gouges in a few discs.

Kentwood Park is a short course but big on the fun factor. If you are traveling through Raleigh and short on time, this is a great place to get a round in. However, if you are a more experience player with more time, there are other courses further away from downtown that are likely more worth your time. Kentwood doesn't take long to play though, so why not do both?

-Easy to navigate all 18 holes
-Decent elevation changes for a NC course
-Lots of ace runs
-Mostly wooded but a fair course

-Rocky terrain can do some damage to your discs
-Course can get very busy due to its proximity to NC State
-Some criss-cross fairways to be aware of

This was the very first course I played and definitely inspired me to play more. Nearly aced hole one on my second ever shot with a disc. Course has held up well and always brings back memories of when I discovered the sport.

Kentwood is a dinosaur in terms of disc golf courses. I felt like I had gone back 15 years when I started playing. And still, I had a great time playing here.
- This is an excellent short, mid-range course. Nothing longer than 300 feet here. Other than two uphill holes, everything was a mid-range or putter for me.
- Much to my surprise, there was a lot of variety in terms of layout. After playing the first two holes and seeing major potential risks of throwing at and parallel to a road, I was having doubts. From #3 onward, things got better.
- The course begs you to be aggressive. I was firing at baskets left and right. I think I had 4 tee shots land within 4 feet of the basket. I easily had that many hit trees, and several more sail 30 feet past the basket being too aggressive.
- A lot of elevation in the back of the course. Holes #5 - 9, 14, and 16 - 18 have you throwing up or down the hill.
- A lot of holes have tight gaps/fairways. If you hit the gap, you start thinking your disc has a chance. If you don't, just hope you got a favorable kick off one of the trees. #3 was one of my favorite holes on the course. You hit the gap here, your disc is most likely landing within 10-15 feet of the basket. My shot looked good for 2/3 of the hole, smacked a branch, and resulted in a boring up-and-down par 3.
- There are a lot of holes you'll want to throw multiple discs. Shoot, even on #1 I threw multiple discs. Just wait until you get to #8, 9, 16, 17, or 18. If the course isn't crowded, you'll be chucking multiple discs on these holes.
- Good for a quick round...when the course isn't crowded. I finished my 18 in about 35-40 minutes.

The biggest drawback of an outdated course is that it's too cramped.
- Let's see. Holes overlap each other. Holes play way too close together, which nearly led to my first black ace thanks to an unfortunate bounce off a tree. Baskets are too close to others at times. On #14, I played to the wrong basket. You only see the basket for #5. In that case, I can't be mad I missed my 25 foot 'birdie' putt.
- If the first time I played here was when the course was crowded, my entire impression would be 180 degrees from what this review says. I played at 9:30 on a Friday morning. A Saturday noon round would be sounding much different.
- Navigation needs to be improved, especially for first timers. If it weren't for another player teeing off the same time, I wouldn't have found the first tee. The tee signs are small markers in the ground, which are only visible up to a couple steps away. Also, throw a next tee sign/arrow or two up on the course. Going from #4 to 5 and #9 to 10 both could be easier with a sign.
- To add to that confusion, the baskets don't have numbers. Even though I saw plenty of baskets, I wouldn't have known which one was what. Same reason I played to the wrong basket on #14.

Kentwood isn't perfect. It isn't even great. Yet, there is a beauty in its simplicity. Expanded every hole by 50%, and now you have a 6,000-foot course. Shows you how far the game has come in 4 decades.
- If this park were installing a course today, you'd have a long 9-hole layout. There's no way an 18-hole course would ever be considered for a space this small now. This is a slice of vintage Americana, disc-golf style.
- I had a bunch of cons listed. If you noticed, they were almost exclusively centered around first-time players. For a regular player, you know the course like the back of your hand; you never even noticed the tee signs.
- I'd like to see some OB markers added, or more prominently displayed, on some of the holes, especially the ones near the creek bed - #9, 17, & 18. You make OB 10 feet past the basket on #17, suddenly this isn't an ace run shot.
- This course begs for low scores. I hit plenty of trees throughout my round, and yet I was never at serious risk for bogeying anything. I had a lot of relatively simple up-and-down shots.
- Just like the greasy, hole-in-the-wall burger joint, this course is much better than it appears. This is Raleigh's classic beginner's course. We have Reedy Creek in Charlotte. I have friends who remember only playing this course, or at least cutting their teeth here.
- Glad I finally played here. I feel like Lloyd Christmas reading framed newspaper headlines. I just discovered something that everyone else knew about years earlier.

-Some very technical shots through treelines; requires good accuracy and strategy
-Excellent landscape with elevation changes and woods
-A lot of fun for group disc golf

-Many holes are very short i.e 150-225, such that it gets monotonous. There are no opportunities to put some power behind your throws
-Crisscrossing fairways
-Bad tees that are too small to step into your throw
-Heavily littered, especially around the tee pads

The game of disc golf feels incomplete without an opportunity to use your favorite distance discs. Kentwood park is still a lot of fun if you enjoy the game and I am happy the neighborhood has a disc golf course. You probably will enjoy it most with a group of 4. With that said, I would not drive 5-10 miles to play here.

-Good mix of open and wooded holes
-The elevation changes play out really well for this course
-Every tee is labeled with hole # and distance
- Easy to navigate after playing through the course once or with a course map the first time around
-Good course to work on the mid-range and putting

-Awkward concrete tee pads. Many are too skinny and not level. Some are even falling apart.
-A few crossing fairways
-A few holes are bit too close to others

This was the first time I played this course. It was easily navigable with a map. In fact I only needed it to find my way to 2 or 3 tees. I played on a weekday in the early afternoon. There were a good number of groups on the course. I can imagine it gets very busy on the weekends and evenings. Add in the few crossing fairways and things can get a little complicated. However, if you are mindful of others on the course it is workable. The distance of the course is on the shorter side but you can still go out and have a fun round. The elevation changes are a positive for this course, but they don't make it any more challenging. The tee pad issue is not as crucial with shorter length of this course, yet it's still annoying. Yes, there are a bunch of rocks on a few holes, but that really didn't bother me at all. Different types of ground cover is part of the game, and I think it makes this course more unique. The creek near some of the holes adds a little bit of a welcome challenge. However it was dry when I played and basically no factor.
Overall this is just an ok course. Not great but not too bad either. I would play it again if I was in the area and l wanted to get a quick round in. Of course it would have to be on off peak hours, this course gets busy because of its good location. It seems like it would be a great course for beginners or someone just looking to improve their short game. I enjoyed the course, it's just not one you need to go out of your way to play.

A nice mix i think. I like the elevation chance on some of the holes.

Typical public park course in a city. Trashed a little bit, not well marked, but if you play a couple of times you find your way around just fine. Tee pads need some attention.

I enjoyed the course, I wish a few holes were longer, but this is a good middle of the road city park course.

Nice park. Fun Holes. A little challenge in some spots.

Hard to navigate. If it wasnt for the nice local guy that played with me, it would have been confusing to navigate the course. Get a map before if you havnt played. SO MANY ROCKS! Id say half the course is in a sort of wooded hill area but the hill it nothing but jagged rocks, thats why i say bring some old discs you dont mind banging up.

Fun course overall and i am glad i got to play it. I could see where some of the holes kind of intersect and would be bad for heavy traffic.

- convenient - 3 turns puts you in the parking lot from the interstate.
- good beginner course. Shooting 54 should be achievable for beginners.
- two practice baskets - you can practice putting back and forth.
- good elevation mix - about half plays flat and the other half plays up and down a hill. Since the course is essentially two interwoven clockwise circles, it mixes the two portions nicely.
- established course in a park that is essentially for DG. Benches at most holes.

- busy, busy, busy. If you're not playing a non-holiday, weekday morning, expect heavy traffic. I played this afternoon, there were probably a dozen or so groups on the course. I usually play solo (not today), so expect to have some waiting. The plus to this is, if you haven't played the course before - there will probably be someone playing in front of you to show you the layout!
- teepads are old, small and narrow. You really don't need a run-up, so small teepads don't really matter that much.
- the layout is tight. I don't really have suggestions on how to make it better. The course has an OK mix of (short) shots, but is LHBH dominant with the clockwise play. A few fairways cross. A few teeboxes are really close to previous fairway so you have to wait for the group ahead of you to tee off before you do.
- The course is worn. The baskets are pretty beat and just dark metal. Can be hard to see, depending on the time of year and foliage. Sometimes someone puts markers on, but they can be a little tough to see first time through. The ground is eroded, so there are a lot of rocks to chew through non-premium plastic...

I play this course from time to time to change it up from my home course. It's a good opportunity to work on my mids and driving putter. My favorite holes are 12 (tunnel with 2 trees in the middle), and 9/18 are both downhill across a creekbed. There are other courses I would rather play, but sometimes convenience puts me here. When here, you ,might as well play.

Rather short holes so the average player can make some bird's
decent baskets
good mix of shot selection

This place gets crowded quick on pretty days but I have gotten there plenty of times at 10 am and had the course pretty much to myself, with the crowd comes disc flying at you everywhere because alot of the holes criss-cross each other and many tee-pads are like really really close to the baskets. I actually got hit on #2 in the ribs one day (glad it wasnt a distance driver lol). Holes 4-8 and 14-17 are set on a hill with rocks everywhere so yea they eat up your plastic pretty quick.

lastly a couple of local punks keep spray painting the baskets, tee-pads, and flora life. Please quit being destructive so everyone can enjoy!!!!!

As a side note, why the hell do I need to repeat what others are saying about the course to get a vote up?? This course is short, has many ace runs, and is great for beginners, nuff said about kent-rock-city

Kentwood is a short and well rounded course. It has a mix of open/wooded holes with a good mix of elevation changes.
The course is in a city park which is kept fairly clean and trimmed. It has bathrooms and a water fountain.
There are a nice mix of dog legs to the left and right as well as a few 300' downhill shots.
Every hole has a teepad and regulation basket.
Lots of birdie openings. You can get real far under once you get used to the course. A lot of the holes have ace potential.
It's a fun course to play with groups and doubles. It seems like every time I play doubles it comes down to who can birdie 18.
Has five really fun holes. 8,9,10,14 and 18.

The course is short and there are five or six straight on shots from a short distance. Half of the course is covered in rocks which f up your disc and make barefoot playing painful.
It's usually crowded, especially on really nice days. A lot of time you might end up starting from a random hole or getting stuck behind group after group.
Police frequent the parking lot quite often and seem to go after long haired/bearded types. As long as you keep unsanctioned activities in the back of the course you'll be okay.
Fairways cross three or four times and sometimes you have to wait to tee off because someone is playing.
The course is right against some houses which can be hit or cause you to lose your disc because it gets stuck in some crap in a persons yard where you can't see it.
The road comes in to play on one hole.

Overall it's a good course to practice mids and putts on. There's not many driving holes and the long ones are really uphill or really downhill. If you want to up your ace count its the place to go in the area.
The course is pretty rain proof with the exception of 10,12 & 13.

UPDATE - I'm dropping my rating down to 2.5 because this course is always so crowded during prime disc golf times. Honestly its a pain to even be there some days unless you play by yourself and can play through.

Very good course for families and beginners. Open enough that you don't get frustrated but most every direct route from the tee to the basket is challenged. Good use of elevation. Tees marked with distances. Two practice baskets spaced about 75' apart makes for good putting practice.

Navigation could be easier. The route to the next basket is not always intuitive, but once around is all you need. Friendly locals helped me out. No directional pointers from the basket to the next tee. The course was crowded, and apparently stays that way. There were lots of slow players when I was there. Be careful of players around you. A couple of paths from tee to basket actually cross the fairway, exposing you to throws from the tee. The fairways are laid out fairly tight. The land gets maximum usage. Keep your head up and watch players around you. Several times while I was playing, a disc from another group landed near us and startled us. Tee signs were non-existent, except for distance markers. Don't be fooled by the "concrete tees. They are barely adequate and will frustrate players used to "poured" tees. These tees are small and many of them are landscaping blocks with a corner missing. they must've gotten a great deal on them. They were at most tees. Again, the tees are fairly narrow, but usually long enough. I perfer them to natrual tees, but they could've been better and bigger.

Overall, I REALLY enjoyed this course. No holes over 300', uphill and downhill tee shots. Anny's and hyzers required. Lots of Ace runs. My son, who is a beginner, also enjoyed the course. Often he commented that he could get threes becasue the course wasn't too long. Anything that gets him into DG is great by me. The course is NOT very challenging, but the fun factor was high. There is a great playground for the kiddies nearby and tennis courts as well. Permanent bathrooms. Benches at most every tee. Shade is abundant. The course has a lot of stone-covered landing areas. It's a great way to break in a new discs. Not many places to lose a disc. What little water we saw was clear and shallow.

Nice clean park. All pads are concrete and all baskets are in place. Close to
NC State if you go there. Short and simple. Easy to get to from anywhere in Raleigh.

Little bit of elevation, but not too much to influence your shots. Little bit of trees, but not enough to make anything difficult. Little bit of concrete on the tee pads, but not enough to make you feel safe and secure. Little bit of distance, but not enough to throw anything other than a putter or a mid. Basically too little of everything.

Nothing good or bad about this course. Not worth a trip, but playable if you live close by. Not a bad choice if you just want to play a round with your putter. You won't get too hurt by errant or short throws. Almost impossible to lose a disc. With so many good courses in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area this one doesn't cry out to be played.

Quick course with limited walking
Good use of terrain (although poor fairway placement on a few holes)
Some interesting throws
Very little underbrush and only 1 or 2 holes where you could possibly lose a disc.

Relatively short
Lots of rocks that chew up your disc no matter how well you throw (could they not at least put some pine straw or cedar chips down at the pin?)
Very busy
Very crowded holes (including two criss crossed holes, one of which you walk blindly across without being able to see the throws coming)

I like playing this as a change of pace or when we're in a hurry to get a round in before dark. A twosome playing reasonably quickly should finish this in 45min - 1 hour depending on the how busy it is. I would recommend going right before dark (say 7 o'clock in the summer).
If this was my regular course, I'd get frustrated pretty quick. It's not particularly challenging and it has a lot of minor annoyances that really add up. Having said that, we do play it off and on and it's a nice change of pace. I would challenge yourself to practice throws you wouldn't otherwise do. Play a whole round forehand (or backhand if you normally throw forehand). Throw pancakes or (where there's no rocks) rollers.

What I personally like and how this course stacks up:
1) Holes with good risk/reward -- B-
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 -- B
4) Natural beauty (Appalachian beauty preferred) and seclusion -- C
5) Multi-shot holes with defined landing zones, good risk/reward and multiple options to play them -- NA

It's all about feeding the addiction, so I ranked this course subjectively based on my own "personal addiction factor". The grades above tell how well the course will draw me back to itself again and again and again. 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 addiction tastes will find my ratings list helpful as they choose courses to play and explore.

Over time, I expect to fill some of my reviews in with more descriptive verbiage...if what I can add 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....that's the fun of things here. See my profile for my rating philosophy.

Every pin is an ace oportunity. Excellent place to challenge you mid range skills and throw low rounds. Good elevation with short technical shots. Great place for beginners.

Some of the tee pads are sketchy. They were made for going around trees as decoration. Possiblity to getting injured. Made on a rocky hill so discs get banged up easily. Keep your head up, holes are close together and cross fire comes into play, even when teeing off. Always busy, but not too bad because holes are not that long.

Confidence Booster for sure. Not the best course in the area but it has character. In the summer there is a lot of poison ivy in the rough so keep an eye out. There are also ribbons around many trees on course. More experienced players can use them as mandos to enhance the round.

Very good beginner course. Short with lots of birdie opportunities!!! Concrete boxes...not in the best of shape but I always enjoy the concrete!!

Very busy. I had to wait on every hole. It was also difficult to navigate. There were no signs pointing to next basket. Another thing, I am probably being pretty picky but the baskets were completely silver and hard to see at times.

Wish they would put up signs pointing you in the right direction!