McWilliams is a decent sized typical multi use park that you would find in a smaller town, with baseball, football and soccer fields, a rec center, tennis courts and a couple of playgrounds.

It also features an 18 hole disc golf course that if you are in the area is worth playing.

The baskets are all older disc catchers which is a positive overall and it looks like some have had recent repairs or new chains put in.

The variety here is the main thing that I enjoyed, you start with a hole that begins in the open and ends deep in the woods, and number two is the opposite. From then on you throw a couple more wooded holes, several park style slight more open ones along the road and then after 12 you dive back into the woods for a technical and line hitting finish.

Most of the holes have nice achievable lines, where you can see more or less what the designer intended and if you have the shots achieve it.

Another pro is other than the course at Russell Park which is pay to play(possibly a turn off for locals playing often) its the only course for a pretty good distance.

I had a fun time here, I really did, but the course has some issues. Granted it looks as though someone is trying to address some of the issues but they are still present.

It doesn't drain well in some spots, leading a few of the wooded holes to be very soggy after only a moderate rain, holes 1 and 18 were the worst.

The baskets have been repainted many different colors on the band, cage and sometimes the chains, but not all of them recently, so you rarely know what color you are looking for through the woods. And though some baskets look recently repaired several still have broken or rusted chains or bent cages. We might be part way through a refurb here.

The navigation is a bit wonky, and the signs are just laminated paper on planks with the hole number, par and distance.

One thing that I docked it for that some may not is a few of the holes are not as safe for pedestrians and vehicles as they should be. One throws over the main entrance, many bring you into contact with the walking path and several are close enough to busy roads that a better route IMO could be devised.

Very few benches, no trash cans.

Is it perfect? No. Would I play it again? Yes.

And would be relatively happy to do so if I were in the area again.

Probably wouldn't drive out of my way at all to play it as a destination, but if your close by playing Lake Russell(as I was) it's a nice tack on to your trip.

McWilliams Park seems like it either overachieves or underachieves. I'm glad my round got progressively better and ended on a high note.
- There are some solid holes here. If you can get through some of the dreadful parts of the front nine, the course does get significantly better on the back nine.
- Nice stretch of wooded holes. They aren't challenging in that rec level and above should be making a lot of easy 3s. They are challenging in that it will take some quality tee shots to see a lot of birdie putts.
- Course winds around the outskirts of the entire park. Starting in the back of the parking lot behind the rec center, the front nine ends up playing along Calhoun Falls Highway and Mobley Hill Road.
- Course offers some decent variety. Front nine offers the longer and more open holes, with #1 (420 feet), #4 (485 feet), and #8 (515 feet) & 4, 6, and 7 being the most open of the lot.
- In terms of creative layouts, #2 (with an island green) & #16 with a mini ravine/dry creek bed running through the fairway offer two of the better looks. #4, as a longer, par 4, dogleg left and #18, as a station-to-station par 4, offer two more enjoyable layouts.
- The course doesn't have any true easy holes. Even the shorter holes - #2, 3, 9, 13, & 14 still require a quality shot for a birdie opportunity. You can tell there was some thinking involved with this layout.

If the course got more TLC, it would be significantly better. I picture this course in the hands of a more engaged local DGC, say here in Charlotte for example, and the look and feel of this would be shockingly improved.
- The first, and biggest, issue is that signage is atrocious. Pulling into the back of the parking lot, I see a basket in a field. There's no signage on it, so I (wrongly) assume it's a practice basket. I do a see a next hole sign, follow that and see I'm on hole #3. Hmmmm.
- The transition from #4 to 5 makes you feel like you're sneaking around and/or trespassing on someone's property. You're skirting around the outfield fence of a baseball field, with little room to maneuver. And to your left, past the rough, are people's backyards.
- Several other times throughout the round, the lack of signage made it difficult to find a tee pad.
- Multiple hole distances don't seem correct. #8, for example seems significantly shorter than 515 feet. #1 seems like the longest hole on the course, but it's only listed as the third longest.
- I mention this last point hesitantly because it seemed more of a depressing/sad state than a true negative. There are four different basket types throughout the course. Very few of the baskets seemed in good condition. Most are passable. Seeing this gave me caution to be overly critical of some of the other flaws.

McWilliams is the ugly duckling. I like the design of many of the holes, it's just the execution isn't completely there. With a little work, there is potential.
- Course seems a little too tough & rough around the edges for a beginner. It's a little too simple & easy for more experienced players. It's just there.
- Man, the stretch from #5 - 9 is brutal. There is a ton of walking and not a lot of quality disc golf in this stretch.
- I really liked the way I played this course. Starting on #3 and ending on #2, the island hole. Doing it this way my final three holes were two long par 4s (both 400 feet+) and ending with a fun par 3. I'd say make this the actual course layout. It's not like #9 weaves back to the beginning anyway.
- There isn't a big open hole on the back nine. Of the open holes, the longest is 345 feet. Prepare for a lot of technical shots.
- Based on the lack of reviews, course updates, or scores, this course doesn't get a lot of play and/or attention on DGCR. I guess if there isn't a heavy disc golf scene here the course isn't going to get a lot of needed upkeep.
- I'm giving it a 2.5 rating. With proper attention and maintenance, I see this course meriting a higher rating. If you're playing Lake Russell, it's not a bad idea to drive another 15-20 minutes to this course.

Current layout is more challenging then last time I played.

Few of the dud holes have been replaced with better pin placements and flow.

flow from one hole to the next is easily navigated by large wooden arrows on bottom of baskets.

Local club has taken a big push forward on making a challenging par 60 layout with what they have.

trying to be nice because this is a labor of love for the locals.

1- tee signs (currently working on having a tourney for funding)

2- benches - would love to see a couple added here and there. Even a random stump to sit on would be nice

3- tee pads- tee boxes sit above the ground with large gravel. watch couple of players almost wipe out when hitting end of tee box.

4- Safety of kids around the park- this was a concern the last time I played it. with the reversing of the holes only one hole stands out as a danger to park goers. better then it was but could use a little tweaking.

5- couple of the current tee pads don't have any kind of marking so better hope a local will mark a box in the dirt.

6- really not a big fan of the large number of elevated baskets. (just not my thing)

Really having a hard time not trying to rip the course apart. Its far from done and both Jim and Gabe are great guys that put lot of hard work into the course. As time goes on this course will grow into something completely different and be a short travel for people outside an hour.

If your in the area playing lake russel I would stop in and give this a try. Lots of hard work has been put in with more to come.

18 holes
Well done natural tees
Numerous next tee signs, although a couple more would be beneficial
Elevated baskets on a couple holes
There are some really fun holes
Fun woods golf
Makes a complete loop back to the same spot
Good mix of open and wooded holes
Some holes play from the open to the woods, while a few others play woods to open

The first issue is SAFETY. Several holes play along a walking path, including a tee shot that you want to finish left with that sets up blind for a shot fading left.
The rough is somewhat unforgiving; some woods holes have recovery lanes if you hit an early tree, while others you're pretty much just pitching back to the open
Layout can be confusing at times
No benches or tee signs; just a post with hole number and distance, which is better than nothing.
Natural tees, for those who don't like them
Some baskets have loose chains
A few too many elevated baskets
Favors right handers a bit too much

McWilliams park is a fun course to play. You mostly play around the edges of athletic fields in both the open and the woods. While it might not be the prettiest or most challenging course ever, it does the best it can with what it has. You can tell that there are some folks who really care about the course, as the natural tees are framed and there are some next tee signs, as well as most holes having a post with the hole number, footage, and occasionally par. Most of the baskets are painted different colors, and a few have some loose chains, although they still catch well. Several holes, especially the first 6, and holes 13-16. Some others are also fun. A couple of the holes play along a walking path, but the only really bad hole is hole 7. It's a U turn par 4/5 according to the tee post, and your tee shot has to travel straight and then fade hard left, right along a walking path which you can't see any of the left portion of it from the tee. It's a fun hole, but I don't really care for the safety issue. The wooded holes are a mixed bag; the gaps are tight but fair, and you can recover from the rough on some holes. However, on others, there isn't really a chance to get up the fairway and you just have to pitch out. My favorite hole was probably hole 15; this is a 345' par 3 with a couple different routes to the basket, which is set beside tennis courts. I threw a flex shot and was circles edge for a putt, which I missed. Overall, McWilliams park is a fun course, and, with a set of tee signs, would be a good course. Really, the tee posts are fine, I'd just like to see the addition of hole maps and par on all of them like on the post for hole 7. I will eventually be back here to play again!