The course is "pro" level long & technical. Long throws through tree lined alleys await you. Some shorter holes & some open holes mixed in here & there. Elevation in play on many holes. Mando's, OB's & a creek in play. Large concrete tee pads. Alternate tee pads. Pretty scenery. The course has good flow!

Punishing if you stray off the fairway. Thick stands of trees may force a "pitch-out" to save strokes. Side-hill pin placement on some holes will cause a roll-away putt or two (if you miss your putt). Long, long, it takes a while to play this course so plan accordingly.

I first played this course when I first started playing disc golf & I hated it. It was way too hard!! Now that I have seen the pro's play (in Worlds) & I've advanced myself I can appreciate the extreme challenge of playing this type of course. Epic challenge comes to mind!

This is a course that will test you. At 8100 feet, it is long and fairly tight. There are plenty of times you'll see the distance of the hole, reach for your driver, and then think better of it. Staying on the fairway is an absolute must if you want to score decently. If you are a hyzer distance kind of guy, you won't love it here.

The average distance is about 450 feet, but that masks how the course plays. Some holes are under 300 feet where carding a par isn't tough if your drive hits the gap. On others, you are playing over 550 feet. I took several 7's in my round, and I didn't even feel like I was playing horribly.

The first half of the course felt a bit tighter. I felt like the more memorable holes were late in the round. Hole 12 is a 950-foot joy ride, starting off fairly open over some rolling hills before descending into a wooded area where shot placement turns out to be key. This hole plays a lot like the longest hole at Flip City.

Holes 14 and 16 play near a walking path (not as unsafe as it sounds) with some wooded fences that add some character to the holes. 14 is a short uphill hole, and 16 is a long, bending downhill.

My favorite may have been 17, which starts with a straight uphill shot before a sharp dogleg to the left. The fairway gently glides down to the pin, left to right. Distances are listed along the fairway, nailed into stumps on the ground (great feature). I'm not sure the landing area at the dogleg is wide enough, but it's a dogleg hole that reminds me of some of the shots at Renny.

Elevation comes into play on most holes. No huge ups and downs, but enough to matter.

Tee signs are not that helpful. Most just show the distance, and others have a very rough representation of the fairway. When you are throwing 600-foot holes in the woods, a much more detailed tee sign is called for because you sure aren't walking these fairways twice. It doesn't help that there are temporary signs for the 2013 amateur doubles championships, listing inconsistent distances.

Navigation isn't bad, and "next tee" signs are on most holes. However, I wasn't always clear on which holes had short tees. I was playing the longs, so this was fine for me, but playing the shorts looked tougher to navigate. The map on this site has several holes that are wrong (11 and 12, I believe), so I'm guessing it's outdated. I know maps don't matter to locals, but Charlotte attracts more disc golf tourists than most places.

I won't quibble with most of the design, and I feel like I understand what they were going for. The exception is hole 7. There is a gap of about 3 feet that you need to hit about 30 feet from the tee pad. I could certainly be wrong, but I'm dubious that even very good players can execute this shot consistently. I like holes where the first shot is not a full throw, but I ended up putting my disc through the gap and then carding the easy par.

I mentioned that the course is a test. At times, it feels like a driver's ed test. You are striving to be technically perfect and driving carefully, but you're not really having fun. I felt this way for a good chunk of the first half of the course.

I feel similarly about this course as I do about Blue Valley in Kansas City: 1) I'm glad this kind of course exists to challenge the best, 2) the area can afford to have a course with limited appeal given the huge number of courses in the area, and 3) I wouldn't say I loved it (although I definitely was more beaten down by Blue Valley than here).

Come see how you measure up. You can't graduate without taking the test.

- Great variety of short and long. Good mixture throughout the course (not all shorts or longs are bunched together). It did not feel like holes were crammed in to get 18 holes.
- Great directional signage between holes. The course was designed with a nice flow, but the signs and arrows made it super easy.
- Many holes had multiple tees. The longs were definitely more challenging, and the par score reflects that. I played the longs for most (until I got to the last 3 holes, and some locals were playing the shorts, and I didn't want to get locked in the park).
- Nice big teepads. Many holes had benches. There were garbage cans or bags at most (if not all) holes.
- Really nice use of the elevation changes - not super dramatic, but it wasn't a flat course.
- Pin placement (thinking 3 and 7 specifically) reward a good approach. If you are short, and your putt goes long, you are looking at least a 3-putt.
- Many of the holes had distance markers on trees or stumps so you know how far away the basket is - nice little touch.

These are very minor cons, but since we have this field to fill out....
- one that the designers have no control over is the fact that the park locks down - so you are confined to park hours. Not a big deal, but if I want to disc-golf at 6 am, why should I have to wait for anyone to unlock a gate?
- the teepad signs are a little lacking. They did show distances, and a flight path, but there were no landmarks, just an arrow. (I didn't see the ones that are shown in the photographs on this site - maybe they were under the ones on the posts). On a positive note, they clearly outlined what was OB for each hole.

This review is written from the perspective of one who passes through. If it were my home course, the teepad signs wouldn't' be an issue. I played this course starting in the late afternoon and finishing in the twilight in the late fall, so I'm sure my experience was rushed. I look forward to playing this course again! I did stick mainly to mids (because I have a pink FLX buzzz) because of the visibility concern with leaves - and it allowed me to sacrifice some distance but stay in the fairway and chase par - it was a learning experience for me for playing within game, and I recommend it. Most of the wooded holes are pretty tight. Not so much like the Kilborne wooded feel (where the fairways are "vast"). There is a short run of open holes in the middle of the back nine. My three favorite holes: 18 - kind of an "epic" finish - downhill following a utility line opening, across a creek and back up to the pin. 14 - hit the double mando, but keep it low so you get under the tree - then you can bomb across the field. 7 - short hole - if you overshoot the teeshot, you are down in a 30' ravine. As I said before, I look forward to playing this course again. BTW, read the hole notes from the course designer (saw them as I was doing this review) - they definitely show how to theoretically (my arm doesn't always do what my brain wants it to do....) run the course. This is a great course - get out and play it!

I love this course. It has one of the best and hardest long layouts in Charlotte (besides maybe Renny Gold and The Web at hornets nest). The short tees are still quite formidable. The course requires every throw in the bag. From short finesse (hole 2 and 3) to big open bombs (12,14,18). This is such a great design and one of Stan's best. My favorite thing about this course is it's seclusion. Almost zero cars going by and never a random weirdo person lurking at the teepads or benches. There is almost never anyone on the course so you very rarely have to wait or let someone play through. There is almost no water (thankfully) and very little OB. Fairways are always pretty clear and very little poison ivy and underbrush even during the summer, unless you get really really deep into the woods. Hole number 5 is one of the most rewarding holes in golf if you can birdie it. I love that hole and hate it.

Not really a bail out route if you need to leave a round early or just want to play a few holes. You can bail at hole 12 but it is still a pretty good walk back to the car. (4-5 minutes, which i guess isn't awful by no means, just not a quick hop). Other than that I really don't have anything bad to say about this course.

Hole number 11 has changed, and for the better. It is a long dogleg left par 4 now, instead of that short par 3 across the jogging path.

- I really enjoyed the use of elevation on this course. There wasn't much on the property, but what was available was used quite well.
- I liked the concept of a lot of holes. For example, the concept of hole 4 where you can throw a simple shot to the landing area or try to get way down the mouth. Lots of choices for the player
- Holes that needed to be tigther due to being short were (hole 7). Holes that didn't need to be tighter due to being longer weren't and had options (hole 8).
- Fairly easy to navigate

Hands down the best part that not many higher par courses get...

- Distances were marked on the holes at random points. HUGE plus that the time was taken on par 4s and 5s to mark trees with distances.

- I felt a few times the design was a bit forced. Hole 17 seemed like the basket was just put well to the right so the hole could be a par 4. Same thing with the double mando on 14. Forcing it a bit, so to speak, to add par 4s to the course.

- Tees were good, but some of them were raised which gave a few issues with run ups.

- Not a great course to practice on. Due to the woods, you are very limited in a lot of your shot selection per hole. Overall, you throw a lot of shots. But you are limited on each hole because the fairways are so defined.

I really enjoyed the course and really enjoyed the concept of a lot of the holes. It's a very hard but very fair course. And fairness is very important.

Nevin stands out as a challenging course even in Charlotte. It's a challenge to play and a challenge to review.

Nevin makes you throw straight. Very straight. Straighter than I can throw. At least for that distance. Any fade at the end of even a good drive can put you in a mess of trees in spots. Is that a pro? In a way. This a course with identity. This is a course built with an idea in mind and I think it succeeded completely. I'll remember this course. At some time in the near future, I'll probably be at some course at some distant location and say, "that's a Nevin fairway."

But just as challenging as this course was to play, it might be tougher to accurately review. What do you rate a course that in so many objective ways is great, and it is great. The layout is fantastic, the flow is among the best I've experienced and the holes are extremely varied in shape and length, all while maintaining a consistent vision, yet can also be extremely frustrating.

Because it can be frustrating. It will be too difficult for many players. It's too difficult for me, really. It can be demoralizing to watch a shot that holds its line for almost long enough, and then fades into a stand of trees that you will hope to get out of with one shot. And if your drive isn't good, this course will brutalize you. The course is definitely not for everyone.

So that's where Nevin stands. A beautifully designed course that will not appeal to a significant portion of the disc golfing public.

There's definitely a place for that type of course, and Nevin stands out to me as one of the better examples of that type. I'd come back, but with a little more experience under my belt.

-demands accuracy
-requires a variety of shots. if you can only throw RHBH, you probably can't play here.
-keeps away the riffraff (one year ago, this was me!)
-great elevation useage
-multiple options for getting to a basket

-demands accuracy
-requires a variety of shots.
-the rough is EXTREMELY rough, and the dead leaves don't seem to disintegrate, rather they just keep piling up. super easy to lose discs here

this is probably my favorite course in the charlotte area, and there are a LOT of courses in the area. i love woods courses, i love elevation change, i love when courses offer multiple routes to a basket, and this course has all of that.
unless you can throw straight as an arrow, and LONG, then you probably want to steer clear of nevin, especially during silkworm season. -temporarily (i see the designer mentioned 2 weeks) this place is borderline unplayable due to the billions of silkworms. i know it's a problem all over charlotte, but none of the other courses i've played this week were anywhere near this bad.

-i lost one of my favorite discs (white star starfire, 163g) on #5. a beautiful flick nicked a tree and bounded right. i spent probably an hour looking for it, but between the laughably rough rough and the sea of silkworm webs, it wasn't to be found.

(05.17.13) update: the course is back to being web-free ish, so get out and throw some bombs. also, much thanks to jim for returning the disc i lost. that's always appreciated

(02.24.14) UPDATE - hate to say it, but i'm gonna steer clear of nevin for a while. i know it's not in the greatest section of town, but i figured on a busy weekend, mid-day, my car would be safe for an hour and a half or so. unfortunately, that's not the case. sometime between 4-5:30 on sat, feb 22, someone busted my front passenger's window and stole the gf's purse, which was stuffed under the front seat. GD i hate people. that's all. just be careful out there, and don't leave any valuables in plain sight. even then, it may not matter :-/

-I loved Nevin park! It's 340 acres. It has a few baseball fields, horseshoe pits, picnic shelters, multi purpose trail, a few playgrounds, bocce ball courts, shuffle board courts, soccer fields and the best of all, a challenging disc golf course. The course was extremely technical and difficult for me but I still had fun.
-LONG teepads. A chance in a foot fault is 1/10 chance.
-It's a shame most disc golf courses don't end like #18 does. #18 is the best finishing hole in Charlotte (Barely beating #18 at RL Smith.) #18 has about a 40 foot drop in elevation with the creek at the bottom of the hill. Then, it rises about 20-25 feet. The woods to the left are pretty light but to the right, they are pretty thick. Even though it's pretty wooded, you can still grip it and rip it.
-Good use of elevation on the course, #18 definitely was hilly. On most holes, the elevation is pretty good. The first few holes have elevation changes of about 10 feet.
-The course is very technical but 13 and 14 are mostly open. #12's teeshot is open but it goes into the woods. The woods will still make you better.
-#12 is another great hole. The drive is nicely downhill and it goes left into the woods. It's the longest on the course but with the teeshot, you have a change to throw a nice drive into the woods and lay up for a par. A birdie would be lucky because it's pretty narrow in the woods. This hole get no love , and this is a really fun hole!
-Course has great variety, like the aforementioned elevation, on the short pads it has five doglegs and a double dogleg (#5), so six holes are doglegs. On the longs it has eight doglegs. A few dropoffs, a bunch of long holes and a few short ones, and a couple open holes.
-Trash cans on almost every hole. I only saw one bottle beside a teepad, a bud light bottle. Most courses have a bit more trash. Bencheson most holes too.
-The new #11 was also unique. The teeshot was wooded and 240" feet past the tee, it's still pretty wooded but it's another majestic hole.
-Practice basket in the woods. #1 is across the street from the practice basket.
-Arrows pointing you to the next tee for the longer transitions.

-#9 was a bit over the top for me. It's very wooded and very long. I never had a tee shot in the fairway so I would have to just throw a twenty foot shot out of the trees just to be safe. Still, I did say this course is for advanced players.
-#14's mando gate is irritating. It's not very wide, I considered it irritating because it didn't feel like a mando gate because the mando pointing left is about 15' behind the mando pointing you right. It's used to protect the horseshoe pits and the neighborhood. The first round I made it though but not the second round.
-The rough in some places is ridiculous. Even if you are just a few feet in, you'll probably lose a stroke. Whether it's a championship level course or not, it should give better opportunities. You can be that one player that says dumb things like "Play better, or don't get in the rough", but if you want to shoot well, you'll have to have some distance here and there and go for the landing zone. If you're off, good luck.

-This is definitely a hard course in Charlotte but I enjoyed it when I would be in trouble because it makes the hole interesting and challenging. This course is not for beginners. It requires long throws and straight throws. It's extremely demanding. I know people say Renaissance is the hardest but I think that this is the toughest in Charlotte, but I loved it. Every hole can result in very high numbers. Even #2 and #13 and those are pretty easy but if you are not in the fairway, you have to work for a par.
-Every hole is unique in it's own way, I know I say #9 is a bit over the top for me but it's the hardest on the course. It's still interesting and I will say that every moment you spend playing disc golf is worth it.
-#7 would be the "love it or hate it" hole. It's 202 feet long but has a four foot gap to throw through. For a hole with a small gap, I think it has the appropriate distance. Some people will expect themselves to birdie a short hole but it's bogeyed, a lot.
-Every hole can make you or break you here. You will have to play it wisely. Look at the fairway, debate whether you should risk going for a birdie or play it safely and make a par. Going for it on this course can really hurt your score. An example of going for it would be #2 and #13. #2 is a short uphill ace run with a pretty wide fairway, #13 is an open uphill shot and after 200' feet, there is no vegetation to the left. An example of playing safely would be the aforementioned #7, #9 is very tight with an elevation gain of about 15 feet. #16 is a hole where you want to throw about 180' from the short, 350' from the long so you can make a birdie. OB is marked along the creek so if you over throw, your shot is OB.
-The reason why my title is called technical difficulty is because the course is very technical and very difficult.

(see rant below)

(see rant below)

If you've read my reviews before you're already thinking this is a bit unorthodox, but for all intents and purposes I can't review Nevin like I do every other course... I just have to rant.

We live in a world where nothing is black and white, everything is in this space of grey. Is it good is it bad; who knows what the truth of anything is anymore?

Well in the world of disc golf I can usually tell you how I feel about a course when I'm leaving, for me that is black and white. The only time when a course isn't black and white is when I think... eh... and that usually means it's not that great.

Well Nevin is a different breed of course, it's definitey not eh and it's not black or white either; not for me at least. I can tell you a lot of things I love about Nevin followed by reasons why I don't want to go back and play it.

When people describe Nevin they use words like 'brutal' or 'unfair'; personally I disagree with that sentiment. Is it difficult? Yes. Is it unforgiving? Yes. If you walk up to one of the long par 4's and say yeah I can put my driver way up there and then nail a tree 50' up the fairway and kick in to the rough you're going to have a bad time. If you go for a green with the thought in mind that you're going to put it right beside the pin you might end up down a 50' hill wondering what just happened. That's Nevin.

There are no unfair holes here, in fact ample space is given on every hole to get a shot up to where you need to be to proceed. You could probably take a putter out here and shoot par if you keep it straight... but who does that?

The fun part of Nevin is thinking for a milisecond you can make that shot and then taking the ass kicking it hands out. It has this effect that makes it seem doable before you realize you should of played it safe. That's why I don't get the complaints, you chose the path youre walking down.

There's not many holes here that ask you to shape a disc in some amazing way to score well. You'll get a lot straighter shots and from the shorts this course is open to getting in the red. Though honestly if you're going to Nevin what's the point of playing the shorts. It's meant to be what it is and that's a true test of not only your physical game but your mental game.

You're going to end up in trouble here, you're going to take a few lumps the question Nevin asks is how are you going to handle it? Are you going to complain and say it's just not fair or are you going to stand up and say FU Nevin I'm coming for you.

I don't know if I want to go back and play Nevin, personally I don't think the front nine is all that fun but the back nine for me is really fun and the entire thing weaves through a really great park. The most telling thing about Nevin is both times I've been out there I've seen very few other people out there playing it because the chuckers steer far clear of it.

Though maybe that is the saving grace for an extremely well designed course. Yeah it starts off with some non-inspiring holes but by the end if you birdied one of the "brutal" holes you look back and say I did that. For one moment in time I conquered a little part of something not meant to be conquered.

So maybe I do go back, my one memory of my entire chucking discs out of the rough hoping it lands back in the fairway trip to Nevin was I had a pretty good look for 3 on 17 long, it's a par 5 if you've never been there it's not an easy one. I want that 3... and one day I'll get it.

End rant.

+ Unpredictably challenging and fun
+ Hole layout diversity
+ Easy to navigate with lots of wooden arrows pointing the way
+ Short tees that didn't make holes too easy, just slightly less frustrating
+ Ample pictures and videos of Nevin are online
+ All expected amenities are in place

- 11 didn't have a teebox; sure the hole will be finalized soon
- The transition from 11 basket to 12 tee required scaling a fairly steep ~15ft hill with only makeshift steps carved out of mud. Felt dangerous (not a big deal if dry).
- Hole 15(?) required driving between two mandos that most beginners and even some intermediate players can't throw on without sacrificing a lot of distance.

Nevin was a huge surprise for me. We played Nest in the morning, but I didn't budget (or anticipate) time for this awesome course because of what I've read about its level of difficulty and a high chance of losing discs for beginners. We decided to play Nevin anyway since it's so close to Hornets. The two accomplices I played the weekend with had never played disc golf before Friday. Nevin was very challenging for all of us, but it was still very rewarding and fun. And we didn't even come close to losing any discs. We may have had a much different experience if we didn't play Charlotte in the winter, though. I am so glad we did. My biggest piece of advice to anyone playing in Charlotte is not to skip Nevin even if you're a beginner!

One thing I want to note is that I loved watching the 2012 Men's Open World Championship videos online the day before playing Nevin. It was so cool to be throwing a hole and have the mental imagery of Barsby throwing the same hole and hitting a tree that I glided right passed

After playing seven courses in Charlotte in 3.5 days, I feel I have enough experience to say, in my opinion, Nevin's layout and course design is the second best in the area (I loved R.L. Smith). From the moment we started hole 1 we felt like we were in a forest secluded from the mainstream sports facilities where we parked our car. This very effective separation helped us keep focused on our round and consider each hole individually, rather than trying to navigate around a park full of people and other facilities (like the first 7 holes of Nest). The overall feel of the course was self-contained disc golf glory.

**Update**: Unlike Hornets Nest, I believe there isn't a primary aspect of discing that is emphasized at Nevin. Accurate driving off the tee on a calculated line is very important, but it's equally important to throw calculated approach shots. Putting here is easier than Renaissance, but only because you're not putting up to elevated baskets all the time. I didn't feel the course favored righty or lefty. Overall, this is a fantastically well-rounded course. I originally had 4.5 discs for this course, but after considering it over the past day and talking to the people I played the course with, I wholeheartedly believe it deserves 5.

Thanks for reading!

Lots of variety. Very challenging. This course will bring out all the tricks you have in your bag. You feel like you are at a disc golf course only as the course is separated from the baseball fields. Great use of elevation. The fairways, in general, are proportionately fair to the length of the hole. This is a must play in the Charlotte area. I do not have the time to write a book report here, but you need to know that this is one of the best courses in NC.

Hole 7

Maybe if the surrounding area around the front wasn't so thick it wouldn't chap my ass so bad but when I play this hole I always get a 2 or a 5 depending on if I hit the gap.

Every time I play Nevin there is something new, I look forward to playing when I am in town. I hope that eventually there will be a par 72 layout. The new hole 11 is a great improvement over the short version, I would not shed a tear if the old short hole never came back. I did not like the road playing ob on that hole. Any complaints that I may have had in the earlier versions of this course have been improved upon already.

Fun and challenging shots. The course will never get old, it will just age like a fine wine.
Good use of elevation and risk/reward. For example, hole 18. Off the tee you must decide to either land short of an OB ditch and have a longer approach or throw a driver over the ditch thus making you approach much easier. Several other holes have similar situations without using OB as a penalty but the rough is bad enough to make you decide to go for it or lay up. Hole 11 in the longs is one of my favorite holes.

Not a beginner freindly course, which is only a con if you prefer more open and/or shorter holes.

If I could live next door to any course in Charlotte, this would be the one. Playing disc golf at Nevin will make you better.

Nevin is an absolutely fantastic heavily wooded course. It has tight lines and rolling hills. If you want to learn how to play control golf this is the pace to do it.

Just like the other Charlotte courses there is an option to play an easier layout with the short tees or just get absolutely pouded by playing the longest layout. The long layout is just NASTY!! The options are limitless out there.

Brand new Innova Discatchers with a practice basket near the parking lot.

Tee signs are on every tee pad. There are also distance markers on trees in the center of the fairway. Sick!

Awesome concrete tee pads for both the shorts and longs.

Navigation was pretty easy on this course.

There are some awesome professional par 4's and 5's on this course. A great example is hole 1. From the short tee it's a rather routine par 3. From the long tee it goes to a very difficult par 4. Hole #5 is just a nasty par 5.

Even a routine 202 foot hole here is great. Hole #7 has a tight gap to hit then a just nasty drop off behind the basket.

There is a great variety of distances on this course. You'll have to use pretty much every shot to score well here.

Hole 18 is a great finish to the course!

More descriptive tee signs would be good here.

No chance to stop by the parking lot while playing.

There are very few chances to just open up and rip a driver.

Beginners are going to struggle on this course.

I love this kind of golf. You have to manage this course and keep the disc in the fairway. If you make a mistake on this course it's very difficult to make up for it.

Just like other Charlotte courses the park is just awesome.Lots of other activities and restrooms. Charlotte has some of the best courses in the world!

Course is in a community level park (340 acres) over rolling piedmont landscape. The majority of the course is under old growth piedmont canopy and is, in the main, sequestered from other park activities. Nevin is one of the most elaborate, clever iterations of the wooded (read: tight, technical, etc.) piedmont course style available today. Large park size yields above average potential for expansion, but at the current time golfers should have plenty enough to chew on here, even for the most ambitious in the community.
Course roughly circles other park facilities in a counter clockwise fashion, with no returning 9s. Signage, equipment and amenities are all above average. Nevin's tee pads are superior.
Course represents a very demanding test of golfing skill, best undertaken by more 'serious' players, as its character is not 'fun' in a particularly light-hearted manner. Course also really deserves to be played more than once, as it might be difficult to really 'play' the first time through; many holes/landing zones are blind or semi-blind, especially from the long tees.
Course will heavily reward flat, straight shots of up to 300', with an emphasis on fade control, using both spins appropriately. Bring both spins to score well at Nevin. Heavy penal rough exists on almost every hole and it can be very difficult to advance the disc from the rough at Nevin. Opportunities to 'be creative', recover gracefully and/or 'improvise' are limited, especially if scrambling. Iconic #6's fairway route is just one example of the most often and well rewarded shot shape, both from off the tee and from the fairway at Nevin. These are also called 'frozen rope lines'. Average fairway width appears to be between 12 and 20', in several instances however, the tight 'geometries' of the fairway's line of play compress the available space farther. In other words, it can play much tighter. Most frequently a stable counter spin shot shape is favored off the tee, however this is balanced, nearly as frequently, by trouble awaiting such a shot with poor fade control in the form of harsh rough and/or drop-offs.
Risk/reward in the traditional sense is not entirely present as the course is very dictatorial in the lines that must be played. There are few holes with 'real' multiple routes to play (in fact, reviewer feels it impossible to either 'cheat' or overpower this course). Moreover, the golfer is forced to choose the 'right' level of aggressiveness to each given route. Long throwers will be hard pressed to make full use of their particular advantages. Correct distance and fade control are emphasized. The course can actually 'monkey' with this factor as well. For example, #2, very likely the lowest handicap hole, is a basic 250' uphill tube shot, but blind ob road is behind the basket. Untempered aggression on this scoring hole may result in a surprise penalty stroke. Conversely, no birdie putt is earned with a weak tee shot here. #8's 'fairway choice' (another 'iconic' style in disc golf hole design?) seems to be a risk choice based more on the individual's preferred shot shape, rather than a particular advantage gained from placement or a good angle gained from the given line.
Conservative play's reward can be stingy, as can be rewards for small or moderate successful risks. The word 'unforgiving' comes to mind, which means a scratch golfer should be around par, but the 'average' golfer will find this course much more difficult and punishing than others of a similar length/style.
Wind's affect regarding play is mostly blunted due to dense canopy cover, but does come into play strongly on 2 of the highest handicap holes.
Greens are generally open and flat. Several notable exceptions, which coincide with the lower handicap holes, feature lag-inducing blind drop-offs. Also many greens at Nevin are rather difficult to approach, as they are either in a bottleneck, offset parallel to the fairway's main axis or 'pocketed'. Targets are set at standard heights.
Of the 3 traditional schools of course design, Nevin is definitely a graduate of the 'penal' school. The course designers had some very specific tests for the golfers in mind when building this track. Course may remind one of an angry discipline-enthusiastic patriarch. Generally, the balance of fine technical requirements combined with the fair to good power required for solid play at Nevin, will outweigh 'decision-making' or 'strategy'. 'Hit-the-line' must be your 'strategy'. Stay in the fairway must be your 'strategy' to score well. Regular play here should improve mental toughness, consistency and realistic expectations.

Excellent layout
Easy to get around
Difficult, but not crazy hard. If you keep it in the fairway, you are generally rewarded.
If you wanted to play the longer course, you don't have to go hunting for the long tees.
Good use of elevation changes.

Hole map at tee boxes would be nice. Most holes had a hand drawn map, but not all.
Some of the par 4s are more like long 3s

First time playing the course and I found it very easy to get around. Really the only downer to my round was it had rained the previous four days and everything was still very wet and muddy. HOWEVER, I was still able to get around the course with relative ease. Pushing my daughters stroller around the course was pretty easy. I only had issues with the mud. I will be playing this course again.

Nevin is the king of the wooded courses! The course is almost entirely under a gorgeous tree canopy with fairways that are appropriately wide for the required shot lengths. Nevin will challenge your ability to hit tight lines, shape shots, recover from trouble, strategize, and putt to baskets near drop-off's. Having extra power can help a bit, but only if it is controlled.

Nevin is a very demanding challenge, but the beauty of the woods, light schule, ease of navigation, and ease of traversing the terrain won't leave you feeling as exhausted as Renny.

If you believe in the myth that "all holes are par 3's", come play a real disc golf course like Nevin and you'll see the light. For both sets of tees the pars as listed (64/68) are right on for the blue level. Gold level players should be able to shoot well under, but the challenge factor is still more than enough to separate players by skill for the 2012 Worlds.

Nevin is my favorite Charlotte-area course and a strong candidate for the DGCR top ten list.

The course does not loop back to the parking area after 9 holes.

The course could benefit greatly from having a minimum of two tees on every hole and preferably three complete sets of tees on the course. The track is gorgeous and should be enjoyed by players of all abilities.

There are a couple safety hazards. Hole 11 sets up for a righty hyzer shot over the bike path. Hole 15 shoots straight up a winding bike path for the first 100 ft. or so. The long pad on hole 16 is one of the most insanely dangerous shots I've ever seen designed. A blind bike path crosses the fairway at about the 120 ft. mark, where a well thrown drive would be just about at head height to kill a biker that would come cruising down the hill. There is PLENTY of room in the park to create a course that has adequate safety buffers along the bike paths.

Nevin is a great part of the awesome Charlotte area disc golf scene. At present, North Carolina doesn't have any courses on the DGCR top ten list, but overall I don't see any city that stacks up with Charlotte in terms of the number and quality of disc golf options within a short drive.

Don't be a dirty discer, leave the course cleaner than the way you found it.

The primary strengths of this course are that it has the ability to make you weep like a baby if you don't respect her authoritah! This wooded course has a variety of holes that will make you use every shot and make you use control over power, shot after shot, hole after hole.

This course is a gold level challenge all the way, but intermediate players will like it , as they will become better players if they stick with it. Many of the holes have narrow fairways lines with thick trees and underbrush on the edges. Some of them are par 4 and 5. Others are par 3, but will have sheer drop-offs behind the pin. For example- Hole #7 is a 202' slight dogleg left that has a 10' opening about 30' off the tee, but if you make it through the opening you are sailing toward the ace.....but behind the pin it devilishly drops immediately 20' to wispy trees below that can impede on your path to the basket high above. Not all holes are like this. There are some classic wide fairway shots that either have speckled trees in the fairway, or are bordered with thick forest or OB or mandos to make you honest.

The best (or some may say worst) characteristics of Nevin are that you have little time to ever relax. If you take your time and step back into a "placement and accuracy attitude" you will enjoy your experience. There are a few shorter holes where you have some ace or birdie opps, so don't fret!

As for amenities - tee pads are long and grippy, navigation is good (look for the next tee arrows), and there was no litter that I could see. The signs were very helpful too. Yardage markers along the fairways were sure a bonus!

This is only a con for beginners - this course is not for you. Even if they added shorter tee pads, I still think they would be frustrated. The fact that Charlotte has so many nice courses gives them other options.... So this does not detract from my rating.

This con may diminish over time (as the rough beats in), but much like Iron Hill- if you go a few feet out of the fairway, you are likely pitching out, which is almost like a lost stroke. It would be nice to have the opportunity to have some heroic saves from time to time.

I shot a 70 my first time and actually felt good about my round. Mistakes will happen, and I accepted them. If you go in with a more conservative attitude, you will enjoy your experience, and spend less time in the rough. Grip and rip could be your demise.....

The course plays through dense woods with some nice elevation changes. The hills are used very well to add challenge and fun, with some cool uphill and downhill holes and some fast greens that add challenge to your short game. The course is technical, the couple holes that have more open drives require good placement to have a good look at the second shot. If you miss your line, you'll be penalized with dense rough and lots of trees.

There's a great mix of hole shapes here, with a balanced st of right and left turning holes to challenge all the shots in your bag. The course plays pretty long, especially from the pro tees, but there are reachable holes mixed in to keep things interesting. The tees are nice concrete pads with good texture and plenty of room. The signage is basic, but adequate to figure out the course.

The rough is so thick throughout most of the course that you never have the chance to be creative if you miss your line. I like punishment for missing the fairway, but it gets a little old to be just pitching back out every time. There are lots of fairways that have stumps and roots under the leaves, watch your step.

This is a very challenging course, that will test your line shaping skills and rewards players that can accurately hit longer shots through the woods. The shorter tees are a great challenge for intermediate players, they offer great variety with a little less challenge. The pro tees are just plain tough, they would offer a real challenge for even the best players. Beginners won't have much fun here, it's just too long and punishing even from the short tees.

-This course requires a lot of different shots from the teepad which is really nice.
-The tees were very nice with long teepads and very accurate portrayals of the hole on the signs. Be sure to notice the arrows indicating the slope on the holes before you play as many times you can't see the basket for a few shots.
-There are distances lined down each hole like you would find in ball golf and I found that very nice since a lot of your shots are used trying to get to a good layup spot.
-Great signage to get you from one hole to the next. It was our first time playing and we never got lost.

-The par 5's seemed a little much for me. You could shoot well on them if you just took a bunch of straight shots or thumbers but even then you can find trouble. I found them to be more work than fun unlike say the par 5 at Hornets Nest that is challenging but still fun.
-I also found that many of the holes I was just hoping for a par which can get pretty dull.
-A few times we didn't realize there was a short tee and a long tee (hole 1 for instance) but we may have missed the signs.

I really liked this course and aside from the par 5's I enjoyed my round. This is definitely a course that requires multiple plays to master it. Many times on the teepad I thought one shot was appropriate but when I got to my drive I realized I should have done something completely different. #18 was my favorite hole it is long but with 2 good shots and a putt you can make a 3 on it. This course will definitely challenge both your physical game and your mental game and that isn't a bad thing.

**Update: More benches installed so yo have a place to cry and collect yourself after each hole.

I live in Charlotte and this is the first time playing this course. This is an EXHAUSTING course that requires one to take their time. No quick matches - be sure you have extra time and patience to get through this one.

Tee Pads are all consistently made: about 10 feet long - this is plenty of space for most of us, never had to start my drive behind the pad. Love the tee at Hole 8 where you have the option of going right or left, and the pad is shaped to facilitate driving either direction.

Tee Signs/Maps/Markers - no map at some holes but not really a problem. Signage is overall excellent. Mandos, next tees, and distances all clearly marked.

No problems with foliage. We spent our share of time in the rough but no lost discs. That will certainly change in the Spring / Summer. I had a few spots where the briars were thick even in winter. I will approach this course with caution in the warm growth months.

Optimization of elevation is quite well done. Hole 18 has a tremendous valley where you drive downhill. I do like opportunities for longer drives like this hole provides. There are a few other similar ones but I'll always be able to picture 18 when I close my eyes - it's memorable.

Nice variety of shots required - fairways vary in direction, angle, length, and elevation where the game stays interesting.

The back 9 has beautiful scenery: creeks, bridges, walking paths. I was feeling great at holes 15-16. The airplanes were no longer overhead and it was peaceful. Good place to be.

Benches were missing where needed the most: just before and after the long par 4/5 holes. Funny there was a horseshoe field that had benches laid out at each throw point and we had to walk right by them knowing that our disc golf pad had none. I was jealous that the horseshoe throwers seemed to get more love than us.

Trash bins were missing from most of the front 9 holes. Back 9 had more trash receptacles but still not every hole.

Noise: Airplanes taking off overhead for most of the front 9 which was a nuisance. Also lots of cars w/ loud bass music driving by. Not the most serene or quiet of courses.

Hole 7 had some wicked nails and boards on the pair of trees just in front of the tee pad that scared the bejeezus outta me - I could see one of my nice discs getting impaled on a nail head, made me condiser throwing one of my less favorites just in case.

Course Flow: I was needing a major break after hole 9, but there was nothing but a few benches, another parking lot, and a long walk back to the car. I do hear some folks wrap back to the car after 12 but I think next time I might park in the lot at 9 and leave a cooler in the car, then walk back to start at 1 with the "warm-fuzzy" feeling of cold beer waiting before the back nine. This is very important for such a long course.

Overall challenge was extreme. This was a physically exhausting course. I'd never consider trying to play a quick match out here. You must take your time or you will lose discs and maybe even injure yourself if not careful.

Security: I would not leave any valuables in sight in your car. You shouldn't need me to tell you this. Thieves look for easy opportunities - don't give it to em.

I'm rating this course a 4.0 because it was still very fun - even with sore leg muscles, raw thighs, and the jet airplanes trying to disrupt my mojo.