Pebble Creek is a par 3 golf course right off of U.S. Route 74. It has been home to a couple of temporary courses throughout the years. With this review I plan to focus mostly on the terrain that is available for use in these temporary courses, as well as focus on the layout that was used in the 2023 Carolina Clash that was designed by Kyle Deck and others from the ARDG crew.

During the Clash, the course made use of rubber tee, printed tee signs complete with hole maps, and DGA Mach VII baskets. The design felt appropriate for a Red level course. Par averaged right around 880 over three days of tournament play. There were definitely a lot of places a player could find themselves in trouble, but plenty of places to attack as well.

The land, like most golf courses, is primarily open. However, the disc golf course utilized the space really well with a constant theme of risk/reward. All of the pampas grass, golf greens, natural growth areas, all water outside one small drainage area (that should have been completely out of play), and all but one sand bunker were all designated OB. These were all used to create touchy approaches, quick greens, and OB carries throughout almost every hole on the course. Hole 4 may have been the only hole with no significant OB in play, but had a beautiful and large tree to navigate around to reach the basket.

There was a surprising amount of subtle elevation utilized throughout the layout. The slight uphill and downhill tee shots managed to sprinkle in just enough change to create a more dynamic round. Pretty much any place with any elevation change on the golf course was incorporated into the disc golf course. Hole 6 also played to a hanging basket, which also helped keep things interesting.

The holes that played out of the woods into the field were all great and plenty of Holes had some form of obstacle to be navigated around. Decisions had to be made on whether to attack each hole, or play for safer landing zones.

For the most part the course felt spread out enough so that fairways would not reasonably interact with each other, outside of an errant shot. The various bodies of water and natural growth areas created enough barriers that made the property feel even larger than it was. The wood line around the outside edges of the course created decent areas of rough without the need for extra OB, and were used to create wooded gaps that had to be hit.

While the course suffered from many of the woes one should expect from a temporary course I think the single biggest issue would have to be the lack of consistency in hole distances labeled on the tee signs. The distances labeled on some holes felt correct, while other holes were significantly shorter than their listed distances. The reason it was such an issue was the sheer number of holes that had OB/water just behind the basket. Players who chose a disc based on distance may quickly find their disc sailing/skipping into OB and/or into the drink. Which only led to further frustration when the next hole was listed correctly and you watched your disc dry up well short of the pin. For a temporary layout with limited time open to the public, this proved very frustrating.

I think the course would have benefited from having at least one hole that played from the open golf fairways, into a wooded gap. I think it would have helped mix things up just a little bit more and create some additional score separation.

Unfortunately, the course was only available for public play during a limited window of time. Hopefully the course proved popular enough that the course could be brought back for some future events, though maybe with more accurate hole distances. While it may seem weird to write a review for a temporary course, it is my intent that hopefully these notes can be considered.

The par 4s felt mostly like tweener holes that made a lot of use of suffocating OB to create drama. The par 5 felt more like a par 4 to me.

I normally wouldn't review a temporary course after the layout was pulled, but I wanted to pay homage to the hard work put into the Clash layout. I remember seeing Pebble Creek Golf Course over a decade ago, and thinking about how fun a disc golf course on the property would be. So I was quick to jump on the opportunity to play in the Clash once the temporary course was announced. Despite enjoying and excelling more on wooded courses, I had an enjoyable time playing the course. It was a great change of pace for the Charlotte metropolitan area, where open, windy courses are lacking.

I would have given the 2023 Clash layout a 3.0 rating, but some of that could be cleaned up if the course could be made a permanent feature. If the tee pads were better, even just some form of astroturf, and better tee signs were installed with accurate hole distances, I think the course would already deserve a small bump. If it were possible to bring the woods into play just a little bit more, I could even see the course warranting a 4.0 or higher. Another nice touch would be if the par 4s could be stretched out just a little bit more. Hole 5 for instance, if the basket could be pushed into the woods about 40 to 50 feet would have felt way more epic, would have felt like a super solid par 4, would have created a late gap, and would have added more woods into the course.

Either way, it was super fun, and I would definitely head out there again in a heartbeat. If you missed the chance to play the course while it was open, I would highly recommend keeping your eyes peeled in case they get the opportunity to resurrect it.

Favorite Holes: 1, 4, 13, & 18