Pros:
I'm writing this review from a fairly unique perspective, as I was a UNCG student from 2010 until 2017. This course existed the entire time I was a student, and I had been playing disc golf for years before attending school there.
Piney Lake is a course owned by UNCG on a small piece of property they own a short distance from their main campus. The property is mainly used by their Outdoor Rec program for various functions, but was historically used for their team building programs. The course has natural tees (that are marked fairly well), baskets in good shape (Mach III I believe), and decent tee signs. The course is mostly wooded with a couple of open holes.
The fairways are tight and technical, requiring accuracy to score well. The holes with the view of the "lake" were very pretty. Despite being on a small piece of property, the course felt secluded at times.
There is a decent variance in the length of the holes. The shortest hole is around 175' long, while the longest hole is about 350' long.
I really enjoyed Hole 5. It is only 300' long, but it is a fairly nervy 300' hole. The hole plays across the dam, so there is water on both sides of the fairway. There are trees on the dam as well, so just throwing a RHBH out over the lake to simply clear the distance isn't really an option.
Cons:
When I was going through my orientation, the fact that the school had a disc golf course for their students was being used as a selling point. However, the only time as a student I was ever able (read allowed) to play the course was one day, in 2016, during a two round tournament held by a friend who was a Grad Student. Every other time, the course wasn't even open to students because the land was used by an outdoor rec group known as Team QUEST who wouldn't allow anyone on the property, even with a Student ID, unless they were taking part in the Team Quest program. The most frustrating aspect of all of this, was that even when I was employed by the sister program, Outdoor Adventures (which has since absorbed both programs) as a route setter for their climbing wall, I still was not given the chance to play the course. I talked recently to a current staff member and it doesn't seem like anything has really changed. Needless to say, access has ALWAYS been an issue. Even for students currently enrolled at UNCG.
The back nine have been pulled, leaving only a 9 hole course. Which is disappointing, because I felt like the back 9 was the better half of the course. Three of the holes on the back 9 probably would have made my favorite holes list for this course.
The fairways are extremely tight, and to make the course more approachable the Par was fairly soft. If the hole is at least 200' then it is probably listed as a Par 4. Which honestly was kind of nice at times because the rough was extremely punishing!
It honestly seems like the school just doesn't have any real interest in the course. During the doubles tournament I played in, back in 2016, the course was probably in the best shape it's ever been in, and it was still fairly rough around the edges. Since then the maintenance has only gotten worse. Which is a shame because this could be a fun, technical course if it were maintained.
Other Thoughts:
I am going to give Piney Lake a 1.0 rating. When I first got the chance to play Piney Lake, I thought the course probably deserved a 2.0 rating, but felt the course would score even higher if a bit more work went into improving the tees, opening up the fairways, and/or thinning out the rough. The friend I had mentioned was making a big push for all of these things, including increased access to play the course. Clearly when she graduated, all of that energy dried up immediately. The course is shorter now, and friends I have that still go to UNCG mentioned that access is still an issue.
Favorite Hole: 5