Here in Charlotte we are blessed with tons and tons of disc golf, featuring some of the greatest courses. A recurring theme for these greats is that they are heavily wooded with very little open holes. Well, the Rotary Club DGC here at Frank Liske Park is the complete opposite. Almost every aspect of the course is in a wide open field, making this a unique addition in Charlotte.
-This is the course to throw some max distance shots. Not only is the course wide open, but is is quite long, and people with a big arm will be living in dreamland here.
-If one is in need of longer throws and a variety of shot-shaping, then this course is perfect to come to. The course has very little hazards and obstacles, so I can definitely see someone playing this course as a way to increase their shot distance and shot-shaping.
-I felt that the designers did a good job of putting baskets in tricky locations when they had the chance. There were a bunch, but the 2 that stand out to me are #5 and #11. #5 is up against a mound that slopes toward the wooded area. #11 sits inside a protective area of trees, and is one of the only real ace runs of the whole course.
-The course is in very good condition. Tee pads are very nice, as well as the hole maps that go along with them. Baskets are in good shape, and they have flags on the top of them, which I think is a cool look that should be used at other courses.
-You can pretty much bail out whenever you want if you had to, but if you wanted to play a loop, I suggest playing the front 8, or the back 10.

-The course is just too wide open. A course can be wide open and make for a very enjoyable round, but a course like this can be very boring and forgettable. I feel like course could have given off a Rob Wallace vibe, but the course is more wide open even to that standard.
-I credited the designers about the basket placements, but some of the actual hole designs just baffle me. A lot of holes have you throwing close to the parks road, and a miss-throw could easily hit a car. #5 goes partially across a parking lot, and the fairway on #7 is the walking path.
-One thing that I tend to notice instantly is what skill level the course is designed for. Here at this course, however, I am still unable to infer what skill level this course is calling for. I feel like this course could be good for beginners, but the course is too long for that. Higher level players will feel bored and unchallenged.
-One thing I miss about this course is the old pin placement for #15. The hole goes straight through an interesting gap of trees, and the basket used to be to the left and inside a little wooded area. For whatever reason, they moved the basket out of the wooded area, and is now placed straight through that gap of trees. Its those little things that are making me dislike the course more and more as time goes on.

You can see that there is potential for this course to be a lot better than it is. There are good things that can put this course above others, as well as bad things that drive your interest away from the course. Frank Liske park is a beautiful park, and has many other amenities, such as tennis, soccer/baseball fields, playgrounds, mini golf, and more. I still do believe that this course is a good addition to the Charlotte area, being the only fully open course around. I highly advise players to visit this course if they want to practice their long shots and new discs.

Excellent new DISCatchers, nice informative tee signs, and ample concrete tee pads (for the yellow tees). This part of the course was very nice and well taken care of, in fact, they were ready to put down more mulch around the tees, the day I was there.
Plenty of long, open holes, if you want to work on your distance. Do 5 holes over 500' and another 3 over 400' sound long enough for you?
There are 11 open holes and the other 7 partially to heavily wooded. So, more wooded holes then I was expecting, but most are clustered together on the course.
Absolutely beautiful LARGE park with tons of other activities, lake, ball fields, soccer fields, tennis courts, picnic areas, miniature golf, barn area and plenty more. Pretty much something for everyone.

THE PARK IS GATED AND DOES NOT OPEN UNTIL 8 AM.
C'mon Cabarrus County! Not everyone wants to wait until your staff comes in to get their outside exercise in! There are plenty of things to do in this park without needing park supervision. Because of this, it limited my visit to only 12 holes played. Found the same thing at Rob Wallace Park ... WWHHYYYY?!?!
Mowing, there is so much area to mow on the open holes, and the grass so long, that you have to hit it on the right day, I didn't. Some of the holes were mowed, but i had to walk uphill on 18 in really long, wet grass.
Probably used just too much area for the open holes, they could have made them shorter, used less area and still made the course long and challenging.
#6 and #7 - 6 is a Par 3, across a sharply sloping fairway, parking lot on the high side, and thick, eat-your-disc rough downhill. 7 - #6 leads to this Par 4 that uses a gravel walking path as the fairway, what looks like OB fence on the left and more eat-your-disc rough on the right. It's nice that the designer tried to get two wooded holes in to balance the course, but these really felt forced and #7 could be hazardous.

As has been said in most other reviews, if you want to work on your distance, try out new discs or learn rollers, this is the course for you! It wasn't too windy the morning I was there, but I can see that being the main challenge on the open holes.
There were some holes I liked - #5 is a very cool looking hole, slightly elevated tee to a long mound fairway, with the basket on the back side, at the end. However, if the parking lot that borders the left side is even partially full, it will really make you think about throwing on this hole. #15 is a mostly open hole, but a perpendicular line of trees guards the basket, you have to pick your hole.
As I mentioned above, #6 just feels forced and #7 uses the gravel walking path for too much of its length. On busy days, you could be stuck on that hole a while, waiting for the path to clear. I would scrap #6 (eliminating another interaction with the parking lot) and clear a path through the trees to a shorter #7.
Looking at the Park map, this park is so large and they gave the designer so much room for the course, I can see why he put in so many long, open holes. However, I would think a lot of advanced players would be bored with that much distance and not much challenge around the basket. And its just too much distance and too many boring holes for families (already in the park) and less advanced players.
Obviously, I don't know the budget or parameters for designing this course, but I think this alternative would really increase its playability - (after eliminating #6) break several of the open holes up into two holes, putting the baskets to the side with maybe some bush or tree guardians. Then the second tee on the hole would be also to the side of the existing fairway, so they don't obstruct the fairway. Make 18 holes in this layout, primarily in the area where, 1,2,8,9,14,16,17 and 18 are. Then for a longer (Gold) course, they would play these current long holes, plus the ones further away, 10-15, enough to make an 18 hole layout. (Kind of like the long, open holes at Renny.) That way, you would have 18 less open, challenging holes, and another 18 hole course for the big throwers.
I probably will return and play all the holes here one day, but the 12 hole layout I played gave me a pretty good feel for the course. I'm not going to let my feelings on the 8AM opening affect my rating for this course, I'm sure a lot of you aren't up at 8AM!!
However, the quality of the equipment and beauty of the park kept my review from going any lower.

If you live in the Charlotte area, and you're looking for a course to air out your drivers - then Rotary Club DGC is calling your name. Located in the beautiful and well manicured Frank Liske Park, Rotary Club DGC boasts long, open, grassy fairways where you will get the chance to see your discs flying in their full glory. The park features all sorts of amenities, including nice restrooms, benches, picnic areas, playgrounds, ball fields, a clubhouse, paddle boats, and much, much more. The course is outfitted with decent tee signs, numbered DISCatcher baskets, concrete tee pads, and plenty of space for you to bust out your high speed discs. Usually when I am playing at a Charlotte area course, I find myself reaching for a midrange or fairway driver on most tees, but here I usually end up throwing something with a much wider rim. If you find the distance from the Gold Tees daunted, fret not because there are additional blue tees that you can play from. Although there are two layouts, the rest of my review will be focused mainly on the Gold course.

Outside of holes 3 through 7, the course plays through mostly open, grassy fairways that are very forgiving. This means if you have new discs that you want to test out, this is a great place to do so. With an average hole length over 400 ft, this course will test your ability to gain distance off the tee. It is also a great place to try out different throws. Want to work on your roller game, here's a great place to try to bust one out!

Often when I've played this course, there has been a lot of wind. Which makes it a great place to practice that aspect of the game. Especially since most (if not all) of the baskets have flags on top to show you which way the wind is blowing.

There are a few holes that take advantage of some interesting elevation changes. Hole 5's basket is located on the backside of a grassy mound. Hole 6 plays in this weird half-ditch environment where the fairway steeply slopes down to the right. Hole 18 plays up a surprising steep hill. Usually the elevation changes are mild, but these three holes stood out.

The park does a great job maintaining the fairways, keeping the grass cut and fairways free of debris. There are also a couple of Igloo coolers around the course full of ice cold water to refill your water bottle. This was a really nice touch! Half the course has a pretty pond down the hill, which adds to a pleasant backdrop for the course, and makes the course feel pleasant to play.

Some of the holes have really awesome design. In particular, I loved Holes 10 & 11 for a one-two punch right in the middle of the round. Hole 10 is a big open shot with short trees on one side of the fairway and big trees on the other. This way you have options to try to shoot straight up the fairway, or go over the top of the small trees. Hole 11 is a nice little flick pitch that is tucked into some guardian trees.

I've heard rumors that Russell Schwarz had a lot of restrictions placed on him when he was designing this course. If that is true, it shows - because for everything this course does that it knocks out of the park in terms of quality), there is something else this course does that falls flat.

Despite having two layouts, the blue tees aren't concrete and it can be hard to find their markers in the ground. I'd love to see them become a bit more visible, and I think this wouldn't be an issue. But as they are now, for first timers, it can be incredibly challenging to find them. I still haven't seen all of them.

The most apparent is the sheer number of holes that take the concept of "open hole" way to literally; where the only thing you have to contend with on your way to the pin is the air between the tee and basket. This would have been fine once or twice, but it is done far too often for the course to be considered a destination course. The safest play shouldn't be a big hyzer on 80% of the shots you take.

There are a few holes that could be considered somewhat wooded, and these are not nearly good enough to make you forget that the rest of the course is in a barren, grassy field. Hole 3 could have been really interesting, but you're throwing through and open field to a blind gap to get into the woods, and the gap just really isn't shaped well to reward players consistently. Hole 4 is probably the most egregious poke-and-pray hole I have ever played. There really is no realistic gap to hit, and any that do exist don't really allow you to get near the basket without a lot of luck. Hole 7 would be a great hole, but two-thirds of the fairway follows straight down a walking path. You then throw through a gap to get into the woods, but this time it isn't a blind shot which makes it easier to score well here.

Hole 5 is a super disappointing hole for me, because I think the hole is actually really well designed. I love the tee location, the angle of the shot, the risk/reward of throwing out over (what I think must be considered) OB vs playing it safe down the grassy fairway, to a very interesting basket location on the backside of a grassy mound. But the OB I was talking about, which is also the straightest line to the basket, is a parking lot. I really don't like the safety concerns of throwing over a parking lot on a busy day (or monetary concerns from damaged property). If the parking lot were actually a body of water, this would easily be a signature hole on almost any course.

Hole 6 is a tough hole for me to judge. It is really interesting and challenging, but the treeline on the right side of the fairway would need to be pushed back just a tick right before the basket for it to feel like a solid hole to me.

I wish the tee signs had better maps on them. There are some parking lots and reforestation areas that are not designated on the map. Some felt like they should be played as OB, others would be really weird as OB, but none of this is marked. I usually play the parking lots as OB though, because it adds more challenge and excitement to the holes.

While Rotary DGC is a gorgeous course that has the frills necessary to become a destination course one day, it currently lacks some of the challenge/fun that nearby courses already have. The course feels more like it was designed as a basic outline, with room for the Parks Department or a local disc golf club to enhance the course and mold it into a destination course.

If the people who maintain this course were to talk with some other course designers in the area and strategically plant trees , bushes, or other obstacles around the course - then this would probably become one of the better courses in the state. Unfortunately, over the years, I have seen zero signs of this happening. So for the time being I am going to give it a 2.5 rating, and keep my fingers crossed that one day somebody realizes the untapped potential that is this course.

Favorite Gold Holes: 10, 11, & 15
Special Mention the concept of Hole 5

+ Numerous chances to air out some max distance throws. Few courses in the area can compare to Frank Liske in terms of raw length. This is a good place to test out some new distance drivers without worrying about hitting gaps.

+ Very windy. I'm listing this as a pro because few nearby courses offer the ability to master the effects of wind as well as Frank Liske, but depending on your perspective this could be a con.

+ Some variety in hole length. While most holes are long, and will require multiple throws to get inside the circle, this is balanced by a handful of shorter holes such as #1, #2, #11 and #12.

+ Superb tee signs.

+ Flags are on each tee and basket, and help players gauge the direction and speed of the wind. I thought this was a wonderful touch and I'd love to see more courses do this.

+ Beautiful property.

+ Various other amenities, such as a nice playground, tennis courts, etc.

- Numerous design flaws. #5 plays over the corner of a parking lot, and it would be easy for an inexperienced player to hyzer out early and hit a car. #7 has a busy walking path running down the entire fairway and a pin placement that seems poorly thought out. Various holes have you throwing at the park entrance road (10, 13, 14, 18). #4 just seems like a bad hole from a design perspective.

- The short holes are incredibly boring. While the longer holes at least have the raw length to make them somewhat entertaining, holes like #1, #2 and #12 are completely forgettable. #1 is essentially the same as setting up your practice basket 300' away in an open field, #2 is an easy, open sub-300' shot, #12 is remarkably easy etc.

- Way too wide open. It stands in stark contrast to the typically heavily wooded Charlotte courses, but it swings too far in the opposite direction. Its so open it gets boring, fast.

- Quite repetitive

- The course does not cater to any particular type of golfer. It is too long to appeal to beginners. It is too open and forgiving to appeal to advanced players. I have no idea who the target audience is for such a course.

Cutting my teeth on open bomber courses in Ohio, Frank Liske was a course I expected to enjoy much more than I did. I've played it a grand total of one time, and don't have any plans to make a return trip.

I feel the only redeeming qualities are the ability to learn wind management and the chance to rip some wide open bombs. Unfortunately many of the holes are essentially throwing at a basket in an empty field. They often don't feel like legitimate golf holes.

This is one of the least impressive designs I've played. Even ignoring the various safety concerns, the golf here is just plain boring. I'm someone that throws far and enjoys some open bomber holes, but even so I found Frank Liske terribly uninspired.

Its very unfortunate because various aspects of this park are top notch. The tees and the signage are absolutely fantastic, and the flags on the baskets are a nice touch. I feel like there was effort put into this design to make a nice course, but the person who built the holes doesn't seem to know what they were doing.

I don't view this as a destination course, rather I view it more as a place to come test distance drivers before you know them intimately enough to want to throw them on a more technical course like Nevin or Angry Beaver.

It's not very often I come away feeling like the course could have been so much more with a different design, but that is definitely the case here. Frank Liske fell very short of my expectations. It's a shame seeing what is an obvious effort to make a nice course be ruined by a poorly executed design.

I debated between giving this a 2.5 or a 3, and ended up going with a 2.5 because I feel its a clear step below courses I've rated 3.5.

This is a test of the DGCR reviewing system. We will see how long it takes anybody to notice this. I deleted this review on 6/6/23.


Will anybody notice? Based on recent trends, none of them are reading this.