Sawmills Veterans park has nice concrete tees, DISCatcher baskets, and tee signs with hole maps. Near the parking lot there is a practice basket and a short 9 hole pitch-&-putt course that can be used to warm up. There are two layouts that are easily distinguishable because the tee signs and benches are painted to match the corresponding layout: red for the short tees, blue for the long.

Players who sling their drives out like a trebuchet (all power, no accuracy) are going to struggle here. A variety of shot shapes are required to navigate the tight and technical fairways in order to score well. Though there are also a few more open holes throughout the course to give players a bit of a mental reprieve.

Clever hole design is used to goad players into biting off more than they need, then punishing them for doing so. Hole 4 is a great example, that uses its shape to trick players into throwing a hyzer off the tee, but will probably reward them with a skip into the creek down the hill. When a straight thrown putter will usually fade down the hill anyway and find its way under the basket.

Elevation is utilized extremely well here, with plenty of downhill, uphill, flat, and valley shots scattered around the course. Hole 7 is one of the signature holes that plays downhill off of a dock. Hole 10 is a great example of a steep uphill shot, on a touchy par 4. Hole 15 is a fun valley shot that will potentially punish missed putts with brutal roll aways.

I haven't had the chance to play the red layout yet, but it seemed appropriately designed to create a more accessible track for a more casual player, while retaining the fun aspects of the long tees.

The course had undergone a small redesign due to construction of new walking paths in the park, so at least some of what I list here are likely caused by this. For instance, the tee sign for Hole 12 was clearly wrong, because the hole had to be reshaped because of the path. Unfortunately, the course interacts with the walking paths around the park way too much for my tastes. Too much risk of pelting pedestrians with plastic.

Some of the basic infrastructure of the course are showing signs of age. The tee signs could probably use a bit of an update. Hole 9's blue tee is on the verge of completely falling apart. Hole 14 was missing its basket. And multiple steps and erosion bars seem to have decayed away over time. For a course with as many hills as this one, having these rebuilt would feel incredibly rewarding.

As others have said, Hole 16's tee is precariously placed right where a lot of drives from Hole 7 are likely to wind up. Especially now that the hillside to the right of Hole 7's fairway has grown in thick, and players try to avoid turning their disc over into the rough.

Some of the holes feel like the designers ran out of space. Holes 17 & 18 are prime examples of this. At least Hole 18 felt interesting, since it plays as an island hole because Hole 17 is probably one of the most bland shots on the course. Some of the holes in the middle feel a little stale, but I think I would chalk that up to being redirected for the walking path construction.

If only this Sawmills Veterans Park was closer to my front door, I'd be here a lot! Every local I spoke to while playing here or one of the neighboring courses was super stoked about this course. There seemed to be a sense of pride, which is definitely deserved, during those conversations. That is a testament to the level of golf you will get while playing here. For now I am going to give Sawmills Veterans Park a 3.5 rating. At its best this course is clearly at the level of an even higher rated course, but at its worst it feels a bit more generic/average. So I chose to average those feelings out when choosing a rating. If the course didn't interact with the walking path so much or had one or two more real standout holes, I think I would have given it a higher rating.

Favorite Holes: 4, 7, 10, 15

Lots of different shots. Course is clean. Very well marked.

The course appears to have a different layout than what is listed in the "links-files". I was trying to go by the map, and the signs got me confused. I think there have been some course changes . . . even so, following the signs led me correctly to each hole.

Maybe it would be good to change the layout of this course on this site.
This course is a bit of a drive from Clover, SC, but it was worth the trip.

Nice mix of wooded and open areas. Easy to go from one hole to the next. Just the right amount of trees to still allow a path to target. I like the hole where you go from the woods into a field (I think it's #8) to the target then back again to the next target. Being new to disc golf I really struggled with the course often very frustrated but always fun.

The holes 17 & 18 while nicely open could involve cars or people who are not observant. Some of the tees could be improved but I'm sure that is already planned for. Not much to not like about Sawmills.

A lot like Glenn Helton only better.

Sawmills has the makings of a very challenging course. Picture a much more evil and demanding version of Glenn Hilton, and you have Sawmills.
- Don't let the first four holes fool you. Once you get into the woods, it gets tough real quickly. The main feature of this course is nature and the topography of the land. Lots of elevation - there are some wicked elevation holes - and lots of pine trees - some holes have really narrow fairways.
- With the exception of a couple open holes (to varying degrees - #8, 17 & 18) - this course is all about accuracy. If you have one disc you can master at 200 feet (or even 150 feet), you will put yourself in great shape. If you try to get a little too aggressive on some of the wooded holes, you will struggle.
- The tee shot for #8 could become one of those 'talked about' layouts. The tee pad is a deck, about 15 feet in the air. Everyone who has ever played Hilton knows the tee shot on the last hole over the ravine. I feel this could be that type of shot. It's unlike anything I've seen anywhere else.
- The elevation extremes can be seen on a couple of holes. #7, 11 & 16 have tough uphill tee shots. #11 layout is similar to #14 at Ashe County, where you're practically throwing straight uphill. #5 has a downhill shot over a ravine; #14 is a sharp dogleg left, downhill hole; #15 has a down and up shot to a basket, that's close to level from the tee pad.
- This course is one of the ultimate risk/reward layouts anywhere in the region. If you stay in the fairway, you'll see your share of birdie putts. If you start missing and end up in the trees, you'll be scrambling for pars, bogeys or worse, all day long. That said, because none of the true wooded holes are really long (none longer than 350 feet), even if you hit trees halfway down the fairway, you shouldn't have many, if any, major blow-up holes.
- Course is extremely different (easier) from the short tees compared to the longs. Where I was fighting for threes and fours from the long tees, I was seeing a lot of twos and other birdie putts from the short tees. It's amazing how extremely different this course plays in the two layouts.
- Be prepared for a physical workout hiking up and down the hills. Good footwear is a must with all the climbing, a good deal of which is on pine needles.
- There are some great scenic views/nature feel aspects to this course. Lake Rhodhiss is visible from several holes, coming closest behind the tee on #7 and to the right of the fairway on #15. The lake never comes into play on any of the holes, but does provide a great backdrop.

The first takeaway from the course is that it's not going to be for everyone. I think some people will hate the elevation factor and/or the narrowness (or near lack) of some fairways. If anyone has ever complained about Charlotte courses having narrow fairways, you need to check out Sawmills.
- The course is still a work in progress, so I know some issues will be resolved with time. Being redundant, some fairways are really narrow. As the course is played more, some more fine tuning/trees being removed might still happen. Other issues will continue to be addressed as well, like fine tuning basket positions, adding more steps, bridges, benches trash cans, etc.
- Poor drainage is a problem on some of the holes, most notably #8 - 10 & 16. You can avoid some of it; but, as is the case on #10, the muddy area is the fairway, so it will come into play at times.
- Walking trail/common area comes into play on at least five holes - #1 - 3 & 17 - 18. The tee pad for #16 is in the fairway for #8, so beware when throwing.
- Because of the hills and trees, errant bounces off trees could lead to extra and frustrating time, trying to retrieve discs. I had one disc take a major bounce off a disc, then spent an extra five minutes trying to figure out the safest way to retrieve it off a semi-steep slope. If you have that happen a couple times a round, it could really get frustrating.
- The back nine is far away from the front of the park. You can play an abbreviated nine-hole loop (#1 - 7 & 17 - 18), but there's no way to squeeze in the other holes, without starting at the beginning.

Sawmills was fun, frustrating, challenging and annoying, all in one. Put that all together, and to me, it looks like you have the makings of a good course.
- This is the type of course where you'll know whether you're on your game or not pretty early into your round. The good news is that you can easily walk directly from #7 to #17, if you want to, or need to, call it quits.
- Talking to a couple locals, there's a feeling this course is going to get a lot less attention than the other local course - Glenn Hilton. That's a good thing because it means it won't usually be crowded. It could be bad if that means the local club focuses less attention on the course.
- It's hard to to constantly compare this course to Hilton. There are so many similarities in the layouts that they're going to be going hand-in-hand. Especially once this course is broken in, if you like one, you'll 'like both, and vice versa.
- The course is 15 minutes further from Charlotte and I/40, so many people are probably going to opt for Hilton simply for convenience. It will be a shame if people miss out on this course simply because of a couple extra minutes.
- My rating is reflective of the current conditions, and should bounce up a little once things are complete. When they are, the Sawmills-Hilton one-two punch will be a great day trip for anyone in the region.