-Andy Laws is a very authentic individual and course designer. The baskets are man made, the creativity is very original, and the course plays in different parts of the neighborhood. From the average Joe's perspective, you are going for a neighborhood walk and are throwing frisbees as you walk. But there's more to it than that. Andy is an awesome host and we had a fun game of doubles the day we played.

-Authentic is a word I cannot say only once in this review. There's a sunken basket. A hanging basket. Few elevated baskets. Man made baskets (they are great catchers too). A few MVP baskets. Now on to the designs. The first two holes we played were on the highest point of the course. In the open field. They were nice warm up shots that give a view of two different mountains far in the distance. One of them is Roan Mountain. Further into it, there was that downhill hole across the road and over the cornfield. You have to throw maybe 320' to clear it, so it's definitely a hard hole. What makes it harder is the fact that there is an OB pond to the left and the OB road to the right and the basket is in between them. The last three holes were by far the biggest stand outs. Two of them were legit par fours and the other one was a very difficult par three. They were so great that I must continue below.

-The first par four (and the third to last hole) has you throwing off a driveway up a large hill in a different yard. You have to throw to the right side of a tree because of a mando protecting the house you throw past. Once you reach the top of the hill, you are throwing across a field with horses that takes you into the woods. A four is an excellent score, a bogey is not a disappointment either. The next hole is the long downhill almost like a key hole. You have to stay low while throwing long distance. Hole is probably 450' and downhill maybe thirty feet in elevation or possibly even more, but the angle of the decline is acute, so you can't keep it too low. A two is very hard to get, and a three almost feels like a birdie because it's tough to throw below a ceiling and keep an optimum height for a distance over 400'. Not to mention, the green is pretty guarded. I absolutely loved this hole. The last hole was excellent too. More than 500' and back up the hill. It's half open and half wooded. You throw your tee shot into the woods and then throw back out for a possible birdie. It takes a good 400+ to clear the woods so bigger arms could possibly make it out of the woods off their first drive and be left with a short but deceptively uphill upshot back in the open. Turns out this hole was the short pad and the long pad was at the top of a huge hill, but wasn't quite ready for play since the course recently opened back up. But this hole from the short pad was a true par four that ended on a high note for me.

-The land is very difficult to maintain. Grass is much more difficult to control in the mountains. And Andy keeps it maintained! To say that Andy puts a ton of work into this course would be an understatement. The fact that he's able to maintain it shows that he is a man that's full of grit, drive, and passion. He comes up with many different ideas for hole design too which is something I love to see. He's an awesome host that'll make your round feel almost like a historic tour of Burnsville.

-Lots of elevation movement. You'll get to play some sweet downhill holes and some fun challenging uphill holes too. There are a few flatter holes that'll help you catch your breath.

-Variety of shots that favor different styles of throws. The big uphill hole to the right at the sunken basket is a standout for the big sidearm throwers with maybe a baseball background. If sidearms aren't your thing, you could still have a chance in throwing a big backhand anhyzer and sinking a long putt since the basket is buried. There's a downhill dogleg left hyzer for backhanders to try and attack, yet a roller could also work in your favor if you don't backhand. I could go on.

-Lots of redemption available. Most of the holes are pretty hard to birdie to say at the least (even the short ones), but they can be cracked in several ways. You'll have a few opportunities for an ace.

-Difference in basket diameters. You could get mislead. The man made baskets in the woods are wider in diameter than some of the regular baskets.

-Briars. Many different kinds of them and they are very tough to avoid.

-I love the different hole designs being brought to life, but the downside to that would be the fact that none of the holes really have a number. What used to be the first hole was #7 on the layout we played a week ago, but the number could be different the next time.

-I love this course and can't wait to come back and see if there are any new holes I'll get to play. I really enjoyed my round with the group of guys that I played with and they seem to enjoy seeing the new ideas come to life as they play here. A part of the course was not ready for play when I played but I'm sure it's a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to playing that part of it at some point.

-This is easily one of the best courses in the WNC. It's far from traditional but it's a real gem you don't often see, such as a grandidierite with its hackly fracture and shiny dispersion making it very unusual but memorable in a very positive way. That's an object very difficult to find, but it exists and even wedding rings are made out of it.

-I'm not sure if events are still held here or not, or if they will be soon. But this is a challenging course that casual players can have fun at. It really gives a concrete minded person such as myself a very abstract view of disc golf and a dual opinion of the course. It's very tough generally speaking, but its easy and shreddable. It's one of those courses where you probably have to fall in order to fly. A casual local could shoot under par while a first time pro could shoot several over par. Knowing every hole could really favor you.

Andy has put a lot of time into this course. He's still tweaking the layout, which is great because he's trying to get it right--lots of options out there. A bunch of big downhill shots, some tight through the woods shots, an island hole, a cow pasture. This course has it all. Super fun time and the guys are real friendly.

It's a big rough around the edges, with the homemade baskets and such, but it's all part of the experience. Legit discatcher baskets are like $300 each so you're welcome to donate some!

If you want a super unique NC mountain experience, give this place a shot, it's bound to be a good time.

Right from the start you get the feeling that this course is not just going to be a walk in the park. The side hill landing areas and the sidewinding ace runs make the hairs stand up on my neck every time I begin my round. The view from hole 4's fairway is just breathtaking but yet a right challenging hole.

The only cons I can think of is that this isn't a course you want to bring a beginner to. Not saying this course is impossible to score on because you can definitely have a great round but there are right fairways with unforgivable greens that will make you think to go for it or lay up and get par.

The diversity of this course really stood out to me over anything, I seriously used almost every disc in my bag!
The carpeted teepads were super grippy even in damp conditions and they did not mess with my run-up, You can tell Andy has put some work into this place as almost every teebox was framed with a retaining wall. He was given a sweet piece of land for disc golf but boy is it steeply sloped and hats off to Andy for digging out nearly 3' deep in some places to get a level place to throw from
Some of the landing zones at Simple Pleasures make you think you are playing ball golf and will alter your shot to make it a smarter play
On #1 for instance you can go for the ace around a grouping of poplar trees or play smart and lay-up with a mid-range on the level landing zone Andy chunked out of the hillside, really cool and picteresque!
Elevation comes into play so much out here and #14 is one of the best top-of-the world shots in NC that I have seen

The cows sometimes get in the way of your line and the presents they leave around are not a pro but its also a unique aspect of the course
OB! Stroke and Distance is so hard out here so if your going for the course record keep it between the fences!!

This is one of the best homemade courses I have played and its only going to get better with time. Andy has got an 18 hole layout designed but he is waiting on $$ for more baskets. He filled me in on the Gold layout and some of the shots and all I can say is good luck to anyone man enough to play them!

Excellent use of elevation both with ups and downs (you will leave with a slight burn in the thigh area after the newly designed 12 hole layout
Great mix of par 3s that offer some birdie opportunites and some that offer a challenging 3, I was extremly happy with a 3 on both 11 and 12
Carpeted teepads were quite comfortable, and even in the rain they were super grippy

Some of the sidehill lies I encountered really altered my shot. For instance on #1 you are on a really steep right to left slope and the basket is heavily guarded by several massive popular trees. On a normal flat slope you could pick your way thru multiple gaps but the steep lie forced me to play an anyzer over OB, a very scary shot to say the least
Since Andy is updating the course, currently he has a nicely done 12 hole layout from what I understand is gonna comply with the future 18 design. So as of now there is quite a steep walk back to the car from the end of #12

Simple Pleasures is a great homemade disc golf course that utilizes the natural landscape provided really well. With several more holes coming in the summer of 2012 I hope to make a trip back to check them out! Andy filled me in on his plans for #17, a 1,000' valley par 5 over, thru and under a white pine forest..

I had just came off of a broken leg when i played this course, and the terrain was friendly enough to where I could easily enjoy playing it. I still got a pretty good workout as well. There are alot of good lines in this course and the basket locations arent impossible, but they arent easy.

The only cons I can think of was just a slight hike in between two holes, and some unlevel tee boxes. Those two cons will be fixed within the next year or so though.

This was a fairly difficult course. I am beginnner and I would have little chance parring the course by myself, but with a relatively skilled partner playing with me, we were able to shoot right around par. I love this course!!