-Use of elevation. The elevation utilized at Squirrel Lake is brilliant. Good mix of up and downhill. Multiple holes exceed 20' in grade change. #9 is probably the signature hole if you love elevation the way I do. This is a tight downhill tunnel over a dried creek off an elevated pad. This is my favorite hole. It's a little more simply put, but it's a fun one to throw some putters and mids on.

-Well designed par fours. While none of them exceed 440', all four of them are very technical and require different shot shaping strategies. #10 was my favorite of the par fours. This one is tight, probably the tightest of the four par fours. It's a slightly downhill dogleg right. The landing zone is only about 180' from the tee while the total length is about 440'. I'm a righty with very limited sidearm ability. That was my only option due to the sharp turn and the tight fairway. It's ideal to throw a lower speed fairway that's overstable.

-The variety of fairways make for a for a round with the entire bag here. The first two holes are both dogleg left par fours. The first hole has a much more severe turn than the second, allowing a little more opportunity for distance. The only straight holes were #3, #8, and #9. The rest all had a least a slight turn to them. While Squirrel Lake is exclusively wooded, and designed to be an accuracy tester that tests your shot versatility, it does end with a wooded hole more suited for power. #12 is a slightly uphill 360' par three that's mostly straight and fades a bit left to the green. This is a well thought out driver shot. Tough finisher as it's a long par three, but the fairway is probably the widest of them all.

-Well taken care of. It's in a safe part of town and the locals keep the course in good shape. Plenty of benches in case you get tired.

-The concrete tees are long and level. Nice disc catcher baskets.

-There's a greenway for park attendees. Nice option to walk through the woods. There's also a tree with some bird carvings into it, very cool piece of art you don't often see! You'll see it when you finish #12.

-Gets swampy. #11 was very muddy and wet when I played since it's on the lowest part on the course in terms of sea level and also has a creek. While we are at it, #11's green is awfully close to the greenway. Hate to say it cause I enjoyed this hole and the looks of it. It's just more hazardous.

-Parking lot is very small for the park. Often times, you may find yourself parallel parking on the side of the gravel road, which goes pretty gradually downhill. I had to parallel park and it was tough getting out since there was a car in front of mine and one behind me.

-I usually don't mind shots near roads because as long as there is nothing coming, there's nothing to worry about. But since the side of the road is basically parking lot #2, there's a chance you'll have cars on the side of #6's fairway. The previous reviewers already said it, #6 is very close to the road

-Few weird fairways. I'm somewhere on the fence between Shadrach and Wolfhaley. I do agree that #4 is a little bit mystifying with its tight trail and its early left fade from the tee. It's not designed for a backhand thrower at all. It's clearly designed to be a sidearm hole where right handed throwers will be flicking something understable. I don't think it's a bad hole, but very limited opportunity for birdie for a 275' footer. #5 is the opposite. Very gentle right fade down a very narrow path. I don't think these holes are impossible; I think they serve some sort of purpose, but they can be a bit frustrating.

-Course is heavily populated with squirrels. I saw tons of them when I played. I got really close to a few and they startled me as they ran off when I got real close.

-You'll see better elevation here than you will at The Scrapyard and Dry Creek and you'd see a better mix of it than you would at Cane Creek (even though Cane Creek has a few bigger hills). It's a little bit more welcoming for newer players than the courses mentioned as well, despite some odd shaped fairways. There are no daunting water carries and the shorter par fours make for more options on how to navigate them. It's still enough to challenge, which makes for a fair challenge. You'll be wanting to practice some flip up shots and some backhand anhyzers.

+ Requires a lot of thought here on shot selection
+ Nice and shaded
+ Hard to lose a disc; despite the number of trees, the underbrush is clear enough to locate errant discs
+ Slow large turn/fade discs like a cobra can pull off some crazy slalom shots
+ Benches throughout... the atmosphere is very peaceful

- Walking paths make a couple shots (hole 6 in particular) a little dicey without a spotter.
- Parking could be a problem
- The transition from 9 to 10 is (very mildly) inconvenient

The 12 holes don't really make it a problem for me, so I didn't list it in the "CON" section. When I played, it was relatively empty in the park, so I had easy parking and nobody was on the course... well, no disc golfers, but I'll get to that in a moment.

Initial thoughts: Wow, there's a lot of trees here. On hole 1, I opened with a RHBH zone on a hyzer and was rewarded. I thought, "hmmm, this course shouldn't be too hard."
And then the fun began. These trees are tight. I'm used to wooded holes and threading some narrow gaps, but this course started to border on ridiculous. I come from the mindset that in the woods, you can shoot gaps with laser straight discs (throws), but there isn't a gap to hit that's long enough to reward such strategy. There are so many trees in your way on this course that the best lines are often the ones you can weave around the obstacle, making discs like a cobra outperform a mako3. And did I say there were a lot of trees? Don't miss off the fairway, because if you do, sometimes your only option back in is with a grenade over the top. But that's not a con, either. It's not a long course, so it rewards skill over power (I have neither, but this was a refreshing change of pace from some longer courses I've played).
One thing that was a little concerning was the walking paths which ran along 6 and also near the basket of 6 and the teepads of 9 and 10. Hole 6 is the one that you can really let fly with a big power hyzer (you really need it to cut left or your upshot will be in trouble), but people are often walking on the OB pathway there. You can see them though. My approach was made a little blind and kicked off a tree almost drilling an elderly couple by the #10 teepad. I didn't know there was a walking path that ran up that way. When I played, there were no other disc golfers, but there were plenty of walkers.
Overall, the course is nicely maintained and I'd love to go back and play it again. It's a very frustrating course, and it tests your mental game well. On multiple occasions, I opted to lay up instead of running it only to get a new lie that was just as crappy as if I missed a run. And that is probably what keeps people coming back to this course: that tantalizing but elusive low score that they KNOW they can get here.

ATMOSPHERE - Small, family friendly, forested park in a designated "natural habitat" area. Chiefly hardwoods, of mature and adolescent ages. Suburban surroundings, with that "backyard" atmosphere. Borders the Four-Mile Creek greenway.

CHALLENGE - Despite 12 holes, a very technical course requiring fairly advanced-level accuracy.

AMENITIES - Bathrooms, water fountain, trashcans on 2 or 3 holes, several benches or psuedo-benches.

TEEPADS - OK. Concrete and appropriately sized.

ELEVATION - Superb use of NC Piedmont hills. Fairways vary up and down, with the topography ultimately descending into the Four Mile floodplain.

DIRECTIONALITY & DISTANCE - Good variety, including a few longer holes and par 4's.

BREVITY - (Also a con; see below) Allows for a quicker game without resorting to beginner-level 9 hole courses.

ROUGHS - Surprisingly well-worn in and forgiving for the most part.

FAIRWAYS - Many are tight, tight, tight. Throughout SL trees were left in the fairways to preserve the canopy (this park being a designated natural habitat). Often your throws just come down to dumb-luck. Very frustrating even for expert players. Many holes would be dramatically improved by the removal of 1-2 trees.

BASKETS - Many are single-chain. Your putts can and will slip through.

LITTER - Garbage and broken glass in some places.

SIGNAGE - Less than ideal. Only show par and distance, with no fairway maps.

NAVIGATION - May be confusing. Double-backs and short trails. First-timers bring a map. (Though there are small signs pointing to the next tee)

HOLE 6 SAFETY - This hole's fairway now runs parallel to a walking path and road. Bad drives could easily hit a car or passerby. Play with caution and respect.

EROSION - Already looking bad in some spots. Steps ought to be taken to mitigate this.

BREVITY - Only 12, now and forever.

Ahh...Squirrel Lake. The "black sheep" of Charlotte. Everyone loves to hate and hates to love this course. I grew up playing here and it has a special place in my disc-lovin' heart.

SL defies classification. Some holes are easy and for beginners (1, 8). Some are stupidly tight and/or have no fairway at all (3, 4, and parts of many). Other holes...others are magnificent...the kinds of holes you dream about (2, 7, 12). This eclectic mix attracts a variety of players, but it makes you wonder about what the designers intended.

Is it worth playing? Yes. SL isn't a "great" course, and SL doesn't give a damn. It'll make you angry, and then you'll make yourself angry by playing it again and again.

A true test of accuracy, Squirrel Lake Park DGC is a very tight course. This course is a walk-in-the-park, with mild elevation changes and heavily wooded.

The course is equipped with concrete tees. Tee signs at every tee shows par and distance. Baskets in excellent condition, bright targets which are really necessary. Makeshift signs point to next tee.

All holes are in the woods, except for #6, which drives over a semi-open area, then turns left back into the woods before reaching the basket. Course cannot be played well without accurate drives.

Holes have a variation in distance, but no "air it out" holes.

There are some cons to the course(not all are cons to me, but I'm sure they are to some).

-There is one trash can within the course located at the #4 and #6 tee pad, which is an "L" shaped pad used for both holes.
-Dense trees require as much luck as it does skill.
-A few holes lack a "fairway" or "landing zones". If unable to make it to the vacinity of the basket on these holes you will be shooting an out shot.
-Not at all a technical course, requiring few types of shots to score a decent round, but have your thumber or tomahawk ready...you will be using it
-12 holes leave me with an incomplete feeling that I don't get with an 18 holer...or a 9 holer for that matter. (Rumors of Squrrel Lake expanding to 18 holes, but this is not in the near future)
-Park lacks proper restrooms, Port-O-John on site.
-No practice basket to warm up on putts before a round, no open area to throw some warm up drives, or get some practice in with a new disc
-Tee signs do not depict a map of the hole and baskets are tough to see from tees, which is extremely troublesome if you are playing the course for the first time.

Definately not the best course in the Charlotte area, but offers a round unlike any others around. Located a few minutes off of I-485 in Matthews, Squirrel Lake is easily accessable from all areas. Little foot traffic, allows a faster moving pair to play 12 in under 45 minutes. I'm not sure if its worth driving from a distance to play, but sufficient if you are a local.

Very fun, challenging course. For local comparison, it's a tougher, better version of Reedy Creek.
- Good variety of holes. A couple of major doglegs really challenge your game. The course seems to have more LHBH-esque holes than many courses. Not a bad thing, just an extra challenge for most throwers.
- My favorite hole is #10. Sharp dogleg to the right. It takes 2 good shots to get to the hole.
- Quiet, small neighborhood park. Lack of park traffic means course isn't crowded. I'm impressed how you can get such an "out in nature" feel in such a small park.
- Holes are close to each other. Signs point to next hole.

Poision ivy all over the course. Needs some serious spraying. This is hopefully a temporary problem. NOTE: As of August '09, it's still a problem. Pay attention when playing the course.
- Course map or diagram on holes would be helpful for first timers.
- On several holes you have to walk up the fairway to the tee pad. For example, after finishing #7, the path leads you to the fairway for #8, where you then walk up the fairway to the tee pad. You'll need to pay attention to make sure you don't walk in front of someone teeing off.

The course looks like it'll be staying 12-hole course. Local board has voted against adding an extra 6 holes for the sake of the nature preserve.
- If the course were 18 holes, it'd deserve a 3.5 rating. I only gave it a 3 because it's only 12 holes.
- Course is actually more wide open than I would have thought. Very little underbrush, trees are usually your only obstacle. You do have a chance to redeem yourself if you get off the fairway.
- No restrooms (porta jon only) or water fountains at the course.