In this weeks installment of Moose finds a course near the highway we try the Trails in Anderson, SC.

If you are a course designer who has a smallish wooded plot, there is a lot of positive you could take from this one and implement on many properties.

16 of the 18 holes are wooded and even on the two "open" ones you have some challenge present either in the form of a small gap to hit or a guarded pin.

For the most part the course winds through the woods with a little bit of elevation change, a creek in play on about 6 holes if I remember correctly and one longish open hole to make you throw a driver.

I attacked this one with mostly mids and putters but did break out a fairway a couple of times and a Carnivore on the longest hole(375ish open shot).

They did a nice job with the pads they are concrete and mostly nice and level, only one or two with cracks. The baskets are disccatchers that are mainly wrapped to look orangish which was a fine choice for woods golf. Signs were nice and seemed accurate, though a couple faced an odd direction.

Fun factor is pretty high, and I think glow dubs here would be an absolute hoot.

It's a smaller wooded property with the challenge that entails. Some of the lines are tight or an odd shape for the new player and if you are mainly throwing hyzers backhand or forehand it's not going to be easy, though once you can manipulate a disc it's certainly not that hard.

It's probably more fun than the objective quality is high, but I do give points for fun and this course has it.

The safety and navigation are the main issues to me and they go hand in hand since some of the pads are only 30-50ft from the previous pin and you could easily overshoot and be close to the next group, in some cases you couldn't see them off the tee. The other issue is you have to cross over previous holes about 3 times, so if it's busy you need to be heads up.

The 10-14 interchange was the worst piece of that, which sucks because all of those holes are strong. They just play in weird spaces, and to change the direction and fix it would make two of them inferior holes.

It's not a legend, but it is a worthy course and I had fun playing it. If you are on 85 with an hour to kill that's about all the time you would need to play it and I doubt you would be sorry you did.

-This course doesn't take up a ton of space in this large park. But it's probably in the most ideal spot. In the wooded area. All except a couple of holes here are wooded. But they are all different from each other. To add to that, many holes have alt. pin placements.

-Has a killer start with hole one. It was in the long pin position, which is 326' long. This is probably the best hole on the course in my opinion. The hole is pretty tight most of the way but has a fair line. I threw a mid range and cleared the line and was able to obtain a birdie. Hole two was a fun ace run. Has two routes. The right route is much safer but has a couple a trees to sneak past. The left route is pretty much where "sketchy" is the pro route. It's tighter and more demanding, but if you think you can ace this hole, you'll more likely be taking this route.

-Benches are on most holes if not all. And we know who to thank! Jacob W. Barfield and GBS Lumber. Course isn't very hilly, but there are some elevation changes that are nearly significant.

-Nice use of an island green on #11. Man made, and with an established drop zone about 49' from the basket. Hole is 191' and straight. Very fair with a nice additional challenge to it. Teaches newcomers a little something special about disc golf.

-There are some fairways that are unusual and won't be fun for newcomers, but I think they are all fair. They'll teach beginners the importance of carrying more than three discs (something I NEVER could get across to the other kids at Bonclarken when I was a kid). You'll need overstable high speed drivers, stable midranges, slow putters, different weighted discs, and a lot in between here. But it'll really teach you the fundamentals of disc golf.

-Three practice baskets in the open across the road.

-Some of the baskets are a bit damaged with graffiti. A few of the new tee signs are missing or damaged. I think this one of those courses that gets a ton of foot traffic. It's pretty short and has a well diverse set of holes that are all reachable. Which makes this a course for anyone. A church leader could take a large group of kids here (like mine did) or a local pro could kick back with some buddies and play a casual round. This all being said, the graffiti and the damage to the tee signs could be seen by others as a lack of respect. That newcomer may want to know the distance of the hole, or the shape of the fairway, or if there's another pin placement. Or that local on the next hole may have helped out with those tee signs. It's terribly wrong to destroy the work that someone else had done. And these baskets are long term assets with a depreciable value. We don't want them to depreciate before their expected service life, but they do with all that graffiti. It doesn't always come off easily.

-Holes nine and ten play along a walking path. The walking path on hole ten splits the fairway. Personally, I enjoyed hole ten. It's a nice hole that's open and onto a slightly sloping hill. But you may have to yield to pedestrians.

-The first hole may be tough for you to find. A couple of locals told me where to go. Walk past the practice baskets while walking away from the parking lot and cross the road. If you see the fence, take a left and you'll see the course kiosk.

-Every previous reviewer mentioned poison ivy, but constantly having to scratch itches is a notable con.

-This course isn't awesome, but it is fun and very smartly designed. It teaches many lessons as you go along and encourages you to experiment with different discs so that you get the hang out it. Hole two is a hole that encourage a starter to really work on their accuracy, because it's a whole lot funner to throw through the left gap. Hole nine may encourage you to search for high glide drivers that fly straight. It's nice to work on distance. Hole eleven is good accuracy practice that'll give a warm feeling when you make the island. Holes four and fourteen have my vote as the hardest fairways to hit. Probably the hardest holes as well. The fairway for hole four is odd and highly demanding with it's curves. But it's still possible to reach. The title for fourteen is "mission impossible" but believe me, it's reachable.

-Then there's hole fifteen. A hole that gives a feel for how fun disc golf can get. Elevation. Hole is down a pretty good hill and over a creek. Very fun hole that'll encourage you to throw multiple discs on.

-Good Tee pads
-Great tight line practice
-Short course good for shorter throwers
-Goals in great shape

-Lack of distance holes to stretch arm
-Some holes appear to be more "throw and hope"
-Tee signs lack detail
-Poison Ivy EVERYWHERE
-Navigation difficult

My oldest son and I came here to play for the first time as a Father's Day gift. The first issue we ran into is UDisc and my GPS both could not find the place the way it was intended. UDisc basically lead me to an apartment complex where I was able to park and play the course, but I do not think Parks and Rec intend you to park in the apartment complex.

Once we got started, the tree love/hate began. There are trees everywhere on this course. While it was handled well on many holes, there were also many where there was no obvious route. Some holes felt like they were "throw and pray it gets through" holes. I agree with an earlier review that says it would be better if a few select trees were thinned to create clear, but still tight, lanes.

There is no real distance challenge here having only 2 holes that allow you to pull out a driver. I would rather have a few more holes that allow a little space to stretch out a drive. That being said, I did enjoy the shade we had most of the round that will make this a nice summer play.

It feels a little secluded. I am not sure how bad crime is in the area, but I could see someone getting robbed having such isolated places in a city environment. We had no problems, but make sure you lock up your valuables just in case.

Overall, the course was not really to our liking. I can see why some would enjoy playing a course like this, but it just was not our cup of tea.If you want tight line approach shot practice, this is the course for you. Otherwise, I would move on to other options.

6/15/2020 Update: Recent storms have naturally thinned some trees. Course opened up a little as a result. Nothing too drastic, but enough to make lines a little better. Really enjoyed my 2nd visit to The Trails.

8/18/2020 Update:
Out of the 66 courses I have reviewed, this is where this course ranks along with similarly rated courses:
Rank-Course, Location
33-Pecan Grove West, Sherman TX
34-Weatherford DGC, Weatherford, TX
35-Timmons Park, Greenville, SC
36-Crooked Creek Park, Chapin, SC
37-USC Upstate, Spartanburg, SC
38-Trails DGC, Anderson, SC
39-Shoally Creek DGC, Boiling Springs, SC
40-The Dragon, Purcell, OK
41-Mulerider DGC, Magnoli, AR
42-Lakeside DGC, Elmore City, OK

The Anderson Sports Complex boasts a beautiful eighteen hole course. "Trails", as it's aptly named, plays among the thick wooded areas of the park. Shorter technical holes dominate the layout with a break or two peeking out into some longer open areas. Overall the course rings up at only 4400' with just two holes over 300' with one of them just reaching the 400' mark. Moderate elevation changes mix in a few up and down shots and keep the holes fresh. Opportunities to get in a creek pose as a risk a time or two as well. A good mix of left and right shots added to the variety and helps complete this well rounded wooded course.

Dependable Innova Discatchers are sure to be appreciated as they are easy to spot in the wooded areas. They are all in great condition too. Concrete tee pads also compliment the course. A well designed layout that is fairly easy to follow is quite noticeable as you follow the trails throughout the course. You'll find well marked paths complete with bridges as needed and they were a welcomed touch. Ample parking near the course complete with a practice basket near the lot was a nice perk too.

This is a great course for a quick round. Plentiful birdie and ace opportunities make it a very fun course. I can imagine this course giving a wide variety of scores based on the trees. Low scores would be easily had on a good day but those trees could be punishing on the days when you're having a hard time finding your lines. There are lots of holes that you'll want to throw multiple drives on just for fun.

This is a great course if you are looking for a quick round. Most folks could run through in an hour or less. As a side bonus, the woods provide plenty of shade during those hot summer months.

The course could be disappointing and even frustrating for those that are not fans of heavily wooded courses. Likewise, those who like to air it out with longer holes won't find a lot to get excited about either. While there is a decent amount of variety considering the solid woods, it's just a steady diet of short tightly wooded holes. A few times the course can put a bigger premium on luck than skill.

Although this is a relatively short course, it's so fun it shouldn't be a factor for most folks. If you are a wooded course fan you should really like this one. Being that I love wooded courses I immediately fell in love. I'd play this course all the time if I lived in the area.

Trails DGC is a perfect model of what any short course should look like. Course offers lots of fun, plenty of birdie chances, potential ace runs (especially 11 & 15), and has a great risk/reward factor. There are still a few kinks to work out, but I have no doubt they'll be taken care of.
- I absolutely loved this course. It's a great wooded course. If we had a rating specifically for fun factor, this would be a 5.
- Great use of the terrain. A couple holes have good elevation (both down up & downhill shots), other holes have great strategically place baskets (near drop-offs, behind trees, next to thick brush).
- Plenty of fun holes that offer chances to be aggressive and/or creative with your shots. Great risk/reward factor on most holes.A good throw can produce an easy birdie, but if you just miss your line, you're going to hit a tree, or land in some thick rough. The only holes I consider not realistically birdie-able for the average player (300 foot driver), is #9 & 14. #9 due to its length, #14 due to the tight hole layout - straight for first half, slight uphill, dogleg left to basket protected by trees.
- Great course for all skill levels from first timers to advanced players. Average hole length is under 250 feet, meaning you don't need a big arm. Only 1 long hole - #9 at 400 ft, which is also the only open hole. Accuracy is more important that distance here.
- The first six holes (#1-2 & 4-8) is a great strettch of enjoyable holes. They're all in the same ballpark in terms of distance (208 - 264 ft), all offer birdie chances, plus have a degree of difficulty.
- Course has good amenities. Nice tee pads, great tee signs on front 9; back 9 should be in soon. The entire park has great facilities, and there are plenty of restaurant/gas stations just up the road.

As mentioned above, there are still a few issues to be addressed. When that's done, this list will be very shot, and also outdated.
- This is just a temporary issue, but missing a hole is a problem. #3 was pulled recently, so the course is currently only 17 holes. I only found out about this after walking through the front 9, then finding 2 locals. The good news is that I updated the course info page. 2 days later Roadtrip played, and, as his review states, was able to avoid the same problem I had. Just another great service thanks to this site.
- No tee signs (yet) on the back nine. Looks like they'll be in soon, which will make this point void.
- There were several confusing transitions between holes. After finishing #2, and then by passing the defunct #3, you have to walk past #5 to get to #4. On the back nine, after playing #13, you cross the #12 tee to get to #14. When tee signs are put in, that should (hopefully) eliminate this problem. If not, a simple solution would be to put the hole number on the "next T' signs.
- On several holes, there's no middle ground between fairway and rough. On #2, the basket is 10 - 15 from some thick, overgrown rough. I had a harder time climbing through the thorns to get to my disc than I did making the birdie putt. Also, there are piles of branches, logs, etc. on some holes. Again, give it time and this will be gone.
- Some holes play extremely close to each other, meaning you'll need to keep an eye out for discs and other DGers. These are the ones I noticed most are: fairways for #12 & 14 are right next to each other, (heading the same direction), only separated by a creek. Tee shots that don't curve right on #18 are going to land near tee for #1. Stray shots from #13 might land in #12 fairway.
- Apparently, the idea of "if you build it, they will come" at this course applies to walkers. I saw more people using the course (fairways and paths) as a walking trail than DGers playing the course. Granted it was a Thursday afternoon, so the DGers were at work. But, I had two separate occasions where I was about to throw, only to have a walker come around the corner, and walk right past the basket down the fairway towards me. Maybe the "beware of flying objects" signs need to be bigger and at the random entrances to the course people have made.

I love when course designers know what they want out of a course, and execute it perfectly. This course isn't meant to be the most challenging, or the longest. Trails is confident enough in itself, knowing it's all about the motion of the ocean.
- This is my CYA disclaimer, in case things change down the road. Any hole numbers listed are current of when I played and reviewed. If the new hole (old #3) is added somewhere other than between #2 - 4, the hole numbers might change.
- Trails, along with Timmons, are my 2 favorite short courses. By short I mean averaging under 250 ft a hole, 4500 total. Being from Charlotte, there are several short courses here (Elon short and Bailey), but I give the edge to both Trails and Timmons.
- My favorite hole was #6. It's 260 ft, slight dogleg left tee shot to an elevated basket area. As an example of its risk/reward factor, the first time I played the hole, I parked my tee shot within 10 feet of the basket. Second time, my shot was barely off line, hit a tree, then had my second shot roll downhill after landing next to the basket.
- A great mi-range course. Keep the drive in the bag. Avoid City Beach (Anderson's other course) and play Trails multiple times.

Very friendly locals. The players and the folks just out at the park. Nice use of available space. Great vibe - you can often see other people but you still get privacy when you want it. Good mix of lines. Very close to the highway. A great 60 minute walk if you've been driving I-85.

And, thumbs up to this website, I was just passing through and I got to educate all the locals on Hole 3 (had just read it on here).

Too short. I love all the ace runs, and I'm glad they fit 18 in such a small area, but I wasn't done after my 18. Discs can hide in the underbrush (seems like it has to grow thicker as spring moves along).

The course plays like a more open Davidson College (NC). Similar chill crowd, same perceived isolation, seems like you could ace just about any one of them.

I've only played this course once. I think it's important to note that in a review. I really like that Davidson, NC course but I've played it a million times. First time out - it sucked. This course, I really liked it but it was a perfect day all the way around. Seems like the courses you've only played once - mood can take over your opinion a little bit.

Variety (shots) - 3.5/5 - The distance affects the variety. It's different bending a disc around trees from 300 ft than it is from 150. These are all 150s. Besides that - pretty nice variety. They play like a bunch of trick-shot ace runs. Fun.

Distance (length) - 2/5 - So many are under 200 ft. I like that 1-2x per course tops. Again though - glad they fit 18 in this small space. That bumps it from 1.5 to 2

Beauty - 3/5 - It's nothing spectacular but I did break out my camera for Hole 8. I like the trees and bridges and you're neither crowded nor isolated.

Trackability - 4/5 - Close to the highway, Easy to find, Easy to track all of the holes (even without a map, even with Hole 3 removed).

Lost Disc Hazard - 2/5 - The underbrush is deceptive. Keep your eye on the disc even after it lands.

Vibe - 4/5 - Maybe 4 other groups on a beautiful Saturday. Everyone was friendly and helpful.

Safety 4/5 - Big open parking lot, can always see a few other fairways.

22.5/35 = 3.21 = 3

-Brand new course, and that is very obvious in playing.
-Course is well designed in the space.
-As of 08/31, all holes have baskets, tee boxes, poles for signs, and under construction fairways.
-Currently some holes are hard to tell where the basket/fairway is, but when construction is done, it is evident the course will be very nice.
-A nice mixture of elevation and distances
-Several water hazards after some rainy days.
-Kudos to the designer and whoever is working on this course...I am very excited to see/play again when it is finished.

-Most cons I'd mention will be fixed when the course is finished. (i.e. - signs, trails, fairways, signs from parking lot to start, pars, distances, etc...)

I took pictures of the first 9 holes and will upload those. Again, in mid stages of construction, so in most pictures you will find it difficult to see the baskets from the tee.

I'm rating it a 3.0 only cause I expect my rating to go up post completion.