I live in Northeast Raleigh, so Wendell is one of the more accessible courses in Wake County to where I live. Overall, this course still has a ways to go (still has dirt tee pads, some trees and underbrush could stand to go). I give the course a 2.5, but it has the "bones" and the potential to be much better than this.

+ Aesthetically, most of the course is very, very nice. It's a peaceful, serene setting. There are a few holes that share space with a sewer line -- and a section of the course that is behind a trailer park -- but overall, it's picturesque.

+ Despite not having a map, navigation was not an issue for me. There are tee signs for each set of tees (red, white, and blue) with distance, par, and layout. I didn't have a hard time finding the next tee after completing holes, despite not having very many "next tee" signs.

+ This is an extremely wooded course (too wooded, in my opinion), but there is some variety and a few open holes to really bomb on.

+ There is not a whole lot of elevation to work with, but despite this, there are some solid uphill and downhill holes. The very open and downhill hole #15 was one of my favorites.

+ Brand new baskets.

+ This is a long, challenging course. I'm a rec/intermediate player. I played the red (shortest) tees and found it to be very challenging. I would say the red tees are borderline, if not solidly, in the difficulty range to be labeled white tees (intermediate) instead. I didn't play the white's or blue's, but thought that they may undershoot their difficulty levels as well (e.g. the white's probably should be blue's and the blue's may just be too challenging to be enjoyed at all, even for advanced players).

Despite the ambitious design and challenging layout, Wendell DGC has issues that, hopefully, can be rectified as the course is completed and beaten in.

- First and foremost, I think some more trees and brush need to be taken out. I'm all for heavily wooded courses, but Wendell has several holes that are *too* narrow. In addition to widening some fairways, some rough areas need to be worked on too. There are lots of underbrush, briars, wire grass, and immature pine trees. I got pretty cut up on a few holes. Disc retrieval is not easy. Improving the rough and/or widening the fairways would be at least a +0.5 rating increase, as far as I'm concerned.

- Still no tee pads. I appreciate the designers' patience and waiting to install tees until the course has been beaten in some (just to be sure the layout is right), but if/when the tee pads are installed, that's at another rating increase in my book. Some of the tee areas, which are all dirt or grass, are not flat. For a guy with bad knees, that always gets into my head as I attempt my drives.

- Not a huge issue when I was there, but I did see fire ants. Be careful where you walk.

- Drainage is a big issue here after rain. Lots of low, flat areas and there can be standing water.

All in all, this is a challenging, fun course, with the potential to be an above average to very good course, with more work. (I won't say a "little" more work, because I know how time-consuming and expensive it is to put down tee pads and clear more trees and brush.) If you've been waiting to play this course until it's fully beaten in, like I was, I would say, go ahead and play it. It's worth the time. And hopefully we'll get to see it improve over the years and become a mainstay of the Triangle disc golf scene.

It's nice the city of Wendell set aside land for the sport. Thanks for the gift.

Technical course on the front 9 and the back 9 opens up a bit. Lots of room, better players will like the length and the challenges on a number of holes. It's a longer then average course which is nice since better players are throwing further these days. I think this will be a nice house for the better players. Because of the more challenging features of the course crowds will not be an issue.

Looks as though the designer thought about what he would like to play rather than what might appeal to a more general group of players. If you are just staring out, this course is not for you.

Because it is new it is a little rough, poison ivy and ants are a problem, low lying land and standing water around the course will present new bug issues as summer wears on. This is to be expected on most any course.

Lots of foot hazards, stumps that were not leveled to the ground.

Lastly, as some one who used to do a bit of land surveying, it would be nice to see better use of the natural flow of the land.

Hole 1 is a long way from the parking lot, so it helps if you go with some who has played the course. Since this area was an ATV proved area, not sure if that will be an issue going forward. Oh, on on number 1, no need for the mando sign. If you don't throw down the channel the trees afford you, you will never get to the basket. There are no other lines to chose.

After playing a round at this course, I can't say I will go back. It's just not a fun course, reminded me of going to work.