I am a fan of the sparsely-wooded, rolling-hill disc golf course. This course has both features. I love that!

I am not a fan of tight woods. Where there is tightness on a hole here (nos. 1, 10, 11 for the long basket, 12 potentially for the short basket, 14, and 15), it's either a tight start or tight finish. I think only once (10) is it both, but even there the middle is wide open. Though nos. 17 and 18 have a window at the start, they don't pose any real threats.

I know the grass can be high some times of the year, but it was down on my first two visits. No lost discs. Other parts of the course are neatly mowed and look great!

The Victorian feel to the park setting is lovely. Feels Olmsted-esque. Love it!

Navigation is largely a no-brainer. However, you might want to carry the course map on the first outing to not bypass no. 3 and follow the right trail from 16 to 17.

For folks looking for a little more variety, theoretically there are 5 holes with a second basket. Sometimes shorter, mostly longer. I saw said at nos. 4, 11, and 12. Didn't at 8 and 9, but maybe I just missed them.

My favorite hole is perhaps no. 4 with its elevated tee, hard-sloping-but-open fairway, and approach into the trees.

I like that no. 9 requires aim from the tee and up the grade and then falls back down into the woods.

Uphill holes 5, 7, and the start of 10 will help me develop that part of my game.

Foot trails for walkers largely keep them off the fairways. That seems to be working.

The rest of the park for picnicking etc. is elsewhere, leaving the disc golf course in its near-exclusive little corner.

There is a large, handicap-size porta-potty in the parking lot. As I didn't find permanent facilities elsewhere in the park, this is most welcome. Bring your own water.

Seems to get busy. I was playing two discs (finishing the previous round started last year and playing a fresh new round, all at once), so had two guys behind me, somewhat crowding me the entire back 9. Behind them was a steady flow of folks, with little to no break.

It is a pay-to-play course from March-October (I believe). You need a credit card for a dashboard ticket if there is no booth attendant. If you play other state park courses on the same day (Brandywine, Bellevue, others?), you can use the same ticket and feel like you are getting more of your money's worth.

For those of us not local, GPS may be less than direct and actually take you to the Wedgewood portion of the park, which is all hiking. Narrow, unpaved road.

If you are coming north on 95, exit on 279 N. That is a MD state road. Becomes something else once in Delaware. You have to ultimately bear right on W Delaware Ave, turn left on College, after that stay in the right lane, turn left (only choice) on E Main, stay right again, then bear right on New London/896. Park will be up the road 2 miles or so on your right. Look for the main park entrance past Wedgewood.

If coming south on 95, exit on College Ave going north. Stay in the right lane when you cross Delaware, turn left (only choice) on E Main, stay right again, then bear right on New London/896.

A very good park course with moderate woods and elevation changes

+ Layout takes advantage of trees. Not a "wooded course", but there are enough trees and treelines to challenge you

+ Although elevation changes aren't dramatic, many holes have enough of it to make you think about compensating for uphill, protecting against downhill rollaways, etc

+ This is a very large park, and they haven't skimped on giving the disc golf room. WIth the exception of one grouping around holes 6-8, almost every hole is in its own area away from the rest of the course. This design makes for a great first time experience, as you move ahead to "discover" each new hole

+ Shoutouts to a few memorable holes: #3 you're throwing across a field and up to a shelf with the basket (the field is tall rough, but there's a well mowed narrow fairway up the middle); #17 throws out a framed chute across a valley and up to a protected pin; #18 tee is under a stand of giant pines that line the right side of the fairway

+ Excellent signage, very good baskets, concrete tees, spotless park

- A lot of the holes felt like they favored lefty BH / righty FH, especially on the back nine. There are a fair number of right doglegs, but even the "straight" holes favor a left-to-right finish. Not a dealbreaker by any means - it just adds to the challenge. But I remember reaching the 17th tee and thinking "at last, not another forehand hole"

- Although the poured tees are in great shape, a handful are far from flat. #5 is an uphill runup

- A few spots of navigation difficulty, or selecting the right basket. uDisc helps a lot

~ This course is very cart-friendly

~ White Clay Creek is a par 27, 5000' course that might be a bit much for true beginners, but provides ample challenge for others. It would make a great "first big course" experience for anyone, as there aren't a lot of places to get into trouble. While it's certainly not as difficult as its wooded neighbors, it's a fun and challenging rec course that's well worth the stop

Friendly atmosphere
Med shots and short shots
Mix of open and wooded
Great for beginners and killers
Nice and clean
Alcohol consumption is legal here
2 Rounds in 3 hours is doable

SUPER EASY TO NAVIGATE

Hole 18 is the worst/bland on the course which is sad

Not free

I feel like this is the best spot for beginners in DE.

Beautiful park. The scenery and well mowed grass where very peaceful. Nicely marked out with tee signs. Not one scrap of trash anywhere. Now to the actual course...
It is short for today's standards, however it is TIGHT. Which is great for working on your fairway driver/mid/putter shots. The need to hit your lines and shape your shots is paramount. Knowing your discs and having all the shots, also important. The previous review called it easy...it isn't. Which is good. It's a nice test of your finesse game. Power hyzer rightys will struggle. The ability to throw low, and straight and accurate is rewarded with many birdie putts. Most of which are on some slope. Being a Jersey guy, the constant uphill/down hill/side hill putts were challenging. There are many elevation changes, not glaring ones, like bombing off a cliff, but subtle ones that sneak up on you. Again, making you think, and read the terrain, and make the appropriate shot. A thinking man's course, not a grip and rip course.

Now on to the negatives, unfortunately some of these were actual caused by some of the previous reviews....
It is not open.
It is not hard to lose discs.
The tall grass eats all discs, is filled with poison ivy, and black berry thorns.
I am by no means an expert, nor am I a Newby, but I got more discs stuck in trees today than in the past 3 years combined. This would normally have not been a problem. I usually carry 3 balls for just such predicaments...but I took them out after reading some of the reviews. My brother (had) a ball...but it remains in the same tree as my sidewinder now on 11.
It is hugely lefty/forehand laid out. I honestly think there may have been 2 holes that ended left.
The tee pads are slanted...all of them. For me, not that big a deal, others...might drive them crazy.

One would think after all those cons I had a horrid round...but I didn't. I enjoyed the lay out, the scenery, trees, the tight windows. Sure, I missed my lines some, and got the penalties that should come with it. But when you make the correct shot, bending it through the trees, to land near the basket, it was great. I would love to play it again soon...but I'm bringing a nice long walking stick for the tall grass....oh yea, and I'm bringing my balls too.

Good signage at each tee pad
Fairways were mowed
Decent amount of shade
Nice park setting

Navigation was a bit difficult. I was not always quite sure where to go to the next tee pad. This was especially true between basket 3 and tee pad 4.

I really liked this course. It is short and fairly open with no tricky tunnel shots. This makes it great for newer players or kids.

The rough can get a bit high but most of it is just really tall grass, not nearly as thorny as some other local courses.

Park in the lot off of 896 and grab one of the first parking spots you can find. The first tee pad is down a gravel trail a bit and you cannot see it from the parking lot.

Bug spray would help in the summer.

Compared to two of the longer, tougher, more challenging courses nearby, Iron Hill and Brandywine Creek, White Clay State park DGC is a walk in the park. It's was a pleasant experience on a warm Delaware day as much of the course is shaded. This is a lovely park in which to spend part of your day.

The course features concrete pads, a kiosk at the beginning and many of the holes have two baskets.

I was able to navigation the course playing by myself the first time through without any problems.

Holes 3 featured an interesting elevated basket position.

I really enjoyed the two finishing holes.

For me, and probably many others, # 17 ranks as the signature hole on the course. You throw from a very cool elevated tee pad position. A straight drive can put you in position to birdie the hole.

And then you finish with # 18. It's just a short (210') ACE run. Makes you feel good about your game.

$6 for out of state plates. I guess this might keep some of the riff-raff out. Probably helps keep the crowds down on busier days as well.

The recreational length might discourage some of you more serious types although I found it to be a major PRO.

White Clay is just a really solid, enjoyable little recreational course set in a very pretty park. It's perfect for groups of college students who don't take the game that seriously or us older players. I'd love to have White Clay closer to my home.

Tee signs- i realized that others have said that the tee signs were missing. However, when i was there it seemed as if the signs had bee replaced. I felt that the represented the hole well and on holes where it needed it the tee had an arrow that pointed towards the next tee

Well kept and good amenities- the course was mown when i was there and from talking with locals i think that they usually cut it. The fairways are always mown with clear fairways leading towards the baskets. The course had bathrooms and a pavillion as well as countless cross country and hiking trails if somebody was looking to make a day about it. There was a practice basket near the first tee, however it was pretty rusted. About 8-9 of the holes had b pins as well. However they were pretty heavily rusted. The current baskets that it seems most people use seem to be in good playable shape.

Favorite holes: #3- arrow cut fairway about 250ft with the basket perched atop a plateau-like area.
#17- downhill and over a gap of rough until you reach a large tree in the center of the fairway. From there you have an uphill approach to the basket.

Shot variety- each hole uses elevation and there are multiple routes on each hole. The course is primarily open with the main obstacles being brush, rough and either large trees or low lying pine trees.

Distance variety- every hole is between 250-375 although each hole is relatively unique, this course needs a bit more distance to bump this course from fun 18 to great 18.

I had a great time at this course in delaware and plan to come back

This course was moved to a different part of the park from the old 9 hole loop into today's 18 hole layout.

I've been playing White Clay Creek (or Carpenter Park as some call it) for a very long time. It is in better shape now than I've ever seen it! The DDGers and park workers have cleaned up much of the very high rough, and some former trouble spots on the course.
As far as layout, its a par 54 with great lines and shot variation throughout. The redesign is lefty freindly, as the park removed some invasive trees a few years ago and kind of changed some holes (mostly on the back 9).
Good evelvation changes, especially for the flat state of DE.
Some of the older baskets were being stolen a few years back, and the new chainstar baskets were donated by the DDG, and one very kind benefactor gave 9 of them himself. Now many holes have 2 baskets, which allows for variation in layouts played.

Great AM course, good for learning and AM level tournamets. Pros and very solid Adv players should shoot well under par here.

Pay to Play - $3 in state, $6 out of state per car for park entrance fee.

If you are looking for a challenging course, go to Iron, Brandtwine, or Carousel, this is a medium distance to shorter course for today's standards - all Par 3s.

The brush/rough can get 3-5 ft tall when its not mowed by State Parks (budget issues sometimes).
This is near the U of D, and gets lots of newer players - with music and large crowds on some holes during school year. Some cross country teams practice here in the afternoons as well. Lots of foot traffic on nice days, you need to be careful and throw safely as some holes are near/alongside walking paths.

The tee pad signs are not 100% accurate, some are missing the sign (broken/stolen from post)

This course could use a few more locals to oversee the course, as by proximity to U of D much of its play base is transient (every 4 years), and youthful. Some do not respect the course, litter, and could use a little 'guidance' from experienced players...

The course pro (Mike K) does a great job, but could use some help as the DDGers have put much effort into building other local courses in recent years and have been spread a little thin on some of the older/established courses. I'm one of those that went ti Iron Hill and previously used to help out here...

New tee pads signs are very nice and accurate.

Nice mix of hole and elevation changes. I really enjoy this course. It is in an area that has a few really nice couses. And Pa. is very close.

This park has a carry in and out rule. No trash cans. Also Deleware parks charge for out of state vehicles during state business hours. Then it is on the pay honor system.

I like the course enough to pay to play.

I am new to disc golf and White Clay is the primary course that I play. When people describe the course, the 2 overwhelming themes are beginner friendly and left handers have an advantage. Since I drive RHFH, I don't necessarily agree with the second point and will point some of that out in the review. This review is for the reds. Again, I am new so please forgive me if this review isn't technical enough:

Hole 1-- located down the hill from the porta potty, past the picnic tables. You will see the practice basket first. The first tee is behind the practice basket in the tree line. This hole is RHBH friendly. It has a wide open fairway with rough down the right hand side. Good first hole to warm up on, not a lot of risk of a lost disc.

Hole 2-- Fun Hole. It is right or left hand friendly. With skill and a little luck, you could ace this hole. Just bend the disc towards the basket from either side. The basket is protected by a tree so you can't go straight at it.

Hole 3-- Here is where you will want to be LH. The basket is on an elevated "green" to the right. It is guarded by an evergreen about mid fairway and a tree by the basket. From watching people shoot at this basket, most people land their disc at the bottom or "in" the hill.

For Hole 4, go onto the dirt path/ road and walk up abt 20 yards. It not far, but the tee for 17 is right by the hole 3 basket--don't go that way!

Hole 4-- This is really a RH hole. If you have a bad drive, you can easily lose a disc. With a good drive, you fly over all the weeds with a RH or LH and be right by the basket.

Hole 5-- steep uphill with the tee box slanted uphill. I am not sure if it is mental or not but steepness of the tee box screws me up. With a decent drive, this is a pretty easy hole.

Hole 6-- As I get better, this hole gets harder. It is a slight downhill with a sharp downhill the last 20-30 feet. There are woods behind the basket. I threw a mid range on a perfect line and speed ( I thought) and ended up deep in the woods. I am not sure how to play this hole( a high hyzer?). These are the holes I love, a real mental challenge, not grip it and rip it.

Hole 7--coming back up the hill. A relatively easy hole with a good drive but there is no fun in driving uphill.

Hole 8--fun hole for RH or LH. Again the basket is hidden behind a tree, but you have a real shot at an ace if you get it just right.

Hole 9--this must be the hardest hole on the course. I am not sure what to do. Next time I play I am going to throw my disc at the nearest bush. It seems like if I try to avoid the bushes and trees, that is where it ends up. This hole is a narrow fairway with the basket guarded by trees. The basket is in the woods on a slight downhill so the disc rolls a lot. Seriously though, if you can throw a tomahawk, this may be the hole.

Hole 10-- this is where being LH is awesome, the drive is a short narrow shot through the trees and then take a hard right. I throw a little hyzer FH and land it out in the field. It is a fun second shot here, all skill. There is a window in the trees to the right of the basket. A nice easy throw RHBH into the window and you have a good shot at a deuce.

Hole 11-- First hole with no shade at all. This is your first real grip it and rip it hole especially RHBH. I don't like these holes... moving on.

Hole 12--LH bias here. You are still out in the sun which sucks right now. I use a mid range and try to bend it at the end of tree line to the right. This is basically a dog leg right. The basket is pretty open. It is an ok hole, not the greatest.

Hole 13-- Here is some love for the RH. The basket is not far but guarded by a huge tree. RHBH can bend it right around for an ace opportunity.

Hole 14-- A hole for LH. Not much to tell on this one. It is pretty long for me. The hole is right out in the open, so putting is easy.
Hole 15-- Deceivingly hard hole in my opinion. It is built for LH and seems easy but you really don't have much of a window. I seem to hit a tree every time and not sure why.

Hole 16- I love this hole. It is built for LH. It is short and you can definitely make an ace. The trick is to bend it around the evergreen mid fairway--not that hard.

Hole 17-- This is the signature hole of the course. It is a long hole where you drive from an elevated tee. There is danger along the left but with a good drive, you are a long putt for birdie. As you can tell, I don't like the grip it and rip it holes, but drives on this hole are a thing of beauty. If you find a couple valks in the poison ivy along the left, they're mine!

Hole 18-- This is like the last hole at a putt-putt where you put the ball in the clown's mouth for a free game. It is a short hole looking for an Ace. If no one is behind you, throw everything in your bag at it.

Pay to play. Alot of college kids which at times, can be a bad thing.

You can play a round here in a bout an hour if no one is in front of you.

have fun

The foliage is pretty well trimmed and the park itself is very well maintained. Not particularly crowded, so you're rarely stuck behind anyone. Pretty good balance between straight, left and right-hand throwing paths.

There are some areas on the course they don't cut for wildlife purposes. These areas can get waist high by mid-summer and are filled with thorns and poison ivy. Most of the holes are similar length, which can make it feel a little repetitive.

This course is probably the most "lefty favorable" layout I've ever played, so a well developed sidearm is distinct advantage. Good course for beginners, since you don't get punished too harshly for leaving the fairway.

A picturesque course nestled in the 'Wedge' of northern DE. A variety of shots needed (i.e. left, right, straight, 's' shots, uphill and downhill). Numerous available lines on the majority of holes make this course very fun to play numerous times. Large concrete tees provide adequate run ups. Primary baskets are in very good condition. Alternate baskets on holes 4,8,9,11 and 12. The more than adequate fairways are well maintained year-round. A great course to play back-to-back rounds on as it plays rather quickly. Good course for beginners, but enough of a challenge for advanced players to have a good time and try and chalk up another ace (holes 2, 5, 13, 16 and 18). Practice basket located 100' left of hole 1's tee. Porta-John located at the entrance side of parking lot, bathrooms located on opposite end. Frequently someone else available and willing to golf with.

The rough (tall grass and thorns) can be rather brutal in places, predominantly late May through October, but still very manageable(though park maintenance has done a great job of eliminating previously problematic areas on holes 1, 9 and 12). Holes 4 and 17 tend to see the most discs lost. The alternate pins (Modified Mach 3's I believe) are remnant of the original course and are rather rusty. White Clay has seen a fair share of abuse in the way of litter and vandalization (stickers and graffiti on tee signs, broken sign covers, and sadly basket theft in the near past). A lot of the abuse stems from the influx of students every Fall to the University of DE. $3 In State fee, $6 Out of State fee can be rather unpleasant after a few trips but a seasonal pass pays for itself quickly.

Hold 1's tee is located 100' feet to the right of the practice basket, which happens to be straight downhill from the Porta-John past the picnic tables. Plenty of other activities available within the park (i.e. hiking, biking, bird watching, 'life-course', playground, volleyball, horseshoe pits, grills and spacious pavilion available, and live music on Wed. during the Summer in the amphitheater). Ample restaurants/bars available only minutes from the park in Newark. 15 mins. away from two world class courses, Carousel Park and Iron Hill. The Ski Bum (218 East Main Street) is less than 10 min from the course and has a large selection of Innova discs, bags and straps along with Delaware Disc Golfer (DDG) tournament stamped discs. Random draw doubles are held during the warmer months, starting roughly 2hrs prior to dusk.

This course was a lot of fun to play. This course is not long at all, and it gives you a real opportunity to score a three or better on each hole. The course has a natural flow to it, so it is easy to follow and know where the next hole is. The course is well maintained in a pretty park, and had pretty good tee signs which gave you a good idea of what was required for the hole. The course would be a great course to take newer disc golfers too as it is much shorter than other courses in the area, and would be less frustrating to play. I always like it when a course offers you multiple ace hole opportunities, and this course does just that. The course also had really nice tee pads with plenty of space for run up.

No score cards or directions as to where to go when you pull into the park. If there wasn't someone else in the park with a bag on, we wouldn't have known where to go to start this course.

Even though short doesn't make a course bad, a couple times while playing this course you felt like you had already played that same hole.

$6 bucks out of state is a joke, especially since bathrooms weren't even open. I don't know, that just bothered me.

This course was a lot of fun to play for the first time. We had just finished playing Carousel earlier that day which is sooooo long and difficult, White Clay was a nice change of pace and offered fast play without having to think too much about what or where you are going. When we come back to Delaware again to play, I'm sure we will try and play this course again.
6/10/2014
After playing this course again this past week, I have come to the conclusion that we will not seek out this course again. The entire course is very short and repetitive. I would say this course plays extremely well for a left handed player as there are a lot of left to right holes.

The holes are all relatively short distances, nothing too crazy. No distance drivers needed. Can see most of the baskets from the tees, except for a couple of the doglegs. Excellent concrete tees. The round took me and my rookie friend a little over an hour, and we took our time here and there. He was new to disc golf and was able to par/bogie all the holes using my extras (made him a fan of the game instantly). The light hills made it interesting and there were some good tree obstacles, but again, nothing too crazy. The course was mostly easy to navigate, only a couple times did we have to look around for where to go next. The fairways were all well kept, good approaches, and nice baskets. If you are new to disc golf, this is a good course to start out on. If you are more experienced, expect some possible aces, easy 2 shot holes. I laid up my destroyer easily by most of the baskets, was hard to not overshoot (friend used my shorter driver).

No signs in parking lot for where to go (head downhill from picnic area, opposite side of parking lot from little amphitheatre) and no signage on course for next hole direction, which is needed in some areas.

All in all a good course. Nice if you are short on time or just want to waste an hour or so, or can play it twice for more fun of course. Again, great beginner course. I was amazed at the short distances most of the holes were. Thouroughly enjoyed it, was a great diversion on a sunday afternoon. And again, my friend who never played before loved it. Even when he sliced off the main drags, he was still able to get it back.

This is just a fun course to play. It has a bit of everything, some technical holes, a couple where you need good distance and some in between. It doesn't have the length of a course like Brandywine or the extreme woods of a course like Lum's Pond but it has a bit of both in moderation. The course does use elevation well and on the front nine it alternates uphill hole followed by a down hill hole several times. It doesn't feel repetitive though because of the different shots required. This is a great course to bring a group of friends with varying abilities. It is still challenging effort for the good players without being so impossible to cause the newbies to want to quit. As optidiscic said this course is the perfect complement to Iron Hill. After playing Iron Hill a couple of times you can come back to White Clay and feel like Superman or Chuck Norris (depending on your point of view).

Some of the holes are a little short and a few of the alternate baskets are in disrepair. There is also no teepad on 18 but I assume that is because the managers did not want to disturb the root system of the many nearby trees.

This course is challenging enough to not be boring but is easy enough to be a lot of fun. My favorite hole on the course is definitely hole 17, a great tee shot from an elevated pad and a difficult uphill approach shot to be in position to make par.
With the renovations to Iron Hill, northern DE has a great group of courses in a small area. Brandywine has the length and ability to "air it out;" White Clay has the accessibility to many levels of players and the requirement for finesse shots; Lum's Pond is the place to go for a quick round and a BBQ afterward; and Iron Hill is the place to go when you need a challenge.

Well defined fairways and nice fresh baskets. Some holes had alt. pins. Concrete tees are wonderful for drives.

It's hard for an amateur to always hit the fairway. I got pricked several times in the thorns and brambles off the nice fairways. Also spent 30 min. looking for a Beast at the 17th.(found it though)

A very nice place to shoot a round, but the pay to play is just still overwhelming, especially since I'm out of state.