Perhaps overshadowed by the Gold layout, the Winthrop Lakefront course still offers iconic holes in an acceptably open style.

-Dual Layouts: For those not familiar with the property, Winthrop has two layouts, Lakefront and Gold. The two share a fair bit of land, with the Gold layout sprawling around other parts of the campus as well. The Gold course is mainly set up for USDGC, but it's playable in varying pin positions, with no OB rope, year round. The Lakefront course often dissects Gold holes into smaller pieces, and appears to always have all 18 baskets in position.

-Amenities: Turf and concrete tees, DISCatchers (number-coded with red for Lakefront only positions and black for Gold/Lakefront shared positions). There are no tee signs per university request.

-Views: No doubt an appeal of the course. Wrapping around the lake, there are quite a few lovely views. Even the portions not on the lake are no slouches on this well-kept, lush university property.

-Shot Shaping/Gameplay: A mostly open course of all par-3s, but mixing in some additional features and technical holes. There are plenty of sub-250' birdie opportunities with just a couple of trees to contend with, and some longer holes adding to the trees that will require more line drive approaches. Elevation is a major factor on (1), (3), (5), (8), (9), and (15)-(16) and a lesser issue on several others, while the lake is a play element on about five holes. I'd peg the number of technical holes at about 6, which provide good, birdieable variety. It's worth noting that there are a few holes shared with the Gold layout - L(5) is G(3), L(12) is G(8), L(13) is G(9) short, L(14) is a shorter G(16), and L(18) is G(18) short. The shapes on the Lakefront, though easier, are by no means boring, and will require commitment.

-Aura: This one may vary more person to person, but to me, the history behind this course makes it an extra blast. The USDGC is one of my favorite tournaments, and no doubt this property stands out among other tournament properties. It's iconic, and if I thought everybody would have the same feeling, my objective rating would go up substantially.

-Signage: No tee signs, or at least no consistent and up to date ones. Several holes have the original, embedded marble in the ground with inflated pars, but that isn't consistent. As others have noted, having UDisc will be very helpful for first-time navigation, even if you are familiar with the gold layout.

-Openness: A fair bit of the course lacks especially compelling shot shaping due to its openness. Those who prefer technical lines won't enjoy it here.

-Water Danger: A definite risk on several holes, especially (10) and (17).

-Geese: Pretty likely to be in the fairway or leave droppings along your route.

-Difficulty: Not going to hold the attention of better players. The age of the layout shows, and it's all pretty birdieable with modern gear and technique.

If you can't tell, I love the Winthrop courses, Lakefront included. It's a beautiful and historic environment with quite a few lovely holes and no big mistakes. That said, I know it's not the bee's knees, and a lot of people may prefer to pass it up from a gameplay perspective. Trying to be unbiased, I've given it a solid Good. I find it very comparable in rating to Rock Hill's wooded counterpart, Boyd Hill.

~Similar Courses: Winchester City Park (Winchester, TN); James W. Olley Park (Walden, NY); Earlewood Park (Columbia, SC).

The History
Nice scenery throughout, in the area on vacation and have always wanted to play. Beautiful Lake. Well manicured. I enjoyed playing 4 and 7 and like the fact that you can air out quite a few holes. Like the variety of hole distances. 13 was also enjoyable! Great day when I was here the day after July 4th. Only saw 1 other group. Of course I hit the Gate....lol. I like the total length of the course.

I must admit it was not what I expected. I am from Ohio and some of the courses knock this out! I had a map. but still had trouble navigating. Amazed that signs are non existent. I am floored that with the History of this course it should really be better marked, next tee arrows etc. I do not know the situation there but feel there are small things that could be done to improve time looking for next holes!

I am glad I played this historic course. I only hope someone or who ever the powers may be, update and improve this sweet course. It could be soooo much better! Some 6x6 and digital printed signs would be a wonderful start! Also enjoyed a great brewery nearby after the round! Really nice area!

Right off the bat, I will admit my own shortcomings going down to Winthrop to play this course. I figured that with this DG Course Review site in mobile form on my phone coupled with the InfoTalk Disc golf scoring/mapping app, I could figure out where the holes are. Wrong! This turned into something akin to a new volume in the Indiana Jones series of quests. I will call this one "Indiana Jones and the Quest for the Next Basket."

I was able to find the first tee, but mainly because I ran into another guy who was meeting his grand-kids out there to play. The first tee and basket are cut-and-dried. You can see the basket from the tee. Second tee is a guess, but not too far to the left of basket #1. Second basket is easy to see, too. From there, I meandered around like a pinball trying to find the third tee pad. Oddly enough, there is a rubber tee pad about halfway between #2 tee and #2 basket. I played to a visible basket, but the basket showed #17. What? I asked the people behind me, so they directed me to the right #3 tee. They told me to follow that across the parking lot to the next tee, so I somehow completely missed the entire 4th hole. That having been said, #5 is a great elevated tee down to a huge grass field with the basket right in the middle. When I got there, I could not figure out why it was labeled #5!

The next three holes are puzzling, too. This is where you absolutely need a map in hand. Hole 6 is easy to find, but then you need to realize you have to walk up the road to find the randomly placed tee for #7. It goes downhill, then #8 is placed in between #6 and #7. Completely confusing. Then, good luck figuring out where #9 is without the map.

At some point here, I was able to get the map up on my phone from DGCR. I played #9 wrong, but then found the correct tee pad for #10 and kept on track the rest of the round.

So, sorry about the ranting and raving. This course is mostly in the open wrapping around a beautiful lake. Lake does come into play quite a bit, too. One thing I loved was the presence of some absolutely giant oak trees in a couple of spots around the course. Some of these must be at least 100+ years old, and add a great deal of character to the route. Holes 15 & 16 are about the only two that drop you into the woods like most courses in the Carolinas. Hole 15 goes up through a narrow chute of trees, and it is very short. Hole 16 comes straight back downhill adjacent to 15. Both of these are a good change from all of the open field holes.

Hole 17 goes back down by the lakeside with a dangerous short route to the basket across the shore of the lake. Then, it finishes up a steep hill to the final elevated basket for #18.

Most of my cons are intertwined above in "Pros," unfortunately. Some of my real legitimate complaints are similar to others I read here. Absolutely zero signs on the tees... nothing at all. On some of the holes, they have granite bricks in the ground with hole numbers that have nothing to do with this short course. I'm not even sure they correlate to the gold course, either. I am so used to directional signs to the next tee after finishing a basket, and you will get none of that here.

One other thing for awareness is that a lot of people use the lake area for relaxing and recreation, so it brings some level of danger into play for some of your tee shots. Just be careful.

I really can't believe the same place that has hosted and will be hosting the 2017 USDG Championship has such a poorly marked course at the beginner/intermediate level. I know the tournament course is a different one, but it still floors me. It wouldn't take much to put up some makeshift hole signs and direction arrows. Just about every single course in the Charlotte area has this. All of this is unfortunate, because this is a really scenic course. I would like to go back, but it won't be at the top of my list.

-Awesome baskets. Probably the best I've seen in a while.
-Location is beautiful. Love the different shots around the lake and courts.
-Wasn't terribly hard. Being an OK disc golfer, I found myself at par or bogie on most holes. Heck even got a birdie on one.

-No bathrooms near by
-No signage. Had to go off what I knew the next hole looked like from the videos I had watched. Hard to navigate which added a lot of time to my round.

Overall I'm glad we went out of our way back to Ohio so I could play this course. I did enjoy playing it even though it was very hot that day. I'd play it again if I'm ever around.

I liked the setting and location. It's a good place to go to if you want to test how far you can throw. A lot of the holes are completely open and you can really work on your long game. I enjoyed the fact that you walk around the huge pond the whole time but you're never forced to throw over it. However, the day I played, one friend threw 2 discs in the pond on accident and another friend threw 1 disc in, so be careful and I recommend having a floating disc even though it's not completely necessary.

My main con would definitely have to be the layout and navigation. Make sure you can pull up a map on your phone or print off a map before you come if you play here, otherwise you will be lost by the second hole. I've only played about 7 different courses since I've started playing disc golf, but I can honestly say that this course was the hardest to navigate by far. Nothing is labeled correctly and there are no signs pointing you to the next tee. It's crazy that someone actually set this up and didn't see a problem with it. Once my friend pulled up a map on his phone, it was a fun place, but even with the map, it was still confusing.

Final thoughts... It's a cool place to go with nice scenery and open tees for the casual disc golfer to enjoy, but whatever you do, HAVE A MAP!!!

Very well kept course winding around a small lake on the campus of Winthrop University. Also home of the USDGC. The landscaping and care is top notch. Playing a round here feels like a leisurely walk in a park.

Mostly open course with mature trees and limited elevation. Lake is the back drop for several holes including one that presents an opportunity to go over the lake and some trees. There are a couple wooded holes that are fairly basic, short holes.

All holes had excellent concrete tee pads. Fairways were mowed and what rough there is posed no problems.

Navigation is a nightmare. Thankfully I had bikinjack for a guide. Without him I would have had no clue. The baskets are not numbered correctly, and the flow seemed a little odd. No next tee signs or navigational aids. I definitely recommend playing with someone that knows this course.

Outdated or no signs at tee pads. It is pretty much guess work on distances. Most holes are fairly open so seeing the basket and line is not really an issue though.

Not really any exceptionally fun holes. The downhill on #5 is decent, #10 gives you an over the lake option, and #12 is the infamous bamboo wall hole. They are all OK, but nothing that you really feel like emptying your bag for.

Most holes require a pretty straight shot. Not much line shaping or shot making.

The geese invaded a few areas so be prepared for some goose poop and leavings in the grass and on the tee pads by the lake.

The Winthrop Lakefront layout is not the Gold layout used for the USDGCs. So keep that in mind when heading out here. The ropes are not set up and so it plays a little differently than it will in the other layout. It does however offer a nice, relaxing round. Having a mostly open course this close to Charlotte is a nice option. Most of the course is pretty open so it would also be a good option on a nice sunny Fall, Winter or Spring day. It was a little hot out there this week. Bring your sun tan lotion if you are going in the Summer.

Overall this isn't a bad course. Just don't expect a true destination course or a once in a lifetime experience.

for the most part a open course. not much in the way of woods.almost every hole is reachable if you can throw 350 consistantly. the water comes into play on 4-5 holes which adds a danger factor if you dont want to lose a disc. the scenery is nice, especially in the summer when the ladies are laying out, and jogging around.

if you dont know the layout, it could be confusing. ducks like to hang out in the fairway of hole#9 and #17. sometimes a wild looking duck will follow you around and try to attack. sometimes the lovely ladies laying out catching rays are in the fairway....

compared to the gold layout, this is pretty tame and average. if i had to chose between this and boyd hill, id probably go to boyd hill. i will catch flack for saying that, but i said it. if you want to play winthrop....grow some balls and play the gold layout

Course flows well, no crazy long walks between holes.

Benches at some holes.

Holes are all fun except #9? (the longest one on the course)
Not sure if it's #9 due to lack of signage or numbers on baskets.

Plenty of restaurants and convenience stores nearby.

Nice park setting, plenty of other people using the park, so not too worried about shady things going down.

Some really pretty spots.

Cool to play some of the same holes used in the USDGC.

Very open course, you can really let it rip on a few if you've got the arm.

Good course design, nice use of the available space.
It's got uphill and downhill holes, and takes you on a nice loop around the lake.

Navigation is horrible for first time players.
There are tee signs at some of the holes, but they only tell the distance and par. There is no picture of the hole. Many holes have no sign.

There are numbers on some of the baskets, but there seems to be no rhyme or reason as to what these numbers mean.

I only saw 1 arrow indicating the location of the next tee.

Very open course , lots of long throws which seemed repetitive. Also, bring lots of sunblock on a sunny day.

Lots of goose crap on those long open holes in the grass beside the lake.

The course doesn't play back by the parking lot but once, hole #4? It's not that big of a deal, but it would be nice if you needed to get something out of your car, or stash a jacket if you get hot, etc.

Course maintenance doesn't seem to be all that great for a course of this reputation.
I've played it twice, the first in July, and the grass seemed like it hadn't been cut in a few weeks then, and today, January 1, many of the tee-pads were dangerously slick with mud and goop. Granted it has been wet around here lately, but I doubt the pads had been swept since October.

I didn't see a trash can anywhere on the course.

Benches only at some of the holes.

Most of my cons really aren't that big of a deal, with the exception of the navigation for a first timer. Actually making the throws from the tee pad to the basket is a good experience here. I prefer more wooded courses like most of the rest of the ones in the greater Charlotte area, but I'll be back to play here again.

Winthrop U is a solid course, with even better scenery, playing around the lake. Depending on the time of year, the views may be the best reason to play this course.
- It's one of the most well-maintained courses I've ever played. The groundskeepers do a great job keeping things in top shape.
- Course is challenging, but very fair. If you can control throws, plenty of chances for birdies. Errant throws on several holes will find a new home in the lake.
- One of the best risk/reward courses around. If you're aggressive, especially on water holes, you can score really low here. If you're careless, that aggressiveness will lead to high numbers, and probably lost discs.
- Course is mostly open, so you can really let it fly. Hole #5 is an elevated tee to a wide-open field. Perfect hole to throw multiple drives. It's also the $10K ace hole in the USDG championships, so it's a good one to become very familiar with.
- Good course for beginners and casual players. With the change to #9, there isn't much length at all. Keep shots clear of the water, and players of any skill level can handle this course.
- Great course flow, winding around the lake. Great scenery on every hole, with the lake visible on all but a handful of holes.

The hole numbers, tee signs and basket numbers don't always match. Make sure you print a course map before playing!!!!! The course is easy to navigate if you follow the map. If not, you're going to go crazy when you see a tee pad for #7, a tee sign say #3 and a basket say #14.
- In addition to the navigation issues, there aren't any signs on the course (next hole, tee signs, etc.) There are a couple of tee sign plaques in the ground on a couple holes, but you'll more than likely stumble upon those by accident.
- There aren't a lot of obstacles on this course. Many holes play wide open. A lot are relatively straight and/or have little variation in elevation.
- This is an obvious: the holes close to the water present a lost disc danger. Despite knowing this, many people seem surprised about it happening and/or seem to think of it as a deterrent.
- During the school year and when the weather is nice, the area around the lake is occupied. It's a college course, so you may be out of luck trying to play then.
- There's a long walk between some holes, especially from #16 to 17. Again, the scenery is great, so it's not a bad thing.

This is a really enjoyable course. If you don't want to kill yourself on the Gold course, this is a great alternative.
- Water is only a factor (to varying degrees) on holes 9 - 11, 17- 18. You can take water out play on all those holes by playing smart shots. For example, throwing to the right of the big tree on #10, instead of going to the left and over water. You take the chance of birdie out of the equation, but you'll still get par and don't risk losing a disc.
- I've finally encountered the angry, mutant duck. It looks like it's a cross between a duck and Swamp Thing. After it tried to bite me, a guy standing by said it bit him 10 years ago.
- This course has taken some serious hits in the past couple years. The change to #9 was terrible. It went from the longest, most enjoyable hole to the shortest, most boring hole. That's assuming I found the actual new makeshift teepad. Also, the change to the bamboo hole was a change for the worse. It's no longer a fortress, rather a simple bamboo wall. Makes the hole that much easier, aka, boring.
- The changes to this course have been for the negative. This course is much closer to an average (2.5-level) course than an elite one. Don't let the high ratings fool you. Those ratings are way too generous and/or more reflective of the gold layout than the Lakefront course.
- This is still a wonderful, well-kept course. It's no longer in the ranks of the must-plays or top-level courses in the region. Still, it's a great change of pace from most courses in Charlotte.

This is the home course to the USDGA. Many rank the "Gold" course as the best in Disc Golf. None of the "out of bounds" rope lines were up when I played. In my opinion without the "out of bounds" rope that gets setup a few weeks of the year, the course really isn't all that great. Except for being long, I didn't feel anything special about the course. Like I mentioned before, if the rope lines were added I may have felt differently. In my opinion the "Lake" baskets I played/saw should probably be removed and only the GOLD baskets should remain. Having both sets of baskets without any tee signs can be confusing for people who have never played the sport or seen any of the videos. As you can tell from my review, I did not enjoy playing the course the day I went. Hopefully I will have a chance to play the course when all the ropes have been added and get a great feeling many in this country have when playing this course. I am rating this course higher than I think it should be on reputation of the greatness with the OB lines added and the Gold course reputation.