It took me far longer than it should have to make the drive out to play at Winthrop considering I've lived less than an hour away for the vast, vast majority of the time that I have been playing disc golf. And I am kicking myself for that decision. However, the course was fantastic!

The first thing that will stand out is the aesthetics of the course. I have always thought the course looked great on USDGC coverage, but video does not do the course justice. Playing around the lake was a treat. In fact a lot of the standouts of the course, while apparent through video coverage, are not nearly as pronounced as they are while you are playing the course.

Winthrop, despite a mostly open course, requires significant thought as to how you are going to shape your shots and find our landing zones. The fairways are designed with just enough obstacles and bend built in, that some effort will be required to park every hole. Plus there is a significant amount of elevation change used throughout the course.

There were next tee signs on the baskets to denote where the next tee for the Lakefront vs Gold layouts were. Though, it took me a couple of holes to figure out which was Lakefront vs Gold, the Blue vs Black signs.

With any legacy course that has undergone various redesigns, it is easy for a course to suffer from many issues that come with that status. Despite the legacy with the property, Winthrop University Lakefront has certainly not been immune to this occurrence. Signage is pretty horrible, aka non-existent. As I am pretty sure the University will not allow them to install new tee signs. The signage that does exist is mostly out of date for layouts long gone. Couple all this with the interwoven layouts on the campus, and a navigational nightmare is born.

The course bounced back-and-forth between astroturf and concrete tee pads. Some of the concrete pads have probably seen better days, and the differences made things confusing at times when trying to find the next tee.

A couple of the early holes play close to private property, with a barb-wire fence between the fairway and the residential land on the other side.

Holes 7 & 8, while both played really well, had an awkward transition to play that was not super apparent with the lack of signage.

Holes 15 & 16 were fairly obvious filler holes. Both holes stood out for all of the wrong reasons, and were right next to each other.

Winthrop all-in-all is an absolute blast to play! The rules put in place by the University and the constantly evolving layouts makes it hard-to-impossible for permanent signage, but the course is still absolutely excellently designed. I will be giving it a 3.5 rating. However, it should be noted that it so much more than a simple 3.5 course while playing it, at least to me.

Even if you don't want to play the Gold Layout, you can still get to check out most/all of it by playing the Lakefront and Coliseum Layouts. We only had time to play Lakefront, but I plan on making a trip back down to Rock Hill sometime soon. Hopefully to play a round, grab lunch, then play the other layout.

Favorite Holes: 5, 6, 10, & 13

Beautiful Course around the lake and a lot of challenging and unique holes.

First time playing this course and I was unfamiliar with the layout. There are no signs indicating which way to go and almost all the numbers on the baskets don't match the hole numbers. Also many of the in ground plaques don't indicate the correct hole. We spent the entire time looking at the map on a smart phone guessing where the pads were and which basket we were throwing at.

Someone should spend a weekend to either relabel the baskets with the correct numbers and add more signage other than being lost the whole time we really enjoyed the course.

This course is absolutly beautiful. The lake on a clear day is amazing and it is a fun course to play. Its a nice change of pace for those who want to play a more open course in the Charlotte area.

Its fun to play several USDGC shots without having to play the Gold layout.

Nice teepads.

Benches and trash cans on the course

If you are reading this because you plan on playing before you do anything else Click links and get a map because if you don't good luck finding your way around or knowing how far you have to throw.

There were several people sunning and picnicing on the course but I couldnt blame them cause it is an awesome place for it.

There is a decent chance for a lost disc with the lake in play.

The teesigns are either not there or really old. They don't seem to be to the same course or to the Gold course.

Even with the navigation issues this course was great to play because of the atmosphere alone. The view over the lake is stunning and it was perfectly manicured. I would strongly recomend this course to anyone in the rock hill area

-Winthrop Lakefront is the shorter course around a college campus. It's scenic, challenging and fair. This is the shorter course so if you like longer holes, then play Winthrop Gold which is also onsite.

-Winthrop has nice, long teepads that are in good shape and allow a nice long run up.

-The course has a couple ace runs (15,16) and they are the only couple holes in the woods and they are in the neighborhood too and 16 is next to a house. Every other hole is open and some are short and still in the field and others (5,13,14) allow you to bomb a nice drive.

-This course has a good amount of elevation. You can tell on every hole if its uphill or downhill. Although most holes are not super uphill or downhill, Holes 5 and 18 have a lot of elevation.

-I like the obstacles to avoid on the holes cause they are punishing but only if you hit them. Water is the main obstacle, and on the water holes, use a disc that floats in water (Dragon, Hydra, don't know if a gator does or not) so you wont lose it. Every other obstacle is easy to avoid but don't try to hit them. It can be tough to get out.

-12 is a great hole that is fun and tricky at the same time. The green has bamboo outside of it and you throw through a mando gate.

-Mainly, the navigation is atrocious. None of the baskets are numbered correctly. If you haven't played here, you better bring a map.

-Goose crap is everywhere from 9-11 and needs to be cleaned up. Don't let that make you hate this course.

-Hole 9 is in alternate position. That's the shorter position. My first time here I was really looking forward to playing the original position because it's the only par 4 on the course at 664 feet long.

-This isn't really a con but this is a warning. Hole #10 is a very hard hole surrounded by water. The teepad is directing you to go over the water which disc are lost frequently. If you don't think you can go over, then play it as a dogleg left hole down the fairway.

-The new hole 4. It's kinda silly. It's a downhill 115ish footer onto a platform.

-A few of the baskets here are moved regularly to keep players interested. Hole 1 has three pin positions! Which to me is pretty awesome.

-#4 isn't well marked because it is a new hole. The old hole 4 was around the parking lot. The new #4 is across the road and plays as a jump putt down a hill. Hole is only like 115' and loses maybe 15'-20' in elevation. I'm sure a pad will establish soon.

-The mando you see on hole 8 is not in play. That is only for the gold layout.

-There are two tee-pads for hole 9. You can play the original where the pad is past the road, or you can play off the dock. And hole 17 has a new pad right outside the fence on the walk over. The bamboo and water to the left make this an awesome hole.

Very well maintained course.
Very clean!!
Some challenging holes.
Water to throw over!!
Concrete tee pads.

Signage sucked! If you dont have a map you will be lost.
Geese everywhere and we all know they are mean!
Goose poop everywhere yuck.

The course plays through a mix of open areas with the lake in play and park style areas with grassy fairways and mature trees. The water holes on this layout all offer easy ways of avoiding the water, but still present some decent risk/reward decisions. The areas with trees are used well to make some low ceiling shots and a nice mix of lines to hit. There is a little bit of elevation and it's used pretty well also.

There is a wide range of hole lengths on this layout, from ace runs to bombers. The bamboo fence surrounding one pin adds a fun challenge: do you go for the narrow opening straight at the pin or try to spike a shot over the fence and down onto the green? The tees are nice concrete pads, and the discatcher baskets are in decent shape. The grounds are maintained very well, with short mowed grass and no trash or vandalism at all.

There are a lot of safety issues here. Around the lake, you'll run into people fishing, picnicking and sunbathing right on the fairways. There are roads in play on several holes, and this seems to be a busy area of the campus. The course isn't marked at all, except for some old tee markers with the wrong numbers, and some randomly numbered baskets. There's a good map available here, make sure you print it or bring it up on a smart phone.

There are a lot of open holes here, you're not forced to hit any kind of specific line on many drives. This makes the course less challenging and less interesting in my opinion.

This layout is definitely more beginner friendly than the gold setup, but it's still long for newer players and the water could be pretty daunting for someone who only carries one or two discs. More experienced players will find some cool holes here, but the abundance of open holes gets a little old. If you're here, most of the gold holes are playable (albeit without the ropes), it's worth checking out the map and trying them out.

The Winthrop University lakefront course is a solid challenge and fun play even without the now infamous United State Disc Golf Championship layout. After hearing many rumors about the non-tournament course I was a bit wary upon visiting but was pleasantly surprised to find a very enjoyable layout is available all year long.

Variety: Across a range of different aspects, Winthrop offers really nice variety off the tee. The well used rolling hills have a few nice uphill, downhill, and sidehill shots. Woods are used effectively to supplement the mostly open nature of the majority of the course. Finally, a large range of distances from under 200 feet to over 600 feet require any number of discs off the tee from putters to controlled fairway drivers to big distance bombs with a high speed driver.

Maintenance/Amenities: Everything is pretty much perfect as you would expect here; the grounds are absolutely beautiful with short mown grass and landscaping. Likewise, baskets and tees are kept in great shape and several of the funky obstacles that are now classic USDGC fixtures remain in place such as the large latticework barrier which protects hole twelve.

Navigation: For the most part, the course flow is fairly straightforward with only one exception that I can remember. We had to search around for a bit for hole fifteen I believe which started from up on a hill amongst some trees. It wasn't an obvious location for a tee, but was findable after some snooping around. It seems other reviewers also mention some problems with course flow and I imagine just having seen the videos of the course, I had an unusual advantage in already knowing some of the layout - you can't go wrong by bringing a map!

Openness: The designers have done a great job of utilizing the available tree coverage but the balance rest heavily on relatively wide open holes. These aren't easy open holes but it does usually allow players to choose whatever shot fits their strength and fails to expose individual weaknesses in one's game.

Hole numbering: Other reviewers have noted this but just disregard the numbering of the holes and play the hole you believe to be correct. This course must have been redesigned at some point because the numbering system is off for much of the course.

Psycho killer clown duck: I'd be really leaving out an interesting experience we had at this course (which may be a persistent problem according to previous reviewers!) but we were followed around by a hideous looking duck for about five holes. This duck, although slow, seemed to be out to get us and tried to sneak up at several points to hiss and lunge at us. Whenever he got close enough, he seemed fully intent on pecking and biting us - although we always managed to keep him far enough away to prevent this. Finally, we had to pretend to leave the area and hide out for a few minutes until he gave up and went back in the water. When we reached the part of the course that plays on the other side of the lake, we saw him making a bee-line across the water to get at us again! Fortunately we were only a few holes from finishing up and he never was able to get his final revenge

One of the fun parts about playing this course as a bit of a disc golf veteran was getting to see many of the holes and landscape used for the USDGC course, usually only seen through videotapes and podcasts. I really enjoy getting this first hand perspective of the challenges of a top level course like this even if only a portion of the tournament holes are actually viewable during the regular season.

BTW - I've posted a picture of the crazy duck since he seems to be a permanent course feature!

One of the best courses ive ever played. very nice and technical but not to long

It can be kind of hard to find your way around the course but that doesnt take away from the beautiful course

once again probably the best course ive ever played

- Partial USDGC Course. A few of the Holes are the exact same as the USDGC layout (USDGC Holes 1, 3, 6, 7, 16, 17)... while a few other Holes combinations make up other USDGC Holes (i.e. Holes 3 and 4 Lakefront = Hole 2 USDGC, Holes 9 and 10 Lakefront = Hole 5 USDGC). So even though this course isn't the USDGC course exactly, you can get a feel for what the players play (only without the ropes).
- Lots of Water in Play. With a name like Lakefront, you hope there is a lot of water in play... and there is. If my memory serves me correctly, approximately 1/3 of the course has water in play... and several other Holes have other forms of OB.
- Fun Holes. Even though you're not playing the USDGC course, a plethora of birdie opportunities make the Lakefront course fun to play. And, because they're able to retain some of the USDGC Holes there is an added fun factor.

- Navigation. I had a guide, so I thought navigation was going to be a breeze. However, we still had a hard time remembering where to go next (around the Hole 6/7/8 area) and we never did find the actual tee-pad for Hole 18.
- Inaccurate Gravestones. The gravestone style tee-signs definitely don't help. The fact that many of them are mis-numbered (from an old course design) makes you question everything else about them (distance, Par, that you're even on the correct hole, etc...). You would expect much better tee-signs at a place like Winthrop.

- Lots of Amenities Nearby. As you approach the university from the main road, you pass every kind of amenity you could want... Gas, Fast Food, Sit-Down Food, Supermarkets, Hotels, Pawn Shops, etc... I definitely recommend the margaritas at Tequilas (although I can't recommend their food as much) and the sub sandwiches at East Coast Subs!!!
- Overall. The course is really fun to play, however I could see it being a bummer if you were having a hard time with navigation or if you were trying to compare it to the USDGC layout. The splitting of the long USDGC Holes into two separate Holes for the Lakefront course makes playing them a letdown because you know deep down that you would rather be playing the longer Holes straight up. The Lakefront course plays much more like a regular city park disc golf course, except with water holes and USDGC mystique (which probably both add ½ a disc to the rating).
- My Score: -5

Very scenic course with many challenges!

-litter free and wonderful people
-unique obstacles
-risk/reward is very fun! I put a disc in the water but I did get it back
-nice variety of open and wooded holes
-baskets catch nicely

I would tell you may favorites holes but i honestly don't know what numbers they were...but three different ones were really cool.

There are a few issues but if you are careful it's really not a big deal.

-tee numbers are outdated and it can be confusing
-some holes play near a road, fenced in private yards, parking lot, and benches
-please becareful of the wildlife
-goose poo (ocassionally)

Bring the map! I just looked at the map in the Links/Files tab and thought it looked easy enough to navigate but the tee numbers have changed and the tee markers are flat with the ground and sometimes it's difficult to find the tee. The first tee is next to "The Shack" just across the road from the parking area. Have fun, I did.

Great open fairways, good for driving.

Beautiful scenery with the lake in the back drop.

Pet friendly!!!

Good mix of fun holes, as well as some high risk/high reward holes.

Have lost a few discs in the lake...

Little confusing for first timers. There are left over tee box plaques from long ago and the numbers on the basket do not always match the hole.

Good course to play. Lot of fun with several holes that allow you to air one out. Bring back-ups because you may lose a disc!!

It's true that this course has a real country club feel with lovely manicured lawns, shrubs and trees, a large lake with fountains, and a "clubhouse of sorts" called the Shack. The course plays through immaculately groomed grassy fairways and trees and half work their way around the lake. Most holes play with a medium to long range power in mind. You must shape shots, but it doesn't get too tight or technical. One of the coolest holes is a hole that has it's green enclosed by tall bamboo poles with a 15' opening on the front side. Kudos to having a couple of labelled par 4's.

Holes 9 & 10 play almost wide open except for the OB road right and lake left. There's almost no obstacles in the fairway ( that wouldn't be so bad but having 2 holes in a row like this lacked in creativity). The course is poorly marked - no tee signs, numbers on baskets are wrong. If I didn't have a map, it would have been really confusing as there are some long walks between some holes.

I recommend this layout over the Gold course which I think is overkill (see that review).

Bring lots of water and sunscreen in summer - much of this course is out in the open.

-Beautiful course
-Several holes have great risk reward
-Very complimentary of Gold course.
Much like a shorter version.
- Very clean and well maintained

-Can be difficult to navigate the first time.

This is a very challenging and enjoyable course. Great shorter alternative to the larger Gold Course, but still very challenging. As forementioned, theres is a a Bike shop nearby that has a nice selection of discs. This course by itself is worth the trip, Id also reccommend taking the time to play it for anyone that is coming to play the prestigious Gold Course.