Hickory, NC

Glenn C. Hilton Memorial Park

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3.985(based on 50 reviews)
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13 0
dndelli
Gold level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 16.7 years 134 played 131 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Glenn C. Hilton - Quality Golf

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Sep 4, 2023 Played the course:once

Pros:

Course suitable for players of all skill levels, with plenty of elevation used throughout. There is a pretty creek that comes into play on a couple of holes, but shouldn't be cause for huge disc loss concern as it likely remains fairly shallow most of the year. There are plenty of amenities throughout the course, including concrete tees, tee signs with hole maps, benches, and trash cans.

Most holes seemed to have multiple pin locations, allowing the local club to keep the course fresh throughout the years or during different rounds in a tournament, as well as combat erosion. At least three holes have a long tee option, and around four holes had a longer basket that could be used in order to offer more challenge for those who seek it.

Most of the holes are played through the woods, but the course has seen enough traffic over the years that the rough is pretty well fought back. The front of the course has several more open holes that create a nice balance. The course flows pretty well, and there are plenty of Next Tee signs around the course helping when the flow is a little less obvious.

I thought Hole 5 was the prettiest hole on the entire course. It was a touchy shot, along the creek to a scenic putting green. Shortly after was a back-to-back dynamic pair of holes: Hole 7 was the most open drive on the whole course, Hole 8 is a fun shot to an elevated basket, perched up on a landing. Hole 16, from the long, was a technical par 4. Hole 24 is clearly the signature hole on the course though, throwing over a deep, kudzu infested creek bed to what at least feels like it plays like an island green.

Cons:

While the multiple pin placements/locations is a great way for the course to stay exciting for local players, as a visitor from out of town it was a confusing mess at times. There wasn't any clear indication as to which pins were in place as the course used a mixture of A, B, and C placements throughout. This led to a frustrating number of drives that ended up being a lot less than ideal since I threw the wrong pin placement. It would be super nice if there were a way for this to be labeled on the tee signs.

The course seemed to run out of steam after Hole 16. While it finished off with a fun exclamation point, the holes in between, while decent holes in their own rights, were largely forgettable. Especially when played back-to-back. I would have loved it if the course had featured a couple more par 4s or 5s. So knowing this section of rather short par 3s exists puts a bit of a damper on my round.

Some of the holes in the back half of the course felt a little cramped. Hole 13's basket is pretty close to Hole 14's fairway. Hole 20's basket, on the other hand, is virtually on the edge of Hole 21's fairway.

Like many older courses, there are clear signs of erosion happening around the fairways. Not sure if there's much that can be done about this in many places, but erosion bars on the side of Hole 8's fairway would probably be helpful.

Other Thoughts:

For now, I am giving Glenn C. Hilton a 3.5 rating, and I know I would frequent this course a lot if I lived in the area. Having one or two more truly stand out and/or multi-shot holes, it would push the course towards a higher rating in my mind. Especially if it were done somewhere in the section near the end of the course where things start to feel repetitive. Either way, wonderful course, and I will be looking to play here again when I am in the Hickory area.

Favorite Holes: 5, 7, 8, 24
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7 1
JPalm
Experience: 6.8 years 1 played 1 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Solid Course, But a Mental Battle 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 15, 2021 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Excellent for practicing tightly wooded technical golf. Few holes are longer than 300'. There is a "rec par" for beginners instead of short tees, basically anything over 300' is a par 4 and over 350' is a par 5. This course has a couple of bomber holes, but caters primarily to players with precise disc control. Discatchers are always nice, especially if you're used to prodigy baskets or whatever they have at Rolling Pines. As are the concrete tee pads.

Cons:

The gaps are, in many cases, true tunnel shots. This is great for advanced players, as it forces us to throw a disc that holds the correct line the length of the shot, but as a beginner I found the late trees really punishing. I felt I was being punished for hitting the gaps a mere 50' past them. Also, there are next to no looks from C2. I shot a 1000 rated round (by SSE) and was 0% C2.

Other Thoughts:

I'd love to see more variation in length of the holes. The addition of par 4 pin placements when the bonus 6 holes were added in 2011 (I'm assuming that's when, before my time) makes a nice change of pace. I realize that the designers were working with limited space and later the limitations of the existing course, so I can't fault them for that, but I'd love to see the course have continued to be 18 holes with some more par 4s and maybe even some 5s. I have seen some folks say this course is a bit dated by its layout, and I'd agree that more modern courses tend to have better variety. I would not fault this course for that at all, however.
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7 0
aredoubles
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 7.7 years 258 played 41 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Ye Olde Hickoree Time Machine 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Feb 22, 2020 Played the course:once

Pros:

+ A full 24 holes of fun disc golf, up and down hills and through the woods.
+ An old-school course where most holes are under 250 ft., which should provide an enjoyable experience for nearly all skill levels. Slower arms will have their great drives rewarded with birdies, while more advanced players can refine their midrange and putter angles and go for ace runs. This would be a great place to have a fun and relaxing round with a small group of varying skill levels.
+ That said, holes 11, 13, and 16 are much longer wooded holes that will certainly test advanced players, and definitely stand out in comparison.
+ While the middle and back 9s are entirely wooded and technical, the front 9 is much more open, though trees and OB still guard baskets and lines. Hole 1 is an especially fun 340 ft. drive to start off the round.
+ Good use of elevation, without ever being excessive. Multiple across-the-valley shots are particularly fun.
+ Generally clean fairways, and rough that isn't excessively punishing.
+ Quite a few holes have multiple pin positions, to change up the experience from time to time. The current position is marked by a washer on the tee sign, I think they were up-to-date on my visit.
+ Thanks to hard work from the local club, the course has recovered very nicely from the direct tornado strike a few years ago. Very glad that disc golfers can now return to enjoy this course.
+ Concrete tees, solid baskets, solid tee signs, many benches, all good amenities here.
+ Holes 8 and 24 are the unquestionable highlights for me here. Hole 8 is a slight turnover that plays along the side of a steep slope, with an elevated basket. I normally hate holes with this kind of rollaway potential, but this one is a thrilling balance of that risk. Then after almost a full 18 in the woods, hole 24 finally opens up, and you gaze across a ravine to the basket on the other side. Almost like a mini-Renaissance-Gold, but more forgiving, and a wonderful way to end the round.

Cons:

- The first 7 holes play along and across walking paths, and other heavily used sections of the park, bringing some safety concerns. Please be cautious and respectful when throwing.
- Some very long hole transitions made navigation extremely confusing at times, particularly on the front 9, but in other spots as well. I saw a few arrows pointing from baskets to next tees, but they were extremely small and easy to miss, and entirely missing from many places. In particular, getting to holes 4 and 5 was not apparent at all without closely studying a map, as they require long walks across the entire open section of the park.
- This is a very old-school course, with most holes under 250 ft. Advanced players could probably birdie nearly everything with just a single putter. I can see how this would've been an exhilarating course when it opened over 20 years ago, as it's much wilder and has more elevation than many of the similarly-aged city-park-bound courses elsewhere. But in today's modern disc golf, it feels a little outdated, quaint, and simplistic. Only a small handful of holes will sufficiently test today's disc golfers.
- Not much hole variety in the woods. There's straight shots and hyzers, up and down hills, all around 250 ft., and you've quickly exhausted the design possibilities. With only a couple of small exceptions, holes 10-23 are an undifferentiated blur in my mind.
- A few holes had permanent long basket positions, that I wish I'd known about from the tee. They seemed extremely challenging, a massive departure from how the rest of the course plays. Hopefully newcomers don't overlook the short pins and play to these by accident.
- One or two of the wooded holes had baskets that were perhaps overzealously guarded by large trees, making birdie looks more about luck than skill. I'm not sure exactly which holes, again this section of the course was kind of a blur to me.

Other Thoughts:

Playing this course back-to-back with a modern course like The Bear across town feels like stepping into a time machine. I would enjoy coming here with a little shoulder bag of DX Rocs and Aviars, and maybe a Whippet or Viper for those cheating forehands. But modern disc golf has largely left courses like this behind, as the lack of hole and distance variety just feels too simplistic now. I would no longer consider this to be a top NC disc golf destination, outside of history or nostalgia. But I'm still glad that it was resurrected after the tornado, for disc golfers of all skill levels to relax on and enjoy for even more decades to come.
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1 6
Josh Heideman
Experience: 13.2 years 37 played 10 reviews
5.00 star(s)

Vacation Stop 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 16, 2019 Played the course:once

Pros:

Lots of challenging shot and technical lines. Great baskets, the local club and city do a great job of keeping this park clean.

Cons:

Not very many long holes

Other Thoughts:

I would refer any play to go and try out this gem of a course
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6 0
Notverygood
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 14.7 years 76 played 34 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Fantastic! Fun fun fun 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Dec 20, 2015 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

This course is a blast! 24 holes of challenging, varying disc golf.

The course itself was in great shape when I played and shows how much time and effort the local club puts into it. The grass was trimmed and manicured, there was little to no trash throughout the course, and there were new-ish benches (if not new, then in great shape) on almost if not all holes.

A touch of OB on the front 9(12) keeps things interesting, and can lead to you taking a swim to retrieve a disc, as there are several holes that play along side a beautiful creek.

The tee signs, benches and other "amenities" here are all in great shape. A testament to the clubs love for this course!

Navigation was mostly intuitive, and there are a handful of "next" tee signs leading the way.

Elevation! The course layout uses most of the available terrain. Playing up the hills, down the hills, and across valleys.

The park that this course is located in is also great! Family friendly, clean and in a good neighborhood. Plenty of playground equipment, bathrooms, etc so don't hesitate to bring the wife and kids.

Cons:

Like most of my reviews....Navigation

Although there were quite a few "Next" tee signs, things can get a bit confusing at times. There are a few long walks from basket to tee that on the first time through can be a bit confusing. This time of year with so many leaves on the ground, the "beaten path" is difficult to follow, so deeper in the woods you really have to pay attention to find where the next tee is.
Maybe in the spring/summer, the beaten path may show itself a bit more and aid in navigation.


The combination of different basket placements, and only a few long tee pads (maybe only 16 has a long pad?) was a bit confusing at times. It seems there were at one time a way of accounting for this on the tee signs with screws to mark which basket is in play, but when I played it seemed like several holes had multiple pins in place.
(Upon playing this course more...it does appear that the screw/washer setup to indicate what basket is in play may be accurate. There are just several holes with multiple baskets in play. A bit confusing)

Hole #16 was also a bit interesting and probably my least favorite. There is no sign indicating that the short pad lies ahead. The long pad doesn't give much of a fair shot and seems like the best line is a straight ahead shot that leaves you near the short pad. Which, in my case, is how I discovered that there was a short pad.

Other Thoughts:

Most of the Cons pale in comparison to the good of this course, and are minor at best.

Even though this course chewed me up and spit me out, I still thoroughly enjoyed the scenery, variety of shots, and overall play ability of this course.

Accuracy is more valuable than distance here as most of the course plays through the woods, and several ace runs keep it exciting!


Highly highly recommend making the drive up from Charlotte to play this gem of a course. Whether you're a Charlotte local, or just visiting, it's an easy drive and well worth it! Not to mention Sawmills Veteran's park is another quality course just a few miles away. Two for the short drive!

Great work by the local club, and designers.
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4 0
Bennybennybenny
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 13.1 years 305 played 287 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Glenn Hilton, Memorble course 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:May 18, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

-There is so much variety out on this course up here. It's straight up north 321 so it's not a scary drive up here. This is a basic park with a creek around it. It is in play on four holes making those holes the better ones on the course. There is an 18 hole layout and a 24 hole layout on this course. On the 18 hole layout, after 7, go straight to 10 and after hole 13, go to 18 and play the remaining holes.
-Some very good greens out on this course. The roll away greens on 2 and 3 are both very cool. Holes 4 and 5 both have great wooded greens. Hole 7's long basket is right by the creek making it the best green on the course. Hole 8 has an elevated basket on a stump on a hill. With this being said. I think the front 12 is much better than the back 12.
-The course starts off with a great open bomb and after that hole, the course slowly makes it's way through the woods. It ends very strong with a great valley shot!
-I had three favorite holes here. Those three were hole 5, hole 7 (My #1 favorite) and hole 24. Hole 5 is just a cool par 3 with the creek in play. Potential roller hole. Hole 7 is an open dog leg left that allows you to go big. 24 is a great finish to the course. A scenic shot across a huge valley. Definitely threw a few discs on this one. Hole 24 was the only super fun hole on the back 12 holes. I liked some of the others like 13, 14, 16 and I liked hole 20, the straight down 165' footer.
-Benches and trash cans on every hole.
-Friendly local people hang around here. Very considerate of the course and even take an interest in how you play. Very family friendly!
-This course is perfect for what is was designed for. It's mostly in the 235' range. However, hole 16 is definitely an interesting change. A 436' monster that is really tight and goes downhill once you get to the right side of the fairway. Definitely the hardest on the course. Holes 11 and 13 have long pin positions too and the long layout has a lot of par 4's but today most pins were in the shorts. Holes 11 and 13 currently have two pins.
-Hilly course. Great use of elevation. Several steep ups and downs!! Some great valley shots too. There are stairs when it gets steep.
-A great variety of fairways 12 Straight/6 left/6 right.
-Concrete tee pads. 16's tee pad is over 15'. They are different lengths but the appropriate lengths for each hole.
-Practice basket beside hole 1.
-Construction is great. Bridges are everywhere they need to be.

Cons:

-Several filler holes. They are all on the back 12. After hole 16, most of the holes are just there just showing whats next. 17 through 19 are just boring holes. Then 20 is a pretty fun straight downhill ace run but it still has that "filler hole" feeling to it. 17-23 are just okay at the best. It's worth the wait to hole 24 though!
-#15?!?! This hole is so ridiculous. It's straight pinball from tee to basket. If any of y'all know that horrific finishing hole at Wills Park that requires luck or #14 at Brackett's Bluff, wait until you see this. It's just poke and pray gimmicky.
-I don't like the idea that #1's road and beyond rule is OB. You can clearly tell this should be casual here. My friend Kevin didn't have this problem but I did. I threw maybe twelve feet past the basket and got penalized for it. I got a "par" when it was really a birdie. You can't be serious. It's still a fun start to the course.
-Again. The filler holes. They aren't just short and boring. They are so close to each other. Watch out for people.
-Well, it's in the mountains so there will be copperheads.

Other Thoughts:

-This is a great 24 hole course here. Don't let the fact that there are some filler holes keep you from playing here. The front 12 is a great disc golf experience. The back 12 is kind of boring but it starts well with hole 13 and 14 is fun too. The finishing hole is the signature hole so that makes up for it. It starts well and ends well. There is a doubles tournament Kevin and I are both doing on June 7th so we are both looking forward to that.
-It's a bit of a drive down in the neighborhood to get here. You have to cross a bridge and pay attention to the entrance. It's in the better part of town so that's definitely a pro.
-Many signature holes here. The front 12 has several of them. The back 12 has the famous hole 24. Hole 16 is fun too.

Favorite hole: 7-Long dogleg left par 3 that plays slightly downhill. Very scenic shot with the water in play. 24-Short par 3 over a huge valley.

Least Favorite: 15-Plinko shot right at 200' long. Just an easy 3 but almost impossible 2. 23-Boring, generic 239' footer. The main filler hole.

Send me a message if you want to know more.
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5 0
Upshawt1979
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 20.8 years 548 played 429 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Hickory Disc-ory Golf 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:May 12, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

Glenn C. Hilton Memorial Park disc golf offers a dynamic variety of holes, and doesn't call for powerful drives too often. It has 24 holes, and 6 more than usual is always good, I think. Elevation is also always good, to me, and it is pronounced here repeatedly. Water is in play occasionally, but not in a highly threatening way. The first hole is sort of bland, almost wide open and longish. Two begins in the open but changes drastically into a shady slope and the basket is hiding in the back right corner. A good pocket in the trees made for a basket. A third solid, more woodsy hole is tucked into the margins of this nice park. Fourth hole is long open drive until a screen of large trees guards the slope up to the corner target. Five is a cool little waterside RHBH hyzer with sandy bank bottom, and pin planted in an awesome root system of adjacent trees. Six is very similar to five, but uphill. Short and simple, and fun. Seven is another unapologetic, wide open, long bomb, more so than hole one. Just watch out for the water to the right, and the large mound hazards on the left and in front of the green. I got a good look with my Destroyer, and missed a 30 foot putt. 8 has an stage lifting the tee, and the basket is on an equally strange but very cool tall podium with 6 foot basket. Both are situated on similar parts of the same ridge, that naturally shapes the fairway and tree line. Very cool hole. The remainder of the course is primarily wooded, and short. Eleven, thirteen, and sixteen measure over 400 feet. Every other hole is in the 180-250 . Thirteen has a great shelter rest area to take a rest before you "make the turn". Elevation changes kick in around hole twelve. Sixteen is the longest hole, and theres a lot of trees between the pad and the target. Trust me - do your best to stay on the fairway here. All of them are good holes, nothing that stands out - until the final hole. Twentyfour is a beauty of a finishing hole. A tee box sits high on one side of a inlet of the lake. Plenty of airspace to clear the gap, and basket neatly framed buy the trees on the opposite side. It is not a long throw, especially with the elevation change. I seemed like a super long bridge walking across, after an effortless throw. I threw the putter, and was parked. I think the strongest asset for this course is not having to throw hard on 19 of the 24 holes, and still being consistently fun and not too repetitive. Fairways are mixed well right and left turns, some very tight, some really open, some short and some long. If your drives are on point, and your putter is working, this course could be a birdie-palooza.

All of the holes had good maps with distance, and decent concrete tees. The park also had additional signage between holes to guide the way. The baskets were all fine. There was 2 baskets in place on hole thirteen. Keep walking past the long basket to get to the next tee. A really nice park overall.

Cons:

There can be other park patrons in the peripheral areas near the first 8 holes, and possibly on the hike/bike trails in the woods as well. Transitions between holes are sometimes distant, but fairly well marked. Not the most challenging course. High skilled players may get bored destroying it well before 24 holes is done.

Other Thoughts:

Glenn C. Hilton Memorial has has character to every hole, and most of the 24 are good to great quality. Sure, the 165 foot, straight downhill, hole 20 is a little cheesy, and there are only 3 par fours. There are more than enough great holes to make up for a couple of average ones. The last hole is worth playing the entire course alone for me. Very glad I made the trip to play disc golf here.
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3 3
LeeLK
Experience: 15.8 years 68 played 52 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Great work in progress. 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jan 19, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

A couple really great hole designs. Mostly perfect concrete pads. All great baskets. Challenging, in a good way for the most part. A couple really fun holes, like the #20 downhill ace run and of course the grand finale #24 across-the-valley shot.

Cons:

#15 could use a few trees removed, unless they're going for that throw-and-pray type shot. Some of the tee signs are not accurate (#4 was especially confusing, could just be me). I always prefer when the course loops back to the parking lot after 9 (or 18), but you have to commit to the whole thing on this one.

Other Thoughts:

Why a 24 hole course? Not that it really matters, but that's a bit confusing. Overall though, a wide variety of shots are needed, which is fun. The course is mostly wooded and some fairways are tight, so get ready to bounce around a bit. Definitely not a beginner course, but a great round for advanced players.
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5 0
reposado
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 12.7 years 278 played 273 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Rugged 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Nov 1, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

Rugged. If I were allowed to stop there, I'd be tempted to do so, having satisfactorily described the course at Glen Hilton. But onwards we go. While not as mountainous as some of the courses in the western part of the state, this one boasts terrain that will challenge you to walk across it. Hole 3 traverses a slope so steep that I wouldn't be surprised if at some point, on slick day, a person rolled all the way to the waters edge. Now try and get your disc to stick on that.

The terrain here, especially in the front nine, is so varied and unique that memorable and challenging holes are the rule and not the exception. 1 is simple enough. It's a warm-up shot across an open field. But the next seven hole-stretch is one of the best grouping of holes that I've come across. 2 is an open hole, at least from the tee. The fair turns into some woods where the basket is perched in the middle of a long, steep slope. The approach is thus very tricky. 3 is the aforementioned side slope. 4 is an open field but with the basket protected by a shield of foliage. Teeshots will have to be placed just so to create a reasonable approach angle. 5 is parallel to the river again, this time, with the basket to the right of the fairway, again on a slope which leads to the water. (Fantastic chance to swoop in from left to right) 6 is a flat hole with a steeply uphill approach shot and 7 is a long arc to the left, with the river to the right. My favorite of the bunch is 8. The tee, fairway and basket occupy a thin, flat space, clinging to the side of hill. It's another chance to go right to left, this time attempting to stick it on a ledge.

I don't usually like hole-by-hole descriptions, but with this particular group, I had to do it. That group is just too fun and too interesting to leave any one of them out of the review. If the course becomes less interesting after that point, it's only because the early holes set the bar so high. The rest of the course, while still featuring some solid climbs, is more typical of North Carolina courses. They're good solid holes, but they aren't more than that.

That is until the last one. 24 is a breathtaking hole, over a wide, deep ravine to a slope on the other side. (Look at the pictures) Getting one to stick is especially gratifying as there is a long bridge which crosses over the valley. Now, I love bridges that lead to eighteenth greens. They always make me feel like it's Sunday at a major. This one might be my favorite of those as it potentially comes directly after that long, successful shot. It's such a long bridge, it's almost impossible not to wave to the gallery.

Cons:

It's not that the last sixteen holes are bad, or boring, but they blend together, and don't do much that isn't happening all across the state. If they were a course in themselves they'd be a 3.5. Whereas if there were another ten holes to match the first eight, that course would be 4.5 in my book. So it's not a con really, but an explanation of my rating after raving about the first third of this course.

The biggest flaw is a bit of the navigation. It can be easy for a course to get away without arrows if the path is mostly logical. This is the case here but the holes where is not logical are hurt by this. Mostly, this applies to hole 4, where it is clear across a playing field from 3. I finished that hole behind a large group but didn't even have to play through because they wandered off in the wrong direction. I used my downloaded map to get directly there. I was finishing the hole before they found the tee.

Other Thoughts:

Upon beginning this review, I noticed that many of the pictures on this website are not accurate. (Follow an older 18-hole layout, I'd guess) For example, the pictures marked as hole 22, show signs for hole 18 and are actually of hole 24. And I couldn't find anything that looked like the hole 8 that I played. I don't know the course well enough to sort out exactly what should be where but if a local does, that would be fantastic. If I had known beforehand, I would have just taken an entire new set. A bunch of holes are extremely photogenic and would be nice to have here.
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1 6
skeeterpig
Experience: 1 played 1 reviews
3.50 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 20, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

As always the course was in good shape. Having multiple baskets on several holes makes it nice to have options. Posting a recreational par also makes it less intimidating for newbies etc.

Cons:

Signs missing on holes 19 through 24. Vandalism happens sure, but it dismayed me that one of the regulars who I talked to after thw round didn't seem it was a big deal. Having played the course before it wasn't a big deal, but a first timer would be lost because 2 of the baskets are not visible from the tee. Also more arrows/ signs showing where the next tee is located would be nice. The new pin placement on hole 5 is just plain silly- less then 10 feet from the bank of the stream basically on the beach. Seriously do you guys want people to get discouraged or for some kid who scraped his money together to buy a new disc to lose it? Maybe save that one for tournaments!!!!

Other Thoughts:

I don't get to play this course as often as I use to, but it is fun to see how it has grown and matured. One note though if like me you have leg or ankle issues- i have a fused ankle- the length and terrain will test you!
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2 15
Warthog
Experience: 11 years 9 played 7 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Not my favorite 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jul 29, 2013 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Difficult to think of anything I like

Cons:

Tough, Trees,hilly,mud,water and roots plus bitting things. Bring bug spray. Use old disc you don't mind losing. Use old disc you don't mind hitting trees with. I understand a few trees but this is more like a wall. You need square disc to prevent seeing them roll back past you on some holes.

Other Thoughts:

I don't plan to play this course again but it is still more fun than a day at work.
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6 6
badsmurph
Experience: 26.8 years 146 played 5 reviews
3.50 star(s)

HoMe CoursE 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Dec 9, 2012 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

1) Tee signs
2) Variety of Shots
3) benches and Trash cans
4) Bridges
5) Easy navigation with next hole direction on tee sign and after basket.
6) Multiple Pins which are changed often
7) elevation
8) new par 4 on 4 but wish position B was used more.
9) the whole park in general.

Cons:

1)erosion
2) Some awkward and crapshoot shots
3) Alot of Luck factor on some holes especially with roll aways.
4) 24 holes so when club plays 18 hole events they play different configurations which cuts in front of casuals and can be confusing at times.
5) Not many driver shots, mostly midrange
6) alot of missing s hooks on basket's chains which effects putts

Other Thoughts:

Overall a good home course and strong group of dedicated locals that take ALOT of pride in the course. But it is nice to have a new course in area to throw some different shots.
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3 16
Discgolfandy
Experience: 22.1 years 3 played 3 reviews
5.00 star(s)

greatest course out there 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Dec 11, 2012 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

24 holes well marked benches great locals. Trash cans benches. Lefty righty shots. Alternate baskets. Club members who work hard to keep this course in top shape

Cons:

None. I have never not had fun at this course. The regualrs. Are very helpful

Other Thoughts:

Play this course!!!!
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3 16
Suspena kenna
Experience: 2 played 2 reviews
3.50 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Dec 10, 2012 Played the course:once

Pros:

Good technical holes. 24 bad ass hole. Good view. Easy To find holes. Sign on trees that point to next tee box. Not to many holes u can loose discs long as u keep an eye out. Good amount of seats. One with a shack around it to get away from rain.

Cons:

Heavily wooded. A lot of hills. To far away
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2 7
sharkking15
Experience: 12.1 years 7 played 2 reviews
4.50 star(s)

pure fun 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 24, 2012 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

-Great setup
-beautiful scenerie
-fun course
-multiple holes
-well marked
-every hole has its own personality
-best hole ever invented (#24)

Cons:

-ROOTS
-slight water hazard on 3 holes if not careful
-corrosion of hills

Other Thoughts:

this course is by far, without a doubt, my favorite course to play at, i drive hours on weekends just to come play whenever i can, HIGHLY recommend you play here if you never have, you will never regret it, and will always want more. watch out for roots when walking or else you could possibly roll your ankle.
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2 6
themanlevan
Experience: 11 played 5 reviews
4.50 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 10, 2012 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Great Signs. Mapped out well on the tee boxes and signs at the baskets are good. Nice atmosphere and cool picture spots with the UFO made of logs and carved into trees. Really just a nice well kept course

Cons:

Really none unless you have to look for your disc on #24. It can get tricky if you have too. The group i play with has some iffy arms sometimes, including mine.

Other Thoughts:

I enjoyed this course. it's challenging in places and some more of a relief. Worth the time i've spent playing it
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5 2
illuminatefreak
Experience: 13.7 years 55 played 6 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Easy to Navigate / Challenging to Play 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jun 30, 2012 Played the course:once

Pros:

- GREAT signage. Almost don't even need course map. Signs at baskets point to next tee. Really nice to navigate for a first timer (which I was).
- Very fun layout.
- Practice basket
- Being almost all wooded, tight yet fair lines force you to be accurate.
- Various holes, distance, and angles makes you have to really shape your shots.
- Clean, with trash bins at every hole.
- Hole 24 is very fun (over a ravine). Could be a con for a newbie who might be struggling with distance on their drive.

Cons:

- Being mostly wooded, it was difficult to feel consistent as a fairly new(er) player. Trees definitely create challenges.
- Signs at tees aren't updated (some show two baskets where only one exists). Use the course map on here for that since they updated the course.
- Lots of roots just waiting for a twisted ankle (almost rolled mine twice). Just watch where you're stepping and you should be ok.

Other Thoughts:

Visiting the in-laws in Mocksville. Decided to make the 50 minute drive to check this one out. Definitely glad we did. Would love to have this as a home course to really hone in on carving specific lines with different discs.

Disc choice is pretty big here as well. I went for drivers when I clearly should have gone for mid range.

Thoroughly enjoyed the course. Hope to return next time we're visiting.
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3 1
logjammin
Experience: 26.8 years 32 played 12 reviews
4.00 star(s)

excellent course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jun 17, 2012 Played the course:once

Pros:

24 holes!
Friendly local club members glad to offer advice or directions
informative signs
practice basket
good mix of hole styles (open, tight, up, down, level, side sloping, left dogleg, right dogleg, straight, long, short, blind, ace potential, 4-if-you're-lucky)
beautiful natural scenery

Cons:

crowded (both on the course and in the park)
big rec groups just takin' their time...
hard to navigate (Read and decode the signs!)
near a road on at least one hole
parking lot pretty full

Other Thoughts:

I was passing through on I 40 and decided to take the detour in Hickory to play this reputable course. No regrets at all.

It was a sunny Sunday afternoon in June, and as you might expect, this beautiful wooded park in the mountains was packed. Disc golfers and picnickers and hikers.

Hole 1 had a large group of teenagers who were not moving along very fast. I decided to skip ahead to an open hole, and didn't study the map carefully. I had a hard time finding a hole without someone playing it. I missed a couple of holes because I didn't know where they were. Anyway, I finally found an empty fairway, which turned out to be hole 21. I played 21-24 before going back to 1, which is by the parking lot. The signs depict the different pin positions. At first I didn't realize that they also tell which position it is in currently. On the signpost, the position letters are listed in a column, with a screw or something next to the appropriate letter. That info would have been very helpful to me on the last 4. At least a couple of blind holes there.

The signs also have a pointer to the next hole, and it's important to note the direction before teeing off and chasing down the disc.

Anyway, I made it back to 1, and a couple of locals were sitting there, and explained all that to me. One of them offered to tag along and play a round with me. Jay was full of good advice.

At hole 9, there was a family lounging in the middle of the fairway, and we decided to just skip the hole. It was a pretty open shot across a meadow.

At the next hole (I think) we were behind another big group of rec-level teenagers who seemed to take forever. It was a nice side-slanted fairway, with elevated tee and elevated basket. downhill to the left was a lot of foliage (in June) above the slow, clear creek.

One hole (maybe 17?) I came really close to getting an ace. A tight short fairway, and I threw a Roadrunner RHFH. Got a slight S curve, snaked between some branches I didn't intend to go between, and hit the yellow at the top of the basket!

Some other holes I felt really good about getting it in 4 strokes (and there were some I failed to get in 4).

You should have several hours set aside to play when you come here. There's a lot of walking up and down hills, and sometimes it's hard to find the next hole, and since the place can be crowded, and there are 24 holes, you're going to be there for a while.

Just walking the course would be good strenuous exercise, and I was worn out after playing this course.

I'm not likely to drive through Hickory without stopping here in the future!
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2 3
WreckDirector
Experience: 13 years 7 played 7 reviews
4.00 star(s)

LOOK OUT FOR THAT...tree. 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 19, 2012 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Nice tee pads, grass stays cut, very challenging, 24 holes, the last hole is amazing, they have the ability to move the baskets around so each time out is a little different, benches along the way.

Cons:

Parking (on most nice weathered weekends the parking lot fills up quick), the wait (again, on most nice weathered weekends you will be waiting behind people to play, which isn't alot of fun when you are a group of 2 waiting behind a group of 6 that even if they let you pass are waiting on others themselves), can be overly challenging for new comers, very few holes that allow for long open drives so that you can just "sling" it, I remember one or two holes being somewhat difficult to find.

Other Thoughts:

Overall a very good challenging course that stays busy for obvious reasons.
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8 0
New013
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 13.7 years 179 played 120 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Holy Hilton! 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:May 19, 2012 Played the course:once

Pros:

Layout - Bring your big bag of discs and your A game because you will be tested. You will have to hit tight gaps, place shots to make turns, place shots to not roll down hills, place shots to not be behind a grove of trees 5' from the basket. From a technical standpoint the course has it all, if you love to shape shots and think about just what the hell you're going to do this is the course for you.

This course is a banner child for risk/reward on a good many holes. If you go for the basket it can cost you, accuracy and creativity are a key here. The good thing about this course is that you still have multiple options to get there, it's just that rarely are any of them easy.

Got elevation? Yeah the place is hilly and not every hole is on an incline but the ones that are make things really interesting. Even a good many greens are on no joke type hills.

Another huge plus for this course is the multiple basket positions that really change up the hole lengths on some holes.

The course does give you more than just wooded insanity, the front nine while not all open is more of defined fairway type part of the course and has a few park type open holes with sparse trees.

There's a creek running through some of the holes as well which adds a nice touch of difficulty and the brush here can be thick and punishing in parts.

The greens and basket locations are very well designed and really add another layer of difficulty on top of an already challenging layout.

Equipment - Nice large concrete teepads and newer baskets. There signage here is very well done and let's you know which position the basket is in. I think there were benches on just about every hole which is a good thing for a course with 24 holes, hills and punishment. There's navigational clues along the routes as well.

Atmosphere - The park is beautiful aside from the erosion but for me that kinda adds to it all. The exposed roots add another level of difficulty and keep you on your toes while walking. It looked like a pretty heavily used park but aside form the first few holes you are pretty secluded from it all which is a huge pro for me. All of the club graffiti they've thrown in to random parts adds a nice touch.

Cons:

Layout - One of the better designed courses I've played but... it doesn't mix up the wooded and sorta open holes enough for me. I know it wouldn't flow as well but it does get kinda monotonous at some point and I can't really tell where. There's just some holes that kind of blend together on the back part, you go in to the woods and never really come out.

There's a few long holes on the course but only a couple really let you rip it and that's one thing adds to my enjoyment. If the course had two or three more open bomber holes thrown in the back 14 I'd be in love and the course would be rated higher.

Equipment - I could see this course needing some kind of effort to stop the erosion, hopefully the club will address that looming problem soon enough.

Atmosphere - Finding this course is confusing, there are like 900 6th streets in Hickory so make sure you're going to 6th NW.

Other Thoughts:

I could list the holes I loved but that would take to many words, so I'll just say #24 is badass. I've played valley holes before but this one is special, it's not incredibly difficult but it's just that badass and a great finishing hole; puts the course over the top.
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