jjtwinnova - Charlotte Trip 2018

[jjtwinnova]

Thanks to the Pitt Panthers winning the ACC Coastal division, the family is taking a trip to Charlotte for the Championship game! As of now, I should have a day and a half to play disc golf while I am down there. Here is my preliminary schedule.

Friday, November 30th, 2018

7:40 AM – Depart Hotel

8:00 AM – Arrive at Robert L. Smith Park
https://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=4583&mode=ci 4.13 with 58 reviews
9:45 AM – Depart Robert L. Smith Park

10:00 AM – Arrive at Torma Town
https://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=9624&mode=ci 4.00 with 3 reviews
11:40 AM – Depart Torma Town

12:00 PM – Arrive at Hornet's Nest Park
https://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=8957&mode=hi 4.29 with 14 reviews
1:50 PM – Depart Hornet's Nest Park

2:00 PM – Arrive at Nevin Park DGC
https://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=3658 4.28 with 57 reviews
3:45 PM – Depart Nevin Park DGC

4:00 PM – Arrive at Renaissance Park – Gold
https://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=587&mode=ci 4.26 with 82 reviews
5:45 PM – Depart Renaissance Park – Gold

6:00 PM – Arrive at Hotel

Saturday, December 1st, 2018

7:45 AM – Depart Hotel

8:30 AM – Arrive at Camp Canaan (Two Courses)
Canaan Sand Hills DGC
https://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=7674&mode=ci 2.17 with 3 reviews
Canaan Riverbend DGC
https://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=7675 4.45 with 10 reviews
11:30 AM – Depart Camp Canaan

12:15 PM – Arrive at Hotel


Please tell me what you think of this schedule, is it going to give me a good idea of what the Charlotte area has to offer? I wanted to hit a good variety of the courses, but also wanted to hit the best. Are there any substitutions you would make?

Suggestions and other comments are appreciated! Looking forward to writing some reviews about the courses I've always wanted to play!

 

[markmanchette]

I would ditch RL Smith and do Bradford Park in Huntersville. I'd also ask this question on facebook...charlotte area disc golf.

 

[DavidSauls]

I'd ask if those playing times are practical for those courses. And if the driving times are practical, for Charlotte traffic.

 

[DiscGolfCraig]

Not RL Smith. The course isn't being maintained as it's been waiting to be pulled for months. Power or gas company need access to the space.

If you can get from Nevin to Renny in 15 minutes in rush hour, you'll be the first person in Charlotte to do so. In 15 minutes, you'll be lucky to even get from Nevin back to I-77.

You're also playing in peak fallen leaf time. I've lost discs in fairways at Nevin, Kilborne, and Renny because the leaves are up to a foot deep. You spend 20 minutes looking for a disc, and you're playing the back nine of Renny at dusk. You don't want to be dealing with #18 with little to no daylight.

If you're determined to play those 4 courses on Friday, your best bet in sequence are: Nevin, Hornets, Torma, Renny. If you tee off right at 8, you'll be done between 3 (very unlikely) and 5. If you finish Renny early, play a bonus round on the Renske layout.

 

[jjtwinnova]

Okay, so I changed the itinerary around a little bit. We're gonna stop a little short of Charlotte to cut down on driving time. Here is what I came up with.

Friday, November 30th, 2018

7:40 AM – Depart Hotel

8:00 AM – Arrive at Rolling Pines DGC
https://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=7521 4.42 with 30 reviews
9:40 AM – Depart Rolling Pines

11:00 AM – Arrive at Nevin Park DGC
https://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=3658 4.28 with 57 reviews
12:45 PM Depart Nevin Park DGC

1:00 PM – Arrive at Hornets Nest Park
https://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=8957 4.29 with 14 reviews
2:40 PM – Depart Hornets Nest Park

3:00 PM – Arrive at Renaissance Park Gold 4.27 with 83 reviews
4:45 PM – Depart Renaissance Park Gold
5:00 PM – Arrive at Hotel

I think this makes Friday a little easier. It's gonna be hard as I don't have a bunch of daylight. I don't really want to take any of these courses out of the equation, but I'm willing to play short tees at the first three, or a mix of shorts and longs.

 

[jjtwinnova]

Not RL Smith. The course isn't being maintained as it's been waiting to be pulled for months. Power or gas company need access to the space.

If you can get from Nevin to Renny in 15 minutes in rush hour, you'll be the first person in Charlotte to do so. In 15 minutes, you'll be lucky to even get from Nevin back to I-77.

You're also playing in peak fallen leaf time. I've lost discs in fairways at Nevin, Kilborne, and Renny because the leaves are up to a foot deep. You spend 20 minutes looking for a disc, and you're playing the back nine of Renny at dusk. You don't want to be dealing with #18 with little to no daylight.

If you're determined to play those 4 courses on Friday, your best bet in sequence are: Nevin, Hornets, Torma, Renny. If you tee off right at 8, you'll be done between 3 (very unlikely) and 5. If you finish Renny early, play a bonus round on the Renske layout.

RL Smith was going to be the first thing to take off the list, I just wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt... waiting for a Charlotte native to chime in. It's been nixed.

As I have changed my agenda, I plan on finishing up the day much earlier. I also usually add some time to the travel and playing time with what I know about myself. I can play a course the length of the first three in an hour and a half, no problem.

If you are available that day and want to guide a couple foreigners around, shoot me a PM

 

[tbird888]

If it's not much different than the previous layout, I am not sure you want to play the shorts at Hornets. The long layout is a lot of fun.

 

[jjtwinnova]

If it's not much different than the previous layout, I am not sure you want to play the shorts at Hornets. The long layout is a lot of fun.

So much greatness, so little time. It will most likely be a game time decision, but I will definitely try to play the long tees at all places.

 

[Designjah]

Yeah, skip RL Smith... it's not being maintained currently. It will be reworked eventually - may be a couple of years or more...

Try the 2018 Am Worlds layout at Hornet's & Nevin. Gives you a nice mixture of longs/shorts. Worlds layout marked on each tee pad with blue paint - there's a worlds layout map here on DGCR for each course as well.

Drive time from Nest to Renny can easily be 30 minutes or more depending on traffic. Nevin & Nest are near each other... Some of those round times may be pushing it as well. Does not leave much time to look for errand shots or account for a busy course.

Sounds like you really want to play Renaissance Gold as well. Be aware that it is not in it's best shape currently. The rough is ROUGH! Some bridges are not in great shape either. It's still playable - just keep it in the fairway. There are plans to revitalize the course in early 2019! It'll be better than ever!!

If you need to modify your Sat, schedule, drop the short course at Canaan & hit Renny Gold on Sat instead. You want to have good daylight for Renny. If you can get Renny in on Fri, drop the short course at Canaan & do Torma Town instead. Torma may not be the highest rated course in Charlotte but is one of the more fun ones for sure! Worth every bit of the 4 star rating.

So many other courses that are worth playing in the area... Angry Beaver, Bradford, Dry Creek, Scrapyard, Winthrop... just to name a few... We can recommend a whole new set of courses to play for your next trip down! Enjoy the Charlotte courses!

 

[jjtwinnova]

Yeah, skip RL Smith... it's not being maintained currently. It will be reworked eventually - may be a couple of years or more...

Try the 2018 Am Worlds layout at Hornet's & Nevin. Gives you a nice mixture of longs/shorts. Worlds layout marked on each tee pad with blue paint - there's a worlds layout map here on DGCR for each course as well.

Drive time from Nest to Renny can easily be 30 minutes or more depending on traffic. Nevin & Nest are near each other... Some of those round times may be pushing it as well. Does not leave much time to look for errand shots or account for a busy course.

Sounds like you really want to play Renaissance Gold as well. Be aware that it is not in it's best shape currently. The rough is ROUGH! Some bridges are not in great shape either. It's still playable - just keep it in the fairway. There are plans to revitalize the course in early 2019! It'll be better than ever!!

If you need to modify your Sat, schedule, drop the short course at Canaan & hit Renny Gold on Sat instead. You want to have good daylight for Renny. If you can get Renny in on Fri, drop the short course at Canaan & do Torma Town instead. Torma may not be the highest rated course in Charlotte but is one of the more fun ones for sure! Worth every bit of the 4 star rating.

So many other courses that are worth playing in the area... Angry Beaver, Bradford, Dry Creek, Scrapyard, Winthrop... just to name a few... We can recommend a whole new set of courses to play for your next trip down! Enjoy the Charlotte courses!

Thank you for the quality input! I will actually now plan on playing the Am Worlds layout for those courses. Sounds like it should be a good idea of the difficulty and fun factor of both courses.

Unfortunately, I will only have half the day on Sunday, so rather than play some of the other Charlotte courses that are solid, I want to try and get to Canaan. The short course is only included as a course to bag, and it shouldn't take more than 40 minutes to play.

 

[bhadella]

Man, that's an impressive and virtually impossible to execute plan.

Navigation at Nevin is well marked and lightly played, if playing Worlds layout you might be able to make your schedule. Hornets Nest has a some long transitions but they are pretty well marked so follow those cues. Same thing, if playing Worlds layout you might be able to play in the allotted time. Print and use a map for Renny Gold, the navigation is very challenging. And it will take at least 2:15 (and that's moving really, really fast).

If it were my trip, I'd add in Stumpy Creek (most under-rated Charlotte area course) after Rolling Pines. I'd bump Renny till Saturday, get an earlier start in the morning and play Renny and Canaan while dropping Sandhills.

 

[jjtwinnova]

Man, that's an impressive and virtually impossible to execute plan.

Navigation at Nevin is well marked and lightly played, if playing Worlds layout you might be able to make your schedule. Hornets Nest has a some long transitions but they are pretty well marked so follow those cues. Same thing, if playing Worlds layout you might be able to play in the allotted time. Print and use a map for Renny Gold, the navigation is very challenging. And it will take at least 2:15 (and that's moving really, really fast).

If it were my trip, I'd add in Stumpy Creek (most under-rated Charlotte area course) after Rolling Pines. I'd bump Renny till Saturday, get an earlier start in the morning and play Renny and Canaan while dropping Sandhills.

My brother and I are pretty familiar with these sorts of trips. We can get six courses done in a day in the middle of summer, but those were shorter and a little closer together. I think I can try for the Renny Gold on Saturday, bumping out the worse Canaan. That should give me enough time to play the other courses at more of a relaxed pace. I'll maybe be able to add a shorter course for Friday evening too.

One of my favorite parts about disc golf trips is the planning part. It's fun, and a little bit stressful. I usually try and make the best possible trip, even if it's a tad ambitious. So far it has all worked out.

 

[discNDav]

Go Pitt, beat Clemson (ND fan here). I didn't like RLSmith at all in 2015 so I'm glad they are revamping it. Rolling Pines is indeed excellent, last month I drove 2.3 hrs out of the way to play it and I'm glad I did.

 

[markmanchette]

I would suggest maybe joining Charlotte area disc golf (group) on Facebook. Explain you are from out of town and you would like to play Bracketts Bluff in Davidson, just north of Charlotte. It's a private course. No guarantees, it's gotten pretty exclusive, but maybe a member can show you through.

 

[armiller]

How did you like Nevin? That was by far my favorite Charlotte course when we were there a couple weeks ago.