I have been trying to cover as many courses as I can when time allows, and I had time for one course while I was in Columbia this weekend. I chose Crooked Creek because it looked like a safe area and it was on my side of town.
Unfortunately, two things made this a less than desirable visit. #1, It had rained hard the day before so the course was flooded even after 12 hours since the rain stopped. #2, I could not find any local to play the course with, so I had to figure it all out on my own. To be fair, I also made the mistake of playing the blue tees as a Rec level player, so all things considered, I was in for a bad time.
The holes themselves were tough, but fair. A little bit of everything you would hope to see in a wooded course was here. I used every shot in my bag and some that I rarely have to use that I am glad no one was there to see.
Many holes are next to the crooked creek (imagine that) that runs through the course. The creek present a real water hazard that on this day was especially hazardous. The brown water was flowing hard and I lost a disc that I accidentally kicked into the freaking creek. However, I imagine under normal conditions, the creek is much more clear and would not be a big deal for disc retrieval.
Navigation was difficult for me. I got lost a couple times and had to refer to the picture of the layout I took at the welcome sign, but the sign seemed to be accurate, so it got me back on track.
I am not a fan of multiple pin locations on a hole. No one ever marks which is in play on the tee sign, and UDisc does not give multiple pin options. I am OCD about statistics, and it unnerves me when the ap does not match the course.
I have never seen holes configured like 9&10. It was unique, but the tee sign was confusing for a bit and I had to walk the long hole to figure out which way to drive from the pad. When I figured it out, it made sense, but that is one of those things that having a local with me would have been nice.
All in all, I would say this is a middle of the road course. It has some unique and interesting holes, but someone is trying way to hard to change it up. To improve the rating, I would suggest cleaning up the 2-3 gaps for next tee signage (most signage was good), find a way to mark tee signs with what pin location is in play, find a way for Udisc to reflect actual layouts.
12/23/2020 Update: I have not been back since my last review, but I would like to share where this course ranks for me.
Out of the 66 courses I have reviewed, this is where this course ranks along with similarly rated courses:
Rank-Course, Location
30-Granbury City DGC, Granbury, TX
31-Owens Field Park, Columbia, SC
32-Hampton Park Baptist Church DGC, Greenville, SC
33-Pecan Grove West, Sherman TX
34-Weatherford DGC, Weatherford, TX
35-Timmons Park, Greenville, SC
36-Crooked Creek Park, Chapin, SC
37-USC Upstate, Spartanburg, SC
38-Trails DGC, Anderson, SC
39-Shoally Creek DGC, Boiling Springs, SC