Pros:
Located in the middle of the South Fork of the Catawba River, is Goat Island DGC. I've been meaning to make my way out here for a few years, ever since my good friend moved to Cramerton, but kept missing it (outside of Hole 19 after dinner one night).The course shares the island with a small playground, but otherwise is mostly used as a disc golf course. This 18 hole course features DISCatcher baskets, concrete tees, decent navigational signage, and adequate tee signs at most holes. I noticed a couple of benches along the course, but they weren't at the teepads, outside of one tee that had 3 lawn chairs beside it. These and the two tee signs I saw with bag holders were nice to see. The course features two layouts, where eight-or-so holes have two teepads. Hole 2, while playing from the same tee, has different Par listed between the layouts. These alternate tee pads often completely alter the shape & nature of the holes.
The course is full of wonderfully designed holes that really stand out. Many of the Par 4s really stood out to me, not only in how they played, but the way they looked. The course overall is extremely beautiful and there are times that you feel like you are in your own little world. The views of the river surrounded by dense trees make the course have a unique feel that can't be found anywhere else close by.
Goat Island will require a variety of shots to score well on, and accuracy is emphasized way more than power. If you are on the fairway, you will find yourself enjoying this course. If you miss the fairway at all, your score is going to fill up with red, fast. Fortunately none of the holes really require much more than a midrange or fairway driver to have birdie looks.
Holes 1 & 2 are absolutely phenomenal starting holes that utilize the bluff really well. Right out of the gate you will realize how pretty and interesting this course is going to be.
On the opposite side of the river from Holes 1 & 2 is the downtown Cramerton area, where there are plenty of food and pub options to hit up after your round. Right there in the grassy field is "Hole 19" which is a fun ace run hole to try for. If you plan to make this a part of your day, it might be worth parking over here and starting on Hole 4, playing around the course and finishing on Hole 3.
Cons:
The biggest and most apparent downside of Goat Island DGC, is the double-edged sword of being located on the low-lying, flat island for which the course is named. As amazing an experience as it is to have the course almost fully situated on the island, it comes with a lot of downsides as well. First-and-foremost is the fact that the island has the potential to be shut down for extended periods of time due to flooding. Earlier this year the course was closed because the island was closed for a few months for this.
It also means that if it has rained at all in the days/week before your round, it is likely going to be caked in mud. When I played, I had a rag in hand to wipe my discs off after every throw, but Holes 6, 7, 8, 11, 14, & 16 were particularly muddy. When I played there seemed to be at least an inch of mud covering Hole 11's tee, outside of the very front corner, and Hole 16's tee had been completely swallowed by mud.
Many of the tee signs were either missing or illegible. The course could definitely benefit from new tee tee signs, with bag holders on every post. I only saw two tee signs with bag holders while I was out there, and greatly appreciated them, but with how muddy the course seems to get - one at every hole would be a marked improvement.
Outside of a few benches that seemed to be placed more for park goers, there weren't many benches along the course - and I don't recall seeing any trash cans on the island at all. This isn't an issue in my eyes, as long as park goers actually utilize the pack-in-pack-out mentality. I imagine the lack of trash cans is correlated to the possibility of flooding, but a couple of benches could benefit the course.
Navigation can be a bit tricky at times. For the most part the course flows really well, and has decent navigational signage, but the back-nine had a few instances worth noting. After Hole 10, the obvious trail takes you to Hole 18's tee. I'm not even sure if the "trail" to Hole 11's tee could even be called that at this point with all the growth and rough covering it. A sign or two could be placed pointing golfers in the right direction. It was one of the few parts of the course where navigational signage was needed, and one of the few places where there was none. After Hole 11 you have to semi-backtrack to get to Hole 11. But there is a path just off the fairway, heading back towards 11's tee. Just something to keep in mind when you are teeing off, because this trail is definitely not out of play.
When I played the fairways for Hole 8 & 16 looked like they were starting to become a bit overgrown. Hole 8 wasn't as bad, but Hole 16 was in quite rough shape. The rough is already thick on the sides of many of the fairways, which didn't bother me much, but when that same thick rough begins to encroach so much on the fairways it tends to be less enjoyable to play.
If you're planning on playing here in the summer, make sure to eat a few bananas beforehand and cover yourself in DEET. Lest you be bombarded by mosquitos while out and about on the course. Fortunately my friend who lives close by, gave me the heads up and I was able to prepare accordingly.
Other Thoughts:
I am a bit torn on what rating I should give Goat Island. This course really seems to be a bit of a Goldilocks Course (love it or hate it course depending on the condition that it is in when you play it / time of year you play it)- at least based on what I have heard from others. So for now, I am going to give Goat Island DGC a 3.0 rating. I've chosen this score by trying to take into consideration how fun I felt the layout is/would feel under better conditions, while factoring in how bad the mosquitos and mud seem to get in the summer. I will definitely revisit this rating if I get the chance to experience the course in better conditions in the future, but for now this score seems like a fair compromise between what it could be and what it felt like for me.
However, I do want to give a huge shout out to the GDGC for trying to keep this beast tamed over the years. I imagine the island being closed for a few months earlier this year probably prevented a few of the workdays that would have been spent getting this course into better shape. Hopefully the next time I make my way out to Goat Island, I will get to see it on one of its better days - and plan to revisit this review if that happens.
Favorite Blue Holes: 1, 2, 10, 14