Pros:
Goose Landing is an excellent course at the intersection of just-passing-through (NC 52) and heading-somewhere-else (NC 49). Two years into its existence, this course has established itself as an under-the-radar locale.
- After reading earlier reviews, my expectations were somewhat tempered. But, Goose Landing blew any thoughts I had about the course. This is a great layout, one of the best new courses in the area in a while.
- The course is filled with fun and challenging holes. It can be a grind at times, as noted by having to play your round around the lake, and essentially the entire park. Still, finishing up #18, I was really tempted to play another 18. And this is after I'd already played 99 holes that day, across four different counties.
- There are some really quality holes at this course. I think there are 4 holes that could easily be the signature hole on this course: #5 (the water hole); #14 (402-foot hole that runs along the water); #15 (405-foot hole that throws around/over edge over water, over hole to basket protected by trees) and #16 (648 foot par 5 that seems much longer and bigger than that). In that sense, this course has advanced-level potential, along the lines (to varying degrees) of other area courses such as: Renny, Nevin, Hornets Nest, Stumpy and Fox Chase. All are great courses that come at you with one challenge after another.
- That said, my two favorite holes on the courses were none I listed above, but did also involve water. #4 - really enjoyed the challenge and risk/reward of this layout. It's a 279-foot hole that starts in the woods to an open basket that's only 25 feet or so in front of the water. #6 - it's a 429-foot hole with water (protected by some trees) running along the left side of the fairway the length of the hole. It felt great parking my second shot here for a drop-in 3.
- The course requires a lot of different shots throughout, while also giving you multiple options of how to play the course. The course has decent length, averaging 351 feet per hole, with 6 holes longer than 400, another four between 342 -372 feet, with nothing shorter than 227 feet. That said, on the longer holes, you can pull out driver, or play a couple mid-range shots and keep your shots in the fairway.
- Throughout the course, on many holes, you will be in trouble if you miss the fairway (deep in the woods or in the water) or the smart lay-up spots, as seen on #9. So yes, there's a strong risk/reward factor here, with the scales leaning heavily towards the risk side on some holes. Your round can be simplified, and produce many easy pars, even if not birdies, just by playing safe.
- Tee signs are mostly good. They're very descriptive and helpful, providing important information. On #5, it's great that the sign lists the distance to carry the water. It's good for those of us who are unsure about how aggressive we want to be.
Cons:
The biggest problem here might not even be a true negative. It's more of an observation. For a course having two different layouts, 8 of the 18 holes share the same layout. So, on one hand, there's not a lot of variance due to the overlap. However; that might be better than the alternative of having forced alternative tee pads.
- I thought the tee on #11 plays much too close to the barb wire fence that runs along the left side of the fairway. It's a narrow fairway, with heavy tree coverage on both sides. My tee shot was running down the right side of the fairway, hit a tree and kicked 50 feet left, and ended up on the other side of the fence. I was able to get my disc back, but I'm probably not the first or last who will have the property line fence become a major issue on this hole.
- Navigation could be improved. Holes cross over at several different points. For example, after playing #5, you can go left to #6, go right to #14 or head past the basket and end up at #9. A few more arrows or signs could possibly keep people from ending up at wrong holes.
- Signage could be more accurate. On holes #10 & 12, for example, the tee sign shows both holes being doglegs, indicating both holes having about the same degree of bend in the fairway. Hole #10 plays very straight, with almost no bend. The fairway for #12, on the other hand, ends up being a near 90-degree right hand turn halfway down the layout. These two holes are completely different layouts, but a first-timer wouldn't know based on the signage. Add to that, #16 long could have better signage, letting players know about the (at-times) deep and dark creek that runs across and along the fairway.
- More benches and trash cans throughout the course will be needed in time. On a hot summer day, once you're on the back nine, I'm sure plenty of people will need to be sitting down and resting quite often. Not me, of course. But others will.
Other Thoughts:
This is a solid course, and my opinion hasn't changed after my second round, 2 years after the first. It's hard to believe that Stanly County now has 3 very good-to-great courses.
- As much as I sing this course's praises, there are still improvements to be made. Maybe clearing out some more trees or moving tee pads or baskets will lead to even better layouts.
- Some people are not going to like some parts of this course, and I can see why. #5, for example, is going to have its critics. If you can't clear the water from the long tee (I wasn't in the mood to chance it, so I wimped out), you either have to play from the short tee (some people, like me, want their entire round played from one set of tees without exception) or have an awkward/difficult layup. I basically threw from the long tee towards the short tee on the island. The problem is that there aren't really any other options to play this hole.
- The other problem I could see some people having is that there seems to be a drumbeat of (nearly) alternating wooded, dogleg left and dogleg right holes from holes #8 - 13. That six-hole stretch yields three rights and two lefts. Maybe breaking up that monotony a little would be nice.
- Course is really convenient for players coming from Charlotte and/or I-85, half a mile from the intersection of 49 & 52. If you're coming from out of town, make it a day trip to play the entire Stanly County trifecta of Goose Landing, Fox Chase and City Lake. It'll be a solid day of disc golf, even if Pat disagrees.