Fayetteville, NC

Middle River DGC

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1.55(based on 13 reviews)
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12 0
DiscGolfCraig
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 20.4 years 622 played 569 reviews
1.00 star(s)

Lower Middle Class

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Dec 30, 2023 Played the course:once

Pros:

When you have a 12-hole course that has lots of holes that play the same, do you really need 12 holes?
The first three holes are relatively straightforward. Sadly, these holes are three of the holes that standout. If you like trees on the course, soak up these as you won't see another in play.
Hole #9 throws over a small ravine (retention pond?). That offers a look unlike anything else on the course.
Hole #10 starts in the open (as they all do), throwing to a basket just beyond a billboard. You're either throwing around, or under the billboard to get to the basket. An interesting layout, for sure.
There is construction going on in the field, causing some holes to be relocated. For the other holes, tees are marked with white posts.
The backdrop of highway creates an interesting vibe. It created a natural white noise for me.
Baskets were in good enough shape.

Cons:

There's construction starting for a new building in the field (as of December '23) that's caused some tees and/or baskets to be relocated. As such, the online map isn't accurate as you're having to guesstimate where the tees are supposed to be.
One of the benefits of this redesign may be the reduction in number of holes. Holes #1, 4 – 8 and 12 are all wide-open with zero obstacles. A whole lot of 300 – 325-foot shots.
With the new construction, maybe it will also create some new challenges, or at least, more variety.
It really is an overly simplistic layout. It's a surprising theme of Fayetteville area courses and their sense of redundancy.
For more experienced players, they'll have a field day due to the course's simplicity. Or they'll get maddeningly frustrated with its lack of…everything.

Other Thoughts:

It's nice seeing a church put in a course. I'll give them credit that they tried. But…..
Holes also lack variety in their lengths. Distances ranged from 249 to 362 feet, with three holes between 249 – 252 feet, three between 333 – 362 feet, and six between 279 and 314 feet. Also, the course has zero elevation.
Course would be good for practice. Lots of open space to unleash drives.
By hole #5, I was losing interest. Playing #9 & 10 at least the last 10 minutes worthwhile.
This is a one-and-done for me. Sadly, that's a theme for a lot of Fayetteville area courses.
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18 0
wellsbranch250
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 10.8 years 694 played 680 reviews
1.00 star(s)

Slowly Dying In An Open Field 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jan 20, 2021 Played the course:once

Pros:

(0.766 Rating) A substandard course that's getting worse.
- QUICK PLAY - Sadly this is the best aspect of this course. My co-worker and I arrived here 10 minutes before sunset and we were still able to complete the round with enough twilight left to see basket (12) from tee. 26 minutes was all it took, although we did skip hole (3) due to no basket.
- CHAINS - The only other thing of substance good about this course is the baskets. I'm not sure what happened to (3s) missing basket, as noted above, but the other 11 were all in fine shape.

Cons:

Lots of issues with Middle River.
- VARIETY - I'll start here, because this is a rather unfixable aspect. The space available to use for this course is bland. Other than the sinkhole on (9), the course is ice-rink flat. Distance variation is minimal being between 200-feet to 320-feet, and thus they are all par 3s. I can count the number of trees in play on one hand and have fingers left over. No water features either. Overall, I'd put the variety in my bottom 5% of all my courses played to date.
- SAFETY - The layout butts up against roads, parking lots and future buildings now under construction. In addition, the layout intersects with itself on (9) through (11). The tee shot on (11) is something I had never seen before with the roadside billboard 20 feet in front of the tee and the basket for (10) just beyond that, hoping to claim some black aces.
- LACK OF CHALLENGE - I personally didn't throw well, but I attribute that to only throwing one disc and throwing with a winter coat on. Advanced players should be able to throw 11 down and Rec players will likely average 3 or 4 down. There is no technical challenge other than the wind. The distances are Rec level imo.
- SIGNAGE AND NAVIGATION - At its peak, this course was likely easy to follow with the simple white numbered tee posts and due to the open landscape. Unfortunately, time hasn't been kind, as now several tee markers are missing. The posts are missing for holes (3, 4, 8 and 10) and hole (1s) is laying on the sidewalk. Following this layout is not possible without a navigational app.
- AMENITIES - Other than the baskets and seven intact tee markers, there is no other equipment or extras.
- NATURAL BEAUTY - A landscape with no elevation, few trees, no backdrop views and no water. So yeah, I didn't score this aspect very high. I went with 4 percentile.
- NO ALCOHOL - Park rules clearly indicate no alcohol on a sign by basket (2). Whoops.

Other Thoughts:

Middle River is one of those courses that players will remember because of how bad it is. Perhaps this one will find some use for beginners who want to avoid the crowds at the other area courses or for those looking for open field practice. I personally have a feeling this course is going to get axed or tweaked due to the ongoing construction by holes (5, 6 and 12). However, even if it is tweaked and gets an amenities facelift, it's never going to score above a 1.5 in my books. As is, I'm going with a 0.75 rated course.
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7 0
MrFrosty
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 31.6 years 764 played 387 reviews
1.00 star(s)

Under A Billboard ? What The !?! 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 5, 2020 Played the course:once

Pros:

Middle River DGC sits behind and to the side of Fayetteville Community Church grounds . There is a large parking lot at the end of the side driveway . Look at the baskets so you can gage where you park ( far away from them ) . There are Port O Lets at the ball field .
The Equipment - You can tee off from the sidewalk for #1 , then the rest of the tees are natural . The tee signs are short white pipes that have numbers only on them . The baskets are yellow banded Discatchers with numbers on them .
The Landscape - The church grounds are meticulously mowed and trimmed .However , there was construction going on in the back of the property and it looks like vegetation next to it has claimed #9's basket and #10's tee .The course is Pancake Flat . There is a nice large twisting tree in the middle of the #2 fairway , and a couple of trees that you throw between on #3 when teeing off , but those are the only trees that come into play . A billboard is a factor on #11 . #4 and 5 play around a ballfield . A parking lot sits behind and around 2 baskets .
Course Appearance/Atmosphere - The church sits on a nice looking piece of property , but the combination of the parking lot , ball fields , construction and highway make it less appealing . One of the church hands actually greeted me when I came to play on a Monday morning .
Highlights - Maybe #2 , with the wide right to left throw around a large twisted tree ( you can also throw out over the highway left to right , too ) . I never threw a low trajectory throw using a billboard as the canopy before until I played hole 11 .
Disc Risk - with it being windy , it might be possible to have your disc blow over a fence . I couldn't tell if the gates were locked on the ball field or not . otherwise , disc risk is very low
The Time - deduct me looking for #9 basket and #10 tee and it took me 30 minutes to play 11 holes . A group of 4 will play here in 50 minutes . .
You can still get in 11 holes by playing #9 tee to #10 basket and proceeding . It is a flat fast play and easy on the knees . and you might get a deal on a car from the owner after a drive that was picked up by the wind dents his car .

Cons:

#1 Safety - You could hit a moving car on the road with your drives on 1 & 2 ( A Mando on 2 would fix part of it ) . #4 tee throws between a utility garage and the ball field . I can't imagine that you would be allowed or want to play #4 & 5 . The church parking lot sits right behind the #4 basket and is in play on #12 for sure . The lot had a bunch of cars in it when I played . With the type of players that will come here to practice , this is going to be a problem .
#2 - 12 or 11 ? It was only supposed to be a 12 hole course , and really has only 11 tees and baskets for now . With the construction , I doubt that it will even expand .
#3 Challenge - Other than #2 and #11 ( under the billboard ) and maybe #4 between a chain link fence and shed . there are no obstructions here . Just wide open grips and rips . The wind will be your biggest hurdle to clear .

Other Thoughts:

I couldn't find the #4 tee , but I wouldn't have thrown the hole as it was , anyway . It is a 90 degree turn at the end , and if I didn't make the turn , a Prius or Honda was going to feel the sting of my Star Tern . I think it is a good idea for churches and schools to add a course ( if logistically possible ) to its grounds just as a Welcome to the area beacon , and subtle advertisement ( " Hey , check us out " ) If you moved all of the cars away from the course in the later parts of the evening , You could attach some glow sticks or solar bars to the baskets and throw glow discs for night golf .
My Recommendation _ If in a controlled environment , this could be nice for a church social , or something for the kids to do in the back of the course after Sunday School ( do they still have that ? ) The course plays too close to fences and moving or parked cars for newbies , and intros , even risky for locals . Might be too boring for everyone else . Still might be a good place for locals to try out new discs and see how they react in the open and wind . Easy off and on from I-95 if you want to stretch for a few holes . Course Collectors can snatch a quick one here .
If local or a church member , practice here , otherwise , you might want to take a pass on this one .
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7 0
pmay5
Gold level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 21.4 years 568 played 261 reviews
1.50 star(s)

Basic, open, church course. Good for a warm-up round. 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Feb 9, 2018 Played the course:once

Pros:

Pretty easy to follow the flow of the course.
Mostly wide open, the few trees available were used well to force shot shaping.
On pieces of church property that aren't normally used. Nice activity for church members to enjoy.

Cons:

The baskets aren't in great shape, a couple were leaning pretty badly. Most tees were just natural.
Posts to mark the tees and that was about it.
A couple of holes were very near a busy two-lane road and a VERY busy four-lane road. With the amount of wind that blows across the open property, it wouldn't take much for a disc to be carried away onto these roads.
Crazy use of a roadside billboard to force a Mando on #11.

Other Thoughts:

It does have a couple of cool holes, #3 has to be shaped around a couple of large trees, to an open green - #9 plays across a "sinkhole" at the back of the property, this gives a real risk/reward tee shot.
Very quick access off BUS I95 in Fayetteville, if you are traveling through. Since it is so open, it is a quick play also, even with 12 holes.
It looks like not much has been done to the course since it was put in. There's some construction going on that doesn't affect the course too much.
Pretty much just a course for course bagging or as a warm-up for the Mazarick courses that I played after this one.
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10 0
KenanFlagler01
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 14.6 years 198 played 192 reviews
0.50 star(s)

Too close to roads 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Aug 26, 2016 Played the course:once

Pros:

Unfortunately, the safety issues (not for the disc golfer, but for road traffic and parked cars) are really about as bad as I've ever seen on a course, so this is a borderline 0.0 course for me. I'll give it a 0.5 because some of the holes are okay.

+ Wide open holes to rip drives.
+ Good baskets.

Cons:

The main issue with the course is the crazy proximity to secondary roads -- not neighborhood roads, mind you, but 45 mph speed limit roads, right off of Business 95, with cars, 18-wheelers, etc. I actually couldn't believe how bad hole 2 is. The tee is literally right off the road, about 10 feet, with the basket also about 10 feet from the road, 220 feet away. Yes, this hole is laid out parallel to a moderately busy road, just feet from it. You have to wait until traffic is clear in both directions before throwing. If you were to attempt to throw with a car going past, you'd be taking a huge risk with someone else's car (and life, if you think about it). Not safe at all.

Other cons...

- Hole 1 plays towards this same road. It's perpendicular to it, not parallel, but still, the basket finishes near the road.

- Hole 3 tee is right off the same road and plays back over the driveway entrance to the church.

- Hole 4 also plays over this gravel driveway. You have to hyzer around the corner of the baseball field. A very slight error puts you over the fence and unable to retrieve your disc easily.

- Hole 9 plays over a deep construction pit, too steep to enter to retrieve an errant throw. Also, tractors were parked just off the fairway, well within striking distance, especially since you would want to stay clear of the pit on the opposite side of the fairway.

- Holes 10, 11, and 12 all are parallel to another secondary road, not quite as busy as one on the front side of the course. Hole 11 plays under a billboard. Strange. Hole 12 is right beside the church parking lot. Very easy to hit a car. (I almost did.)

- All of the issues above are basically the same thing: safety for traffic and parked cars! There are other negatives: all wide open, not much variety, no tees (just grass). Taken together, especially if you count safety as the above-all most important factor, there's more than enough reason to justify a 0.0 rating. Again, hate to do it because I apppreciate the church building a course and allowing the public to play it, but a serious redesign should be considered.

Other Thoughts:

I hope the church will consider a redesign that takes into account the safety issues listed here. Until then, if it happens, if you decide to play here, please be cautious so as not to hurt someone else or their car!
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2 0
LeeLK
Experience: 16.4 years 68 played 53 reviews
1.50 star(s)

Great warm up to other courses 2+ years drive by

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

Pros:

Every hole is pretty much a big, flat, mostly open field with the occasional tree (or billboard?), so it's pretty straightforward. Baskets in great shape.

Cons:

No tee pads, no signage, not exactly exciting layout. You play around a parking lot so you have to watch out for cars.

Other Thoughts:

This is basically a bunch of fields around a church that they have thrown some baskets in and made a small effort to make it interesting. They are a good length, so you get to air it out a bit and get the arm ready for other courses in the area.
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6 0
New013
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 14.3 years 179 played 120 reviews
1.00 star(s)

Open Spaces 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 3, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

Layout - Its a course on church property so it was designed with a more beginner/recreational type layout in mind. As that type of course I think it does a good job.

It's mostly wide open sub 300' shots. Any and every possible obstacle in the course area was used to create what challenge there is. You play near the few trees and a billboard giving you something to miss.

To me it's more of a practice area for experienced golfers, gives you a place to open up and try different lines. You can create any number of different safari holes as well.

Atmosphere - Church lawn type deal pretty much right in the middle of the city. As such it's probably one of the safer areas in Fayettville.

Equipment - Natural tee areas that are just marked. Baskets still in good condition.

Cons:

Layout - It's pretty boring for an actual course, especially if you're an experienced player. Again it's probably more suited for a practice area or for non serious golfers to have some fun on. It's just a bunch of similar wide open shots except for a couple.

You do play pretty close to the road once and there is a possibility you end up in the ball field. I doubt anybody would be playing during a game but there's not really a way to get in there when nobody is around, the gate is locked.

Atmosphere - No seclusion, you're in a wide open area.

Other Thoughts:

Remember this is church property so be respectful
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7 0
reposado
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 13.3 years 278 played 276 reviews
1.50 star(s)

About that Billboard 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Nov 22, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

Nice open spaces with baskets at decent distances make for a great place to learn discs and practice placement. On most of these holes, nothing will inhibit the flight of the disc towards the target.

Though the area is used for other activities, the holes are mostly kept away from those areas. I can easily someone playing a few holes instead of watching the family activity they came to the park for.

Cons:

There are a bunch of problems though. There are two holes that play close to the baseball field. Not really a problem if there is no game, but if there is, there is a good chance that a disc goes over the fence and causes a problem. It's especially a problem on a course aimed at beginners as these are exactly the players who will lack the control to stay out of there.

There's also ten, in which the basket is just behind a large billboard. Its followed by eleven, where the tee is placed so that the best route to the basket is directly under the billboard.

There is also the final hole, which throws essentially through the parking lot. Fine if there are no cars. But.....this is essentially the problem. Serious players will not find the course challenging enough. Beginning players have been given too many obstacles (cars, billboards, baseball players) that should not be in the line of fire.

Other Thoughts:

Since the tees are not permanent, I'm sure things could be moved around to make the course more suited for new players and with less dangerous fairways. It's a nice place and the baskets are more than decent, so a little rearranging could go a long way.
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2 0
tiger5
Experience: 14.4 years 23 played 23 reviews
2.00 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jan 25, 2013 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

I know at first glance this course doesn't have signage or concrete tee pads. But, it's not a bad course. It's completely opposite from every course within 100miles. Every other course in the area is super wooded and rarely have the opportunity to just throw as far as possible with no chance of losing a disc. Honestly, I would call this a beginner / practice course. That's not trying to take anything away from it, but I don't think it was intended to be a championship level course. Although, I do believe with a little tweaking in terms of OB markers (ex. putting a circle around the basket as if it were an island) it could have a lot of potential. Lots of courses that host tournaments use flags and other markers to make the course more challenging and difficult. That would be a very simple fix / improvement that could happen very easily.
These are the type of courses that make you better as a player, because you get to work on different types of shots, and ways of approaching the basket. It's also a very good course for beginners as well. There's lots of open space so they're not going to lose a disc in the woods. Plus it has a clean, calm and quiet atmosphere.

Cons:

I gave this course a 2.5, because it's honestly better than several 18 hole courses I've played. But that being said it's still not up to the level where I would rate it much higher without some signage. I really think that the course would improve greatly with some OB markers narrowing fairways or area around the baskets, it's something that you need to be creative in order to do it the right way but I think would drastically improve the course. As well as putting a MANDO on some of the trees for holes 2&3.

Other Thoughts:

Overall, it's not a bad course, gives you lots of space and opportunities to work on every aspect of your game. If you want to make the course harder you can make up your own layout, playing different holes from different tee markers. These types of courses allow you to be creative in challenging yourself, try and play the entire course just throwing sidearm or make up your own OB or course configuration. I think the fact that it has lots of open space certainly allows you try new shots and gain some confidence before playing other courses that have narrow fairways and shots that require lots of accuracy. I wouldn't tell you to go out of your way to play it, but if you're in the area, it the best place I've found to get away from the woods and get back to the basics and practicing so new shots.
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1 3
clementsjd1
Experience: 13.4 years 54 played 14 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Wide open 2+ years drive by

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

Pros:

- close to home
- wide open course allowed me to really put some back into it and learn my discs
- lots of parking
- not crowded, I think there were 2 other groups playing

Cons:

- plenty of room for 18 baskets
- big billboard blocking hole 10 takes a serios anheiser, or a shot under the billboard.
- no bathroom that I could find
- no distance markings or courss map

Other Thoughts:

I want to get out and play glow on this course
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2 0
BrewCrewJake
Experience: 13.5 years 14 played 3 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Great for New Disc Golfers! 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 16, 2011 Played the course:once

Pros:

- New double chain Discatcher baskets
- The nice green grass is well manicured
- Very quiet location
- Wide open which is great for players learning how to play.
- Great practice field to improve all skills

Cons:

- A couple holes near the end are next to a secondary road. Throws could easily go into the road.
- During baseball games, the parking lot will block hole 3 and the tee to hole 4.

Other Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this course. It was a quiet and nice field to practice. There were little to no obstacles per hole. The course allowed me to attempt bigger drives due to there being fewer hazards. It was nice to be able to try new shots without worrying about where the disc is going to land. Of the three courses in Fayetteville, this is the most clean and is definitely my new practice field. Overall this course was fun and very kid friendly!
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8 1
Olorin
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 45.5 years 1002 played 118 reviews
0.50 star(s)

It’s a sin to bore a disc golfer 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 10, 2010 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

*It's a very nice idea for a church to spend money on baskets, use their land for a disc golf course, and then open it up to the public.
*The nice green grass is well manicured.
*New double chain Discatcher baskets

Cons:

-No Elevation changes whatsoever. 12 totally and completely flat holes.
-Terrain: almost totally open with only a few trees on the whole course. 9 Grass/ 3 Mixed
-Hole lengths: not marked, but I estimate the lengths at 200-320 ft. 7 holes are >250 ft.
-I'm sorry to say, but they need to learn a little more about course design. A course should be designed for a particular skill level of player, so they need a clearer idea of who the course is mainly intended for. Being at a church that many people visit, and with such flat open land, there's a tremendous opportunity to introduce new players to the sport! It would have been better to make this a Green level, or at most a Red level course, but the holes are currently way too long for new players. In my opinion, they would have done far better to have just 9 holes with a great variety of shorter lengths from 100 ft to 250 ft. and maybe throw in one 280-300 footer.
-Tees: some are not marked, others are just a hole number on a white plastic post.
-Fairway variety: very limited, almost all are straight. 8 St/ 3 Left/ 1 Right
-Beauty: a large billboard mars holes 10 and 11.
-Safety issues: on hole 11 from the tee you throw over 10's basket. This is odd and dangerous. Of course, this also means that players on 11's tee are in the flight path of people playing to the 10th basket.
-In my opinion 12 holes is an unusual number. Why don't they just stick to 9? Out there 9 are plenty.

Other Thoughts:

Course Level: White (because of the hole lengths it's most suited for Intermediate players rated 900.)

~If you play here please remember that it's private property and make sure to respect the church and follow their rules of no alcohol, no drugs, and no profanity (that may be the toughest one).
~As I said above, if the hole lengths were shorter it could be a pretty good course to teach beginners the game. I like church courses, so I'm sorry to say it, but for more experienced players the course is boring. To paraphrase the old Young Life saying, "It's a sin to bore a disc golfer." (And I'm sure that for some players having no alcohol, no drugs, and no profanity will make it even more boring.)

<span class="underline">A note about my rating:</span> My rating is a subjective measure of my enjoyment of the course, on the day I played it, and it is NOT intended to be a measure of the quality of the course. My ratings are given "on the curve" in relation to all other courses I've played.

~My more detailed "Overall Rating" notes and "Hole-by-hole Ratings" are available in the Files section.
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4 0
YonderScott
Bronze level trusted reviewer
Experience: 16.3 years 54 played 18 reviews
1.50 star(s)

Safari 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Feb 17, 2009 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

I had fun making my own tees here, but there is not much in the way of markings or challenge. If I lived or worked near I would surely practice here. And I like the fact a church has this here to introduce new potential players. If you live or work in the area it's a fun safari course. And a nice way to spend your lunch hour.

Cons:

There isn't a tee to be found on this course, rather you make your own. There is no elevation or many obastacles to be found, other than holes 6 and 7. No benches or trash cans, but it is such a quick play that hardly matters.

Other Thoughts:

This was a hard review to write, since this isn't what I consider a "course". This is 9 baskets scattered out over a flat field with little hazard. Don't go out of your way to play here, unless you are already in Fayetteville and want to boost your course count or warm up for the 2 other courses in town.
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