Pros:
Nevin is one of the most challenging, longest courses around. It's going to humble even the best of players, but also make you want to come back for more. It challenges you both physically and mentally:
- Physically: Accuracy and distance are both a premium here. Lots of walking; long rounds, even when playing solo, rounds have been taking me about an hour and a half. By comparison, I can play a solo round at Hornets Nest in about an hour. Also, your endurance will be challenged by lots of walking; long rounds, even if playing solo. You better come prepared, especially once the hot weather rolls around.
- Mentally: There are very few holes where you can relax, unwind and just throw. On almost every hole, you're throwing tee shots, not as much for distance, but to set up your next shot(s). You have to put bad holes behind you because this course will humble you. You don't want one bad hole snowballing into a stretch of bad holes.
- Course has some tight fairways. As difficult as the course can be in the winter, when there are no leaves on trees, it's going to play even harder in the spring and summer.
- Nevin forces you to be a better player. Any weakness in your game will get exposed here. Your tee shots fade too much at the end? You'll be deep in the woods on almost every shot? Can't putt (like me)? There goes any chance for birdie. Can't throw far? You'll be spending extra throws just to get to the pin on the long holes.
- Course has a bunch of great, creative holes. A lot of holes at Nevin would be the signature/most challenging hole at other courses; here it's just another hole. For example, everyone who's played Hornets Nest knows #12 - 638 foot, dogleg right par 5. At Nevin, holes #5, 6, 10, 16 & 17 are all at the same level, or close to the same level as #12 at Hornets. Even a hole like #1 - 491 foot long, narrow hole with a downhill, dogleg right basket, which I think is a great hole, easily gets overlooked at this course.
- The course has a good variety of hole-layouts, non-open holes excluded. Doglegs both directions (both severe and gradual doglegs); straight holes, open baskets; tightly guarded baskets; holes with good elevation changes (by Charlotte standards) both up and down.
- Park has lots of other amenities - baseball & soccer fields, playground, picnic shelters, walking trails, horseshoe pits and even bocce ball and shuttle board. The park is nicely laid out into different areas - ball fields and disc golf all the way to the back; playground, bocce ball and shuffleboard in another; and picnic shelters in the front.
Cons:
These first two items will contract my pros and are not negatives for me nor do they affect my rating. I'm just mentioning them so people know what to expect before playing. That said:
- This course can get frustrating. As stated, this course is meant to be a difficult, pro-level course and is not for beginners. Still, this course has almost no reprieve. When things are going good, it's fun tackling one tough hole after another. When things are going bad, it's easy to dread one tough hole after another.
- Narrow fairways will frustrate others. On some holes, there's thick underbrush/trees/plants, right along the fairway. Miss here and you could spend lots of time searching for your disc. The lost disc factor here is definitely higher than normal, so plan accordingly when you throw.
- The lack of open holes will also frustrate some people. #11 is relatively open, but it's under 300, so not smart to grip-n-rip here. #12 is open, for the first half, before playing through the woods. #14 is in an open field, but you first have to clear a mando between two trees.
- Parts of course seem to remain muddy long after it rains. This may be a "new course" issue or it could be a bigger drainage issue. The most notable areas are along parts of #15 & 16.
- Tee signs need to be upgraded. I'm a fan of Mark and his hand-drawn signs, but I'm guessing real signs will be an improvement and appreciated by more people.
- No amenities in the disc-golf portion of the park. You don't pass a water fountain and/or drink machine while playing, so you'd have to stop in another part of the park before or after your round. There's a bathroom near hole #13, which is opened year-round, and one near #9, which is only in spring & summer.
- Lots of long walks throughout course. Not an issue on the front 9, but there are some considerable walks on back 9. Also course doesn't loop back to parking lot after #9, so you can't easily start on #10 to play back 9. Because the course is so spread out there are no easy/natural places to skip holes if needed.
Other Thoughts:
Nevin ranks right up there with Renaissance as the two toughest courses I've played. I might give this a slight nod simply because this course is more wooded than Renny.
- Toughest doesn't always equal fun, so not everyone is going to like this 18-hole marathon. I equate extremely difficult courses with the U.S. Open. Rounds at the Open are always a grind and you see the top golfers struggling/being overwhelmed with the course. Instead of shooting 20 under, like they do at the John Deere Classic, golfers are shooting par at best.
- Know what you're getting yourself into before playing this course. Don't expect a lot of birdies and be happy with pars. Don't beat yourself here by wasting strokes with foolish shots. You'll already find yourself scrambling enough throughout the round, so don't add to it.
- The course has a bunch of great holes, it's hard for me to pick one. I love the design of the downhill/drop-off holes - #1, 3, 7 & 16 and how the play. #1 & 16 are both long downhill doglegs. If you don't keep your shot low, it will go sailing offline as the fairway curves away. #3 & 7 both have big drop-offs right behind the basket. What may appear to be a great tee shot or putt could end up 50 feet past the hole.
- Nevin gets added love for its location and convenience. It's 3 minutes from I-77, 5 minutes from Hornets Nest, and 10 minutes from Sugaw Creek. You can easily knock out the 3 courses with little drive time. In terms of proximity and quality of courses, Nevin and Hornets Nest is the best 1-2 combination in town. You're not going to find 2 better, tougher courses in Charlotte so closely located, which is perfect for out-of-towners. In the Charlotte-region, only Winthrop's 2 course layouts - Gold and Lakefront - are on the same level of location and quality for courses.
- This is a definite must-play for all DGers. You might not like the course layout, but at least you'll have to appreciate the difficulty this course offers for 18 straight holes.