Matt Goad
I’d say I’m pretty average at disc golf. I’ve played for a while but I’m a casual player. I play to get outside and enjoy nature more than to be competitive. That’s what works for me. A lot of times I play on my own.
For those who don’t know, disc golf is a sport where you try to get a frisbee-type disc into a basket in the least number of throws. You might have seen yellow baskets at public parks for disc golf.
Courses differ in length and landscape. Most around here are 18 holes and pretty densely wooded so you have to navigate around a lot of trees.
I get frustrated often, but enough shots catch just right to really look good…until they hit a tree usually. That feeling, though, of launching it just right keeps me playing longer than I thought I would when I borrowed my first disc—an Innova brand Shark midrange that I somehow still have—to go play for the first time. And, again, it gives me a reason to hike around a Triangle park in the summer.
So, I am by no means an expert, but these are the courses I like to play. Pretty much in order. These are weighted heavily toward the western side of the Triangle because that’s where I live, but again, these are what work for me.
Southern Community Park Disc Golf Course (Chapel Hill): Just south of Southern Village shopping area and next to the dog parkoff Dogwood Drive is a real nice course that’s a good mix of wooded but not too crazy with some more openish holes as well.
No. 9 is cruel to me but worth the challenge. I’ve seen people do it no problem. It doesn’t look too tough at first, but there are just two trees down the fairway on either side just leaning right into your way.
It’s easy to do just nine holes here. (If you do the back nine you can skip No. 9.) The course is a pretty good workout too, with a lot of elevation changes. It’s definitely not long, but I’ve leaned toward shorter courses in general in the list.
Valley Springs (Durham): In northwest corner of Durham you’ll find this course, which is wooded like the rest, but on the front nine has some cool actual valley throws where you’re starting up high and throwing over a low area at a basket back up on the other side of the other valley. The longer, alternate tees on this course are fun on these holes if you really want to launch it, and who doesn’t? Doesn’t seem to be too crowded either.
Cornwallis Road (Durham): By far the shortest course on this list, but a lot of fun. Good for beginners, but I’ve seen really good players out here too. It gets really crowded on nice weekends, though, and the layout can be confusing at first because it’s so short and holes are placed right on top of one another. It’s kind of near Duke’s West Campus, so it’s crammed in a tight space in a nice residential neighborhood. You get the occasional wanderer onto the course from somewhere else in the park, but, hey, you’re playing for free.
Apex Nature Park: I haven’t played this one as much as the others because it’s farther away and it’s newer, but it’s a nice course, more open than many, although still heavily wooded on both sides of the fairway. It gets muddy on the back nine, though, so be careful after rainy days. It’s also easy to play a quick nine and you end up back at the parking lot. I’d compare it to a cross between Cornwallis and Southern Village, including length.
UNC Disc Golf Course (Chapel Hill): This is definitely the best known course on this list, and probably in all of the Triangle. It’s pretty challenging, and I sometimes find it a bit hard to navigate. If you’re driving to the course, you start in the middle, near the UNC administration buildings off Raleigh Road. Once you’re in on this course, you’re kind of in it for the long haul because you really just have to walk back through the course to get back to the parking lot if you don’t do all 18 holes.
Close to the Triangle and worth mentioning: Cedarock Park Disc Golf Course in Burlington is a nice change of pace. It’s mostly open but fairly long, too, so the challenge is different from normal. You don’t have to worry so much about hitting a tree, but you have to heave it across an old farm each throw. In the same park is Wellspring, a different, more standard-for-here wooded course where I’ve only played two holes.
