Located 40 minutes south of the Gateway Arch, Waterloo, Illinois is well outside the St. Louis metropolitan area. For disc golfers through, this town has been home to a newer disc golf course since 2015. I have been thinking about making the out-of-the-way trip to this course for a while, and now that I have had the opportunity to make the trek to Konarcik Park, I can say that it is well worth adding to your wish list.

Konarcik Park is located a little east of the main strip of Waterloo. On your way in or out of town, you will find plenty of restaurants and gas stations if you need anything before or after your round. The park itself, in addition to Disc Golf, includes bathrooms, has 6 pavilions complete with running water and electric, barbeque pits, multiple playground areas, soccer fields, a baseball field, sand volleyball courts, and a lake that people can fish in with a valid license

When you arrive at the park, the parking area disc golfers should use will immediately be to the right, with the 1st tee down the hill to the left. The start of the course hidden if you aren't looking closely, but there's a small road sign that will direct you on where to park as well as the location of the first tee. You can also find a small bulletin board next to the parking lot with some information on leagues and events. There is also a practice basket between the main road and the parking lot, and has enough room around it for golfers to practice some longer putts.

The equipment on this course is in good shape for the most part. The course has 2 sets of tee pads, with the white pads being concrete and in great shape. The baskets are Gateway Titans and don't have any signs of aging on them. Each hole has a tee sign next to the white tees, and includes tee and pin locations, a bolt notating the pin in use, distances from each tee to each pad, direction to the next tee, and a graphic of each hole. There are also additional signs throughout the course directing you through the longer transitions, which really comes in handy in certain parts of the course.

Konarcik's disc golf course snakes around the park's lake, ball field, and pavilions, and offers a variety of obstacles and shot types. Seven holes, including holes 1 and 2, will require you to throw around or through lollipop pines that offer shade on sunnier days as well as tight lines to the basket. There are also a number of holes that snake through the woods around the park, requiring golfers to hit particular lines and gaps. When you add on the more open park style holes, you get a course that keeps you entertained through all 18 holes. The course seems to handle rain very well too, as there weren't any notable muddy areas during my round despite recent rain.

This course is a great option for a variety of players in terms of skill level and backhand/forehand preference. Konarcik strikes me as a park that will be challenging for newer players, but in a way that will remain fun on most of the holes. The risk/reward on multiple holes will make both novice and intermediate players think about their drives. For example, hole 7 is more open when you hyzer a RHBH around denser left side of the fairway, but a isc that end up too straight could end up closer to the lake. Holes 10 and 12 are holes with pin placements close to or on hillsides, where bad roll or kick can leave your disc down a hill or in a creek. The water hazards on multiple will almost go unnoticed for some players on this course, but are present and ready to penalize a bad shot.

This park is beautiful, and gives a glimpse at how pretty a lot of southern Illinois is. This combined with the course design provides a number of picturesque and memorable holes. Hole 18 has to be the highlight of the course though. This 700 to 775-foot hole starts with a tee shot that requires you to avoid a misthrow into the tree line to the right and hole 4's fairway to the left. After that, you have a gap to the green between two tree lines, with lollipop pines as the backdrop to your approach and putt. Definitely one of the most beautiful holes you will find within an hour of St. Louis, even in the middle of winter.

This park has a lot of amenities, requiring this course to snake around them. This results in some longer walks between holes. This course is designed by Dave McCormack and Gateway Disc Sports, and one of my takeaways from playing a number of their course designs is that they will opt to inset longer transitions between holes if it means that they can provide higher quality hole layouts as a result. While most of the walks aren't too long and have good directional signage, I found the walks from 11 to 12 and 17 to 18 to be especially long. The transition to hole 7 can also be confusing if you don't know where to go next; this is one spot where I did not notice a directional sign. It's nice that the tee signs have a next hole arrow, but this particular transition could be a little clearer. If you have UDisc, this issue will be less significant.

Other than the spots listed above, the one spot where it isn't completely clear where the next tee is, for me at least, was from hole 8's pin to the tee of hole 9. I ended up walking down the hill to hole 10 since that is the more open path. After hole 8, walk along the smaller path through the woods to the right to find hole 9. Even if you walk to hole 10, it's not hard to find hole 9, so this isn't a huge deal.

While the white tee pads are in great shape, the blue tees really feel like an afterthought on this course in terms of maintenance. The blue tees are marked by blue markers in the ground, and while some blue tees had turf pads, the turf is really starting to give way to the grass underneath and around the pads. As a result, the blue pads that are farther away from the white tees can be hard or impossible to find, which is a shame since these are the blue tee pads that tend to provide a truly different shot than the white tees. There are also a couple of blue tees, including holes 5 and 14, that are directly next to the white tee, making the blue tees on those holes feel like an afterthought.

That being said, I feel like multiple tee pads are a bonus on a lot of courses, especially those that have multiple pin options like Konarcik. If a course is going to have them though, it is nice when they are easily locatable and in decent shape. This could very well be on the to-do list of those who oversee the course, so better blue pads could be in this course's future.

Since my sole visit to this course took place in January as of the writing of this review, I didn't notice any prominent poison ivy. Other reviews have noted that it's around though, so look out.

Given its location, many folks may find it harder to get to Konarcik, or to make time for it. It's over a half hour away from Jefferson Barracks and the courses in Belleville, and even farther from courses that are south or east of Waterloo. I would encourage more people to make the drive though, as this course is a treat to play. being out of the way, this course gets less traction than a lot of other courses in the area. I played on a Sunday morning of a 3-day weekend when it was in the 30s, and I only saw one other person in the park the whole time I was there.

This course does have a league in place, and will host a B-Tier later this year. It's great to see more events happening at this course, as it makes for a fun round of golf. Professional players may find the course to be a little too easy, but I think a wide variety of skill levels will find this course to be enjoyable with a healthy amount of challenge.

If you're debating whether or not to make the trip to Waterloo, or wondering if you should make a stop at this course on a trip up or down route 3, I encourage you to go ahead and check this course out. Chances are you will find the drive to be well worth it.

-Good Signage. Some courses have garbage signage..This isn't one of them.

- Aesthetics... This course is beautiful in spring and summer. Tall trees, lovely grass, moderate elevation. It really is serene. Honestly this course does not feel like you are playing in the St. Louis metro area. Many of the holes have you looking right at these beautiful lollipop tall pine trees that look more like Central and South Georgia. It feels like a little step away from the city when you play here.

-Course design. There aren't any throw away holes on this course. Every hole offers some challenge even if appearing easy. Discs can slid into dense rough on the shorter holes or ping off trees into real disasters on the most challenging holes. It's a well designed course for the land that was available.

-Only one legitimate set of pads. There are Blue Pads but these have no actual pad and therefore aren't played enough to really open up lines. It is also not easy to find blue pads on each hole.

-some longer walks between holes could make for interesting navigation if you have never played the course.

-Some of the pads are criminally short. Hole 4 is a real bummer. Especially now that there is a longer pin placement that really requires a good drive of the tee.

-location. This course would be played by so many people if it was located in St. Charles or closer to other course. the nearest proper 18 hole course is 25 minutes away and its 45 minutes 270/40 Interchange.

I really like this course. It's one of my favorites in the area. Holes 1 and 2 can be really tough starters. You can easily get to Hole 3 and be +1 or +2 if you hit early trees. Hole 2 is especially daunting with the angle of attack with the downhill and water/rough for RHBH throwers. Lots of fun holes on this course. Holes 7, 14,16,17 spring to mind.

Saturdays you can also find mixed doubles at 1 pm.

Konarcik Park is a really nicely kept park and the disc golf course is decked out with great Gateway Titan goals, great tee signs, and pretty level tees, a couple with turf that I liked a lot. I really like this course just because it was fun. There are mostly grassy fairways, with some hilly slopes, a good number of mature trees, a pond, and a few holes in more densely wooded and brushy parts of the park. The course layout is easy to follow, and fairly short, offering a lot of birdie opportunities. 9 holes are under 225', 5 that are 250'-325', 3 are in the 410'-420' range, and the par 5 at the end measuring 695'. Overall par of 58, makes it possible to get way under if you have good control and sink some putts. My first and only round was a 53, with six birdies and one bogey. Not very often I get under par my first round on any course, so it is obviously not high difficulty. Would be a fun course to learn in, but there are enough challenging lines going in between trees, up and downhill throws, and longer holes to make it fun for some experienced players too. It isn't not championship level, and that's a lot of the fun for me. It is possible to string together 5 or 6 birdies, which I like because I can so rarely come close to that. I liked hole 1, it gives you a good feel for the setting. Not long, but plenty of trees that will knock down most drives that aren't accurate. Hole 2 is longer, still a par 3 and also with grassy fairway and scattered trees. Hole 3 was my first birdie, shorter and only a couple of trees to avoid. Number 4 is the first par 4, and I was able to birdie it also. Uphill off the tee, with a few very large trees to navigate around, as well as several smaller ones in front of the basket. Hole 5 easily could have been a deuce as well, but I threw a mid range where a putter would have done the job. It's a short downhill run with the pin tucked at the bottom to the left in the fringe of the woods. I overshot the pin, following up with a bad second throw out of the rough and a two putt. I made up the lost shot next hole with another bird. Hole 6 is a short one in woods that is slightly uphill and goes left to right a little. Hole 7 yielded another birdie, after I nailed the driver shot through the gap into the open air, and it curved right toward the pin as it faded. This was the location that is not to far from the waters edge, but you have to miss badly to the right to get in the pond. Hole 8 is almost wide open, a little downhill, with some brush and woods if you get behind the short pin that I played. 9 is another putter shot that a healthy flight path and a few trees on either side, and bushes nearer to the basket. 10 tees from the bottom, across the stream, and turns slightly to the right as it climbs uphill on the other side into a woodsy pin location. Another fun hole, but I couldn't hit the putt here. 11 is really tricky, I was lucky to save par. It tees between some big tress with tons of thick branches, and bends hard right as it drops in elevation and follows a line of trees to the pin. I scrubbed out off the tee and only flew about 40'. My next shot somehow hit just the right line and parked 10 feet from the pin. 12 is uphill, and in the woods, with thick brush lining either side, and the pin over the ridge at the top among a couple more large trees. 13 is also kind of a tight run through the woods, not long, but you need to hit a well defined line to get there. 14 brings another par 4, and could be the hardest hole on the course in my opinion. Has lots of trees, up hill, and with a narrow window out of the woods to approach the green. A bad bounce here could put you in a really tough spot. 15 is accesable, but it is surrounded but a multitude of mature trees. I got the right to left hyzer line that I wanted, and was able to get another birdie. Hole 16 is a more open fairway, but still has a few tall pines to get around on your way to a pin tucked away on the edge of the woods. Hole 17 is another weird one, a bit longer and goes through the woods over ground that is not level, on a twisty line that could be sort of tough to hit. The final hole is a banger, almost 700' and a par 5. It is open and downhill most of the way if you keep it in the middle. At the bottom of the hill there is a gap in the trees and the basket sits on the right up the side of the next hill a short way. An eagle is possible, if you hit two great throws or make a long shot on the third attempt. I made a decent 30 foot putt to get the birdie 4. These are the pin locations on the day that I played, but there are two on each hole, as well as alternate tees.

A few of the transitions between holes have a short walk, but the map under the links to the course is very good. Lack of major challenges may leave the pros out there wanting more.

Waterloo IL is a bit out of the way, but since I was in St. Louis and headed back east, I thought I would give it a shot. Glad I did, because Jefferson Barracks beat me down that morning, so it was a big boost in confidence to go way under par here. The park is immaculate, and the overcast weather with little wind was perfect. I love the Gateway baskets, and this was different from the other McCormack designed courses that I had played up to here. Seemed lighter on difficulty while still being fun, and not repetitive. Reminds me a little of Earlewood in Columbia SC or Boyd Pond in Beech Island SC. A good mix of shot shapes, distances, and nice use of the hills and trees to get the most out of the space. I thought I might have remembered most of the tees being concrete, aside from the two covered with turf, but they are mostly natural in the pictures, so either I am mistaken, or they have been upgraded since the pics were posted. Either way, they were good enough to not be bad, and really wouldn't impact my rating much. I would like to give this course a 3.75 really. I will go ahead and round up. Very enjoyable and lots of variety, enough change in style from hole to hole to keep it interesting. Plenty of trees that offer resistance but it isn't discouraging. A nice change of pace, but not just a pitch and putt. Check it out if you live nearby, or if you happen to get close and have some extra time.

Awesome looking course with great views. great mix of wooded shots and a few open ones. Great finishing hole over 700ft and through a narrow opening on second shot (Third/Fourth Shot for Shawn Simon). Once you find where to throw it's a 5 star!

no course map, near impossible finding holes on the first time playing. Over half the pins hidden from tee pad so if you haven't played the course good luck finding where you are throwing. You have to almost walk the course once to see where every pin and hole is. Over a 1/4 mile walk between holes at least twice. Poison Ivy everywhere.

The course is great to play, but brutal finding the pins and holes. Tee pads are new so very short run ups.

> Exceptional challenges, variety and difficulty throughout.

> A very safe and thoughtful design that ensures players and the public stay out of each others way, and that players are safe from one another.

> Adding to the variety, in general, every single hole seems as a great contrast to the one before and after. I don't think there is a similar or redundant hole in the entire park.

> It's a punishing course in so many ways, even a little unfair a couple of times... but never in a way that makes one upset about the design/layout - more of a "you devious bastard, I love you" kind of way.

> I personally love holes that combine open fairways with tight woods, and Konarcik Park does a lot of this. Many holes start in the fields with the large, sparse trees and then into the tight dark woods. Others start in the woods and then open up into the fields. Fresh!

> Punishment for bad throws is definitely a factor on almost every hole, but nothing as horrible or unforgivable on some other area courses designed in the last several years It's just enough to make players REALLY want to stay on the fairway and out of trouble, but not enough to make you curse the designer over lost discs and twisted ankles.

> There are lots of opportunities to golf creatively - as in being able to really think about how you want to approach the fairways and baskets. While there are certainly a few ace opportunities, most of the holes really do earn their par by forcing you to do much more than drive as far as you can then pitch in.

> The tee signs do a good job of pointing players in the right direction and showing the way to the next tee.

> Navigation is pretty good. I've never had a course map and, other than a few minor head-scratchers on my first visit, I found everything without much trouble.

> Plenty of shade along the way.

> This is a very clean park from what I can tell. That's nice.

> The park is nice and dry, even shortly after a heavy rain. There are no muddy spots to avoid. We'll hope it stays this way for a long time... but you know.

> The grass has been well maintained/mowed every time I've been. It's new, so we'll see how that lasts.

> This is also a pretty park - the kind of place you like to go to relax and feel at home in nature.

> Though I make my review title in jest, there is truth in humor. There are some really, really long hikes (not walks) between many of the holes. I'm not sure that I would sacrifice the quality of the holes the way they are... but two of these long hikes seem to be at least a quarter of a mile (or a little more) each. It is for this reason that my friends and I now ask, "Do you wanna go hike the McCormack Trail?" when thinking of playing Konarcik.

> Perhaps it's just a person beef, but Hole 1 can bite me. I love a challenge and some nice tight fairways... but there are just too many darn trees right in the fairway and the line is so very, very tight and unforgiving on the first hole that I was anticipating a terrible course the first time I played. There should be more than a 3 foot wide line to the basket, in my opinion... but I am glad they didn't cut down big trees to accommodate my whining.

> Me, I don't ever usually sit down during a game. However, especially considering the numerous long hikes, this course is really gonna need some benches.

> The natural tees are OK for now, but they will be a disaster very soon if concrete pads aren't installed. And I did not like the artificial turf tees that have been used in many places - they are awkward and, in many cases, had roots or rocks underneath that could result in a twisted ankle or a fall.

> This course needs a sign to point out where the course begins (which is immediately at the entrance to the park). The first time I drove around for a long time trying to find basket one and ended up settling for starting at hole 3 after parking in the wrong lot and finishing on hole 2. A kiosk would be nice too.

> Unfortunately, on every single hole on the course, if your shot goes off the fairway, expect to spend a ton of time trying to work your way through dense, twisted honeysuckle bushes and poison Ivy everywhere. I honestly believe this course has these problems more than any other course in the area. Seeing how much the Midwest needs to rid itself of the plague of honeysuckle, a very aggressive campaign and several dozen work days to clear this park would be great.

Anyone who is familiar with my reviews should take notice that my "cons" list is shorter than my "pros" list... and that many of my complaints are things that can be solved - things which do not necessarily relate to the times when one is actually about the business of playing.

This is a very good course.

Brand new course so brand new baskets. They grab well. The signage is very good. Lots of different types of holes, great use of terrain. Lots of different lengths you will use a lot of your bag. If you don't hit your line you will pay on most holes. When you do hit it you will love it.

no tee pads (hope they add them) Course map at hole one could help. There are a couple of long walks between holes. Still some small stumps in the wooded holes. Nothing in the list of cons are deal breakers

This is a great new course only played it once so far but I can wait to play it again. Don't pass this one up put it on your wish list.

The is a very nice course in a beautiful park. It will definitely have you using many different shots to play each hole.
Great for a beginner or even a seasoned player.
The course uses a lot of unutilized park space.
The tee signs are very nice and detailed.
There are a few garbage cans evenly spaced throughout the course.
There are also water faucets at pavilions by holes 7 and 11 that you can refill your water bottles.

There are a few long walks between a couple of the holes.
One being from hole 11 and 12 and another from hole 17 and 18.
There are ticks and mosquitos but if you wear enough bug spray you should be fine. It should also get better after the rain slows down and summer ends.

park is open dusk to dawn.
alcoholic beverages are permitted

Beautiful park setting. Large football field adjacent to parking lot for warm up throws (provided it is not in use). Ample trash cans throughout the park. This place is super clean and I hope it will remain that way. Nice mix of holes. Elevation changes. Shot shaping fairways. Lots of fun!

The only con I could really come up with was BUGS!! Incessant gnats and mosquitoes throughout the entire round. I will however largely place the blame on the recent rainfall and flooding in the area though.