Bridgeton (St.Louis), MO

Carrollton Park DGC

3.435(based on 34 reviews)
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12 0
Surge5
Gold level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 9.6 years 166 played 166 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Roadway

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 28, 2023 Played the course:once

Pros:

Carrollton does nearly everything right as a course. Defined landing zones, tricky pin spots, and picky tee shots. It's all accomplished by a great McCormack design.

Concrete tees on every hole with a great tee sign. Pin spots were kept updated with a little bolt on the current position(s). Six holes (1, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13) have a second basket. Looks like the newer (or, at least, prettier) Gateway basket with a small blue circlet on top showing the hole number.

Tackling the par 4s and 5s is a great challenge. My favorite was hole 5. With bamboo bushes growing close to the OB road about 300ft off the tee, your choice is to lay up short of said bushes and go big on your second shot, or go big arm over the road and get past them in one. 8, 9, 13, and 18 also have those same kinds of options and defined landing areas for the novice vs experienced player, but with the pars being above three it's not a punishment to play short off the tee.

Several precarious basket placements with the elevation. 5, 6, 8, and 10 have a pin spot that is perched right on the edge of a four-foot fall (described below) in the land making running a putt much more nerve-wracking. 15 and 18 are perched on a very steep hill making rollaways very common. Other spots don't use much elevation, but are still very tricky: 1, 5, 8, 11, 15, and 18 all have a pin that's tucked into the hedge-line, approaching accurately is very important. Hitting the gap on 12's right pin is the only way to deuce, and 3 has some small guardians on its short pin making the birdie much tougher.

Elevation isn't on all holes, but when it is... buckle up. I should describe these "rises" and "falls" as I call them: they change the elevation by two to four feet in the span of about twelve inches. I assume this was separating the land lots back when this was a subdivision, but now it makes a very unique course feature. So there are small rises and falls on many holes, but then you get to hole 7, which is four rises in a row which turns a "straightforward" 420ft shot (B pin) into a 550ft of power nightmare. The D pin is over the bushes after carrying all the way up that hill... I can't imagine anything except a lucky spike hyzer parking it for a three. 13 has one of those rises while still playing steadily uphill, but the rise is set at just the distance so that if the perfect long drive was hit, it will probably be stopped by the rise. 11 is a fun bomb down the hill as is 16.

Tight tree gaps off the tee are the final big challenge. They aren't ever-present, but 2, 5, 10, 13, 15, and 17 all have some tough lines to navigate. I smacked first available twice during my round.

Cons:

This course is built on an old subdivision's land. What do subdivisions have? Roads. Every single hole on this course is bordered by at least one road. While the course is really the only thing in the park, the roads are used frequently and having pins that sit very close to the road on 4, 5, 10, 13, and 17 might lead to you going too soft on an upshot for fear of the cars. It's good to have tough OB; it's not good when the OB has cars on it. Also there's no parking lot (again, former subdivision) so the fairways of 1, 9, and 10 will likely be risky to go all-out on.

A lot of the routing between holes is awful. 1 to 2, 5 to 6, 7 to 8, 8 to 9, 10 to 11, 12 to 13, 13 to 14, and 15 to 16 are all so out of sorts and you'll really need a course map with you. There are next tee airplanes on the signs (you read that right), but even then the distance between some of the holes is just putrid.

The rises and falls we talked about earlier can be fairly tough to walk down. Up isn't too bad, but down is pretty steep and could result in a fall.

The long pins of 15 and 18 both dogleg into the bushes to a basket on the hill... those baskets are only about 40ft apart. There's a very good chance you put it too far on your approach and end up on the other fairway. It shouldn't be too common that this becomes an issue, but it's a design flaw even so.

Some of the open holes are a little lacking, but the main villain is Hole 14. The right line off the tee is covered by trees, but once you're 50ft off the tee it's wide open all the way to the pin.

Other Thoughts:

Don't park at the apartment complex by 14/15. In the entry area to the apartments was fine, however.

I was quite happy with all the challenges presented by this course. I wish it had less OB roads but I'm not going to count that against it in my score. Don't sweat the OBs and you'll have a round that tests all aspects of your game. This was definitely on the lower end of my 4.0 ratings, but it's a worthy stop if you're find yourself with some free time near the airport.
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15 0
Tyler V
Gold level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 16.8 years 147 played 98 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Carrollton - Neighborhood Turned Disc Golf Course 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jan 31, 2021 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Carrollton Park is an 18-hole disc golf course constructed on part of the remnants of a neighborhood that was bought out by the city of St. Louis for noise abatement. The buyout was for the newest runway at the airport, which sits just a few thousand feet from this course. This results in one of the more unique course environments you will come across.

The result of the neighborhood buyout is a disc golf course that runs along the old streets through the former yards and properties. This makes for a course that primarily has narrower fairways, requiring you to keep your drive between the streets and the lines of trees that used to separate the backyards in the neighborhood.

Being a course designed by Dave McCormack and Gateway Disc Sports, the baskets are Gateway Titans that are in great shape. The course has a kiosk and practice basket next to hole 1, with plenty of space (a whole front and backyard, you could say) to practice your putts. The kiosk has a detailed course map as well as information on the local leagues and clubs. Additional signage at the ends of the street point disc golfers coming in either direction to the start of the course. Each tee sign is very detailed with pin placements/distances, next tee directions, and have an aviation theme to them. I feel like the concrete tee pads get in on the aviation theme of the signage, because you could land a plane on the pads on this course. I've played 82 courses at the time of writing this review, and I don't recall seeing larger tee pads anywhere. There are also a fair number of benches, picnic tables, and trashcans throughout the course, especially on the front 9.

The setting of this course makes for a very unique playing environment. The former houses are gone with no evidence of their foundations, which provides some interesting terrain factors to consider. The land does have some elevation to it, but in a lot of the course, the old lots are individually leveled off. This means that a small different in height or speed in your drive can affect the distance you get to a higher level on this course. This doesn't affect the whole course, but some fairways like the ones on holes 5, 7, and 13 really highlight what I'm talking about. Hole 4 uses this interesting terrain to its advantage, starting off with a drive off the tee right above a big drop off between 2 lots.

The tree lines also add a lot to the shape of this course. Being a former subdivision that was built in the 1950s, there are lines of mature trees that run along every fairway on the course. While the land does have some upkeep in terms of grass cutting and other maintenance, a lot of the brush is still dense, providing plenty of incentive to stay out on the fairway. Some lots are also lined by trees on either side, requiring you to navigate around or through smaller gaps to get your birdie or par. There's even a couple of patches of dense bamboo along holes 3 and 13, which just adds to the uniqueness of the land.

I picked this course to play my most recent round at specifically because it rained the day before, and everyone on the local club's page said this course drains the best out of any course in the area. While there was the usual mud that most courses will have after a good rain, there were minimal puddles around the course, and the ones that were present did not factor into my round. If you're a St. Louis local, this seems to be among the best options if you want to play right after a good rain, since many of the other courses in town get saturated easily or even flood.

Each hole has between 3 or 4 pin placement options, with a lot of the holes providing a lot of variety. Hole 1, for example, has 4 pin placement options, ranging from a 250' par 3 to a 738' par 4. The variety of pin placements on this course can mean different shot selections on a given hole depending on what pin is being used, and means par for your round can range from 60 to 68. While this is one of the higher pars in the St. Louis area, the difficulty level/distances mean that recreational and intermediate level players can still challenge for or below par on this course.

Cons:

Having "park" in the course name feels like a big stretch. There are no park amenities or activities on the land except for the disc golf course. Do not come to the course expecting a bathroom. water fountains, or other amenities on site.

As many reviewers have suggested, the navigation leaves more to be desired. It's obvious that the idea was to get holes 9 and 10 back to the parking area, but the layout leads to some walks between holes that feel unnecessary. I'm not a course designer, and understand there's a lot of factors to balance. However, considering the fact that there's no parking area on this land except for the streets themselves, I feel like some better flow options could have been found on this land, perhaps while even keeping the two 9-hole loops available. As it is currently designed, however, it can be vital to check the tee sign for the next tee location before you walk to your drive. UDisc is a great tool to help you navigate the course, but I feel that you shouldn't need an app to navigate a course. A lot of the longer walks do have signage, but I had to pull out UDisc to find hole 15 since it was hidden behind some trees.

Some tee pads and pin placements feel like real head scratchers as well. While there's understandably not a lot of traffic on the roads, Gallatin Road and WoodFord Way do get some cars driving through. I think some pin placements close to the other roads are fine since they don't get through traffic, but some pins around the through-streets feel too close to the roads to be fully safe from drives or approaches. Some hole placements, like on holes 8 and 11, also run close to the busier roads on relatively tight fairways. Given how long hole 11 is, an errant throw can easily end up on the Gallatin. I have also seen a badly shanked drive flirt with the highway during a round; please be careful. The location of holes 9 and 10 combine with the location of the course start also means that your car will be in range of a bad drive off of one or both of these holes.

A couple tees and pins especially seem off to me around the neighboring apartment complexes. 12C is pretty close to an apartment parking lot, and considering it has a distance of 295', it's well within the range of many players to reach. This hole's location already results in a longer walk to 13, but being so close to parked cars feels sketchy. Hole 14's tee is also very close to an apartment building. The hole plays away from the buildings, but even if the tee pad is on city owned land, the tee is close enough to people's back sliding doors that it feels like the course is encroaching a bit. This course hosts multiple tournaments a year as well as league play, and this course gets enough play that I imagine this could potentially be annoying to the neighbors at times.

Other Thoughts:

Carrolton Park isn't a park; its land claimed by eminent domain that now hosts a disc golf course. The land the course sits on, along with more land just across the highway, once hosted 1,800 homes and multiple parks, schools, and churches. The airport expansion was more than a sore subject, especially for the people that once lived in Carrollton. Playing a round here can feel weird and unsettling for some, and for me, playing a round here feels like trespassing in a way. The aviation theme on the signage also feels like a weird choice to me given the history of the land, even if the proximity to the airport means you can regularly see low flying planes during your round. That being said, it's better to have the land being used at least a little bit rather than being completely abandoned.

Perhaps I'd feel more positive about this course if the city made the land into a park, but seeing as it's been 8 years and counting since the course went in, I wonder if such plans are or ever will be considered. The grass gets mowed at least occasionally, and the city removed trees on occasion for various reasons, so the land is at least on their radar. You won't find Carrollton on the city website though, so it's hard to say if/when more work will be seen on the land. I haven't been checked out the roads across the highway, so I wonder if that land is in better or worse shape.

Carrollton is by no means a bad course, and its proximity to other courses means you can easily make it a part of a disc golf day across west or north county. I think the current layout prevents this course from seeing its full potential, but recreational and intermediate players will a good level of challenge here. Higher level players will likely find plenty of birdie opportunities here.

If you're visiting the area, I would put other courses higher on your priority list. If you're a local and haven't been to Carrollton yet, it's worth a visit. Pair it with White Birch or Creve Coeur-Lakeside if you want some variety in a full day of golf, or with Endicott if you're a sucker for technical challenges.

P.S. - Don't plant bamboo in your yard. It's highly invasive.
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9 0
Jacobpaul81
Experience: 25.1 years 101 played 7 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Challenging Course with Distance and Technical Shots 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 11, 2020 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Carrollton is built on land which was once a developed tiered subdivision. The homes were demolished for a planned airport expansion that never happened. The tiers between the old houses and the planted rows of trees, shrubs, and in some cases, bamboo remain, creating challenging technical lines on just about every hole. Wood railroad ties and natural swales in the land create elevation challenges - both up and downhill. The neighborhood streets remain and are OB, creating in many locations very narrow windows for throwing through.

Carrollton got new teepads and tee signs in 2018. Many of the older reviews were done when the course was dirt and poorly marked. The pads are huge airport landing strip type pads and the signage is very good. Extra effort has been made to put down mulch around the pads, making the course very playable, even after heavy rains.

The course is divided into 2 loops, holes 1-9 and 10-18 which allows a person to play 9 holes if they want. The front 9 are mostly excellent. I'll get to the back 9.

There are a number of great holes on the course offering both short and long distance shots. The course will challenge every aspect of your game. Most holes have at minimum 3 pin placements and in some cases 4. Distances on the course range from 250' to well over 700'. As with any course, some holes are more interesting than others. Standouts for me include:

Hole #3: While the A position is a reachable 3 for most 350-400' arms, the B and C positions can leave players with very challenging upshots that will require some forethought about where you place your drive.

Hole #4 is a short downhill tunnel shot playing over wood ties and swales in the land. It's reachable with a putter - but with a number of well placed limbs blocking the shot.

Hole #6 is one of my favorites on the course. A big downhill with massive drop in elevation, position B rests very tight on the OB at over 350' and position C is behind a massive shrubbery blockade at over 400'.

Hole # 7 climbs multiple tiers with difficult shots on all 4 pin positions. 3 positions are behind a massive wall of trees and shrubbery. These will need 2 perfect shots to even consider a 3 on this hole. The 4th position is the only one viewable from the teepad - it's a beastly uphill that few will conquer without needing a 2nd drive.

Hole #9 is a flat shot over a long distance with different shrubs and trees entering the path. Most pin positions are well guarded, requiring a well placed upshot to even have a chance at par.

Hole #13 is the course score corrector. Pin positions are around 700' or more feet. Uphill. With a wood tie wall and evergreens blocking the view at around 400'. A par 5, it's easy to wind up with a 6 on this uphill monster.

Hole #16 is a golf course like dogleg right with pin positions well out of the reach of most drives with close OBs on left and right. Recent improvements have been made along the right OB clearing out the horrid honeysuckle which was known for eating discs. By far the most fun hole on the course.

Hole #17 is an uphill tunnel shot which will require some technical skill to get past a number of tree trunks blocking view of all pin positions.

Cons:

The course is built on a demolished neighborhood with zero amenities. For the first time out, it can be a bit scary - is it or isn't it safe? I've found dumped mattresses and garbage on a regular basis on some of the holes (particularly 14-15) which sit along some aging apartment complexes. It's not always well mowed (it was not today) and because it's not well attended to, posion ivy and honeysuckle are out of control in the brush.

The walks have been pointed out in other reviews. They aren't horrible - but they make the course confusing for first timers and in one case, the hole isn't really worth the 2 walks it creates and if i'm in a hurry, I skip it (15). In another case, people get lost right after hole 1.

It's evident the walks exist because the designer wanted two loops to allow a person to play 1-9 and 10-18 independantly of one another - which is certainly a good thing ... but the loops are pretty lopsided.

The front 9 is generally positive and very busy with players - both playing 9 and 18 holes. Cons of the front are the locations of holes 1 and 8, 1 requiring a long walk to 2 and 8 featuring long walks from 7 and to 9.

Many of the holes in the back 9 feel like an after-thought - or at the very least, just necessary to preserve the "loops". 10, 12, 14, 15, and 18 feel forced just so a person can throw 11, 13, 16, and 17. Alot of times, I'll throw the front 9, then park at 16 and throw the four holes on the back 9 twice, tossing in 12 once for 18.

Other Thoughts:

Overall, the course is postive - and I enjoy playing it - particularly much of the front 9 and a select few on the back 9. If there's ever a redesign (not likely for a long while), I'd revisit the flow to make the course less lopsided. Maybe start it somewhere in the back 9 and eliminate a few holes (12, 15) and add a few along Ralls and Phelps sts.
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9 0
disco40
Experience: 4.5 years 20 played 7 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Great Course to Learn on - A Beginner's Review 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Nov 10, 2019 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Very pretty and green most of the year, feels like a park.


Amenities

- Great concrete tee pads on all holes
- Tee signs with reasonably accurate illustrations and distances
- Pin placements marked with screws in tee signs
- Maintained by the city, well-mowed
- Front 9 has benches every other hole and trash bins
- Tons of parking (on low traffic streets from neighborhoodd that used to be here)

Course Play and Design

- Beginner-friendly (provided you're an avid beginner- I explain later in "other thoughts")
- Cool urban aesthetic with tiered fairways and OB roads lining most fairways
- Logical layout after your first round (this is a con as well)
- Noobs will have to place their shots. There are few "throw it down the fairway" type shots despite the relatively long holes.
- Baskets in good repair
- Shouldn't lose many discs
- Holes are all "fair" with clean lines to hit

Cons:

- Layout can be annoying for your first round. Hole 1 to Hole 2, Hole 12 to Hole 13 to Hole 14 can be confusing. Use the map in the media section. I had only a minor navigation issue my first time.
- Local residents allow their dogs to poop on some holes from the Hole 12- Hole 14 stretch. Watch your feet.
- No benches on Back 9. Needs about 3.

- Ankle-twisting holes that are hard to see in the lovely grass, including a genuine hip-deep leg-breaker, which is not always as visible as you might think) fifty feet left of the pin on Hole 6. Watch your step!

Other Thoughts:

The reason I recommend this course for keen beginners is because of two characteristics: 1) It's not too demanding in terms of throwing lines (you don't have ridiculous mandos, artificial obstacles, or super punishing gaps), but despite that, 2) You're always playing position, rather than just trying to throw down the fairway.

One frustration I encountered at another local course (Creve Coeur) was that my shot was often "pick up disc and throw it." At Carrollton Park, even if you're only throwing 150 feet, you must be on the correct side of the fairway to give yourself a good line on your next shot. Hole 5 is a good example of this, where you have to place your shots well to navigate the several sets of trees.

In other words, beginners will face the same sorts of shot placement challenges as the intermediate players this course seems to be designed for. When you're like me, and you take twice as many shots to get to the green, you appreciate there being relevant targets and obstacles for each shot.


Favorite Holes:

#4. A short par 3 teeing off through a small gap in the trees from an elevated position, sharp turn left down two tiers and around a big tree to the pin. A fun throw!

#16. Downhill right-turning par 4 that has a ball golf aesthetic. Just enough trees and bushes to keep you honest, but mostly it's just a few enjoyable throws that feel very park-like.
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5 0
OldGolfer
Experience: 19 played 19 reviews
3.50 star(s)

An interesting course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 17, 2018 Played the course:once

Pros:

I played this course for the first time today. (1) It was NOT flat -- there were gradient changes throughout the course, though no big hills. The course was well maintained, the tees were the largest tees I've ever played on, baskets were in fine shape, and the amenities were better than previous reviews seemed to indicate: there were several trash barrels spaced around the course and there was one port-o-john. Signage was pretty good; not perfect, but we had a print-out map of the course which we used regularly.

If you don't know the background of this course, it is built on the site of an old subdivision -- streets are still there as are some sidewalks. Homes were removed years ago. As such, the topography was interesting and the trees/shrubs dictated the unique challenge on each fairway.

All streets are OB, which made the play fun.

I will play this course again, no doubt.

Cons:

The flow is not perfect, so be sure to print out the course map and take with you. We pretty readily found our way around.

Other Thoughts:

This course exceeded my expectations ... I'll definitely play here again.

Some may see the 3.5 rating as a bit low. I don't know -- I'm going to revisit at least one past review and change my rating down. Come on ... perfect? Every course I've played has had strong and weak points, but perfect? Nah.

Please this course!
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9 1
Lazerface
Experience: 5 played 5 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Excellent golf - Poor Flow/Amenities 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 9, 2018 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Disclaimer - Reviewers value different aspects of a course. I put almost all the weight on how a course plays. Others put more or an equal amount of weight on flow/amenities/aesthetics/etc. There is no right way to review a course. It's a matter of opinion. But the ratings variance of this course comes from this principle.

Firstly, this course sits on a piece of property that used to be a large neighborhood. When the airport expanded and built a new runway the homeowners were bought out and houses leveled. Driveways are gone, but roads remain.

The property itself was ready for 18 baskets to drop right in. What is cool about the land is they used to be lots. So there is some very pretty non-native trees/plant throughout the course that give it a pretty look. At the same time there is something a bit "unnatural" to the terrain. Overall, it's very pretty though.

This is a long course with many Par 4s and fairways that are large, but demand accurate drives to specific landing zones to get up and down for birdie. There is nothing lucky/unfair out there.

the rough in some spots is very thick and will require a pitch out. you are punished if you miss your lines.

I thought the roads were incorporated well and make for some excellent OB Risk/Reward

Gateway Titans

Multiple Pin Placements that are very spread out given the amount of room and make for excellent variation in course set up.

Finally - 18 giant tee pads!!!!!

Overall, this is a golf course for Pro-Advanced players looking to throw distance shots with control and test their upshot game. There are a good mix of Par 3s on the course as well. Low 50s is very doable, but the course can get much harder when the pins are maxed out.

Cons:

Amenities - No restrooms, no parking, no kiosk, no shelter, no practice basket, limited trash cans, terrible signage. This property is literally a giant chunk of abandoned land owned by the city. It's not a park. The disc golf course is it. I'm not sure the city is going to invest the capital for any of this stuff anytime soon

Terrible signage - Non existent basically. But this course seems to be going through a revival of sorts and I think signs are on the horizon

Course Flow/Directional Signage - to elaborate on the flow a bit - although some walks seem unreasonable the impact on a player not having a good time could be greatly reduced if large, obvious directional signage "Next Tee" was added. Much of the course flows perfectly fine, but does require the crossing of roads many times throughout play, which makes perfect sense on this unique piece of land, but given traditional disc golf courses (with just a couple road crossings) is admittedly confusing in many parts. The only actual semi long walks and backtracking are 1-2, 8-9, 13-14. I think the "bad flow" narrative is inflated on this course because of the lack of maps and directional signage. It actually flows decent, but it's certainly not even close to obvious where to go next. The openness of the course and ability to see many tee pads at one time within walking distance and terrible signage compounds on this fact and I totally understand why the bad flow narrative exists, but again, it's inflated.

Kiosk - So this is one thing I believe the local club could work into the course without city funds. This course needs a Map near hole 1 and some quality score cards/maps for players to take. This would be HUGE for first timers/out of towners

Other Thoughts:

In summary, the course itself is fantastic if your looking to play advanced level golf. Lot of shot shaping and risk-reward with OB in play.

Course amenities are just non existent for the most part. If that's what your coming for, this course should not be on your to do list in STL.

If your in St. Louis for the golf, PLAY HERE. Just track down a map or advice from a local before hand so you can enjoy the golf and don't have to worry about being lost every 10 minutes.
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7 1
Cujo
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 29.8 years 254 played 31 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Difficult Course - NEW CONCRETE PADS! 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Apr 25, 2018 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

-Difficult.
-NEW CONCRETE PADS FOR EVERY HOLE AS OF MAY 2018
-Awesome Gateway baskets
-Excellent Natural rough that punishes you for throws even slightly off line.
Did I just mention Difficult. People think you need lots of trees and water and mandos to be difficult...you don't, you just need fairways lined with roads and or dense forest...that's it. That's Carrollton.

Cons:

-a couple holes are hard to find so you will want a map or a course guide your first play through, specifically the transitions around holes 6-11. You have to backtrack a couple times and it's possible to entirely miss a couple holes.
-You really need a decent arm to shoot close to par here and certainly under par. I'm talking a consistent 350-400. Having 400+ power really helps as there are SEVERAL holes that are quite long

Other Thoughts:

I see someone above commented that this course was "too easy" but in the same review as a con said "the fairways are too close to the road"! Hahahaha Um hello, the road plays out of bounds!!! That's what makes the course difficult, that and ALL THE ROUGH EVERYWHERE!

Sure if you play the roads in bounds it might be easy. Play it how it's meant with the roads OB and this course is an animal.

some of the holes feel like wind tunnels and the wind can change directions constantly. Whether this is because it's next to the airport with planes flying low overhead all the time or the way the holes are positioned...It's nuts. Bring OS stuff with you and a decent roller disc to get out of the inevitable trouble you will be in.

It's not my favorite course in the StL area...(that would be Konarcik) but it is a good course and worth playing. Sure there are some holes that feel similar due to the layout of the park but that doesn't make it easier.
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2 9
Phillyeagles
Experience: 6.6 years 12 played 1 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Has potential 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 26, 2017 Played the course:once

Pros:

Par 3 4 and 5 holes

Cons:

Very tiny signs on where to go.
Not too challenging.
Fairways too close to streets.
Not enough places to relax and take a breather.
Very basic course.

Other Thoughts:

It looked as though they were adding new concrete tees.
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2 7
broc989
Experience: 17 played 1 reviews
1.50 star(s)

Needs work. 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 19, 2016 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Longer holes that challenge your drives.

Planted bamboo around course makes for a challenging obstacle.

Course has a balance of pin location for right-hand & left-handed throwers.

Cons:

Not clearly marked. Pins missing on a couple of holes last time we played. Holes not clearly marked. Had to do a solid amount of walking to find pins and T pads.

Other Thoughts:

Course is in a poor area of St. Louis. Surrounded by housing apartments. Just didn't get a safe feeling while playing. Make sure you bring a friend.

Personally, theres so many other great courses in the area I would recommend going to another course.
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2 4
thegodofcheese
Experience: 5 played 2 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Ok place. 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Dec 16, 2015 Played the course:once

Pros:

Landscape is nice and plenty of room.

Cons:

Little to no signage
Dirt/Mud tees
Flow is bad

Other Thoughts:

Bring a map! Otherwise you'll be throwing blind on distance and even direction on some holes, and you'll be walking forever.
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4 2
The Valkyrie Kid
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 45.8 years 1563 played 1507 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Course Could Be So Much Better With Some Work Put Into It! 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Oct 24, 2015 Played the course:once

Pros:

The park has just a huge amount of room. As one previous reviewer noted, there is easily room for 27, 36 or two complete 18 hole courses here. With that being said, I wasn't impressed with the current layout /design. There are a lot of long walkouts when I didn't see any reason for them. The terrain is great for the kind of course you have here, that is a long demanding one.

I thought hole # 3 was a really pretty hole. The natural fairway was three tiered and just kept narrowing down to the area where the basket was set.

Cons:

Navigation and flow is horrible. It made no sense. There was no map on DGCR so I was flying blind and that was exactly how I felt.

The amenities are bare bones. The Gateway baskets are fine, although sometimes hard to spot. The dirt tee pads and minimal signage are poor. And as for those idiots who think they're clever for writing little remarks on the poles, please don't. I did appreciate those locals who used their sharpies and wrote the hole # and distances on the poles. That helped a little.

This course is described as moderately hilly. I believe I would describe it as mostly flat.

It was a little unnerving being in this big sprawling park and not seeing a soul. Kind of made me nervous. It's similar to many sci-fi movie plots where someone has deserted the planet for some unknown reason and some space traveler lands and discovers some kind of alien/ape race. Only this time, it was me with my disc golf bag and I discovered a course I couldn't comprehend.

Other Thoughts:

If you like throwing 400-500 foot drives on most every hole, then this is the course for you. To describe this as a championship course or to rate it a 5, I would simply say, drive across Missouri and play Water Works in Kansas City and see for yourself what a 4.5 rated course looks, feels and plays like. Water Works actually has people playing it!

UPDATED: Nine years later and I see that the course has new tee pads and signage. Well, that's enough for me to slightly increase my rating.
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1 0
Pcorrigan07
Experience: 18.8 years 20 played 1 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Cool and Creepy Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 4, 2015 Played the course:once

Pros:

Very open course with long holes that demand a good approach shot. A drive is a drive but the approach will make or break you here. Private feeling as you play through an old neighborhood that has been completely grown over.

Cons:

Most every drive is to a pin you cannot see so you may waste a lot of time scouting the pin. Bring a map. They have several online if you image search.
Needs updated tee markers. Hard to navigate. Would get a 4 if there were tee markers/pin map distances.

Other Thoughts:

Please make this course what it should be. A little TLC, pin placement signs, next tee signs and benches would create a disc destination. Start with 18 pads.

Some cool guy posted a map on the course directory board and some copies in the 1st tee mailbox. Share them. Take one and return it after you play.
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1 2
renaudski
Experience: 9.9 years 14 played 2 reviews
5.00 star(s)

A Creve Coeur Park/Logan University Hybrid 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 28, 2015 Played the course:once

Pros:

This course is a nice mix of distance and technical shots.
In my opinion it is a nice hybrid of Creve Couer park which is long with a lot of open shots and Logan University, which is one of the more technical courses in StL.

Most of the holes at Carrollton have some technical approach needed either by a well placed drive or approach. The technical aspects are not as advanced as Logan.

Carrollton has a nice mix of par 3, 4, 5s. I would recommend this course to anyone as there is ample seating, nice maintenance and accomdations nearby.

If you take this course for what it is, it will rank pretty high for the StL area. It has variety and difficulty with every hole birdie-able with a well placed drive and/or approach.

Cons:

The navigation on this course is horrendous as mentioned in the other reviews. Bring a map.

Other Thoughts:

7 and 17 are the most difficult holes.
A lot of wild life roam this area.
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4 1
ustenido
Experience: 10.8 years 29 played 11 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Carrolton Review 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 16, 2015 Played the course:once

Pros:

Critical golf thinking required! Shot placement is crucial. Lots of par 4s, and some 5s, so you lie is important. There is some crucial thinking that goes into the approach shots. They are not usually long, but they are well positioned pins with "fast greens"
the more i play hem, the more i think Gateways Titan is the best basket on the market

Cons:

Teeing area is natural, designated by counter sunk stones, and eroded (and muddy), & not flat. Some roots exposed on a few. My recomendation is to take a slice from ball golf and designate a tee box, and move the tee markers around so that your box will have some life.
Sidewalks and streets play OB, and run adjacent to each hole. If this were water, it would be rated 5.0, but it is a pedestrian hazard, so be careful about shot selection.

Other Thoughts:

Most of the holes are long, so tee from a safe and dry spot.

Download a map. The tee signs and directional signs, and basket #s are TERRIBLE. The map helped me find my way.

Throw for accuacy, not distance off the tee because your landing zones are tight, even though it looks wide open from the box. Be moe aggressive with your approach if you lossed distance from a layed up tee shot. All in all, everything is birdiable, and anything can quickly turn into a bogie. Take your pars and move on. Wind and elevation play a huge factor around the pins, as well as OBs and very specific foliage
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2 2
StLZep
Experience: 10.1 years 32 played 2 reviews
4.00 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Aug 2, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

Requires a variety of deliberate shots and smart golf. Creative elevation/terrain usage.
There's a lot of effort being put in to improve this course and it shows.

Cons:

Navigation if you've never been. Print a map and bring water.

Other Thoughts:

The tee pads being installed are quality. It's a challenging and fun course. Please treat it as such and don't leave trash. It's a course for disc golf, not a park that happens to have a course.
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4 1
PDGApunk
Experience: 24.8 years 104 played 2 reviews
3.00 star(s)

A Flawed Gem 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 15, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

Very challenging and fun! This course is in a very isolated park with hardly any traffic at all. It has great land for a disc golf course.. actually, it is great land for a couple courses. It is techincal and long.

Cons:

While I enjoyed this course, I was also very annoyed playing it for many reasons:

1. Navigation is TERRIBLE. It needs a better flow. There was a few times where my friend and I were lost and it took 5-10 minutes to find the next tee.

2. This bad navigation would have been a little more excusible if there was a lot of empty boring space.. but there isnt. I saw a lot of great lines that were not being used between holes. A lot of land is not being used, I see no reason why there can not be at least 27 or 36 holes here. A few can be shortened and still be very tough and some do not need 3 placements... some of them needed only 1 placement because it was the perfect placement.

3. Tee signs are very necessary for this course. Most of the holes are blind shots... and since most of the holes are par 3.5-4s, it takes extra time for you to run up and look where the basket is.

4. Some of the low branches hanging in front of the tees could be manicured just a little bit better. But this is pretty minor... most arent bad at all.

5. Teepads please... St Louis Disc Golf Club is pretty good size.. I am not sure why they arent able to raise the fun
ds to put 9-18 teepads in a year on these newer courses that have natural teepads.

Other Thoughts:

This course has a A LOT of potential to be a 4+... but I am giving it a sad 3. I love disc golf in St Louis. Most courses are great here. I expected great things with this course.. but I am pretty disappointed with it overall for how much potential it really has. It just seems very incomplete.
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4 0
Wise Fool
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 15.1 years 125 played 116 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Nothing Like a Round in the Backyard(s) 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 14, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

-Nice Gateway Baskets that catch very well.
-Course is well spread out so that the holes don't interfere with each other.
-Course uses the available foliage, trees and brush to make some interesting pin placements and add some risk/reward to the course.
-There a lot of long distance holes on this course. A majority of holes over 500 feet. If you like courses that let you bomb your disc this is the course for you. The foliage also makes it so you need distance but also some accuracy to avoid the thick rough.
-This course has a couple shorter holes that are nice and help add a little balance to the longer holes.
-There doesn't seem to be a lot of non disc-golf traffic in the area.
-The old neighborhood roads are used well to add out of bounds and help add some challenge to some of the more wide open holes.
-Multiple pin-positions
-Hole 7 was my favorite hole. It is a straight shot up a fairway with thick foliage on the left, to a tight sharp tunnel through foliage to the basket.

Cons:

-Navigation is terrible on this course. Most of the time the flow makes no sense on this course. There are long walks between many of the holes. Even though there are some signs pointing to the next hole, they don't do a very good job. You will be wandering around looking for tee-pads quite a bit. Even with a map, it is still really hard to navigate, but it helps a little bit.
-This course only has dirt tee-pads that get really muddy after it rains. Concrete tee-pads would be very helpful.
-Course badly needs tee-signs. It is very hard to see baskets from the tee, which often leads to long walk up the fairway to find the baskets. Adding signs that show a layout of the hole and all of the pin-positions would help this course out a lot.
-Course starts to feel repetitive, especially on the longer holes (and especially if you don't have a big arm). There is lots of throwing on open fairways until you find the basket tucked into an alcove in the foliage. The majority of longer holes feel like they play exactly like the above description. The holes on this course start to blend together.
-This course doesn't have very many amenities. There is an outhouse at the beginning of the course and a table at the first tee, but nothing else.
-This course has a creepy vibe. It felt really deserted. Due to the old abandoned neighborhood streets, the fire hydrants wrapped in plastic, this course felt like a ghost town. At times I almost felt like I was disrespecting the people who used to live in the neighborhood.

Other Thoughts:

This is a very unique course as this is the first time I have ever played a course in an old neighborhood. This land has a lot of potential. With better tee-pads, tee-signs, and flow this could be a very solid course, but right now it needs a lot of work to get there.
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5 0
BogeyNoMore
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 19.8 years 479 played 183 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Finally – a neighborhood built just for disc golf! 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 20, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

Unique setting for disc golf; plays all over what used to be residential property that was torn down and allowed to grow over. Former neighborhood feels like a community park, sans any other activities.
• Disc Play: Requires a variety of lines, decent distance and good placement. Plays semi-open with a healthy number of trees and bushes that are remarkably well-placed relative to tees and pins to take certain lines away. Features some well-guarded pins, so your 1st or 2nd (and often 3rd) shots must be well placed to get a good look at the basket. Decent mix of fairway shapes (some pretty interesting). No major elevation, but the terrain changes constantly and comes into play a variety of ways ... this course most definitely ain't flat. With ever-present OB roads on one side and thick growth (that used to demark property lines), staying in the well-defined fairways is paramount. Factor in the hole lengths and it makes for a very challenging round, with legit par 4's & 5's. Eight holes over 500 ft, so there's plenty of chances to use your longest discs, but with several under 300, there are still some birdie opportunities (even for noodle arms). Any way you slice it, you ain't carding a 54 here.

• Equipment: Baskets are fine. The rest is pretty bare bones; natural tees (meh), simple tee posts with hole # (alt pin distances hand-scrawled on posts) and a few next tee signs to help you out. Looked like there were multiple pin placements - a nice plus for locals.
• Aesthetics: reasonably nice, quiet, very green ...makes for a pretty serene round (if you don't mind the highway noise or planes overhead).
• Isolation from other activities - No one else really doing anything on the course itself, however, there were a few joggers, dog walkers and an occasional car passing by on the OB roads adjacent to every hole. Be aware what's going on as there's a chance any tee shot could end up in the street.
• Memorable holes: I particularly liked the way # 7 rises up to a higher plateau a few times as you get further down the fairway. #5 just seemed to go on and on... 6 shots worth that.

Cons:

• Nav/flow: ooof! Even with the map, it's hard to follow, but without one, it's probably hopeless. What isn't obvious on the map (or when you first arrive) is that often, the best route to the next hole cuts through the vegetation that used to separate one back yard from another. After a while, you start noticing the paths, but no matter how you slice it, there are a few long walks and some truly goofy routing. Particularly frustrating to take a long walk to the wrong hole. Probably not that bad once you get the hang of it, but for the uninitiated, it sucks. If you're reading this, you're probably deciding whether or not to play here, so leave yourself a little extra time to get around.
• Natural tees: not all that bad, but some are pretty worn, with exposed roots that create a bad tripping hazard. I realize no one's gonna pay for it, but concrete would be a big step up.
• A few pins are positioned where they're guarded such that it basically forces a layup, thereby nullifying the benefit of a great tee shot and diminishing scoring separation.
• Not much shade - could be bad on really sunny days ...sunscreen.
• Unvarying as far as fairway type - gets repetitive.
• Amenities: nope

Other Thoughts:

Does the "long, open, work around some really well-placed obstacles" extremely well, but that's pretty much the only trick this dog has. In tandem with some good elevation and clever pin placements, I really think they've made the most of what this plot of land can yield. I found it to be a fun course, and could see playing here quite a bit if I lived locally. Nonetheless, it simply lacks the diversity a course needs to rate excellence in my book, and the bad routing doesn't help it score any points on that front. Still, any time you can combine this kind of challenge and with this much fun, you've done very well.

Much like a loveable mutt, Carrollton may not have a pedigree, and certainly lacks the polish some other courses have, but its got a lot of heart.
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10 0
Three Putt
Staff member
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 29.2 years 152 played 127 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Prepare to meet the challenge of the new frontier 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Apr 26, 2014 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Carrollton Park is set in an old neighborhood that was torn down when Lambert Airport was expanded in the late 90's. All of the houses are gone but the streets and much of the landscaping from the old neighborhood remain. Basically imagine all the houses vanishing from your neighborhood and there you go.

The site is relatively flat but there a bit of a pitch to it and some places where there was enough up and down that the homeowners had retaining walls built. There is a lot of vegetation, although the effect is more like a park-style course with a lot of trees as opposed to a heavily wooded course. What was the back of the property lines has a lot of built-up shule, so you generally have an O.B. road on one side of the hole and some nasty shule on the other. The design uses the abundance of OB and trees to create a course where shot placement can really save you some strokes. The holes are generally on the longer side, so the OB can easily come into play if your drive gets offline. The golf shots are pretty solid with multiple tees and pin placements to increase the variety. There are a few creative pin placements that take advantage of the elevation changes they have to work with. The shots can be pretty varied; it's hard to get away with just throwing hyzers here all day (I should know, all I can throw is hyzers and this course eats me up and spits me out.)

I'm a silly country boy, so I'll give this place cool points for the low-flying planes overhead. Some of the leftover decorative yard plantings are cool; you don't see bamboo growing on a course in Missouri every day.

Cons:

The main con to Carrollton is that a drunken monkey could come up with better flow. It is very easy to get turned around and much of the place visually looks similar so it is easy to get lost anyway, and the meandering flow just makes it worse. Part of the issue is that it is designed to get you back by your car between holes #9-#10, but the cost is a winding roundabout stagger across the park. You walk past the basket for #7 to get to #6. Then you have a long walk to get to #8. The logical hole to walk to after #8 is #11. The second most logical tee to get to from #8 is #18. #9 is way the Hell back up the street on the other side. A lot of the course is like that; the spots where you can get lost are too numerous to list. You can waste a lot of time trying to figure out where you are. There are some directional signs, so that helps. A more logical flow would help more.

The tee signs are just posts with no maps. Some have distances written on them, others have the hole number and that's it. Given that there are multiple pin placements and many of them are blind from the tee, the lack of information on the tee signs is frustrating. There is one hole (I think it is #10) where I always forget where I am and think the basket is farther down than it is; there is a drop off that hides the street behind the pin that I ALWAYS throw into. A better tee sign might help me remember what I'm doing.

Not really cons for me but worth noting: The tees are natural, although most of the holes had a flagged alternate tee to use in case the regular tee was muddy. There are openings in the streets for the sewer, but most had sandbags stuck in there to keep your disc from rolling in. It seems like a golf-only site but the streets are not closed so you might encounter some traffic while you play. The park is kept up fairly well, but with the decaying neighborhood infrastructure it is hard to consider it a "pretty" park. There are an insane amount of power lines in play. There is no parking lot, you just park along the street and depending where on the street you are your car might be in the line of fire.

Other Thoughts:

My sister taught at Carrollton Elementary on the other side of the freeway, which served this neighborhood and also was torn down when the airport expanded. Since I met many of the people who lived here and know how long and hard they fought to save their homes, playing disc golf across their abandoned neighborhood is fairly depressing for me.

In the end this is a replacement/improvement for the doomed Creve Coeur course. It's a pretty flat/pretty long course, which is unique in the St. Louis area other than Creve Coeur. However, it's not board-flat or nearly as wide open as Creve Coeur, so it makes for better golf.

I was on the fence about my rating, it's probably a 3.5 if all that matters to you is the shots but more like a 3 if you care a lot about amenities. I care more about the shots so I'm going to go with the higher rating. Shot for shot it's a very solid course. It lacks the elevation to really be great, but it is still a very good course that is worth checking out. Just make sure you bring a map.
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4 0
discdanny
Experience: 10.8 years 37 played 17 reviews
4.50 star(s)

Champ Level Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Nov 3, 2013 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Arguably the most difficult disc golf course in the STL area, this course will make you stand on your head in order to even shoot par. The course is set on a former neighbor hood that I believe was originally bought out by the airport and then somehow went back to the City of Bridgeton for possible usage for a park. And boy.. do they have a step in the right direction. This course is far to vast and extensive to even begin to put its magnitude into words in a small review and other reviewers have done quite well so.. I will just highlight some of my personal reasons as to why I like it.

1) This course has just the right amount of huge, wide-open shots and tight technical shots that require intense accuracy.
2) The wide-open shots that I mentioned above, are not always so "wide-open" due to...A) The generous amount of roads that offer OB strokes B) Seemingly harmless woods are EXTREMELY dense and difficult to maneuver.
3) Elevation change is perfect!! It is never too extreme but it seems as though it is a rarity you are playing on an entirely flat surface.
4) Wind..An added factor that will always keep you on your toes... It seems as though the wind is never quite dead here in Bridgeton..due to Lambert and the highway next door.
5) This course will force you to use up every single shot that you have in your bag and you are guaranteed to be attempting something new... due to..
6) 3 Tee locations that are truly mind-blowing. Both the Blue and the White locations can send even the most seasoned of veterans home with their tail between their legs.
7) Huge expansive park that has very segregated and individual holes that are all unique.
8) Massive old trees that litter the fairways and woodlines.
9) Gateway Titans
10) Just a really challenging place to play and learn to perfect the game. If you can score here you can score anywhere.
11) Johnny on the spot!

Cons:

From what I understand.. this course is still technically a temporary course. I believe that the city is eventually looking to make this land into a fully functional park and disc golf course equipped with pavilions, restrooms amenities etc. Also.. there is easily enough room to have another 18 hole course on the same property. but for now it still lacks..
1) Proper tee signage
2) Trash Cans
3) Concrete Tee Pads
4) Better Restrooms/ Water access
5) a few more park benches/ relief from shade

Other Thoughts:

This course is incredible and I really cannot wait to see what it can become in the future. I really hope that the City of Bridgeton does decide to really make this place happen. thank you. And thank you to Dave Mac and Gateway Disc Sports for the gnarly design and use of property.
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