Busch Creek is a fun 18-hole course that is accessible to most skill levels. This new-for-2019 course will provide players with a nice combination of wooded and open holes that will test your ability to throw different angles and shots to get a good score.

Location of Busch Creek is just off of Highway 100, and is not far from gas and food options in Washington. Most folks coming to Busch Creek will likely take Highway 100 or 47 from I-44. Aces and Eagles is a pro shop/bar/arcade in Washington, and while I have not been there, it has great reviews if they are open while you're in town. This course isn't really close to other courses other than Autumn Hill in Union, but if you're wanting to make a day of course bagging, you can either adventure along I-44, or take Rt. 47 north towards the St. Charles County courses. St. Louis also has plenty of options in general if you are going that way.

Park Amenities and Course Equipment kind of go hand in hand here, as the disc golf course is the only thing going on in this park. Burger Park is the site of a former landfill, and after spending time as host to ballfields and a dog park, this land is now dedicated solely to the disc golf course. The equipment at Busch Creek is top notch, and shows the attention this course gets from this community and city. Having been designed by Dave McCormack, this course sports Titan baskets that look very fresh. They are also colored orange and stand out in the woods around the back 9. The tee signs include graphics of each hole, hole par and distances, which pin is in use, and directions to the next tee. Each hole has two tee pads, both of which are concrete. At the parking lot, you will also find a course map and printed scorecards, a port-o-john, a shaded pavilion, a water fountain, and a net for driving warm ups. You will also see a field with two practice baskets, providing plenty of space for putting and approach warm ups. Overall, the course equipment set up at Busch Creek is among the best in quality that I have seen on a course.

Course Design at Busch Creek varies between the front and back 9s. The front 9 is primarily comprised of open shots around the field section of the park, with a couple of holes requiring navigation around or through the edge of the wooded area. After hole 10, the last 8 holes then cross the creek and navigate tight wooded fairways. While there are some longer fairways in the back9, this course is short at around 1,430 feet long, depending on pins and tees being used. This makes for a course that's fairly accessible to newer players, though accuracy will be required for the back 9.

Variety at Busch Creek is plentiful in terms of throwing environments and shot shapes needed to be successful here. Holes 4, 6, and 14 come to mind for RHBH hyzers, while holes 5, 8, 12, 15, and 18 will end to the right. The rest of the holes are pretty straight with some slight favoring one way or the other in terms of forehand or backhand shots. Elevation changes are also present on this course; holes 6, 9, and 11 play uphill to varying degrees while holes 5, 7, 10, and 18 have downhill fairways. Holes 7 and 10 are both real ace runs given their distance as well. The wooded holes in the back 9 vary in openness. Holes 15 and 18 are pretty open, using a wide trail for most of their fairways. Other holes like 14 and 17 will challenge you to hit pretty tight gaps between small trees to challenge for birdie or even a par.

Course Difficulty is accessible to a variety of players. Intermediate players will challenge for under par and will have a fun time with the layout at this course. Newer players may have challenges on the back 9, but can loop the front 9 twice if they are still working on accuracy on wooded holes.

Cons are sparse for Busch Creek, but a couple come to mind.

Accessibility could be a concern on this course if you're someone who has mobility issues. The front 9 is fairly easy to navigate, with a couple of hills being the main issues you'd come across. The back 9 is only accessible by walking across a line of large boulders that cross the creek at hole 11. If you aren't sure footed, this may prove intimidating or hard to cross. With all of the attention this park clearly gets in maintenance and upkeep, it's a little surprising that a bridge of some sort isn't present. While other parts of the back 9 would still prove to be a little hard to navigate at times for anyone with mobility concerns, a bridge across the creek would greatly increase the accessibility of this course. The rocks also cross the fairway of hole 11, so be weary when crossing after playing hole 18 of folks throwing on 11. Carts may also be hard to get across the creek.

Course Design is primarily strong at Busch Creek, but has a weakness in terms of distance. Mainly sue to usable land, the course plays short, with only a few par 4s that are all very gettable birdies. If you're looking for a course to bust some drivers out, this may not be the course for you, as there were only a couple of instances where they will come in handy. The shortness of the course does help with newer players, but many of these folks will quickly develop the distance to be able to get to most of the circle 1 areas on this course with relative ease.

There are a couple of pins and blind shots that also are a little less than ideal. Hole 2 is on a hillside that you cannot see from the tee. While you can see the trees that surround the hole, it's hard to gauge your power. I threw pretty lightly and still found myself fairly close to the road, which you can't see from the tee. Hole 4 is also easy to overshoot into the wood line, which has some poison ivy present. Hole 6 is also very hard to spot from the tee, but keep in mind that the tree line to the left is pretty thick and hard to get a disc through.

Overall, Busch Creek is a very nice course that makes for a fun round. It's clear that this course gets a lot of love and attention from the park department and locals, as there was minimal trash to be found on the course, and the fairways are nicely mowed. While the course distance and some other minor details keep me from rating this course higher, this course makes the most of the land it's on, and was worth the drive from St. Louis in my opinion.

Make some time to get out to this course sometime if you're in the St. Louis area or passing through on I-44. Also make sure to give Aces and Eagles some love if you're around during their business hours. It's nice to courses of this quality in smaller towns - the Washington Disc Golf scene has a great course to call home with Busch Creek.

I was glad to see a course installed in Washington, very long overdue! This is really like playing two very different 9-hole courses. Front 9 is short and mostly wide open; the only hole over 300 feet is 9, while the back 9 is all in the woods (except 10 ) and at least 4 holes over 300 feet.Astroturf tee pads are decent, except hole 13's was leaning to the left, 2 practice baskets at the parking lot, 2 picnic tables, and a portapotty. Signs are temporary , I'm guessing; they were laminated paper. Every hole has two pin positions and they usually seemed to be about 80 feet apart, a 3' diameter concrete pad was poured for each pin ; hopefully to prevent theft and careless mower drivers running over the sleeves. I really like the Gateway Titan 24 Pro orange baskets for visibility in the woods.

The signs should have the distance, pin placement and par info, I'm hoping they are working on it. Some tee pads need to be leveled flat. I say the back 9 is cart unfriendly. After throwing on11, you have to walk down an embankment,cross a stream on rocks, and 12,13, and 17 arent much better. When done at 18, you need to cross the stream at the same place you did to get to 11's pin.

Overall,a fun course for sure! Elevation on most holes and a great mix of Hyzer and Anihyzer fairways. Rec players can hone their skills on the front 9 and hit aces on the shorties, while the back 9 will make you cuss if ya don't hit your lines accurately. I took notes while playing to let you know the hole descriptions:1: 283 feet , level, pin behind flower bed. 2: 167 feet, mostly flat,B pin on a downslope for rollaway or death putt.3: 271 feet, A pin elevated about 6' on huge rock. 4: 219 feet, pin behind a hill for possible rollaway to creek. 5: 174 feet dropping 25 feet in elevation dogleg right with creek 20 ft behind B pin. 6: 177 feet , slight uphill, A pin just right of center and B a wicked hard dogleg left. 7: 196 feet A pin down 25 ft of elevation hard dogleg right ,B pin 70 ft farther out in open. 8: Udisc says 206 feet but it seems like 270 to the A pin. Be careful and watch for vehicles on the road to your left. This is a lovely hole with the tee in the shade, and B pin 80 feet farther down the hill 20 ft from the stream. 9: 314 feet. the pro tee is at the base of a hill that forces you to drive at a 45 degree angle to get up 30 feet to the plateau. fun hole! 10:185 feet down a hill. 11: 187 feet over the stream, then uphill to the right. 12: 360 feet up a tree tunnel bending right, then 250 feet thru trees to pin left of fairway. 13: 200 feet uphill with only 2 trees in the way. 14: 300 feet Poke N Hope through a mess of trees, then dogleg left uphill. 15: over 500 feet to B pin ! Cool hole 300 feet up 20Ft wide fairway, then go right another 200 plus feet through a phalanx of trees. 16: 250 feet downhill, with a 6 foot wide gap to hit the hyzer line to the pin tucked left . 17: 300 plus feet ; no clear line to the pin yet, lotsa trees to whack. 18: 339 feet down the same 20 foot wide path that you used on 15, but in opposite direction. A pin on left side of fairway, B pin hard dogleg right uphill surrounded by cabbage.

Fairway driving lanes with a mix of open field and woodland throws.

Tall grass off the fairway is tick prone, but it was still pretty easy to find discs that veered. Also, the location of this course is prone to gusts, go on a mild day for the best throws.