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Belleville, IL

Citizens Park

2.815(based on 8 reviews)
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13 0
Tyler V
Gold level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 16.9 years 150 played 100 reviews
2.00 star(s)

A Chill Recreational 18 Accessible To Newer Players 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 2, 2021 Played the course:once

Pros:

Citizens Park is an 18-hole recreational course with a double loop layout using 9 baskets. This short course provides shots that are accessible to newer players, while also providing fun ace runs that more experienced players will enjoy going for as well.

Location of Citizens Park is just off of N belt W, with easy access to Highway 15 and then to I-255; it's on the right after the drive-in theater. Citizens Park is a part of a tight collection of courses in Belleville and Swansea, making this an easy area to make a day out of between this course, Bicentennial, B.I.G., and Clinton Hills. Citizens is also not too far from restaurant and gas station options, as well as multiple disc golf shopping options including Van Man Discs in Swansea and Play-It-Again in Fairview Heights. Van Man's staff are especially helpful if you have any questions, and will even let you try discs out before buying them

Park Amenities, in addition to disc golf, include multiple shelters, 3 softball fields, 2 playgrounds, bathrooms, walking paths, and a small skate park. Park shelters can be reserved for events. Hole 1 is to the right at the park entrance along the left field foul line of the closest softball field. With other park uses including one of the playgrounds being close to the disc golf course, this is a good option for a round of golf if you're out with a family.

Course Equipment at Citizens is designed well and in good shape with some exceptions (see cons). The start of the course includes a large sign with a course map and rules. Each tee is concrete and has its own sign. To help differentiate between the front and back 9, the front 9 tee sign posts are yellow and the back 9 are red, helping with navigation. Each tee sign provides a hole layout, par, distance to pin, next tee direction, and other reference points that are nearby. The DISCatcher baskets are all in great shape and catch well.

Course Design at Citizens caters to throwers who don't have a lot of power yet or are still working on their accuracy, with most of the shots off the tees being open with minimal chance of a disc getting lost. The longest hole on course is hole 2 at 375 feet, but the incredibly generous pars cater to those who can't throw very far, with multiple par 5s and 4s on site for distances that would be par 3s on most other courses. The course makes the most out of land that circles the softball field as well as the land west and south of the parking lot closest to the course, navigating around walking paths and other park uses.

Variety at Citizens is most apparent when considering elevation and distance, with holes varying from ~150 feet to 375 feet. Most shots will be in the 200-300 range. While a lot of the beginning holes are level, elevation is also present on this course, with most shots involving elevation change being downhill. In the back part of the course, you'll find some slight uphill shots, particularly on holes 9 and 18. Most of the shot shapes required for this course off the tees are fairly straight or include slight turns to the right, though some hyzer lines are also present. Overall, folks with limited shot shaping capabilities will be able to get through this course without too much trouble.

Course Difficulty when it comes to obstacles and pars definitely swing towards newer and rec players. Most holes over 200 feet are listed as par 4s, with par 5's being over 300 feet. Are these reasonable compared to most other courses? Maybe not. Did I enjoy scoring a -22 round to start my Saturday? You bet.

Cons:

Safety and Proximity To Other Park Uses is a real concern on this course. There are some instances on this course where you throw over walking trails, but in many of those instances, you can see if anyone is coming from either direction. These situations don't bother me as much. That being said, there are a lot of other holes that go close to or through other park uses. A few holes play really close to the softball field, where a shot could easily stray into the field. Holes 1 and 10 also bring private property into play as well. Holes 9 and 18 also play close to swings, benches, and a pavilion, close enough that it's really hard to throw around these things to get to the fairway without pushing close to the road on the right. Overall, this course plays close to other park amenities much more often that I'd prefer, especially considering the difficulty of this course is more geared towards players that may not have as much accuracy in their shots. Watch out for others in the park before you throw.

Course Equipment is nice except for some of the tee pads. A number of tee pads are not level, and play at weird angles. This makes for some tough tees to throw off of, to the point where some holes may be better off just throwing from another spot next to the tee.

Variety and Course Design just about make the most of the land available. That being said, the course is a very easy one, with minimal shot shaping requirements. The additional 9 tees make for some nice small alterations to the holes, whether they make some lines a little tighter, approach from a different angle, or just add or subtract some length to a shot. Even with those additions, the course feels more like a 9-hole with some extras than a genuine 18 hole course.

Other Thoughts:

All in all, Citizens Park makes for a fun and chill round of golf if you are looking for a course with limited chances to lose a disc. As fun as some of the ace runs on this course are, the crooked tee pads and safety concerns can be limiting. I could see situations come up when a game is being played on the softball field or the pavilion around hole 9/18 is being used where some of the holes on this course are unplayable. My friend and I played this course first thing in the morning and had no issues, but I imagine this park can get a lot of traffic.

If you're in the area and like to bag new courses, add Citizens Park to your list. If you're looking for more challenging courses, Bicentennial and Clinton Hills are both close by. If you're visiting St. Louis, there are a number of courses in the area I'd recommend before Citizens. If you're nearby though and like ace runs, come give it a shot. Just look both ways before throwing.
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1 2
vanman@clintonhills
Experience: 15.8 years 2 played 2 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Great beginner friendly course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 10, 2020 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Great course for just start playing to hone in some putter and midrange shots. Shorter holes with some elevation and some trees in the way on a couple holes.

Cons:

park traffic, swings, and pavillion come into play on a couple holes. Dont throw on people. Please.
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11 0
Three Putt
Staff member
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 29.4 years 152 played 127 reviews
2.00 star(s)

The candy man makes everything he bakes satisfying and delicious 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 2, 2019 Played the course:once

Pros:

Citizens Park is a fairly large suburban park that has three ball fields, three pavilions, a walking path, a bike ramp and a nine-hole disc golf course retrofit into the park. The course has two paved tees per hole and numbers them 1-9, 10-18 instead of 1A 1B etc. The course mostly winds around two softball fields and features park-style shots with O.B. from the ball fields, property line and walking paths. A creek runs past holes 5 and 7 to create some additional O.B. The baskets are DISCatchers that are in good condition.

There is good signage and the course flows fairly well. You can find your way around without a map. The two tees don't alter the shots much except on holes 6 & 7. A few of the shots have some distance; holes 3, 4 and 9 are over 300' and the added tees on 8 & 9 (numbered 17 & 18) are also over 300'. The rest are Roc/putter shots. There is some elevation to work with and the course has a few fun elevated tee Ace runs on shots 3,12 and 16. The park-style shots don't really force you to throw a variety of shots and the design is a decent recreational course; you can have some fun here.

Cons:

Hole 1/10 runs between the property line and a ball field; from the "no trespassing" and "video monitored" signs on the back yards to the left I'd say that isn't working out so great. Hole 2 throws over a walking path and its Hole 11 tee is up against and outfield fence. Hole 4 shoots over the walking path. Hole 5/14 throws over a bike path. Hole 6/15 throws to a pin near a softball fence and the Hole 15 version throws along the fence line. The Hole 16 tee throws over a bike path/park road and Hole 8/17 throws back over it. Hole 9/18 throws toward a pavilion and a swing near the basket, and the Hole 9 tee has another swing that you essentially have to throw right at as it is in the middle of the route from that tee. That's a lot of safety concerns. Playing this course when the park is busy would be difficult.

The tees are concrete but were not leveled. Many of them slope up/down and some tilt from side to side. The 16 tee slopes down so dramatically that I'm not sure how you would actually use it with a run up.

The 10-14 tees for the most part just make the holes shorter. The 15-16 tees create a different shot, but then the 17-18 tees just make the shots longer. It's cool that the holes have two tees, it just doesn't alter the shots all that much. Tees 1/10 and 5/14 sit next to each other; any difference in those shots is subtle. The shot from the 16 tee doesn't have a way over the creek it shoots over, so it creates a long walk from the tee to your shot.

Other Thoughts:

Citizens Park would be a very good recreational/beginner course, but those are exactly the types of players who would have problems navigating the safety conflicts the course design has. The safety concerns and the fact that the tees are not leveled knock down the rating of this course for me.

Belleville has two disc golf courses; Bicentennial Park is a very tough technical wooded course and Citizens Park is a recreational 9-hole. Somehow, Citizens Park at the time that I'm reviewing it is rated higher than Bicentennial Park. How or why that has happened is beyond me; anyone who plays disc golf semi-seriously would put Bicentennial Park far above Citizens Park. If you are in Belleville and looking for a challenging round, go play Bicentennial Park. Citizens Park is the cupcake course; it should be for those fun rounds where you have an hour and just want to get some throws in.
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7 0
mrbro855
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 10.6 years 363 played 105 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Typical City Park course 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Dec 26, 2016 Played the course:once

Pros:

Nice city park course with great signage, concrete tee pads, elevation changes and mature trees. Course winds around a baseball field and makes great use of what land is available. Other than the first two baskets, plenty of elevation comes into play on the rest of the holes.

Course is a 9 basket course with two sets of tee pads mostly at different angles and elevations where possible, making for 18 different holes.

Memorable holes:
#2- Longish (375) throw to a basket protected by a diagonal row of trees cutting across the fairway.
#3 A very ace-able (153) hole that has a very mature tree in front for protection. (#12- Longer straight-on throw from a different angle)
#5 and #14- Another ace-able opportunity to a basket across the path and on the down side of a hill. The tee pad variation was just enough to change the angle of the throw.
#7 and #16- vastly different angles to a basket on the side of a small hill with tree protection which looks very different based on the tee.

Really liked the way the flow was on this course. Did not need the on-line map to get around.

Cons:

Some of the concrete pads were poured at bad angles- some very uphill, some downhill, one higher on one side than the other.

To echo others: #9/ #18 throws over a swing set and near a pavilion. Could be troublesome In the busy time of year. Also, couple of paths were walkers have right of way, need to be vigilant.

Other Thoughts:

Went here day after Xmas on a 55 degree St Louis winter day, with my 17 y/o son and out of town nephew. We had a great time playing this course.

Would make this part of my regular rounds if I lived closer. Definitely worth straying outside St Louis city to play this course. Better pads and a rearranged 9/18 would bring this to a 3.5 for me.
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3 6
NKern
Experience: 15.2 years 49 played 4 reviews
3.00 star(s)

My Hometown Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 4, 2014 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Picturesque park with nice old trees and rolling hills.
Something challenging for everyone.
Low pedestrian traffic.
Fun elevation changes.

Cons:

Hole 9 could be a problem depending on use of the pavillion.
New concrete teepads on holes 6,7,8,and 9 are anything BUT level.
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4 0
Moosejuice
Experience: 12.1 years 87 played 19 reviews
4.00 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Apr 11, 2015 Played the course:once

Pros:

- Course has been significantly improved recently.
- Now has 18 concrete tee pads but uses 9 baskets.
- Seven of the 10 - 18 tee pads offer a completely different shot perspective while two are located 20 or so feet next to the round one tee pads.
- Professional quality signs have been placed at all 18 tee pads showing an aerial photo of the shot with arrows marking course of play.
- Except for basket 9 which shoots near picnic tables and through a swingset, the layout makes very good use of mature trees for obstacles and elevation change to make the shots interesting
- Plenty of shade for those hot days from the many mature trees

Cons:

- Hole 1 / 10 require care not to throw into the baseball field on the right or the bushes and back yards on the left. Having said that, neither is too difficult to retrieve a disc from.
- Hole 9 is nice during the week when nobody is using the picnic tables, but on weekends care should be taken since picnic tables are located right against the fairway and tee 9 shoots right through a swing set. This hole needs to find a new home.

Other Thoughts:

From west of Belleville, this park is easy to find by taking the Frank Scott Parkway
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7 0
dehaas
Experience: 22.6 years 92 played 10 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Good Variety of Shots for a Small 9 Holer 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 14, 2013 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Good variety of shots, not your standard wide open with a few small tree 9 hole course. I use a few rhbh straight shots, a few rhbh anhyzers or rhfh shots, a tomahawk, and even a roller on hole 2.

The course also uses the available elevation in the park. There are a few uphill/downhill holes.

I like that there is some OB on the course (road on hole 1, baseball field on a few holes, creek on a few holes, and the pavilion on 9). It adds a bit of challenge to the course.

I've only played it during the day in the middle of the week, so traffic was sparse. With that in mind this park would make for some awesome safari golf.

Cons:

There are tee signs at each tee with the hole number posted, but no distances or picture of the hole. The first time I played hole 2 I could see 3's basket and assumed it was what I was throwing towards. Pictures or distances might help with course flow a bit.

Hole 3 is a pretty easy short downhill hyzer around the only tree in the way shot. This basket could be moved a bit further back in between a few trees to make it a bit more challenging.

Hole 9 plays uphill with a large metal swing pretty much in the middle of the fairway. Up the hill further is a pavilion, and tee shots more often than not end up in that vicinity. During the summer when there are other people in the park this hole is going to be pretty much unplayable due to other park traffic.

Other Thoughts:

All in all I like this little park a lot. Sure some of the holes could be longer, but not every course can be a par 72 gold level layout. For a beginner course there is elevation and a variety of shots. New players will have to learn a few different shots to shoot well. This is a good course to bring a bag of just putters and mids and work on your short game.

I would play this course a lot more often if I lived a bit closer, but I have 4-5 other courses that I can get to faster than this one.

As another review mentioned, there looks to be some more land in this park over near hole 7. If the pavilion on 9 becomes a problem maybe another hole could be added in that area and 8 could be lengthened a bit.
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3 0
KoenigStern
Experience: 8.7 years 31 played 6 reviews
2.50 star(s)

New Course for Innovation 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 6, 2013 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

-Plenty of obstacles that call for variations of shots
-Varied elevations to make shot selection interesting
-Not too much traffic in the park itself [at least when I played]
-Beautiful park
-Nice baskets [for some, I particularly hate the "chastity belt".

Cons:

-Fairly short holes, not distance-friendly
-First-timers may not know what basket their shooting for
-Hole two is seemingly impossible to birdie, let alone, ace.
-Hole 9 has a swinging bench to the right of the fairway.
-There is a baseball field in play of about 7 of the holes, if you throw over, you're either climbing a shaky fence or walking a mile around to the dugout.
-Creek behind 5 makes it hard to fetch disc in event of overthrow.

Other Thoughts:

I was excited about this course when I saw the course page on DGCR. There aren't too many courses around where I live, and I've grown bored of the courses that are around. I did like this course, however, the holes may have been poorly planned. The park is a bit small, but I was playing with a guy and we were pointing out other options they could have gone with. There is another side of the park which may spell for more holes or a possible reconfiguration. If they would adjust the tee of hole 9, it would be a great hole. Hole 2 has a line of trees that makes for a tiny window to get your disc anywhere near the hole. Not as much of an issue, but hole 1 plays over a fenced off road. For holes 5 and 7, they could stand to put a make-shift bridge across the ditches to make fetching your shanks easier. overall, I'm relatively pleased with this course. It's a 20 minute drive for me, but worth it. I hope that they play on expanding the course and maybe moving around the tees to make some shots more reasonable. If you're in the area, definitely give the course a try. But not worth a special trip to play, unless you've traveled to play a nearby course.
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