St. Clair, MO

Evergreen DGC

2.295(based on 7 reviews)
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11 0
Tyler V
Gold level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 16.9 years 148 played 99 reviews
1.50 star(s)

A Recreational-Level 18 That Should Only Be A 9

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 7, 2022 Played the course:once

Pros:

Evergreen Disc Golf Course is a short, very tight disc golf course that snakes around paths and amenities around the park. At just an average of 225ft per hole, this is a course that newer players will find accessible from a distance standpoint.

Location of Evergreen is the central-east part of St. Clair, not far from I-44. There are gas and food options in town for you if you need them. There are not many courses close by, but Busch Creek and Autumn Hill make a line that could be hit consecutively and can make for a good half day of golf (especially if you skip Autumn Hill).

Park Amenities at Evergreen include a nice playground/water spray area, bathrooms near the parking lot, a basketball court, a baseball field, a shuffleboard deck and walking paths you'll come across throughout the disc golf course. I didn't notice a water fountain, though there may be one near the playground. There are also a couple pavilions as well.

Course Equipment was in mostly good shape when I played this course. The baskets are all blue DGAs, with the front 9 being made up of older but still nice baskets and the back 9 being larger and nicer. The tee signs all have the pertinent information, with hole numbers, pars, distances, and graphics of the hole layouts. The front 9 include some additional info about next tees. There's a map next to the practice basket by the parking lot as well, though it only includes the front 9 layout. It's clear the back 9 was included later from the front 9.

Course Design is mostly short par 3s with a couple holes above 300ft on the back 9. Many of the holes have brush or trees to navigate around, as well as tough rough to avoid along one or both sides of each fairway on a good percentage of the holes.

Shot Shaping is required on some of the holes, with many baskets hidden around corners. Holes 3, 4, 5, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 17 all require touchy backhand or forehand shots depending on your dominant hand; as a RHBH dominant player, 8 and 17 were clear forehand shots to me as someone who uses that shot only when needed. Other holes play straight but may have tight OB or rough to contend with.

Distances provide a little variety, with holes ranging from 366ft on hole 16 to only 94ft on hole 7, aka circle 3.

Difficulty favors newer players, with the course playing so short. Par can be hit on just about every hole even with a bad tee shot that goes off course. As an intermediate player, I was able to score 7 under on a blind round with some impressively bad putting at times. Double digits under par will be standard for many who play here more than once.

Cons:

Safety and Proximity really stand out throughout this course, and really knock it down in my mind. The PDGA recommends 12 acres of land for a 4,100ft course. This park has 14 acres and plenty of other park amenities, leaving small slivers of land for disc golf. Holes 1 and 9 essentially play against each other in opposite directions. Hole 8's pin is in hole 2's fairway. Hole 18's pin place fairly close to 10's fairway. Hole 11 plays around a corner very close to a pathway that is blind, and you might not even see until your disc bounces off it like mine did. Holes 12 and 13 play very close to the same path. Holes 15 and 16 play close to each other in opposite directions. 15 plays very close to the baseball field. I could go one about this.

A lot of the tee pads also are extremely close to the prior hole's pin. I'd say well over half the holes have this issue. If you're behind another group, you will likely have to wait not only until they are done with the hole, but until they tee off and leave the next hole's tee pad. There were 5 or 6 groups on the course with my friend and I when we played this course despite it's ruralness on a weeknight, so it gets traffic. Between other disc golfers or park goers, this course has a lot of safety issues. I am usually lenient about such issues on courses, but I's impossible to ignore here. The course design really caters newer and amateur players, who are also the players more likely to throw into OB areas, which is a bad combo at Evergreen. Apparently, there are also alternate tees that are even worse that locals know about and throw based on other reviews.

Fun Factor was lower than usually in my opinion as well at times on this course. While there are some fun shots around the course, 100 to 200 foot holes can get old and repetitive without more variety in shot shaping than this course has. Ace runs are fun, but as the holes between 2 and 7 get shorter and shorter and you hit the 94 foot shot that has no obstacles between you and the hole, you may be left wondering if hole 8 will just be a 45 foot jump putt. Is there room at this course for a fun and exciting 9-hole course? Probably, yeah. Is there room for a fun 18-hole? Not really. I'm a sucker for a short, old school 18-hole course, but this one does not have that vibe at all.

Course Equipment was mostly good, if not looking a bit worn for its age, especially some of the tee signs. The tee pads feel short despite the short hole distances, and some are already chipping pretty bad, especially hole 10. The front 9 baskets also get a vibe of being older than they actually are at times, though they still caught well.

Other Thoughts:

Some parks just don't have room for disc golf, and I think that's a fair debate with Evergreen. A 9 hole could probably fit here, with some likely awkward transitions. Trying to cram 18 holes into this park feels greedy, and I would very likely rate this course higher if it had 9 holes on the same amount of land. I have played very short courses that I have found to be quite fun, like White Birch in St. Louis and Shorewood in the southwest suburbs of Chicago. For me, this course does not match the fun factor those courses have that can make up for the course playing over itself like Evergreen does.

Evergreen Park is 50 minutes from my home, and with so many other options in St. Louis, I do not see myself returning to play here any time soon. Even if I have a trip to make down 44, there are other courses I would stop at along the highway before this one. If you're a dedicated disc golfer or a local, check the course out. Otherwise, this is one you won't need to lose sleep over skipping.
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2 2
rackne69
Experience: 26.9 years 81 played 1 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Evergreen dgc 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 7, 2020 Played the course:once

Pros:

The front nine is ninety's style shorter course still sort of challenging. A remodel on 5,6, and 7. Would enhance the front. There seemed to be enough room. The back nine was longer and challenging. Great baskets! Tees are a little short but serviceable. Not a championship course but nice local course.
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11 0
Three Putt
Staff member
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 29.3 years 152 played 127 reviews
1.00 star(s)

Well I lay my head on the railroad track, waiting on the Double E. But the train don't run by here no more, poor poor pitiful me 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Feb 11, 2020 Played the course:once

Pros:

Evergreen Park is...it's...I mean...it's just awful. It does have 18 holes. It's got Mach V's. It has tee signs. It's easy to follow the flow. Some of the holes on the front nine aren't awful. So it's got that.

The original course (front nine) is mostly shorter wooded holes and the back is mostly open holes with more distance, so there is a little bit of variety. There is some elevation changes on the course. If you are the only person in the park, it's not too bad.

Cons:

If there is anybody else in the park, you are going to have to actively work to avoid them. Holes 1 & 9 shoot at each other. Holes 8's basket is in hole 2's fairway. Holes 1, 2 and 10 shoot very close to a road. Holes 10, 11, 12 & 13 shoot along or over a paved walking path. Hole 11 has an amphitheater in the fairway. Holes 14 & 17 shoot at each other. Holes 15 & 16 shoot at each other. Hole 16 plays right next to a ball field fence. Hole 18's basket is in hole 10's fairway. The course just constantly conflicts with itself or other park uses.

The course flows well and is easy to follow. It's easy to follow because a lot of the tees are just steps away from the last basket. There is not nearly enough of a buffer distance between them.

The holes just don't pay off in fun factor. Hole 16 for example runs parallel to hole 15 but is set up the hill. On the right is a ballfields outfield fence. To the left is the drop-off down the hill into 15's fairway. The safe fairway to hit is 15-20' wide. It would probably be an OK shot if it was 220', but it's 372'. At that distance I end up hanging a hyzer out over the ball field and risk it either not clearing the fence back to the fairway or getting it too high and having it hyzer down the hill toward 15 (or 14 since it's basket is down there as well). Of course these factors make the shot harder, but it's not a fun sort of hard and it has safety concerns. It's just not a shot you would see an experienced course designer incorporate.

There are some alternate tees the locals play that make the layout even more dangerous, so there is that.

Other Thoughts:

Disc golf doesn't fit into a lot of parks very well, but we cram disc golf courses in them anyway. Evergreen Park is one of those courses. If you lived there, you would play it. If you don't live there, you don't have to play it. If you are ever driving by St. Clair on I-44, just remember that you don't have to play it, smile, and keep driving.
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3 0
lemmmy_acemister
Experience: 9.9 years 12 played 9 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Update 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 8, 2018 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Holes 10-18 added. You can play front 9, back 9, and alt 9 for a total of 27 holes.
Signs and tee pads on front 9.
OB on back 9 adds a good element.
Good for beginners.
About half of the holes are under 200 ft.
Most shots have a technical element to them.
Some elevations moderate woods.
Easy to navigate
Good lay out. I think they did the best they could with the space they had.
Few benchs and trash cans through out.

Cons:

Short course.
Back 9 and alt 9 don't have signs or tee pads.
A few holes cross each other and are on top of each other.
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3 0
mrbro855
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 10.6 years 363 played 105 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Fun course 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:May 27, 2017 Played the course:once

Pros:

This was a fun little course with the usual amenities... concrete tee pads, good signage, use of elevation, easy to follow from hole to hole.

There's even a second set of tees marked with 2x2's in the ground. These were either longer or offset enough to change the angle approach to the basket.

Typical city park course in that there were no straight fairway throws without some sort of tree obstacles involved.

Some of the holes:
1-2 &9: Played through the opening valley with the mature trees as protection and the creek beds passing through (currently pretty dry)
3- 8 take you through the woods
#3 nice slant left throw that starts your wooded adventure
#7 short 94 foot hole with just enough tree protection to get you thinking shot selection for your ace run.

Cons:

Definitely could be a problem if more than a couple of throwers are out there. Next tees are way too close to the baskets.

Some will say distance, but that's what you get with city parks. I'm a fan, I know others are not.

Other Thoughts:

This was course #2 of a 5 course swing from St Louis to Rolla on I -44.

And I would say it was the second most fun of the 5. I am a city park fan and other than it having potential for striking others if crowded, the course did not disappoint.
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2 0
KptMkKamble
Experience: 25.9 years 11 played 6 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Update 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 6, 2017 Played the course:once

Pros:

Short & quick to play; with additional Tees (dirt) marked with Board & some flags.

Cons:

Some cement Tee boxes are placed out of line with baskets.

Other Thoughts:

The locals are all very friendly and the woods are sparse enough to make loosing a disk difficult but not impossible.
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3 0
Vince W
Experience: 13.9 years 174 played 11 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Short technical course 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 20, 2017 Played the course:once

Pros:

This course is great for beginners and amateurs. Pretty park with nice baskets. Plenty of ace run chances. Tee signs and tee pads are nice and clean.

Cons:

This course can be somewhat dangerous to play on if there are many people playing it at once. This is because some of the teepads and baskets are way too close to each other. Within 15 feet on a few holes! If the course isn't crowded then it isn't a problem.

Other Thoughts:

This course is mainly for beginners or people that live locally. Most of the holes are too close together. First two holes play in mostly open fairways then the next 5 or 6 are wooded with technical fairways with ace runs possible on most of them. The wooded holes are very short and only a putter is needed for most. Longest hole is number 9 which plays back to parking lot but is only 270' downhill. So overall this course just works with accuracy and putting.
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