Pros:
- Awesome variety of disc golf shots - uphill, downhill, righty, lefty, long, short, heavily wooded, mildly wooded, open, treacherous greens...you name it and its probably got it!
- Friendly locals that love to show visitors a good time (and possibly a little friendly competition).
- Pins are moved on a regular basis.
- Front and back nines loop at the same parking lot with restrooms, a drinking fountain, and a tournament shelter.
- Trash cans and benches on every hole.
- Buried concrete pillars 6 feet from almost every pin position with a painted arrow pointing you directly to the next tee. If you know this secret, you can't get lost. Even if the last pin you played for some reason doesn't have one, just check one of the other pin positions on that hole.
- Great kiosk that is chock full of information, scorecards, and pencils.
- Beautiful landscape under some awesome old growth oaks that makes for a great walk, even on the worst of golf days.
Cons:
- Poor tee signage. This is only an issue for literally the next week, as the new full color signs are on the way! I have seen them, and it will be a HUGE improvement.
- Trash. Unfortunately the apartment complex neighbors don't seem to care about hitting the dumpsters when they take out their trash. One day it can be clean as a whistle, and the next it can literally look like someone flung their trashbag into the park intentionally. It's a shame, but it only happens in that particular part of the course.
- It can be a bit crowded. It's a great layout, so what do you expect?
Other Thoughts:
This is quite possibly the most played course in all of the STL metro and surrounding areas. It started off its life as a 9 hole layout sometime around 1991 and eventually turned into a 18 hole layout in 1994. The original 18 hole design utilized 1 pin position and 3 tee positions (natural) per hole. The short positions (red) were just a bit more than a pitch-n-putt and the long positions (blue) added quite a bit of distance and challenge, turning the course into a true tournament layout. It certainly offered a unique range of play, to say the least. Sometime around 2004, it was decided that concrete tee-pads were the next logical step and the course underwent a major re-design. More land was incorporated for a few holes and the overall layout was spread out a bit. Over the period of the next few years, 2-4 extra pin positions were added to every hole, once again giving it a great amount of variety. You can rest assured that no basket will ever get rusted in place, as the baskets are continually moved around by a handful of dedicated course addicts and league barons. The course has constantly been upgraded with custom benches on every hole, bridges throughout, trashcans at every tee, brooms on almost every hole, next tee guidance arrows, and other various beautifications. It is obvious that this course is loved by many. The old Mach III baskets (originally under water at Creve Couer Lake during the Great Flood of 1993) were replaced in 2011 with new ones with custom number plates.
This course can be described as a long par 3 for the most part. In its longest settings, the course maxes out well above 7,000 feet, with only a few par 4's mixed in. It is a technical layout through beautiful old hardwoods (100+ years old) and tough, but not too taxing, rolling hills. It has a great mix of every shot in the bag. With 4-5 pins per hole, the combinations are literally endless. There are a couple of opportunities to really air it out, but there really aren't any "open" holes. If you aren't hitting your lines, this course will let you know it...just ask Barry Schultz (had his worst rated round here in the 2009 STLO). It fits the true definition of a course intermingled with the rest of a multi-use park. There are walking paths, parking lots, and other amenities that surround the course, but only come into play if you really try to do so (or have a really bad shot). The course is maintained by the park staff and recycling locals quite well, so there isn't too much trash to deal with. The only exception to this is along the parking lot of an apartment complex on holes 15-18. The locals do their best, but it unfortunately is an uphill battle. If you are playing the course, chip in, and help us pick up a few pieces of trash.