Meadowridge DGC is a 9-hole course that uses a couple of flat, fairly open areas in a fairly small park. The park is tucked in behind a subdivision and nursing home, and makes for a fairly quiet setting for a quick round of golf.

Meadowridge Park doesn't have much in terms of amenities, nor does it really need much. A gravel walking path, the disc golf course, and a playground are the highlights of the park. There's also a gazebo and grill, and that about sums up what the park has to offer. If you need water or a bathroom, there are gas stations and restaurants close by, since this course is only a minute off of Route 3. You can get to Schnucks and back to the course without going back on the highway.

This disc golf course was an Eagle Scout project, and they deserve a shout out for the quality of a lot of the equipment used on the course. The Mach 3 baskets were a great choice and are in great shape. The tee signs honestly have even more information then you will ever need on this course, including hole number, par, a graphic showing the shape of the hole, and hole sponsors. I'll get back to the tee pads, but it's nice that this course has some in place.

While the shot variety leaves more to be desired, this course actually has some good length for a 9-hole. Seven holes top 300 feet, with hole 8 topping out at 355 feet. Hole 3 is nice in that it requires some shot shaping around the tree line to the right of the fairway. Holes 4 and 5 are also placed in spots that will require some thought before you throw your drive when the weeping willow has its leaves.

I saw that a big con that others have brought up with this course is that it's in a low-lying area and can get soggy very quick. I played this course 3 days after the area had gotten some rain/snow, and it's clear that parts of this course do not dry up quickly. Hole 4's green was a swamp, and areas around holes 1 and 3 also had substantial puddles. I would highly recommend water proof shoes when playing this course; it is clear that the ground will stay wet for a while after the last rainy day, a quality that doesn't bode well for a St. Louis area course. I would bet that a couple consecutive days of storms could put a lot of this course fully underwater.

I appreciate the effort in placing rubber tee pads, but this choice doesn't mesh well with a course that holds water. Most of the pads had puddles of water on them, and some were being taken over by mud. I opted to throw next to most of the tee pads during my round.

This doesn't strike me as a park that gets very busy, and I don't want to put down the eagle scout that designed it. However, it's clear that the designer was not worried about getting close to the pathways or even crossing them, which makes me wonder why they designed the course to end as far away from the parking lot as you can get. The last 3 holes are in a separate section of the park as the first 6, with a tree line between the two sections. Instead of going back and forth to maximize distance, these last 3 holes could have just made a triangle shape around this area so that 9 ended close to the parking lot. This option could leave you with at least two out of three holes over 300 feet as well.

I would be more concerned about the proximity of the fairways to the walkways, but the fields are open enough so that you can see the baskets from the tees for the most part. As long as you're aware of your surroundings, you should be okay. If you do happen to be sharing the course with other disc golfers, be mindful of your throws; a lot of the fairways play very close to each other.

Is this a fantastic 9-hole course? No. Is it a good Eagle Scout project? As someone with 2 months of experience in the scouts from 20 years ago, I'd say sure. As the trees that are in the fairways mature, this course could get a little better. Time will tell if the course floods too much for these trees to grow much. Honestly though, I don't see many ways this course could be improved. The park is flat, relatively small, and looks like the lowest spot around other than the Mississippi River.

This doesn't mean that the course is useless. I always love seeing new courses, and this one reminds me a lot of the short, open field 9-hole in Romeoville, Illinois that got me started with disc golf. For any locals in Columbia, this is a course that any new player can use to learn the game. More advanced players will likely disregard the very lenient pars, but I personally will take my eagle on 8 and be happy.

This isn't a course I would go out of the way for if you're visiting the area; there are so many great options in St. Louis. It's pretty out of the way too unless you are already driving along I-255 or Route 3. If you're passing through on your way to or from nearby courses like JB or Konarcik, this course can easily be played in under a half hour. As someone who is working on bagging more courses, this is one I picked up on the way to Konarcik, and I likely won't come back except to update this review every 1-2 years. I'd give someone an Eagle badge for it, though. Props to the scout who designed this course for getting the most out of the land.

Meadow Ridge Park in a small, flat, low-lying park that sits behind some apartments and a nursing home. The park is bordered on the south by a creek and cut into two sections by another creek carrying runoff from the neighborhood to the other creek. Both park sections have a gravel walking path that more or less runs around the outside of the sections, with a land bridge connecting the two loops together. The disc golf course is an Eagle Scout project and features Mach III baskets, good tee signs with a hole map and distances, and rubber tee pads. Seven of the shots are over 300', so there is a little distance to the shots.

The design of the course is really uncreative. Holes 2 & 3 shoot back and forth at each other. Holes 4 & 5 shoot back and forth at each other. Holes 7, 8 & 9 shoot back and forth at each other. Hole 4 has the pin stuck behind a weeping willow tree, but otherwise the baskets are just in the open. All along the creeks there are trees and shule, but none of the baskets are close to either of the creeks.

Seven of the nine drives are 300' to 350' flat drives across a mostly open field, so the shots get very repetitive.

Because the shots just go back and forth, the fairways all overlap. The tee for Hole 8 is ridiculously close to the pin for Hole 7 for no reason, and a lot of other tees could stand to be farther away from the last pin. The shots take you out to the park without looping back, so when you finish Hole 9 you are about as far away from your car as you can get and still be in the park.

The rubber mats were a nice thought, but they are super-duper slick when wet and mud has washed over a lot of them. Even in wet and muddy conditions, I teed off from the side of the rubber tees.

The park gets runoff from the surrounding neighborhood and holds water, so it can get very sloggy after a rain.

Really when it is all said and done with, the park is small, flat and open. The course design could be better, but it wouldn't fix the fact that the park is small, flat and open. You would end up with 9 holes that had more of a variety of short and 300' shots and looped back to your car that were flat and open. Because of the land available, It's just going to be a below-average recreational course no matter what you do. The way it is, you at least get some 300' drives to throw.

The course was an Eagle Scout project, and the kid did a pretty good job and got nine more holes of disc golf in the ground. Hopefully the community will use it. Having said that, I don't want to over-rate the course just because I appreciate the effort. For traveling disc golfers looking for courses to play, it's a skip.