Sioux Passage – Briscoe Woods is a technical, recreational 18-hole course that has a mix of woods, fields, and hills. This 2014 installation is the scrappy little brother to the original Sioux Passage course across the park's main road and makes for a shorter but more technical round than the long, open OG course.

Location of Sioux Passage Park is at the northern most point of Florissant, Missouri, right up against the Missouri River. The park is located on Old Jamestown Road, and you'll be directed to the park via Vaile Ave from the south or Old Jamestown Road if you're coming from Illinois. Once you enter the park, take the first right turn, and then you'll see parking next to hole 1 and the black practice basket. If you want to make a day out of golfing, the original course is just located further up the main road. Other than that, Yu can go south for north county courses like Dunegant, Hudson, or White Birch, or cross the river for the collection in Alton and Godfrey. There's nothing but rural feeling subdivisions around the park, so get your snacks ahead of time.

Park Amenities are pretty robust in this expansive park. In addition to the two disc golf courses, you can find two playgrounds, trails, horseback riding, tennis courts by hole one, fishing, basketball, cross country courses, and a boat ramp. There are also some camp sites, and the park is also designated for winter outdoor sports. There' also fishing along the river in the back of the park. The closest bathroom is across the street from hole 15, though there's a year-round bathroom at the shelter across from the start of the original 18-hole course.

Course Equipment is coming along nicely and is a continuing project this year for Briscoe Woods. Most tee pads are concrete, with just a couple that still need to be upgraded. The baskets on both Sioux Passage courses have been upgraded as of last year to Black Hole Portal Version 2 baskets, with Briscoe's being Orange and the OG course being Yellow. Each course also has a black practice basket, both of which have plenty of space to practice approaches and longer putts. The signage is due to be upgraded soon at Briscoe, but what's in place as of this review's writing is alright, with pars, hole graphics, pin placements, and next tee directions. Overall, this course should be up to par with the original course hopefully by the end of 2024.

Course Design at Briscoe gives you a bit of everything, with the start of the course having tight wooded lines, and the back half being primarily more open shots along the hills and fields in the front half of the park. While the original course is very open and long, Briscoe will require more technical ability, and will also challenge you to throw both right and left turning shots. Overall, this is a course that will require multiple shot shapes and will punish you a bit if you aren't on your game with putting your disc where you want it.

Elevation is prominent on this course, with plenty of hills being present throughout the park. Holes 1 and 8 come to mind as hole that have open fairways but play downhill, with both greens having some elevation around that can result in rollaways. Holes like 3 and 7 also play uphill in addition to having wonky fairway shapes, and 11 is a steep but open uphill shot. Holes 12 and 14, while vastly different in distance, have similar feels wit downhill elevation, which can be tricky when gauging how hard to throw your approach. Hole 9 is a very abrupt uphill shot, and can leave you with a tough upshot if you don't make the hill or hit a tree in the fairway.

Shot-Shaping is also crucial at Briscoe, with more fairways requiring a particular shot shape than not. Holes 2, 3, 5, arguably 7, and 13 all turn to the right and will favor RH forehand shots off the tee. Meanwhile, holes 4 (depending on the pin position), and 17 both require RH backhand or similar shot shapes off the tee. The rest of the holes are either straight or leave you options, but many will require straight shots or good accuracy off the tee, such as 1, 7, and 15. Overall, I think this is definitely one of the more RH forehand friendly courses in St. Louis, and it was fun to practice playing with that shot more as someone who throws forehands about as much as James Conrad.

Distances are pretty attainable for a variety of plyers, with this course being around 6,500 feet long across 18 holes, playing 1,000 feet or shorter than the original 18-hole course. Most holes are between 225 and 400 feet, with holes 13 (555ft), 14 (562), and 16 (560) being outliers, though all three are par 4s. The first half of the course is very short relative to par, with hole 5 being only around 210ft long. The back half of the course is more open except for 17, and will play longer as well, a nice change from the more intricate front 9 once your arm is warmed up.

Difficulty Level is towards intermediate and advanced, as anyone who can't reliably hit a line with their drive is going to really struggle through the front 9. Even when you get through the first half of the course, you still have prairie grass, hills, and longer shots, all of which can give newer players trouble. While easier in some ways to the original course, this course has it's own unique challenges to its older brother, and newer players should probably get experience on easier nearby courses like White Birch and Gordon Moore before giving the Sioux Passage courses a go.

Highlights – Hole 8 is a very fun open shot that plays downhill to a relatively open green, being a nice opportunity to rip a fairway with less risk involved. Similarly, hole 12 is downhill and has multiple fun lines to the basket, with anything from a straight putter shot to a stalling hyzer over the trees to the right being viable options. Hole 16 might be the most complete hole n terms of challenges, with a long open field shot to a gap in the woods, followed by a technical upshot to the green.

Bugs – Time for ol' Tyler to be a little vulnerable. I hate wasps with a seething passion, as well as large bugs that continuously buzz your head without you being able to tell what it is. This was my third attempt playing this course, as I had too much trouble the first two times with bugs to make it through more than 4 holes. Is this a me problem? Absolutely. That being said, I have played a lot of rounds since start disc golf and have been on 147 courses so far, and I have never had this issue until I tried play Briscoe. This is a course I plan to primarily play in the winter or with a thunder-buddy in the future. If you don't like bugs, be weary across the first third of this course.

Navigation is pretty rough at multiple points of this course. I'd argue the transition from one to two isn't the most obvious, but a few others are much worse. The route from hole 8 to hole 9 is not intuitive in the slightest, and an old out-of-use tee pad may only further confuse folks playing here for the first time. Holes 9 to 10 is also not clear, requiring you to walk along the fence and then up a service road to find it. Hole 11 is not visible from hole 11, and You could easily find yourself at hole 14 after 11 if you look the wrong way. The worse part is the last four hole, which are separated from the rest of the course. After 14, walk down the road to the next parking lot on the left, and you'll find 15. This also makes for a Fellowship-Of-The-Ring-Like walk from 18 to your car. Honestly, my friends and I drove to that other lot after playing 14, and it made for a nicer experience playing Briscoe; I recommend you do the same. This layout is actually miles better than the original layout you'll find on DGCR in some ways. That being said, it still sucks from a navigation standpoint. Additional directional signs would make a world of difference, and I hope that's included in the upcoming sign upgrades.

Safety comes to mind as well on a couple of holes. Hole 12 is one where you could end up on the street, so make sure you look before you throw. 14 is also a hole that can take you along a couple of streets depending on your first shot, and the main road is kind of blind from the fairway as well. The biggest problem point for me is actually hole 18, which plays entirely along the main road. They added a tall mando post for you to respect, but any errant shot to the right can and will end up over or on the road. This can be a very blind shot from much of the fairway as well, and the road gets plenty of traffic during the day, so please be careful if you play 18, especially if you're solo and don't have a spotter.

Prairie Grass is far from a favorite for many folks, so if you aren't a fan of it, you'll be in for a treat on holes 8, 10, 11, and 12. The height and thickness really vary over the year, and the parks department does a great job from a conservation standpoint. Unfortunately, that sometimes means bad news for disc golfers when its fully grown, and much of it can have thorns or prickly spots. I was picking stuff off my pants and hoodie from hole 10 to 18 after looking for friend's disc in the cabbage, so be careful of errant shots on those holes.

This is really the last course in the St. Louis metro area I have to review that was installed before 2020, and I have to say I enjoyed I more than I thought I would. It's not a course I have seen get a lot of love specifically on local social pages, and it is universally rated lower than its older brother. That being said it has some nice variety to it, and makes for a pretty complete 36 hole complex within Sioux Passage. This was the first park in St. Louis to receive a second course, and fast forward a decade and we are now lucky enough to have two more parks with multiple 18s at Creve Coeur Lake and Jefferson Barracks.

This course has really been a long-term project to get where it is today, and has seems like it has perpetually been under construction or improvement. While there is more than enough land in Sioux Passage for two parks, the front part of the park where Briscoe lies is awkward as a whole, so I understand that the folks behind the design did what they could. With concrete tees in, the current layout looks like it's pretty set now, but navigational signs would do a lot to overcome the multiple awkward transitions throughout this course. The concrete tees are a real plus from what seems to be a course that formerly had turf, which probably didn't do great on this terrain, and the baskets are really top notch in both quality and color, coming from a red-green colorblind disc golfer.

Sioux Passage might be the more remote disc golf spot in St. Louis, and it's a complex that would definitely get more play if it was just a little closer to civilization. It's a shame too, because I think this park can really compete with most of the other courses and 36-hole complexes in St. Louis as a complete product. The original Sioux Passage course was one of the first courses in the area and for a while was also its highest rated. Briscoe makes for a great sequel, with additional technicality, shorter holes, and an overall experience that compliments the OG well.

It's not the easiest to get to, but if you have time for a bit of an adventure, give Briscoe Woods and Sioux Passage a visit.

Sioux Passage's Briscoe Woods is the shorter, more technical of the two 18's here. Located in the Southwest corner of the park, It does it pretty decent job of playing away from other park activities, besides being right along the road for the front 9.

It says there's DGA baskets on the course info page, luckily that wasn't the case. DISCatcher's on this course, which are all in OK shape but caught just fine. They're showing some age but work good enough. The yellow bands, as usual, make spotting them easy in the woods.

There's a mix of tee pads, though most are concrete. Pretty narrow and not the longest but they're better than natural or rubber mats. A hole (5 I think it was) or 2 use the park road as the tee. Hole 2 had a turf mat and 3 was concrete stones. Each were plenty servicable. All the rest are concrete if I remember correctly.

The signs here are pretty much worthless. The are 4x4's with a laminated placard with the hole #. No distances, pars or any other pertinent info. Kind of disappointing for an out of towner like myself. At least there were posts I guess.

The course starts and ends near the parking lot, which is a plus. Actually the front nine ends by the lot too. Even better. The course is free to play and permanent. The park itself was well mowed and maintained when I was there. No complaints in that regard.

The front 9 plays like a mini version of the original, in every way. Mini pads, hills and distances. It's good, albeit a little bland, but good enough. The back 9 is where it really shines. Holes 10 thru 16 wind through the woods and offer good challenge. Holes 17 and 18 play along some of the prairie grass. Meh. But those 7 hole in the middle are really good. I wish the whole course was like those. And by the name of the course that's kind of what I envisioned in my head.

A good mix of shots are required here. You can do alright with just a backhand (me usually). But if you can throw a sidearm too you'll do OK. Pretty well balanced in that regard.

The flow of this course is horrendous. I used the map on Udisc, which was pretty accurate, and still had a few confusing transitions. You cross the road after 2, 3,5, and 9. No next tee signs to be found. It's straightforward on the back half but the front is ridiculous.

You have to walk down the same park road to get to 6 and 10. Not the safest design as it's a kind of blind turn and I seen a few cars flying through there.

The tee signs as mentioned earlier are essentially useless. Even a basic hole map would go a long way. Hell, even a distance. I'd settle for that. Nope, you get the hole #. The one thing you're likely to know.

The prairie grass on 17 and 18 is awful to look through if you go off the fairway. Tons of different varieties of plants to dig through. It's also THICK, and really tall in spots. Good chance you'll not find your disc if it's too far off the fairway.

I enjoyed this course about the same as the original. I'm a woods golf guy and this has some of that. I enjoyed my round here despite the many cons, but it's just a slightly above average course. I wouldn't go out of my way to play this course again, but it's not a bad course. I understand that they did what they could with the available land and made a solid course. It's just...OK.

Briscoe Woods is the second course in Sioux Passage Park, and it's very different from the original. The original course features long, park-style shots with dramatic elevation changes, but Briscoe Woods has eight wooded shots and features shorter distances. There is still some good elevation changes on Briscoe Woods, but not as extreme and the original course. It creates a significantly different playing experience from one course to the other. You have to have quite a bit more accuracy with your shot placement on Briscoe Woods than you need on the original course across the street.

The shots are fairly solid, although none of them stood out to me as exceptional. A lot of the wooded holes are cleaned out very wide, which creates some nice visual effects. It's a pleasant park to spend a day in. The course has been re-designed slightly since it opened, old hole 2 has been broken up into two shots and new holes 2-3 have been added at the start of the course, while original holes 14-16 have been removed. This has required the renumbering of all of the shots in-between.

The holes from the original layout have concrete tees and are marked with posts. The three new tees were marked with a stake sign and hole 3 had a paved tee. The tee markings had numbers but no maps or distances. Hole 12 has a bench that looks like the stairs from a building, which was odd but cool at the same time.

In a reoccurring St. Louis theme, the major knock on Briscoe Woods is the flow. You play holes 1-2 and are at the entrance to the park with no indication of where to go. You have to walk over the entry road to find hole 3. Hole 3 is the only hole on Briscoe Woods on that side of the road. You have to cross the road and another road to find hole 4 (which used to be hole 2.) You play holes 4-5 and then you are stuck. The only other tee you can see is the tee for hole 10. You have to walk down the main park road around a creek culvert and across a parking lot to find the tee for hole 6 (which used to be hole 3.) Holes 6-9 are in this section of the park, but once you are done with hole 9 you repeat the long walk across the parking lot and down the main park road around the creek culvert and back up a hill to the tee for 10. Holes 10-16 wind through the woods, but once you finish hole 16 there is an overgrown section of the park where three holes used to be. Hole 16 used to be hole 13, old holes 14/15/16 are gone and there is no indication where hole 17 is in relation to where you are. You have to wander up the hill and hope you find it.

IF there were adequate signage to get you around the park it would be no big deal, but Briscoe Woods has inadequate signage for a course with good flow. The tee posts have no distance information, no hole map, just a number. There needs to be a major investment in tee signs and directional signs to keep playing this course from being a frustrating experience for first-time players. The fact that it's not even the worst flow of a St. Louis-area course and none of the courses with flow issues have directional signs makes me think it's a problem that's not going to be fixed anytime soon.

The other design issue Briscoe Woods has is the use of plinko trees. On hole 7 (used to be 4) there is a gap that is littered with skinny trees. Some players say there is a gap there, I'm just not good enough to hit it. That I can't hit the gap isn't the issue, I can't SEE the gap. Most of the wooded holes also have a scattering of skinny trees in the fairway. The design is on that edge of "challenging to hit the gap" and "poke and pray." I'm not 100% sure which way it goes, but I feel like I need to mention it.

A couple of the holes are not very good. Hole 9 (used to be 6) is I guess ok, it's just weird that the basket is set down so low under the playing surface. It seems like a putt-putt shot. Hole 14 (used to be 11) is just bad. The fairway is narrow with deep, disc-eating shule on a blind turnover line, but even if you get your shot down the fairway there are plinko trees just around the turn. It's a poke and pray shot at best.

The ending holes are odd. Hole 17 is a tall grass island shot that you can't see from the tee because it's uphill; you pretty much have to have a spotter to play the hole. There isn't a "fairway" and there is no hole map on the tee sign, so there is no real indication of what you are supposed to do from the tee as throwing blindly into tall grass doesn't seem like a thing you should do. Hole 18 is another tall grass shot; there is a generous island around the basket but the fairway to that island is too narrow and the shot is too long. There needs to be a mowed-out landing zone for weenie-arms to aim for since not everyone can reach the island and the fairway is unrealistically narrow. Both holes seem like tournament-type holes where you try to create challenge out of what otherwise is a wide-open throw to a wide-open basket, and in a tournament setting they probably are OK. Set up like that for everyday use by casual golfers is just an invitation to spend several minutes tromping around in tall grass looking for discs and makes an annoying ending to your round.

After you play hole 8 (used to be hole 5) you pop out into the open pretty close to the pin for hole 6, you have to watch out when you walk up to the tee for 9. You cross park roads quite a bit and twice you have quite a long walk down the side of a park road, so you need to be observant of other park users.

Briscoe Woods would be a nice intermediate course and a good compliment to the advanced/pro layout across the street IF there were directional signs to help you find your way. I get that in multi-use parks that sometimes the land you have available is split up and requires some walking, but when that happens you have to help players find the next hole. Briscoe Woods doesn't even have a course map in the kiosk by the parking area. It's like no one cares that they have a course that is next to impossible to navigate. The park is well maintained and the course is well cared for, so the lack of signs/maps is very confusing.

In the 90's when Albert Oakland Back and Rosedale Down Under were installed, we wanted a park in St. Louis with two courses and Sioux Passage was the park big enough for that to happen in. We went to the park and got permission to use a temp course for tournaments and I helped design the setup for that. Briscoe Woods uses a lot of the same land as that course but starts in a different spot and when it opened it had no hint of the old tournament course in the design. In the most recent redesign the new holes 2 and 3 are shots from that tournament course, which makes me personally like the new design. Pretty much no one else on the planet is going to have that bias, though

Sioux Passage is in the middle of nowhere; it's a haul just to get out there. Generally when I've trekked all the way up there I have time to play one course, and the big course at Sioux Passage is such a better course IMO that I almost never play Briscoe Woods even though it suits my skill level and playing style 1,000X better than the bomber shots across the street. If you are planning a trip, make sure you play the original Sioux Passage course. Briscoe Woods makes a nice round if you have time for a second 18.

Lots of wooded technical holes. Mostly a Mid-Range / Putter course with only a few holes requiring a driver. I actually like that, but others will hate it.

There are some real stand out holes - #7, #8, #10, #13, #15, #17, #18. 7 of 18 ain't bad.

Course has serious flow issues. 2 very long walks, several less than quality holes. It's currently being reworked but what I saw wasn't particularly inspiring.

Some holes are overly-technical venturing on pure dumb luck to get a decent approach. I'm not a fan of the 4 par impassable wooded dogleg hole. This course has several.

Course was in flux. I passed at least one pad that was out of commission and 2 which were replacing others. It's too bad neither helped with the flow issues between 5 & 6 and 9 & 10. I witnessed other players parking at 6 playing the 6-9, then driving to 10 to play holes 10-5.

Scenic course that is a second 18 to the Original Sioux Passage right next to it on the park grounds.
Predominately a wooded course with a few baskets that are more open throws.
4x4's and concrete pads made the tee areas easy enough to find if you had the map from this site.
Couple of memorable holes:
#1 Blind uphill throw to a basket on down side of hill.
#6 Somewhat short throw to a basket in a moat structure (flag on top to mark the spot)
#11 Moderate big S throw through a fairway cut through the trees.
All in all, most of the holes were pretty fun.

The flow!! Seemed like they wanted to use the whole acreage so they made several of the walks from basket to basket very long!! From #2 to #3 and #6 to #7 were the longest of the lot.
After playing and relooking at the map, the course order could easily be rearranged to compensate for that.

After looking at other reviews and the date established, I expected much more.
Looks like very little has been done with this course to take it to the next level. In fact, I'm guessing it has regressed since it's opening.
The alternate pin placement is only effective if you have good signage and the thrower can discern which placement it is.
All in all, I probably could have written more cons than I did..... but the bottom line was that the sum of the basket play was actually very fun. For that reason, it merited the 3 rating from me..... BUT, add legit signage, rearrange the flow (which looks possible), take out a couple more trees on the impossible holes (#13 comes to mind) and this could get a "4" rating....

Beautiful scenery
Good shot combos
Good for skilled players

Buffet for mosquitoes
Layout isn't very fluid
Needs better pin cards on tee posts - Distances written in sharpie, no hole maps

One of the best in the area