Tri-Township Park is a short 9-hole course that snakes around other park uses. This course, while not ideal from multiple design standpoints, is very accessible for newer players that want to work on their accuracy on shorter shots.

Location of Tri-Township is pretty accessible. The park is right off of Rt. 162, which has access to Interstate 55/70 and leads to Troy's town center, making it hard to miss or get lost on the way to. This also means plenty of gas stations and restaurants to choose from close to the park. The course also isn't too far from some other courses if you're trying to bite off multiple courses in one day, with Woodland and Silver Lake probably being the closest options other than SIUE (which is less accessible being on a secluded college campus with parking restrictions). Belleville and Swansea also aren't a large hike to get to from here, and have disc shop options in Van Man Discs and Play-It-Again sports.

Park Amenities are vast at Tri-Township. Across the park you will find several baseball and softball diamonds, soccer/football fields, basketball courts, volleyball courts, and tennis courts. There is also a Gaga Ball pit, which is a new one for me. There are also several bathrooms, water fountains, and reservable shelters throughout the park. Some other amenities include a skate park, several playground areas, a gazebo with seating for gatherings, and concessions on the opposite corner of the park to the disc golf course when games are being played. There's also a petting zoo and RC car area that the disc golf course plays near. To access the course start, park across from the petting zoo at Heckt Rd. and Lake Dr.

Course Equipment is hit and miss here, but the Mach 5 baskets are in great shape. Each tee also has a tee sign with the hole number, distance, and par. There's also a course rules sign at hole 1. The signs don't include graphics, but most of the holes are visible from the sign and easy to spot.

Course Design at Tri Township favors newer players, as only one hole plays farther than 270 feet. The pars on the tee signs are also pretty generous; intermediate and advanced players could play this course as a par 3 course and score well. That being said, the elevated par numbers are a nice confidence boost for newer players, who can choose later on to play everything as a par 3. This course is also very open, with most of the holes having limited obstacles and trees in the fairways, making surrounding roads and pathways some of the primary obstacles to avoid going over. Holes 7 and 8 are a nice change of pace in difficulty level and design, requiring either farther throws for hole 7 and more accurate placement for hole 8. Overall, while the course design is fairly basic, there is a little difficulty to be had here. Hole 3 requires a good hyzer shot for RHBH players, and hole 6 requires navigating some trees that guard the pin. Hole 9 is a fun ace run to end the round that has a couple trees in play that can lead to a rough end of your round if you underestimate it.

Course Difficulty, to reiterate, is geared towards newer players. This is a great course to work on putting, shorter approaches, and getting comfortable with good, slower, beginner friendly discs. Intermediate and advanced players will be able to use this course as a quick and fun putter or putter/midrange only round. I'm a pretty run of the mill player and only busted a driver out once for hole 7.

Course Design and Safety are the biggest concern for me with this course. Being a busy and well used park, the walking paths and ball fields get a lot of use at Tri-Township. This is great to see, but the course design makes this an obstacle for disc golfers. Every single hole on this course plays near or along walking paths or other park uses, which can put other park goers in danger. This comes with an easy solution in theory, that being to wait for people to be clear to throw, but I had to wait to throw at 8 out of 9 holes during my round. This was almost solely due to people walking, and with no games being played on nearby fields. I also had to wait for a clearing to throw on hole 9, which plays right next to, and borderline over, the RC car area, which was being used by other park goers. I could go on and on about the different safety concerns; the ball field next to hole 1, the benches around hole 2, and the path behind hole 5, to name a few. This is a busy park that has a lot of space used by other uses, but there are some areas that could be utilized to incorporate some redesigning of the course to avoid these kinds of issues. While the course is designed the way it is though, be sure to wait until the walking path along the hole is clear. Griplock and early releases come equally to us all, and make us all equal when they come.

Course Equipment that is in place is nice, but tee pads are sorely needed. This course is pretty young, being only a few years old, but erosion makes it clear where people tend to throw from. There's a gravel box at each hole that each tee sign post sits within; I'm not sure if these were meant to be tee pads, but they are too short unless you throw standing still, or are impossible to throw from with how close the tee sign would be to you. Some more permanent pads would do this course wonders, as the dirt areas are really starting to wear down. For many of the holes, the nearby walking paths make for a good alternative to throw from. Even this could be a good solution to use, as long as other park uses aren't in play.

Mud and Sogginess aren't too bad on the fairways after rain, but the natural tee pad cons are emphasized after rain. Be careful when throwing after a rainy day.

Course Design, while mostly good on hole 7, could use some improvements in other aspects other than safety throughout the course. I don't think the difficulty necessarily has to be upped; beginner courses are as important as advanced ones. That being said, holes 1, 2, 4, and 5 are essentially straight shots with minimal obstacles to avoid. It may be hard to find natural obstacles to throw around in this park, but some more shots that involve turns to the green area would be a great improvement. Holes 3, 7, and 8 are great in terms of their requirements to throw around trees or be accurate off the tee. I think it's possible to add challenges to more parts of the course if some holes were moved around and away from walking paths.

Overall, Tri-Township Park is a decent option if you are a newer player that resides in the Metro East area of St. Louis. That being said, if bagging courses isn't a priority for you, then this isn't a course I'd go out of the way for. There are plenty of better options in the Metro East, as well as St. Louis as a whole. If you're in the area, stop by Van Man Discs in Swansea if you have disc golf purchases you want to make. I've had nothing but good interactions from their staff, and they will help you find the right disc for you and will even let you test discs out.

With some TLC and some retooling of the course design, this course could be improved in ways that help newer players grow their skills, and also make this course one that interacts more positively with other park goers.

You've got a course! The biggest pro.

The tee sign distances seem to be accurate.

Navigation is pretty straightforward, especially once you figure out how to use the map (it has dots for the tee and the basket, no paths, or hole shapes).

The baskets were nice. No complaints there.

Biggest pros: Holes 7 and 8. Those two holes were awesome. On their own, they would be welcome on almost any other course I've played. Those holes alone really redeem this course and save it from a 0, or .5 rating. Hole 9 isn't too bad either.

Cons? How about the various other park amenities you have to navigate on the first 6 holes, not counting the walking path present on pretty much every hole. Hole 1 plays right by a baseball field and dugout, then there's a playground, a soccer field for a few holes (football pitch, for you Europeans), and of course the road, and walking trail which seems to be well used. There are so many potential injuries and hazards you won't be able to play this park on a half-busy day.

Also, these tee pads are not exactly anything you can imagine would pass for a tee pad. They are square boxes just big enough to stand on and not step into your throw at all. Also, after a little rain, they become the texture of wet cement.

It's a quick round, you should be able to get through it in half an hour, or less. Hole 1 is by the dugout to the left home plate on the back baseball field, and you throw down the foul line.

The variety of shots on this course is actually pretty nice, for an open park course. If there's no one really out there but a couple walkers, it makes a decent round. Definitely kid friendly.

Again, once you get to hole 7 after the previously charming-but-pitiable 6 (like, when you go to a kid's talent show and you smile and clap even though it's only as good as a 5th grader can be), holes 7 and 8 seem like they fired their course designer mid way through the round and hired a pro. Those are great holes.

There's a whole second part of the park behind holes 8 and 9 that seem way better suited for a course in terms of terrain, and being separated from park amenities. There's even a lake that could come into play on the property. I would love to see how this course could do with starting Hole 1 at current hole 7, and then working around some other parts of the park, with real signs and real tee pads.

Updated for grammar/understanding

Another course to play ... that's good for everybody.

Flow is easy -- the course is easy to follow and basically works in a circle-to-the-left way throughout the entire 9 holes. Baskets are in great shape, and informational signage is new and in great shape. No directional signage available, but remember, none is really needed.

On a sunny day about half the course is shaded.

I can play 18 holes (the entire course 2x) in about an hour if I play alone.

The water on holes 6 and 7 (creek bed) does not pose a real problem. I've been there several times already and have not lost a disc. It would be tough, actually, to lose a disc on this course.

Okay, it's a short course - except for hole #7. I have no problem with what is pretty much a pitch-and-putt course. It's not a championship course - so what. It does make very smart use of the limited space available.

The course map on this site is really of no value at all ... but not very necessary. Again, course flow is good.

On holes 3-through-9 I use the asphalt walking path as a tee. Could do the same on hole #1. Just a thought, but there are no real tee boxes at this park, at least not yet.

Thanks to Troy for installing the course. It's a good clean park, with plenty of restrooms, plenty of trash cans, and a fun little 9-hole course. Enjoy.