Across the park road from the highly rated (for Illinois) Foundation Park Championship course lies the Rec 18 course. While not spectacular in any way, the Rec course does a lot of things well. Holes 1-7 give you time to warm up as this part of the course plays through a mostly open, grassy park with scattered mature trees. A few holes play along the woodline, bringing underbrush into play on really off target shots only. Holes 8-12 play through the woods and feature some decent elevation changes and relatively tight lines in places. 13 through 15 are back out in the park and the course finishes with the last three holes playing back through the woods. You loop back by the parking lot after hole 9 and 18 also ends close to the parking area.

The Rec 18 is well designed for it's target audience and in addition to the white (concrete) tees also offers (grass) red and blue tees to adjust the challenge level. Each hole has an A and a B basket position and when we played it was a mix of both positions. B pins are longer and in many cases turn a par 3 into a par 4. There is a marker on the white tee posts to indicate which position is in play. The signs at the whites have nice hole maps and show distances for all tee/pin combinations. The white tees are the only ones with detailed signs, but the posts at the reds and blues do at least list the distance to each pin.

Equipment is generally nice. In addition to the nice signs, many (but not all) of the concrete tees were rough brushed and provided enough traction playing in the morning dew. This is only the 2nd time (I think) that I've played on Gateway Titan baskets and I really like them. No issues with catching in my limited experience and they look strong enough to survive most any abuse. There are orange labels on one rung of each basket pointing you to the next (white) tee. Many of the white tees have trash cans with lids. There were benches in a couple of places.

While there isn't much elevation change for most of the course, what is there is well used. There are a few roll away greens, a short hole in the woods throwing over a rise tall enough to hide the basket from view, and some slightly up or downhill drives.

The biggest con for me is the piece of land that the course designers had to work with. The park is really nice, don't get me wrong, but with so much open, flat parkland and only scattered trees many of the holes are inevitably bland. Without more trees, elevation change, or other natural features to work with, there isn't the potential for a great course here.

Basically all the focus is on the white tees. The blues and reds have a wooden sign post and a painted paver to mark the front of the tee. That's it. The grass looked really healthy on the red and blue tees that I walked by. Looks like nearly everyone plays the whites. I would love for the blues and/or reds to have concrete or turf tees, but with 36 holes in the park I really can't complain (much).

I mentioned earlier that most of the tees were rough brushed to texture the surface, but not all. After getting comfortable with my footing, I nearly ate it hard on a spike hyzer where I didn't expect the tee to be any less grippy than the few before.

The routing is a bit funky on the back nine due to 5 holes being across a creek that only has one bridge across. From hole 11's green, you'll be staring at the tees for 17. Instead cross the bridge, take a right, and cross the outdoor, grass amphitheater to find hole 12 (climb the hill for red and white tees). You'll stay stay on this side of the creek through 16, which will leave you at the top of the outdoor amphitheater again. Hole 17 is back on the other side of the bridge, except for the blue tee which forces a shot through a gap right off the tee and over the creek. The transition from 17 to 18 has you walking between 8s basket and 9s tee. Between the course map at the start and navigation aides on baskets and tee signs, we didn't have any issues, but I could see someone getting confused.

I have wanted to play the Championship course at Foundation Park for more than a decade since it was for a long time the highest rated course in the state, but sadly it wasn't to be this time. I was traveling with my family and my youngest is only touching 100' on his longest throws. The Rec 18 was a better fit for the skill level of our family and even though I like to torture myself on challenging courses, I'm a white level player at best. We played on a sunny 50 degree December day and everyone enjoyed themselves. I'll bag the big course eventually.

Foundation Park's Recreational 18 is a great compliment to the Championship course that's been in the park since 2006. This newer 18-hole experience provides a fun mix of open and wooded holes that make for a more accessible disc golf experience for those working their way up to taking on the harder course across the roadway.

Location of Centralia is just short of an hour and 15 from St. Louis, and a little bit off of I-64 or I-57. While this may not be the most convenient course to get to, its out-of-the-way location makes for typically less crowded courses on site. I didn't run into anyone on my round on the rec course during a nice Saturday, and only one group on the champ course. There are gas stations and food options in town for whatever needs you have. There aren't too many course nearby, but the 36 holes on site can easily make for a fun day of disc golf on their own.

Park Amenities check all of the boxes for your day of disc golf. At the parking lot for the two courses, you will find a bathroom and water fountain, as well as a shelter. There are other bathrooms and water fountains around the park as well. Foundation park is actually a private park open to the public, and is very well maintained. In addition to the two disc golf courses, you will find plenty of nice features across the 300 acres of park land here, including plenty of hiking trails, an ice skating pond, a chapel in the woods, an outdoor amphitheater, restored prairie areas, and a labyrinth. This is a well taken care of and beloved park for the community, and you will see plenty of other park goers while you walk around. At the same time, neither course overlaps with other park uses.

Course Equipment is in fantastic shape on the rec course. The baskets are Gateway Titans since this is a Dave McCormack/Gateway design, and they are in great shape being only 5 of so years old. Each basket also has a next tee marker in the basket itself, making it easy to navigate around the course. Each hole has 3 tees on the rec course, with the reds and blues being marked by colored posts and the white tees being concrete. The tee signs are at the white tees, and include a nice graphic, hole pars and distances from each tee to each placement, next hole directions, and little plaques showing past aces. The posts at the red and blue tees also have distances to each pin, which is a nice extra touch. Next to the parking area closest to the rec course, you will also find maps of the disc golf courses as well as the park as a whole. Around the course, you will also see directional signs to help with some of the longer or potentially confusing transitions between holes. Based on other reviews of this course, the tee signs seem to be a pretty new development, and are actually a step above the signage on the older champ course in my opinion.

Course Design at the rec course includes some similar features as the champ course but overall is more accessible in terms of difficulty. The rec course builds up as you go forward in your round, with the majority of the first 7 holes being open and easy to play safe before adding difficulty via the woods or shot shaping requirements. The pars on the rec course favor newer players who may not have the arm strength or distance to throw past 300 feet yet, while still providing some challenges to intermediate players. This course also really allows you to pick your challenge level, with three tee options that range from easy on the reds to some more risky shots via the blues that may include a water carry or more technical wooded shots than from the shorter tees.

While many shots are pretty open and straight on this course, there are still shot shaping challenges to be found here. Holes 4, 6, 10, 13, 15, 17, and 18 all have left turning hooks to them, while holes 3 and 7 have slight favoring to right ending shots, making this course more accessible to RHBH or LHFH players. Some of the straighter shots have their own challenges, with hole 8, 9, and 12 being straight shots that have woods or rough areas to avoid. That being said, most of the holes have very safe misses that players can fall back on, which is something the champ course does not have as much of. Distances vary on this course, with shorter wooded holes coming in between 200 and 250 feet and some of the longer and open par 4s going out to around 400. Overall, this course maintains a recreational feel while still providing a great amount of variety throughout the 18 holes.

Course Difficulty is more accessible for newer players, with intermediate players likely being able to challenge for a few strokes under par from the white tees on their first round. More experienced players can use the blue tees to make for a harder round if they want a challenge on this course.

Just like with the champ course, I don't have many cons for the rec side. Here are something you may run into:

Course Design largely checks all of the boxes you would want to hit for a recreational course, but there are some factors that keep me from rating it a little higher. The course heavily favors RHBH players, and a few more right turning shots would be nice to see to even things out. A lot of the front 9 is also pretty easy, with the first 3 holes and a few others being wide open with very few obstacles. Again, this is great for recreational and newer players, but less holes on course with little to no obstacles to navigate would also be a plus. That being said, it really looks like they made the most out of the land this course is on, and when you look at an overhead map, you can see where the boundaries they likely were trying to keep within are. So overall, a lot of these critiques are more related to what Dave and gateway had to work with rather than how they used the land.

Mud or Rough Ground could come into play in some spots after rain, so be mindful in the wooded areas or wherever you have to walk up or down elevation.

Poison Ivy is around in the rough areas, so be careful when you go off the fairway.

Off Fairway areas are less punishing on the rec course, but can still make for a bad time if you throw a bad shot. There are safe misses on most of the holes on this course, but going off the fairway can lead to a challenging time to find or get to your disc.

Overall, this is a fantastic recreational level course that is a great compliment to the older course across the roadway. You don't see two 18-holes in one park too often, let alone two that are of as high quality as these.

The Champ Course is the main attraction of Foundation Park, and the one you want to add to your bucket list. That being said, if you're coming to Centralia, I highly recommend you give yourself time to play both courses, as they are right next to each other and make for a great day of disc golf.

Kudos to the folks who take care of these courses, as they are clearly well-loved and maintained. Do yourself a favor if you live in the region or are passing through and make time to get to Centralia. You won't regret it.

After taking the left of the Y in the park , you will see a kiosk on your right next to a parking lot . Once you park there , you will have the possibility of playing 36 holes and never moving your car . The side with the kiosk is the Rec 18 side . You will have to walk up next to the the road a bit ( take a picture of the map in the kiosk or print one out or you will lose time ) . The baskets seem to be in good shape . cement pads for the short tees , some markers for the longs . Signage was okay . Wooden brown posts , but with some having what looked like a seat underneath but a trash receptacle . Grounds seem pretty well taken care of . The signs are numbered . Unfortunately , the baskets aren't . No description on the posts , but most of the pins are short enough that you can figure out where the basket is , although you normally can see them . Pretty good use of pin placement ( Looks like dual pin placements per hole ) . The course utilizes tree canopies and the woods well ( 17 blind basket tucks in nicely next to a creek ) . Don't let the Rec name fool you . Short holes that can challenge most and several longer holes let you air it out . Providing you have a clue and a map , you can get away with a round in just over an hour if by yourself .

Well , I don't want to tear down a rec course too much , so I will be brief . Although the map is helpful , I like some good signage at the tee pads when you boast more than 1 pin placement per hole . The course itself will not challenge any pros or competitive intermediates . If I am shooting under par and have never been here , and just touring and enjoying new courses , then ,,,,,,,,, . Baskets could use numbering . NEXT TEE signs would have been helpful for the Rec side . This course looks to have been around for 3 years now . You should be putting updated hole lengths in your hole info slots .That way , when people print a scorecard , they have an approximate idea how far the hole is and maybe the pin position .

Not a lot of places anywhere that you can play 36 holes of continuous disc golf in one set area . Centralia and the Foundation Park people have done a good job . With the Rec 18 , you can either use it as a warm up for the Champ 18 , or wind down and relax after attacking the bigger course , or if a local just get in a quick round . My recommendation : PLAY IT < PLAY BOTH !

A great course with very smart use of the land available. There are five or six concrete tees, the remainder are earthen, but that's okay. Some open, some forested, some doglegs. A great course.

I believe the earthen tee on 15 is tough ... roots, tiny stumps, and leaning downhill.

That's it. That's the only negative.

A very nice course, with good flow. Leaving pin #9 and finding the tee for #10 took a minute, but no big deal. I will definitely return.

Post markers identifying throwing spots. Numerous holes with multiple tee lengths (see also cons)

Nice scenic walk through the park on a course that uses the woods and elevations well. There were also enough open holes to let that disc fly from time to time.

Some memorable holes:
#6 Great pin placement amid some pines that cause you to be bold and go through or safe and around the side.
#12 Down and up hole with pin placement on left side with plenty of tree protection.
#13 and #15 were similar basket on left side with tree protection... perfect for a RHBH sweeping throw!!
#16 blind throw through trees and over a small hill.

Still a course in progress so I will not list anything here except the multiple pads were confusing and not consistent. Some had several, some had one, posts were by different ones from hole to hole.

Ran into some of the course workers/ designers. They stated that it was still a work in progress. The "old" scorecards were still in the holders showing only 9 holes when there are now 18.

Adding some concrete tee pads to make all of one distance, be it red, white or blue, with pads would be great.

The course itself was relatively fun and flowed okay.

This was course #3 of a 4 course south central Illinois Sunday road trip. Wasn't the best course of the lot, wasn't the worst. Would like to see it again in it's completed state!!