Kutter Park is a recreational 18 in the northern metro-east region of St. Louis. This course snakes around a multi-use park, and has a nice mix of elevation, openness, and woods to provide a little bit of everything during a round here.

Location of Kutter is in Cottage Hills, not far from Route 111. If you need food or gas, 111 or Bellwood Dr. are your best bets. If you're out bagging courses, this is one of six courses between Godfrey and Edwardsville, plus the Sioux Passage courses across the river. When arriving at Kutter Park, follow the park road to he left up the hill, and pass the ballfields and basketball courts. The start of the course is at the end of the road to the left.

Park Amenities at Kutter include Baseball fields, basketball courts, and tennis courts. There are also multiple playgrounds on site, along with bathrooms by the baseball diamonds. Benches and trash cans can also be found around the park and disc golf course.

Course Equipment is hit and miss at Kutter. That being said, the DISCatcher baskets are in great shape, with those yellow bands being easy to spot from afar. The tee signs are also all accounted for and include hole number, par, and distances. Some additional directional signs are also on the course to assist with navigation. There are also some very nice bridges in certain parts of the course that are a nice touch to limit erosion.

Course Design at Kutter provides a mix of open and wooded holes, with a little bit for everyone here. Between the distance variety, elevation, and shot shaping present, this course has everything I'm looking for from a shot variety standpoint in a rec course.

Shot-shaping, while not robust, is present throughout this course. While plenty of holes just require straight shots, others will require you to pull out some tricks. Holes 7 and 15 were holes that I found to be clear RH forehand holes, while other holes like 9 and 18 are shallower left turning holes that make for nice turnover shots for RHBH favoring players. Other holes like 1, 10, and 16 can be approached several ways, with backhand or forehand shots being legitimate options.

Elevation changes are also present, with a mix of uphill and downhill shots. Holes 3, 4, 6, and 16 all play downhill with varying openness, while holes 9 and 11 require uphill drives for your birdie. Hole 9 is a fun valley shot the requires you to hit a touchy left turning drive to avoid a long uphill putt.

Distances also vary at Kutter between short 200-ish foot holes and longer holes between 400 and 600 feet. Elevation will also impact how long or short some holes feel.

Course Difficulty in my opinion is firmly in the intermediate range. Anyone playing MPO or FPO in tournaments will likely breeze through this course with ease, but there is enough difficulty and risk/reward here to give new players trouble.

Course Equipment is nice here except for the tee pads, which really put a damper on the course. Depending on what hole you are at, you may have gravel, rubber pads, or pavers to throw from. Most of these pads are on the short side, and many are also not level. More consistent tee pads, even if made from a cheaper material, would be very appreciated. Given the bridges on site, I found it a little puzzling that the tee pads have not been given more attention. Updated tee signs with additional information would also be a nice step up.

Erosion Risks also come to mind in multiple parts of the course. With the steeper pathways, the creek, and other factors, I could see this course being a nightmare after a rainy day.

Course Design. while nice in many ways. Leaves some more to be desired in certain areas. I feel like 17 and 18 are a weak ending given some of the other holes on the course; if these were combines into one hole, it would make for a fun challenging par 4 hole to end the course on. Some holes like 5 and 12 also play a little close to the perimeter fence, which already isn't ideal, but is especially not appreciated given the barb wire at the top of the fence surrounding this park. The field holes also get a little hole by the time you play 13 and14, given the woods and shot shaping that 2/3rds of the course are full of.

This course, given how quiet is was on a nice day and the barbed wire fence around the perimeter, didn't really pass the vibe check for me. I initially drove to a more secluded part of the park that I initially thought was the start of the course, and a couple of folks hanging out asked if I was hiding a body or something. After playing the course, I concluded that this was not an unreasonable question for them to ask. Seriously, what's with the barb wire on a park fence? Who are you trying to keep out? Or in?

Overall, this is a nice recreational course from a variety standpoint. I think the feel of the park brings down the replay-ability of this course for me, and the lacking course equipment doesn't help bring an urge to go back here often, or at all, given the more quality options in the area.

If you are looking to play a nice 18-hole course in this part of St. Louis, I'd recommend driving a little further to La Vista, Sioux Passage, or Woodland Park before playing here. If you are course bagging, this is a good option to hit as you make your way around the Godfrey/Alton/Edwardsville courses.

Kutter Park is a multi use township park located close to I-255. The park is operated by the City of Wood River. The city has done a great job improving the course, which includes 3 beautiful bridges situated throughout the course (along with 1 smaller bridge). The park supervisor does a FANTASTIC job of keeping the course mowed and making sure any and all down limbs are cleaned up in a timely manner. The course is mowed once a week. There are also a few benches, pavilions, and trash cans located throughout the course. A bathroom is located near the baseball diamonds (or a short walk up the hill from 17's basket). There is also a vending machine near the bathrooms.

What I like about this course is that it requires every shot in your bag. There is everything from bomber holes to tight wooded holes. 9 holes play in the open field, but the creeks and a few well placed trees come into play on many of these holes. The other 9 holes are wooded, and again, the creeks come into play on a handful of those holes as well. The course designers did a good job utilizing the whole park, and along with keeping safety in mind.

The baskets are Innova baskets with the yellow bands and they are all in solid condition. Each hole, other than 17, has 2 pin locations.

This course does not get much play. It is also a great place to go out in an open field and work on different shots. This is my home course. I live less than 5 from here, so chances are if you see someone throwing a bunch of discs in the field, it is me.

The biggest problem with this course is tee pads. There are rubber pads out there on every hole other than I think 1 hole (18), but they have taken a beating over the last couple of years. With that being said, some of them are in decent shape compared to others.

The other problem with this course is the tee signs. If you go out there and play, there isn't really a way to tell if the pin is in the A or B location, and the B location on the tee signs do not have distances. Only the A placements have distances. I think this is because when the course was initially installed, the B placements had not been figured out all the way. There are also a couple of holes that run down fence lines. Holes 5, 9, and 12 in particular.

There are a couple of spots where erosion is a slight issue. It's not bad as of this review, but there is a spot, especially near hole 2's tee pad, where players have to watch their steps.

This is an awesome addition to the great courses that are already located within the St. Louis area. If this course had concrete tee pads and updated tee signs, it could easily be a 3.5-3.75 course (in my book). The course could potentially use another bridge or 2. But the 4 bridges that the course currently has is feasible.

Kutter Park is also situated within about 5 minutes of Rock Spring Park, which is another solid play. Both of these courses can easily be played within a single day. Kutter can easily be played within 2-2.5 hours depending on how many are in the group and skill level. I would consider this course and intermediate to advanced level course. In my opinion, it is not an overwhelming course for beginning players.

If you find yourself in the Alton area, I highly recommend checking out this course!

Plenty of different shots on this course. Both technical and big arm shots. This is a continual game improver if you stay committed.

A few holes could use some defined lines. I felt like a couple of the holes were just placed in an area that needed some more work.

It looks like the course captain & team are working on the course. New bridges in some places.

A great mixture of wooded, dogleg, narrow fairway and distance holes. Pretty challenging for me, but I enjoyed it all the same. Pins are in good shape -- almost new.

This is a bogey+ course, although I'm proud of my three (3) pars shot today. They were not easy to come by.

Tee pads are nothing to brag about, but they are there. Most are useful, a few are not.

For me, this is a late fall to early spring course. I just can't believe the poison ivy doesn't show up in the summer. Also, losing a disc would be much easier in the summer once the leaves flesh out the wooded areas. Today was a great, sunny March day with little wind -- perfect weather for disc golf.

There is a lot of water to cross on this course -- mostly a stream running through the park -- and getting down and shooting from that stream is not always easy. There are some crude steps in some places, but be careful going up and down.

A fun course, really. Need for the long drive (which I don't have) doesn't show up until halfway thru the round, and doesn't matter on the last 3 or 4 holes. Accuracy is demanding ... which makes the course fun to play.

Eighteen baskets scattered through both wooded areas and wide open areas.

Note: Designers were out there today and shared they had just moved all the baskets to a "B" pin placement. Each one on average was 20 feet longer than the "A" placements.

Good signage, but "B" distances had not been added to the signs as of yet.

Numerous memorable holes and a couple of diabolical ones!! (My 17 yr/ old called them merciless!!)

Several top of the mountain shots (10 & 12 come to mind, with #9 a down then up!)

#7- Dog leg right through a lot of trees and over the creek twice. (Note: creek was very low on this day... no fear of losing a disc.)

#3 or 4.... about a 260 ft hole with a 6' foot mando between 2 trees about 75 feet in front of the tee box.

#5 Basket about 6" off the ground behind a bricked landscape area that normally has the "A" pin placement.

#17 and #18 - narrow throwing lanes to finish up, with the #17 placement behind a tree halfway up a hill.

#15 - sharp dog leg right

Overall, good variety of holes, except for 11-14 (see cons) Good use of elevation throughout.

Tee pads were rubber mats that are used in food service places such as dishrooms and service areas. Not long enough and not all even throwing surfaces.

Holes 11-14 were just long throws through a field that seemed a bit repetitious.

Course #2 of a 5 course swing through So. Illinois on this day....
Was a typical 90 degree humid day in the St Louis metro area, which made trudging up and down the hills a bit arduous for this 50+ year old disc player....
That said, I found I had a love/ hate relationship with the course....

I feel like the designers are going for a course geared for the more advanced players... tight fairways, lots of trees in the wooded areas. This was a course that was tough to get your par back if your tee shot wasn't perfect....

Thinning out a bit of the wooded areas, shortening a hole or two would make it fun for a wider variety of players.

All in all, it still rates a "3" in my book.

1. Some very creative and demanding holes that show a lot of love for challenge. I love the spirit and vibe of the intent for this course, especially the couple of shots that have 3 or 4 creek crossings along one single fairway. It's ingenious and diabolical.

2. Very inventive use of available space. The designers managed to capture the very best potential this land had to offer in every way.

3. Fun terrain changes abound here at Kutter Park. The topography of the park plays an excellent and integral role on at least 11 of the 18 holes.

4. Plenty of fun shots. At Kutter, it's not always about how far you threw... or how technical you were. It's a mixed bag of varied fun that can be enjoyed by players of many distance abilities and provides opportunities to 'do it your way'.

5. Several times where you get to enjoy a challenge or shot mix you don't get on many other courses.

1. Public Safety (This is a big one):
There are times when holes are set up in a way where throws WILL end up in public use areas - such as playgrounds, picnic areas, roads and parking spaces. This is specifically notable on Hole 17, where any shot that goes high left or ricochets off a tree WILL be heading straight into a playground and shelter. This is a major safety concern and should never have been allowed. It is only a matter of time before there is an incident or injury. Holes 14 and 15 are such that it is also way too easy and common for fast driven discs to end up in the park's main road and some parking spaces.

2. Player Safety: Holes 9 through 14, in the open field at the north of the park, are fun... and the field has nice open visibility... but let's face it, we're all guilty of the occasional bad throw or having the wind get a hold of a shot and carry it where we never intended. These holes, while they do the best they can to allow this park of limited size to house an 18 hole course, are just too close together... and someone is going to get their head split open.

3. From yet another "Player Risk" perspective, this course is simply unsafe to navigate. Holes 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 16 constantly require players to traverse steep, slick, muddy slopes and try to figure out how to cross the steep, washed out banks of creeks. There are literally 16 times that you will have to cross a creek as part of a hole or on your way to the next hole - and only two of these currently have a functioning bridge to use. The rest of the time, you are left searching for what you hope is the safest place to try to leap for a fallen tree branch, crooked cinder block or old tire to "Frogger" your way across. The banks of the creeks are tall, steep, muddy and washed out, and, unless you are relatively nimble (which I thankfully am), you simply aren't going to be able to play some of these holes... might even have to give up on a disc that went across where you cannot. And there are many places, most notably on holes 4, 7 and 16, where trying to tackle the steep, muddy slopes of the fairway is just begging for a bad slip and fall, especially if it has rained in the last several days. I am surprised I've been able to avoid a twisted ankle or ruined pants.
ALSO: There are a lot of large, tall, dead trees along the course throughout 4, 5, 6, 7, 15, 16, 17 and 18. While taking my putt on 4 the last time I played Kutter, a 20 foot long branch came falling out of the tree above the basket and slammed into the ground about 10' from the basket. It missed me by about 15'... but I could have easily been killed had I thrown and been walking away a few seconds earlier. And this could have happened at several places along the mentioned holes. These are called "hazard trees" by parks depts. and should be cut down around any area where people may be.

4. These plastic grate tee pads are awful. They have quickly become so messed up that it is both easier and safer to just throw from the grass next to them. They are unusable, way too short... and the size that has been allowed for possible concrete pads in the future is insufficient.

5. The biggest problem with the course at Kutter Park might be SUSTAINABILITY. When I talk, above, about the problems with treacherous slopes, challenging navigation and almost uncrossable creeks, keep in mind that this course is brand new. It is bad NOW. Along with disc golf comes trampling and erosion - it's a fact of the sport and it takes lots of hard work to keep many seasoned courses from becoming unplayable. I just don't see how this course is going to last - if it's this bad now, the constant foot-traffic is going to just amplify the existing problems and create an exponential erosion issue that will, in my opinion, be unmanageable within a couple of years. They have struggled to raise funds and find the time to build 2 and a half bridges in a year's time... but this course needs a minimum of 11 bridges, 4 permanent staircases and a lot of creative planting to even make it safe for players. How on earth will it work with a budget and time that won't see that accomplished for another 9 years or so? And even if all that were there now, I still think the course would suffer badly from erosion.

This review is very hard for me to publish. I personally know the great guys who designed and have done all of the hard, labor of love to make this course happen. And their hearts and spirit are so very much in the right place. The course is fun and unique and really makes me want to love it, but these problems... It's why it "breaks my heart".
I so wish that I could even begin to offer some suggestions for how the problems at Kutter Park DGC can be addressed. But I don't really have any. They've used all the room possible, and done so with amazing creativity and gumption. I would give some of the individual holes, by themselves, really high marks for being some of the most fun and challenging I've ever played - but for every positive, there's a negative which seems to outweigh it.
In the meantime, I will simply have to hope that I am wrong, that the course can be sustained... and that nobody gets hurt, players or public. I really want this course to work out.

I found much to like about this course. The park is a fairly large city park which is kind of divided into sections with a creek running down the middle. In the front is a large grassy area. As you drive in to the very back, you'll pass a little football field on your left. The course starts beyond that on the left side.

The course features:
Nice tee signs w/the usual information. These solid tee posts would be very easy to add bag hooks to.
Small plastic grate for tee pads. They could be bigger.
Brand new Discatchers w/yellow band and numbers on the band.
There are some wonderful places out on the hills to just sit and enjoy the view or the sunny days. Benches provided.

The first couple of holes were OK but then I reached # 4 and got all excited. It's a 270' hole with a 8-10' window that you need to hit about 75' out. And the basket sits on the other side of a righteous gully. This hole could be really hairy if that creek was running deep.

# 6 was another hole I really enjoyed. The tee pad is up on a hill and basket sits 295 down in a very precarious position near the creek with danger on three sides. Another hole where I wondered what would it be like when the creek is running full and deep and swift?

# 9 was cool. 400' down one hill, over a valley, with the basket up another hill.

# 10 was another cool downhill toss. 387' downhill over the creek to a basket 60' past the creek starting up the hillside.

# 12 was the big bomber hole for those of you with the big arms. It's listed as 615' and hugs the contour of the hillside.

# 14 was yet, another downhill toss to an elevated basket.

This course would be too scary after heavy rains when the creek was swollen.

Someone needs to take their ATV out here with a trailer and picked up some of the trash (old tires) strewn about in the rough by the creek.

I didn't much care for 17 and 18. Couldn't find any island for # 17, the Island Hole.

Crossing the creek on # 4 was treacherous on a dry day in October. Wouldn't be good in the rain, ice, snow, etc.

Suggestion: Contact the Boy Scouts and see if someone needs an Eagle Scout project. Suggest designing/constructing a bridge over creek on # 4. I just saw a bridge constructed by a scout on this road trip at another course somewhere. # 4 needs seriously needs one!

I loved this course. The designers and I are on the same page. If you love throwing awesome downhill shots, and who doesn't? then you'll fall hard for this course!

Good Mix of shots
Tightly wooded holes mixed with some wide open holes
Grip and rip 700 footer
Playing here will make you a better player and offers very good practice
Fairly easy to navigate the course

Needs better teepads
Still a new park with some areas you have to jump over creeks on, so I can be difficult to get around for some

This course has potential to move up with the addition of tee pads. It is one of my favorite courses I have played in the area.

Excellent use of available park space in a beautiful park. Plenty of parking available. I have lived by this park for years and was skeptical that they could fit a real 18 in, but they did a great job. Practice tee by hole 1. New Innova Discatcher baskets. Creek running through course creates some nice natural hazards. Risk/reward level is good with a couple death putts. Course flows well. Good elevation changes. Good amount of water in play if creek is higher, but most of the time the creek is shallow enough that on a bad shot, you can get your disc back. Easy to find the next tee.

A few of the first wooded holes are a disaster after it rains and have some potentially dangerous/hazardous muddy slopes and rocky creek crossings. Forget about it after a generous rainfall unless you want to go sliding big time. Don't bring your small children to this course at it's present state. If you have trouble or a problem with climbing steep hills or traversing rocks over creeks while keeping balance, this isn't the course for you. The field holes are kind of boring (up, down, up, down, up), Plastic tee pads are already wearing down. Concrete tee pads would be a huge benefit here! Sometimes confusing in the open holes as to which basket you should be throwing toward. Be wise, throwing your disc over the fences on some holes is throwing over a 10 foot fence with barbed wire on top.

++ UPDATE 10/26/16++ There are now some nice bridges being built on the course that have removed some of the scary crossings. There are still some suspect crossings over rocks for the less nimble but it has gotten a lot better. I am bumping my rating for this........I liked this course well enough and to be fair it is pretty new and they are still working on it. There will have to be some adjustments made as far as walking paths, as this place can become flat out dangerous after a rainfall. I believe with time the course will improve and has the potential to be a gem. If I had to rate the difficulty of this place, it would be a 6.5/10. There is a soda machine as you enter that has the coldest water, energy drinks and soda you will ever drink for $1, in case you forgot to bring drinks.