I have played this course to many times to count and it is a challenge every time I play it. No matter what your style of throwing is or your experience level, this place will keep you on your toes. Most of the holes play very well with the lay of the land. There is also a nice practice basket by Hole 1.
There are very nice signs for every hole with distance and maps.Alll Red tees also have red concrete tee pads.

Definitely could use multiple pin placements, playing from the pro tees just doesn't do it for me. Other than that there is not much I would change.

There is more than enough room to fit in another 9 holes. I know there is more than enough work right now to fix up what we have, but maybe a thought for the future.

this course will challange the best of players with shot selections. tons of mature trees on every hole. hills on every hole. a true beauty when it comes to nature. nice stone pads, good markers.

Poison ivy is the con so wear pants. this course needs to upgrade to multiple pin placements to make it an elite course.

deep woods so in warm weather bring OFF

Challenging course with mixture of woods, hills, and somewhat open holes. Has nice signs and concrete tees.

Xmas decorations up 6 months out of the year.

Challenging course with mixture of woods, hills, and somewhat open holes. Has nice signs and concrete tees.

Xmas decorations up 6 months out of the year.

The course plays through a large hilly park that is nicely wooded. Nearly every hole uses some kind of elevation change, many with elevation on the drive and around the green to add difficulty and variety to multiple parts of the hole. Most of the holes play through the woods with tighter fairways and thick rough ready to punish an errant drive, with a few holes that give you a break and play a little more open. Ravines throughout the course lurk waiting for you to catch the wrong skip, and can easily cost you multiple strokes for going off the fairway in the wrong spot.

There is a really good variety of shots from either set of tees, they play balanced for right and left handed players. You'll need lots of different shot shaping skills to score well here, even from the shorter set of tees. There is also a fun variety of distances, with some shorter holes you can take an ace run at, and some longer ones that tempt you to throw big if you can stay out of trouble.

The red tees have nice concrete tees (with a reddish/pink color, you know which set you're throwing from). There are decent signs that make the course pretty easy to follow, and give enough information that you usually know where to throw. The baskets are still pretty new and catch great.

The blue tees looked like they added another level of challenge and offered different shots on many holes, but they were poorly marked with no signage. They don't have concrete pads, so they weren't in the best shape and weren't always easy to find. There are too many holes along park roads, it takes away from the feeling of seclusion and could be a safety issue on a busier day.

The course still feels pretty new, so there are still some small stumps that need removed and a little work left on trails between holes. Really minor issue that seems on it's way to being resolved.

This is a fun and challenging course in a really nice park. Beginners might find even the red tees pretty unforgiving, with some longer holes and lots of punishment for errant shots. More experienced players will find fun variety and some nice challenges from the reds, and sore real tests from the blues. This is a course to hit while you're in the area, and it pairs really nicely with nearby Sioux Passage.

- Course plays through an old park with lots of rugged terrain. Majority of the holes are through pretty densely wooded areas with tight fairways and numerous trees. Lots of line shaping is needed on almost every shot from start to finish, in all different directions. Great use of trees in the fairways in the holes out of the forest as well; there is always something to look out for.
- Lots of hills are present from start to finish. Some great holes that play over small hills, with sharp finishes to the basket. Plenty of gently sloping holes mixed in as well. The wide variety of hills and forested fairways helps to keep each shot different and enjoyable.
- A large number of holes have treacherous slopes off the fairway and near the baskets to demand accurate shots with accurate results. Putting the disc right where you want is only half the battle; it must sit down or an even more difficult approach shot awaits.
- Wide variety of hole lengths, on both sets of tees. Very enjoyable shorter holes (not that short though), lots of tricky medium length holes, and a few over 500' for those who can let it rip.
- Great teepads, baskets, and tee signs.

- This course, in general, heavily favors accuracy over raw distance. Some might find the course a little short at times, especially from the reds.
- Lots of places with pavement, and a good number of holes that play next to the entrance road.

- Overall a very enjoyable course with lots of different shots throughout, thanks to the good mix of forest, trees, hills, and sloped areas. Lots of protected baskets and steep greens add an additional challenge in many places. I was more than happy to pull out the midrange on many teeboxes, thanks to the unique hole layouts. Good course for all skill levels, though newer players may find some parts a bit challenging.

This course was so much fun to play. I had high expectations going in to playing it and I was not let down. The park is in a nice remote feeling setting...seemed very secluded from the rest of the park and the surrounding city (even though it is in the middle of town). We played on a Monday night and there were only a couple other groups out there...so not crowded. And the groups that were out there were very friendly and helpful (even stopping to help us look for a lost disc for 10-15 minutes at one point.) This course has a great balance of very challenging, yet fair, holes and shots. The greens are very interesting with several of them having severe danger (drop-offs) within 5-10 feet of them...as previous reviewers have noted. The course had nice concrete teepads and nice innova baskets in good condition. Very easy to navigate with great signage both at the teeboxes AND at baskets pointing you to the next hole where necessary. This is a course with some of the richest variety of shots that I have ever played. I threw a lot of backhand and forehand...a lot of hyzer and anhyzer...any shot you can think of...I had to throw it out there.

I have very few complaints here. We played after a good week of heavy rain and the grass hadn't been mowed. A little frustrating looking for a disc for 30 minutes in the middle of the fairway because of the knee high grass. But it was understandable with the recent rain (you would have severely rutted the course mowing with the ground that saturated). A couple of the holes teepads seemed a little short for my liking.

Great course...highly recommended. My favorite course in the St. Louis area (and that is saying something cause there are some great courses in the area). I am surprised I haven't heard more people talk about it in the same breath as Sioux Passage, Jefferson Barracks, and Endicott.

-fast/dangerous greens galore here-1-7, 9-13, and 18 all are either fast, dangerous (going OB possible) and most are a combination of both.
-good mix of short, technical, and long technical. left, right There are no wide open fairways.
-Great use of elevation, most holes have a change in elevation involved, and those that don't have elevation changes near the basket.
-A lot of OB on the course, several holes with ob by the basket, but also alot where it comes into play off the tee, or the second shot.
-Nice concrete teepads for shorts, longs are rubber pads as of 4/25/10.
-Long tees at this course are sick! They make the course both longer and way more technical and the elevation becomes more extreme.

-Close parking can be an issue if it is busy.
--Only 1 portajohn at the course, no water available.
--Bugs and poison ivy and thick rough everywhere (not really a con for the latter two, just stay in the fairway and it'll be fine) but the bugs are terrible.
--Blue tees are tough to find for the first timer here, if you want a ridiculously more challenging course though, I'd recommend playing those. Also the pads for blues aren't real grippy, they're short and some are uneven.
Only one or 2 par fours on the course. The rest is tough par three golf.

In my opinion, this course is probably the toughest 54 par golf in the STL area. And hands down the toughest from the blues. I'd recommend this brutal course to any dg masochist.

This review is from the short tees.

This park is pefect for disc golf. It is very scenic with lots of hills. There is a good mix of holes and every shot will be tested. It is definitely a difficult course from the short tees and I imagine the blue tees will challenge the best players in the world.

I have not played too many courses where every hole is unique. This course has it all. Downhill, uphill, short, long, open, and tight. No hole is the same. Several green areas are super tough and super fast. #6 and #7 have some of the toughest green areas i've ever seen. There are several great par 4's such as 9, 12, & 14, 18.

The only knock I had against the course was the lack of cement tee pads. Since I last played there cements tee pads have been added to the reds. I have not played the Blue tees since they were very hard to find. I plan to play the Blues in the future. This course has potential to get a 4.5 to 5 rating with cement long tees, tee signs for the blues, and some arrows to aid in navigation.

This course is semi decent hike with many up and down hill walks. There are a few areas where there are steep ravines and heavy rough. You have to be in decent shape to play this course.

I printed a map and had very few issues with navigation. If you don't have a map there are several holes that may be difficult to find.

I have played many of the courses in the STL area and I like it more than any of them. This course is my top 10 in Illinois. It's a great course.

Check out my Illinois Top 10 list.
http://discontinuum.org/index...1486.msg68704#msg68704

Check out the statue of the World's Tallest Man. It's right down the road from the park.
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2086

If you are in the area you should play Woodland Park, Collinsville, IL
Endicott,(St. John) St Louis, MO
Sioux Passage, (Florissant) St. Lous MO
All 3 are great courses too.

Very long difficult course. Comparable to Cliff Dr in KC.

Wide variety of holes, uphill, downhill, wooded, long, medium (not too many short)

Hard to find your way from one hole to the next. Good thing we had someone who had played there before.

There are a few shots along the road. Without playing the course before or walking it first, you may not realize where you are throwing or what you are throwing at. Lots of blind shots.

We played this course the week before they put in the concrete tee pads, so I really want to get back out there to play it again. Even though I have a short arm, this course rewards accurate shots on the long fairways.

Toughest course I've played in St. Louis by far. Pros will love it, rookies will hate it.

Really interesting course...with a large variety of holes. It is extremely difficult but extremely fair. There were essentially no wide open shots. The course varies from densely wooded to park like setting holes. There are very few easy shots and errant tee shots are brutally penalized at times. With the exception of the tee for hole 8, I had no trouble navigating the course without a map. It flowed very well to me. I loved the varied topography. On top of there being very few open shots (if any), there are very few flat shots. The terrain is quite hilly which ups the degree of difficulty even more. There were multiple times where I felt like I threw a good shot...but didn't throw it high enough to clear a hill and as a result it killed my drive. The main tee pads are very nice concrete tees and they have added rubber mats for the pro tees which makes finding them MUCH easier.

Hole number 3 throws right at cars coming through the park (potentially) and it is a very narrow fairway. Would have liked a few more open shots to really air it out...but that is not a big deal. The grass was up to my knees tall which is very unfortunate. There are multiple blind tee shots and we spent quite a while looking for a few discs in the middle of the fairway because of the jungle like fairway conditions.

Great course...it is probably one of my favorites that I have played. I would actually vote this as my favorite in the St. Louis area...especially if they get out and mow because that was a huge pain. The variety and difficulty of this course is unmatched in the area. Would recommend it to ANYONE in the area.

good course with good usage of hills. realy sweet hole placements and challenging fairways.

trees laying down all over the fairways and course from storm some holes hard to find. alternate tees are impossible to find, really needs to have more directions to tees and to the start itself.

New concrete tee pads. Paths getting worn down for better navagation. Maps available in box on pavillion. All trees that fell during bad storm are removed.

Signage and better directions on the way.

The new tee pads are great!!! Kiosk, and benches also to follow. PROGRESS AS PROMISED.

Nice tough to very tough course. LOTS of hills. Good location for disc golf! As said before, a overthrown putt on a LOT of holes can result in your frustration as it will roll down a 60 ft drop!

***UPDATE Sept 4th,2009****
There are now red concrete tee pads!


No tee pads made it nearly unplayable today. If it's muddy, get ready to slip and slide! Gets kind of confusing sometimes as to where you are supposed to go next.

It's a young course, and will develop with time. Everyone needs to pitch in, once some trails get worn and some brush is cleared, leaves raked...I have a feeling this will mature into a nice 18 hole course! It will challenge you!

Very fun and challenging course. Hard, long holes with interesting pin placements and enough OB to keep you cussing. Tee signs mark the red tees and are surprisingly accurate despite the arrow and dot format. Very steep hills with punishing drops if you tank it.

Apparently a new course, the back nine has some rough tees and fairways. Lots of thorny things and low stub growth. No real trails marked out between holes (they did orange dot trees to let you know you're on the right track, tho). 12's tee is in front of 11's psychotically hidden pin. Very steep hills (makes me feel old )

Hole 1: Behind central pavilion. Blue tee behind red tee. Fairway slopes to left. Tight wooded channel around the pin, which sits to left of big stone "No skip aces here". From pin, descend a not-quite there-yet trail which leads to cobblestone path. Go left to next tee.
Hole 2: Red tee to left of path, Blue to right. Path is OB. Woods to left are dense. Pin is to right of path, on the edge protected by mature trees. Ground on right of path slopes upward. From pin, follow path around to right to find next tee.
Hole 3: To left of path. Blue behind red. Pin is at far end of grassy expanse. Woods to the left, OB path on right. Drop-off behind pin which probably holds water in the rainy seasons. Mind the phone pole. Aceable, or a bogey. Whatever. From pin, cross road to find next tee.
Hole 4: Blue behind red. Throws up a hill. Lots of trees. Pin sits over the hill on far edge with drop off behind that leads to OB road. From pin, cross road to find next tee.
Hole 5: Blue back right of red. Throws up a steep hill with lots of trees. Woods on left. Pin is at top of hill and sharply left, tucked into trees. If this is aceable, I'll eat my roadrunner. Follow around to the right of pin to find next tee.
Hole 6: Blue on left of big tree (which will swat your drive), red on right. Fairway cuts hard right and drops down to basket. And then the world drops down behind that. Left of pin is the next tee.
Hole 7: Blue left and back from red. Short hole, pin sits to the lef, nestled in the woods. Woods on right as well. Behind pin, an Indiana Jones drop-off, so go for the ace, but be warned. From pin, follow hill down to the right and across road, then back up hill (there is what will one day be a path from the access road, but it is steep) on the other side to next tee.
Hole 8: Blue straight back from red. Shoot down the chute of trees on either side of fairway. Ground drops off on either side if you tank it, so be careful. Pin is straight ahead protected by a couple three trees. Next tee is straight past the pin about 150 feet.
Hole 9: Longest hole on the course. Numerous trees along and throughout fairway. Woods to right, slopes down to road on the left. Pin sits at the far side, protected by a few trees and OB road directly behind. Next tee is across road to the left of pin.
Hole 10: Blue straight behind red tee. Creek and woods to left, OB road to right. Narrow channel near tee opens up to pin, which sits to the left protected by three (four?) big trees. Creek directly behind pin. Blue tee throws through tight channel to another tight channel (red tee) before it opens up. From pin, cross creek to left and look left again for next tee.
Hole 11: Blue tee behind and to right of red. Blue tee can throw either left or right. Red tee has to throw left to right. Fairway goes straight, then hooks sharply right from the red tee(if you miss it, you're in the woods/creek), then left again across rough ground studded with thorny brush and lots of low growth, and trees/woods and back to the pin deeply nestled to the left in quite a lot of scrub brush. From the blue, the left channel is same as the red tee, but the right channel looks for a hyzer around a copse of trees and into the thorny scrub as mentioned above. Seriously, the pin is almost in the creek. Be warned, you will throw past 13's basket to get to 11's. Check the numbers. Also, 12's tee is actually in front of 11's basket, which will probably change as they mature the layout.
Hole 12: Blue behind red. Ground is very thorny and scraggly. Hard to get footing for a drive. Drives up a hill and to the left. Woods on both sides. Pin is at top of hill, pretty far to the left and nestled at the edge of woods, with more ground drop-off behind. At the top of the hill, this ground is kinda scrubby as well, but in a fun way. From pin, turn around and go up to the clearing and turn right.
Hole 13: Blue tee behind and left of red. Pin is to right (remember?) of woods and down slope. Big trees between you and chains. From pin, go back up slope for next tee.
Hole 14: Blue behind and left of red. Another long one. Ground slopes down to right. OB road to left (shouldn't come into play). You throw through several big trees, then it opens up and slopes down. Then you come into more trees. Pin is through all of those trees, to the right and against the OB road on that side. Cross road behind basket and veer left to next tee.
Hole 15: Red tee throws from open ground downward and into a narrow chute of trees (left side is a small copse, but the right side is a line of dense tall foliage), which opens on the other side to a basket you can't see because it is cradled by 5 big pines. The blue tee, however, as far as I could tell is shared by both 15 and 18. It is across the field, about 2 o'clock of the red tee and tucked into a stand of trees. From the blue, you throw along the dense tall foliage on the right side, then hook sharp right into the narrow channel that opens up to the 5 pines and the hidden basket. From pin, go right and slightly up for next tee.
Hole 16: Blue is back and left of red. Trees on right side, some on left. Throwing across a gully to top of next rise. Basket is protected by what? Trees, of course. From basket, look right. You'll see the next tee.
Hole 17: Blue is behind red. Throwing back across same gully, this time the woods are to the left as you near the pin, which is also to the left on the tree line. Four big trees and rough are to the right and near the tee. From pin, cross creek and re-enter 15's blue tee fairway. The blue tee is the same, only going the other direction. The red is straight in front of it. You are throwing the second longest hole now. Up a steep slope, between many trees. The pin is at the other side of the hilltop, to the right with a sloping drop behind to OB road.

All in all, a very fun course that will surely improve as it is played.
Funny note: It seems as if they placed the red tees, then turned around and looked for as many trees as they could find, then put the blue tees behind them.
I would, and will, rate this course higher once the rough grounds are beaten in and maybe some trails are marked out. Of course, I guess I'll have to do my part.

FANTASTIC design! Even though the course is mostly par 3's, they are VERY tough par 3's. The risk/reward factor is phenominal on the first 9 especially. (Holes 6 and 7 have treacherous hills behind the pins that will murder your score and your legs if you miss your approach/putt.)

Great use of the hills, and the park as a whole. The layout requires a precise combination of power and control/luck.

Tee signs show suprisingly accurate descriptions of where the pins are and what obstacles you have to go around.

A much-appreciated bridge has been added between 10 and 11 to make traversing the creek easier.

Personally, i think this is the most well-balanced course in St. Louis.

Couldn't find parking? (the roads to the park proper were closed for Christmas decorations, so we parked on one of the access roads.)

The city of Alton, for some reason, likes to leave said decorations up for MONTHS after x-mas. This, again, seals off the big parking lot and forces golfers to park by the tennis courts (with multiple signs posted saying that lot is for tennis parking only) and forces a 1/8 mile, uphill walk to the first tee. What gives Alton???

Needs a righteous bathroom and water fountains, and stuffing a potra-john in somewhere on the back nine would be great. A couple more trash/recycle cans should snuff the minor litter problem

SEE OTHER THOUGHTS BELOW

This course is still new and being developed. Even missing all of those amenities, this course is an AWESOME challenge and still a pleasure to play. When all of the other goods go in, this will be one of the better courses in the country IMO.

UPDATE 3/15/2010: Added half a disc as trash cans are appearing, debris is getting cleared, and Alton put in superb big red concrete pads. I'd assume blue pads for the blue tees are next, but man, these reds are the grippiest i've ever played, and a vast improvement over the natural pads before.