This course would have never happened if not for Mike Bemis. Mike passed away before ever getting to play it, RIP Brother

This is my home course and is only about 5 min from me. That being said I have seen the course evolve over the years and it has gotten much better. They recently added a long pin placements that easily adds a stoke to several holes. I'm guessing the placements wont get changed that often (more on that in cons) but I do like them. Not really for a rec or new player but a lot of fun and very challenging for a regular golfer.

Prepare for a good hike as the course plays up/down hills through the park and there are only a few shots with little to no elevation changes. During the summer getting off the fairway can be painful due to the thick thorn bushes on several holes.

Concrete tees for shorts and rubber pads for longs. All the shorts have signs and are easy to find. The same thing cant really be said for the longs with rubber pads.

There is a nice pavilion with practice basket by hole one tee and nines basket but parking is somewhat limited. You can play the front and stop at your car for a refill before you play the back which is always nice.

Not going to get into every hole description seeing that there are two placements that are totally different from one another. But I feel its pretty easy to navigate and the trails are pretty bet in now for finding your way around with the exception of seven to eight. You finish seven and walk down the hill, across the path and then up a step hill on the other side of the path.

No one really takes ownership of the course so not a lot of if any maintenance gets done. The park cuts the grass but that's about it. There are a couple places that could use a little bridge and the hill to eight could really use some sort of steps. Its really hard to get up when wet or muddy.

When the water gets high or it rains the creeks are flowing so its hard to get across. A few bridges would be really nice. The course could easily be a solid 4-4.5 with a few improvements and regular maintenance and I think there are enough people in the area that would help but for what ever reason it just never gets done. Could be the park is not willing to give the ok, not really sure

Great course that is really challenging to all players. Can be a work out but worth it. Just wish we could get the little things squared away here.

During the holidays they put up xmas display and you have to park outside the park to play but its playable. Would be cool to do a glow round with lights on.

-Good concrete tee-pads for the main tee-pads
-Good mix of distance on the holes. There were some holes right around or slightly below 300, all the way up to a few holes that were over 600 feet long.
-The pin positions near the baskets were awesome on this course. A lot of them were on side-hills, uphills, or downhills, or with some thicker brush near the basket. This course really puts a premium on placement near the basket and making sure you hit your putt, because you don't you could have long come back or be stuck in some brush. This course definitely has quite a bit of risk/reward to putting.
-Great use of elevation on this course. Many of the holes incorporate either uphills, downhills of side-hills, sometimes near the baskets and other times the whole course incorporates it. Hole 16 was fun downhill, open at first then through a wooded corridor, then the hole opens up after that leading to a throw up-hill. Hole 18 was also a fun elevation hole that was quite a bit up-hill. Over this course makes good use of the elevation that this park has.
-There is a good variety of holes types too. There are tighter wooded holes that force specific shots, some more wide open holes that allow you to be a little more creative, and then some holes in between those. I also felt like there was a good mix of straight shots, and doglegs left and right.
-The course uses the foliage well to punish for bad shots. A lot of the holes have some thick foliage on them, and it will definitely punish you for throwing into the foliage.
-With the exception of one or two baskets, most of the baskets were in good shape and caught well.
-There was a lot of creativity to these holes and the holes on this course very rarely feel similar to each other.

-There are multiple tee-pads on this course, but the longer ones are really hard to find because they are a brownish rubber that blends really well into the ground and the long tee-pads don't have tee-signs at them.
-A couple of the holes, especially holes 4 and 9 play a little too close to the park road and could cause some safety issues and conflicts with other park users. Hole 4 was the worse case. It is a blind side-hill shot and if you overthrow the basket, you could easily go into the road.
-Only one pin-position per hole, which is a shame because I feel many of these holes could have some really fun alternate pin positions.
-The tee-signs were somewhat confusing. They didn't always seem to give an accurate representation of the fairway, and I found myself walking the fairways several times to figure out how the hole actually played.
-First tee-pad is a little hard to find from the park road. They need signs inside the park pointing to the course from the park road.
-The rough is thick enough that you could easily lose a disc. It was getting quite thick in May so I can imagine this course might get a little overgrown in the summer, but it wasn't terrible in May.

Overall, this was a really fun and memorable course with fun pin positions and some really fun and well-designed holes. While it is a little ways outside of St. Louis, it was well worth the drive and probably my second favorite course I played while visiting the St. Louis area.

Start with wonderful landscape and terrain that inherently allows for great variety; plenty of elevation of all sorts, but still some sections that are flat. Lots of woods, but still a few places open enough to unleash a nice drive.

Add a solid design that combines these elements in various ways and you get a course where no two holes feel the same and all of them give you something to think about. Quite complete and well balanced.

• Discplay:
+ Elevation used in every way, plays uphill/downhill/flat/gulley/rollaway.
+ Holes that allow for a variety of lines.
+ Holes that force a specific line.
+ Holes range from lightly to very well wooded.
+ Nice range of hole lengths.
+ Pin placements w/pucker factor.
+ Well-guarded or tucked pins.
+ Places a premium on shot shaping.
+ Challenge: yep
+ Risk/Reward: mm-hmm
+ Various combinations of all the above...

• Equipment: Nothing special, but it's all in decent condition. Dual tees (short=concrete, long=natural or flypad). Signs show hole#, distance, shape, pin location and aid helpful navigation - didn't see any graffiti. Baskets were old, but not an issue.

• Aesthetics: hills, woods, touches of green space, nice sight lines... what's not to like? (see cons)

• Neighborhood seemed kinda sketchy and downtrodden - wouldn't wanna live here.
• Hard to tell where long tees are, signs only present at concrete (short) tees.
• Routing/Nav: More a heads-up than a con: I really can't say it's bad. Everything was pretty easy with the map, but the way it takes you over roads, walk trails and wraps around all over the place, I'd have been screwed without it.
• While the course itself fairly scenic, there were some places where I saw a decent amount of litter buried in the brush off the fairway, particularly the nasty "not quite a creek" at the bottom of #15, where I saw an old tire and some other debris... a bit of a buzzkill.
• Risk of disc loss: I visited before things had a chance to grow thick, but I can easily see leaving some fairways resulting humping through thick vegetation and lost discs.
• A few holes play too close to the park road for my taste - possible non DG interaction with walking trails and roads. Not all that bad on the whole as most holes are routed nicely away from them, but definitely a concern in a few spots.

Designers had a nice head start with this property, and they did good job creating some interesting fairways and a course with splendid variety... really enjoyed playing here. Yes, I listed a lot of cons, but I found many of them easy to overlook. Pretty sure I was able to get away with more because of the time of year - no doubt bad tee shots will hurt more in a few months, but you gotta know when to step on the gas and when back off if you don't wanna end up in the wall.

Layout traverses all over the place and playing here is a hike, so be prepared for some heavy duty walking - lots of hills, and a few decent hikes between holes.

Not what I'd call beginner friendly. Roll-a-ways and thick brush likely to be very frustrating for newcomers.

Came here after Sioux Passage - the two complement each other very well: Sioux's about airing it out, Rock Springs is about staying in the fairway and playing within yourself. Both are a ton of fun.

Great use of elevation changes and challenging pin placements. This course will make you use all of your tools.

Poison Ivy and a few blind drives that could lose you some discs.

I'm very happy that there is a great course in my hometown. Every time I'm back to visit family, I get a round or two in with my Uncle and cousins.
Alton born... represent!

Very scenic, remote felling, challenging course. This course really makes you think, especially because you can't see the baskets from the tee pad on most of the holes. Tough shots, at times, and some fun open shots at others.

Because of some of the narrow alleys you're throwing through, there is opportunity to loose discs fairly easily (I lost a Champion Monarch today). ;( A few of the tee pads are a little hidden so you have to search a little, but not too bad at all.

This is a must play course. I'm from the NW and out here for work. I'm hoping to play this again before I head back home.

Beautiful course. It's smack in the middle of an Alton park but feels pretty remote and rugged. Lot's of trees and elevation especially on the front 9. Most of the time, you can't even see the basket from the tee. Good mix of short and long holes. There are a few interesting holes where the basket is teetering on the edge of a hill and one stoke would be the difference between a 3 and a 9. Pads are concrete and there is good signage with A and B locations clearly marked.

The mosquitoes were horrible. I got at least 15 bites. And the grounds we're poorly kept. The grass was almost waist high on a few holes. Didn't see a lot of poison ivy, though.

Fast Eddies is only a few blocks away. This classic American dive is one of the best eating establishments you'll ever eat at! Make sure you play disc golf AND eat here when you go to Alton

An enjoyable round of DG in a large wooded city park with lots of elevation in play.

Amenities. Large relatively undeveloped city park with trails, minimal parking, shelters, and bathrooms.

Variety. Great variety of shots with many technical lines of different shapes, elevation comes into play on many holes with several VERY fast greens and some hilltop bombs.

Length. The holes vary from a few ace runs, to short technical lines, to more open 500+ foot holes. It felt like a great balance of length and technical challenge.

Local Scene. Sunday leagues were posted as well as local tournaments, would be a great course to participate in local happenings. The locals I ran into were all friendly and helpful.

Well Maintained. Some fairways were a touch muddy, one of the baskets was bent up, and there was a bit of trash scattered about. Minor cons for what was overall a clean well manicured course.

Tees. 1 set of concrete that were level and in good shape. The dual pads were rubber and were not in as good of shape though usable.

Navigation. Easy to follow, in areas where it might get confusing there were signs to point the way.

Map/Scorecard. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt here in that the empty box will typically be filled, it would probably be nice to have a map though not entirely necessary, if it is never kept full, we'll call it a minor con.

Links. 2 9 hole loops if you only have time for 9.

Access. Near St. Louis, not far off of a main highway, easy to get to for travelers and locals alike.

Scenic. Nice wooded course.

*some minor cons mentioned in the pro section above.

Other users. Walking trails and roads come into play in a few areas, not a huge deal - I only had to wait for a few moments on occasion. Could possibly be a problem on blind holes, check to see where you're throwing.

Not necessarily beginner friendly. This would be a fine place to learn and practice the game - so don't let me scare you away. Some long technical holes and extremely fast greens could get frustrating for even some more advanced level players though, just go in expecting that.

Long tees. The rubber pads were often uneven and covered in debris, usable but not the best.

Well worth the stop if in the area, I'd make this one a priority.

This was a very nice course. A buddy and I made a trip to play a few courses up near St. Louis and we decided to hit this one and I am glad we did.

Starting out you can see this course is going to have some elevation and the distances are going to play with your mind. I like that you know a hole is 280' away but you need to throw a teebird to get there. They had great signs at every teepad that showed a route and distance. Since it was our first time I still walked up to see the basket due to the elevation you could not see many of the baskets which was cool. You have your wide variety of short holes and long holes then a couple bomb holes which I loved. A few high lights for me was hole 4, 6 and 7 I really liked where the pin was located. It was on the edge of no return (hill). You had to make the decision to go for it or lay up.

Hole 4 was a huge up hill then back down hill to the basket being about 25'-30' away from OB.

Hole 6 and 7 were short straight forward holes but the pin placement is what gave it its touch.

Hole 9, 12, 14, 18 were nice bomb holes through mature trees that you had to hit your line or you would be getting knocked down by a limb or two.

Hole 9 and 14 were throwing downhill a good distance and hole 12 and 18 the tee was lower and throwing up hill which was a nice change.

My favorite hole was hole 15. It was a pretty short hole but was laid out nice. The tee was elevated and you had to throw a perfect straight low shot to get through the tunnel then get a skip up to the basket. I nailed it while my buddy hit the tunnel.

I really enjoyed this course and if I am ever back in the area would stop by and play it again.

A few things that I always look for is if the courses have trash cans and places for people to sit. This had no places to sit (my knees are old for how old I am) and maybe two trash cans (that were over flowing) on the whole course.

I did notice that they were trying to add longer teepads but they seemed a little sketch so we decided to play from the concrete pads.

I think is course is a great place and think if they got the longer pads installed and a few other these other things in it will be a super course.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.