- great technical challenge in heavy woods
- well maintained course that has been given new life
- quality red-banded Prodigy baskets
- newer course sign with large map
- practice basket
- tee signs at all tees
- dual concrete tees
- some incorporation of elevation change in a few places
- some minor incorporation of water hazards
- most navigation is straightforward once you find the start of the course
- holes are challenging but short enough that focus is on technical skill
- rough is manageable throughout course
- one of the best combinations of fun and technical

- very, very unclear where start of course is
- abandoned baskets in woods that you may not realize are no longer part of course
- despite some intense, steep slopes nearby, most of course is flat
- some may feel holes are too short

Waterworks was one of the highlights of my Ontario disc golf. However, it didn't seem like it was going to start that way. I thought I found the course, and didn't think I was going to stay for more than a few holes. There are abandoned baskets in the woods in an insanely overgrown area with tiny concrete tees (like, 2' x 2') and plants 4 feet tall everywhere. It was so frustrating to play the first two "holes" (who knows which ones they originally were) that I almost left. It's a shame because this part of the park was INCREDIBLE; I felt like I had stepped into a jungle and the elevation change and obstacles were intense, but the upkeep was atrocious.

Turns out, none of that was real. The locals have resurrected this course in a major way, you just have to find it. You can park in the school parking lot and walk to the back past the baseball diamond, but you have to keep going all the way across the soccer field to the furthest end where you will find openings in the tree line. At this point, you might think the course starts at the top of the hill throwing down to a red basket below, but this isn't the course either - I consider this a practice basket. Head down the hill and you will finally find the course map and dual tees for hole 1.

Once you locate the right spot, navigation is very straightforward and it's clear the local club has resurrected what was once a sorely neglected course, based on prior reviews. There aren't tons of disc golf courses in Ontario, although the London area has a few decent ones. Waterworks is one of the highlights here. While there isn't a ton of water in play and some of the elevation could have been incorporated better, this is just a fun course. It is short but technical, with plenty of challenge. You will capitalize if you place shots precisely; having a big arm won't do you much good here. The course is now only 18 holes (it appears to have been 27 at some point), but they are good holes.

I really pushed it here, playing well after sunset (well, I was a bit delayed by the ghost course in the woods). I managed to finish and that's a testament to how straightforward the navigation was in the woods. Tee signs were solid, as were tees and baskets. You'll likely use a variety of discs here, although your distance drivers may take a siesta.

If some of the old, abandoned course were recaptured, this could definitely be a 4.0 course. It's such a cool property, free to play, and now seems to be getting the love it deserves. In the meantime, it's a solid 3.5 with cool wooded terrain to play through. I would strongly recommend a stop here if you are looking to play in London/St. Thomas. Note - as the course has changed several times, the pictures are likely not representative of the current holes. However, they give a good taste of the course you will experience.

Waterworks is an entirely wooded course with 27 holes, but it plays as an 18 hole course. While this sounds confusing at first, it is actually one of the more interesting and unique features I've seen. After hole 12, you are given the option to continue playing the regular course which becomes very hilly after that, or if you're not up for walking the hills you can play the alternate 9 holes which are on level ground. I like how this gives the player options, it keeps the course fresh and it's a great way to cater to people who aren't up for walking big hills.

Since the entire course is in the woods you will be challenged with some tight fairways forcing you to hit your line for a birdie opportunity or scramble for par if you don't. Despite being wooded, there are few places where the rough is thick enough to worry about losing a disc. (The course looked considerably better when I was here in July 2012 than when I took the pictures in 2010.)

There is a long and short concrete pads on every hole, sometimes the short pad simply shortens the hole but more often than not it gives you a different look at the basket.

There is a great shot selection here with plenty of hyzer, straight and anhyzer shots. If you choose to play the hilly holes, you'll encounter big elevation changes with holes throwing up, down and across the sides of hills.

There are directional signs in the trees by each basket pointing you toward the next hole so navigation is relatively easy once you get started (see cons).

There isn't a well defined parking lot for the course. The parking lot for the course isn't in Waterworks Park which really confused me the first time I was here. There is a parking lot by the school but there are signs saying not to park there. I've been told by locals and the shop owner at the convenience store that sells discs to park on Dalewood Rd by the one lane bridge even though there are signs saying you need a permit to park there.

Now that you've parked, where do you start? Hole 1 isn't anywhere near the parking lot. If you park on Dalewood Dr by the bridge, once you enter the course there are all sorts of signs directing you to headquarters where there's a bulletin board and course map, but again, that isn't very close to the parking lot or hole 1 either. I just start on hole 5 because that tee pad is closest to the parking lot.

Maybe there's a simple solution I'm missing to the parking situation and starting the course so the above con's are invalid, but it sure is convoluted to me.

The one down side about having the alternate 9 holes is the course flows in such a way that you are meant to only play 18 holes. If you want to play all 27 holes it takes a bit of backtracking and extra walking to do it.

At each tee there is a tall stump that has the hole number, distance and long or short pad written on it. There are no hole diagrams, but for the most part it's easy to locate the basket from the tee.

There isn't much variety in the hole distance. I felt like there were only a couple holes I didn't throw a midrange disc off the tee. I know this is a wooded course and they generally aren't meant to be long so maybe I'm being a little over critical.

I found one or two of the holes to have fairways the relied a bit to heavily on luck IMHO.

I know that looks like a laundry list of cons, but once you park and start throwing there really isn't much I don't like about the course. It's well designed and well taken care of by Bob Harris and the local club.

V.A. Berrie just across town compliments Waterworks very well as it is a more open, grip and rip type of course. Both St. Thomas courses are great in their own way and are definitely worth stopping at if you're passing by.