Watson Trail is a mostly rugged wooded 9-hole course that is among the oldest disc golf in the area, established in 1995. This course can feel rough around the edges, but nevertheless provides a challenging short track for new and intermediate players.

Location of Watson Trail is just off Lindbergh Blvd., and is easily accessible for folks coming from I-44 or Watson Rd. The park entrance is just off W. Watson Rd., and from there you will want to drive around the left turn to the dead end in the parking lot past the shelter and basketball court. Hole 1 is located just off the paved path that goes to the playground to the right. There are so many nearby food and gas options, you will be hard pressed not to find something you like. For course baggers, Unger and Sunset Lakes are within short driving distance and can make for a fun day; other local classics like Jefferson Barracks and Schroeder aren't far either.

Park Amenities at Watson Trail include 4 tennis courts, a basketball court, multiple playgrounds, and 3 reservable picnic shelters. There's also an aquatic facility with 3 pools attached to the park. There are also plenty of paved pathways throughout the park that also connect to the community center, which also has a parking lot in case the main lot if full, and the paths are always full of other park goers enjoying the park.

Course Equipment is a mixed bag but has seen improvements over the years. The baskets re old and show their age but are still serviceable. The tee pads are turf, which are relatively newer additions to the course. The best part of the course equipment must be the course signs, as they are improvements over what was here a decade ago. They include a graphic of the hole layout, par (which will be 3), distance, and next tee direction. There are also direction signs between more awkward transitions, a nice addition to some of the longer or weirder transitions.

Course Design at Watson Trail is short, tight, and rugged (title of your sex tape). The course has undergone multiple changes over the years to accommodate the improved park paths and other park use conflicts, and has seemed to settle down into a course that has a mix of relatively easy short holes and others that may have you scratching your head.

Shot-Shaping provides a little variety, though some holes are simply poke-and-pray. Hole 1 doesn't have much of a clear fairway, requiring a touchy forehand or flex backhand for right-handed players depending on how spicy you're feeling. Hole 2 also kind of favors left turning shots, as does hole 5. Most of the other holes are fairly straight with your personal preference combined with different tree locations determining what shot you'll favor.

Elevation is tricky on multiple holes and make traversing parts of the course difficult. Holes 2, 3, 5, and 7 play downhill or have dips in the fairway, which can make errant shots hard to recover from. Hole 1 does down and then uphill, making for a difficult par for many skill levels considering the tree coverage as well. Hole 9 doesn't have much of an elevation change but does play partially on a hill that can cause roll-aways.

Difficulty is kind of a mixed bag at this course. On one hand, the holes are all short and a couple are wide open. On the other hand, the foliage can be very thick, especially on 3, 5, and 8. So while some holes are going to be very accessible to newer players, other are likely to be tough for just about anyone.

Course Highlights - As a full course, Watson Trail isn't elite by any measure, but hole 4 is a nice little gem. It's an open hole over some water to a small green surrounded by a creek and waterfall. This is high on my list among more picturesque disc golf hole in St. Louis.

Course Equipment has seen improvements over the years but still leaves more to be desired. Other than hole 1, the baskets are old as dirt, and with the single rows of chains and shallow buckets, chain outs are more likely at this course. The tee pads could also be improved, as some are either short or bumpy. It's an improvement over the natural pads that were here a decade ago, but with other parts of this park clearly getting improvements and upgrades, the disc golf course stands out as an amenity that could benefit next.

Course Redesign at Watson Trail has been a theme in this course's history, and the most recent edition has some nice changes. Hole 7 is nice use of previously unused land and allowed holes 8 and 9 to be combined into a longer finishing hole. The change to hole 3, however, makes it among the worst disc golf holes in the area. I get the reason for the change, that being to avoid golfers throwing directly at a path behind the basket. The new fairway still plays close to the path, however. In addition, there is no fairway to be had between all the thin trees. It's easily the most poke-and-pray hole I have encountered out of 133 courses as of this update. There's not much extra land in the park, but there are many ways this hole course could have been adjusted or moved elsewhere.

Course Difficulty and Design leaves a little more to be desired and feels at conflict in some ways. Holes 2, 4, 6, and 9 are straightforward and simple, which is a plus for newer players. Meanwhile, holes 3, 5, and 8 to an extent really don't have clear gaps to the basket, bringing luck more into play than is ideal. I always see multiple groups on this course when I'm here for a round, o it's obviously not a deterrent, but the combination of difficulties from hole to hole make it hard to really figure out who I would recommend the course to the most.

Infrastructure/Hiking uniquely comes to mind when considering Watson Trail. You could get as much of a workout from these 9 holes as you could from many 18-hole courses given the hills and transitions. Clearer paths or even bridges or guard rails on 5 would be a huge plus, as would a more accessible path from 4 to 5. My wife gave me crap one time when I referred to a round of golf as a hike a few years ago. She then tagged along for a round at Watson Trail. She promptly rescinded her previous statements.

Overall, Watson Trail doesn't have the design quality it has had in the past but has gotten some attention over the years. Some new baskets and tee pads and some design tweaks could really elevate this course. For now, though, it is a middle of the road 9-hole in the St. Louis area, with Laurel Park in St. Charles being my favorite 9-hole in the area.

If you want a quick round that will provide some challenges to intermediate or advanced players, or want some tight woods golf, this is a good stop for you. The park is also very picturesque which can add to the vibe of a round. Watson Trail may be an afterthought to many locals, but it remains one of the older courses in the area. Hopefully, given its history of changes, more improvements can come to bring this course closer to what it once was.

The course plays through a hilly wooded area in the corner of a park. One hole is open, most of the rest play on tight fairways through dense trees. The trees are used well to add difficulty to a course made up mostly of ace run holes. There is a good mix of left and right turning holes to keep things a little more interesting.

There are two sets of tees, which offer an even easier option for newer less experienced players. The baskets are in good shape if a little marked up with ace graffiti. There are sign posts with hole numbers and distances that make the long tees easier to find.

The park is very scenic, and a nice pretty place to play. There is a pond and some small streams in play that add a little bit of risk/reward, and a nice water shot. Even though it's not the best course, it's a nice place to play a quick round or bring new players.

There are a couple places where the next tee is very difficult to find. There are no signs indicating the flow of the course, so I had to do some wandering to find my way around. There are also a couple blind baskets so I had to do a little extra walking since there are no hole maps on the tee signs.

The tees are natural and fairly rough and rutted, except where the asphalt path cuts across part of the tee causing a large step in the middle of the tee area. The short (red) tees are marked only with ground level markers, so they seemed difficult to find.

It seemed like there was enough room here to make some longer, more difficult holes. While the design did a good job of making ace run holes different and interesting, it would have been nice to have a few holes with a higher level of difficulty. The walking path running through the course could be a real issue if there were many people using it, as it comes into play on a few tees and on some fairways.

Other than the navigation issues, this is a beginner friendly course without too much difficulty, and not much deep brush to hide errant throws in the trees. More experienced players will not find much difficulty here, and will enjoy this course more with just a putter.

There are lots of better courses around St. Louis, so if you have time to go elsewhere I would recommend that. This is still a fun little course, and a good place to play a nice quick round though.

This course is very short. If you like the occasional overhand this course can do it for you. The fourth hole, I think, you throw over water. Hole 8 and 9 good holes. The actually look like someone put thought into them being there.

There are signs to mark the hole but there are not very good tee boxes, they kind of get lost in the course. Hole 8 is somewhat hard to find if you have never been there before. After hole seven it is down lower at the end of the small clearing.

I have only played this course once, but I like it. it is nothing fancy but nevertheless the water trap, 8, and 9 give this course a respectable quality.

Very short, but technical enough (LOTS of trees) to keep it interesting.

A good balance of left-hand and right-hand holes.

Relatively well maintained park.

No sign to point you to the parking by the first tee, and nothing in that lot to direct you towards the first tee.

The course map that is provided is useless. It marks off where the tees are, but it doesn't show where the pins are or even have arrows to show you which way to throw.

The tee signs are likewise useless as they don't have maps on them or show you where to throw either.

No score cards. (A third missed opportunity to provide a course map of some sort.)

The aforementioned paved walking trail was apparently put in right on top of the (sic) tee pads, leaving you to either: shoot in front of the tee box, shoot on the trail itself (and potentially in other patron's way), or taking an awkward step down as you plant your foot to throw (a great way to twist an ankle).

The bathrooms by the 'golfer' parking area we're closed, but signs on the doors point you towards another building who's bathrooms were.....closed. With nary a porta-john in sight, families with little ones are SOL, and the rest of us will just have to naturally irrigate the local flora.

A fun course for advanced players to fart around and see how many deuces you can manage, an even better course to take newbies to to show them the game. (If you know your way around already or you can group up with some locals).

A little investment in signs would improve the playability of this course by leaps and bounds.