White Birch Park, as stated by many, is the first disc golf course installed in the state of Missouri. The course is on 8 acres of land behind the Hazelwood Community Center, secluded in the woods. This course feels like a blast from the past, and while it feels aged compared to the other courses in the area, it still provides a fun round even today.

The disc golf course is only 5 minutes off of Interstate 270, near the junction of 270 and 70, making is fairly accessible. White Birch is among a collection of courses on the North/Northwest side of St. Louis County, and with this course playing so short, it would be easy to make this course one of a couple to play on a free day. The parking lot closest to the course is somewhat hidden, but if you stay to the right of the community center when entering the park, there's a parking lot that serves both the disc golf course and a skatepark.

The entrance to the course is easy to spot with the signage pointing to the path to hole 1. The start of this pathway also has a bulletin board that provides information on leagues and the local club. As the signs note, there's also a small pro shop that the community center keeps stocked just to the left when going through the main entrance. While there's not a huge selection, they have a small variety of bags and discs. Most of the selection is Innova and Discraft, but they have some newer molds such as Paul McBeth's line. They even had some Kastaplast.

The teepads, signage, and layout of the course feel completely unchanged from 1979. The tee signs on this course give a minimal amount of information outside of distance to the pin, but with how tight the course plays and how it is designed, it's hard to get lost on this course. Each sign provides pin distances and a general layout of the hole. While it is not as much information as tee signs at many other courses, it's enough to know what to throw.

The baskets are old Mach 3s, though there's one or 2 updated baskets on the course. The teepads on the course are concrete as well, providing a solid tee to throw from.

While this course is exceptionally tight and short, it actually provides a lot of opportunities to throw different shot shapes throughout an 18 hole round. Each hole has 1 pin placement and 1 or 2 teepads. There's a great mix of hyzer and anhyzer holes, with plenty of holes that also provide equal opportunity for hyzer/anhyzer or backhand/forehand to get to the pin. While this is a course where any intermediate player and even a lot of beginners will be good to go with a bag of putters and midranges, this variety still makes for a fun round of golf that will require you to think before you throw.

While this is a small plot of land that this course resides on, it has a lot of variety in terrain as well. Some holes are more open and utilize a couple of small fields between the wooded portions. However, I would say that wooded is the way to describe this course, though most of the holes feel fairly open with clear flight lines to the basket. My understanding is that this course used to have more trees than it does now, but the trees that do exist so require you to stick to certain lines. For instance, the mandatory doglegs on holes 2 and 8 both keep you from throwing over other fairways, and also keep you from taking a straight shot to the basket.

In addition to the woods, the course also utilizes hilly terrain and a creek in the middle of the course to make for obstacles to be mindful of off the tee and during putts. An errant throw on 5 or 9 will leave you in a bad place in a creek. In addition, the most memorable hole on this course has to be hole 10, which is only 98 feet from the recreational tee, but involves a throw from the tee that goes up a staircase. 98 feet sounds like an easy 2, but misjudging your anhyzer or sidearm just a little bit can result in a tricky upshot for 3.

While higher level players might be bored throwing at this course, it is very beginner friendly. Even the pro tees are all under 300 feet, so players that are working on adding distance will find this course a good stepping stone. The wooded holes are also forgiving enough to where a new player shouldn't be penalized too much for a bad shot. Overall, this is a great course to learn your technique and work on accuracy as you work up to other nearby courses such as Endicott or Carrolton just down the road. Intermediate players will enjoy this course if they are looking for 18 holes of birdie opportunities, and it provides a nice opportunity to get lower scores; scores under 50 are fairly common on this course and can be achieved with even an average round.

While there may have been a fee in the past to play this course, the folks working in the community center confirmed that the course is currently free to play.

Like I previously said, this is a very short course. Intermediate players will likely not need any drivers except for maybe a utility shot from a Firebird or similar disc. If you are looking for longer holes or bomber opportunities, this isn't the course for you.

The baskets and teepads are reminiscent of an earlier age of disc golf, and anyone who has played other local courses will attest that these teepads are very short at only about 6 feet long. While you honestly don't need a big run up for a lot of these holes, a lot of the teepads also stick high above the ground, so starting from off the teepad will likely feel awkward. While there are 1 or 2 updated baskets around the course, the old Mach 3's do show their age, and feel small compared to current baskets on the market.

There are multiple areas of the course where the fairways really start to step on each other. It's honestly impressive they fit 4-5 holes in certain spots of this course. While some holes like 17 and 18 truly have their own fairway, holes 5 through 9 are especially tight and require you to be aware of your surroundings. Even 18's teepad could be in the line of fire for a drive off 17 that hangs left. Be careful when other people are playing, as this course does get some decent traffic.

You can tell erosion has been an issue for a long time on this course, and while you can see some steps have been taken in the past to help, it could use more help to keep this course from going into disrepair in some areas. The wall between 6 and 7 that is jutting out a bit is one area that looked to be of particular concern.

While you can absolutely play this course your first time and not get lost for the most part, it would be nice to see a couple of missing signs be replaced. A couple additional directional signs signs in certain spots would also help a lot. That being said, the layout is mostly intuitive on your first round.

This course is far from perfect, and is representative of when it was designed and installed. That being said, if you take the course for what it is, it makes for a very fun round of birdie and ace hunting. This course could use some improvements for erosion and even the equipment, but I would never want to see this course redesigned. It is very cool to have a local course in St. Louis that shows what disc golf was about in the early days of the sport.

I think the Hazelwood Parks and Rec department also deserve a shoutout for continuing to acknowledge the history of this course, and for keeping a shop and rental discs available for players stopping by. Other than Quail Ridge and Smoking Aces, there aren't many examples around of oportunities to buy discs close to a course in this area. It was also cool to see more current and popular discs available, and not just stock Innova or Discraft beginner discs.

There are better courses around St. Louis if you are here for a short visit - this course is probably not even top 10 for the greater St. Louis area. However, if you want to play a bit of history, White Birch is your course. Come play some old school golf and see how low you can get your score. You will for sure have fun here.

Missouri's oldest course was built in 1979. Although it seems very tame by today's standards, it still provides plenty of punch in a small package. The course is located behind the Hazelwood Recreation Center. The first nine holes definitely play as a pitch and putt level. Later holes on the back nine get a little longer and offer a bit more challenge.

The baskets are DGA models with the red numbers on top. There are two sets of tee pads. Most are concrete although there are a few natural pads to throw from. They're small but not much run-up is needed on these 200' holes. The signs are simple but many are missing.

The terrain is lovely, rough, rugged disc golf perfect, especially in those first few holes. It's also packed down hard and eroding along the creek. There is an especially interesting deep rugged canyon along # 1 on the right side.

There are several fun little ACE runs. In fact, almost every hole on the course is an ACE run.

Then you come to # 16 and it's an actual legitimate hole on any course. There is no sign but it's probably a 260' twisting anhyser up through the fairly thick grove of trees. The basket is then built up on a cool little platform. There is almost no room for error on # 16.

The course is a pitch and putt.

Being built in 1979' it favors shots with a slight hyser at the end.

Soil compaction and erosion is a problem. It's being addressed.

I had a blast playing White Birch and is often the case with these little pitch and putt courses, there three other groups playing here early on a Saturday. They may be small but they are popular with the public. Historic course is enjoyable. Come on out, chase those ACES, play the game in a relaxed, pressure free situation or bring out some newbies and show them what disc golf is all about.

- Has multiple tees and pin locations.

- Good course for working on mid-range and approach with short and heavily wooded holes.

- Since most of the holes are very short, this is a good course for beginners.

- Good use of the park's elevational changes.

- Several holes present challenges with some of the baskets being placed along the edge of the creek and others placed near out-of-bounds markers. If throws are slightly off line or too strong, discs could end up in the creek or out-of-bounds.

- The park isn't hard on the eyes with the wooded area and creek splitting the courses front nine and back nine holes.

- The course is very small for an 18 hole course. Many of the holes are crammed together so tightly it isn't hard to crossover onto another hole's fairway. During busy hours, this course could get extremely crowded. Keep eyes on the back of your head and watch out for other golfers crossing the fairway going to their next hole.

- The signage is a little confusing. Some holes have different signage than others and some holes don't even have signage at all. Have a map handy if you aren't familiar with the course.

- Not a course for long drives.

It might be a little frustrating at first navigating the course, but after running through it once, the course is enjoyable. It's a quick play. It isn't hard to play this course in less than an hour, but it might take longer if the course is crowded. The wooded areas, out-of-bounds, and water hazards present precision and accuracy challenges. However, the lack of open areas or long corridors for long drive opportunities limit the courses variety. Overall though it's a good course.

The course plays through a hilly wooded park with enough underbrush to punish poor drives but not enough to really eat discs. There is great elevation, and the course takes advantage of it on nearly every hole. Most play up or down the hills to add fun and challenge, and many have risky greens on hills or next to the large ravine running through the course.

can get very slick with rain or wet conditions. very rough terrian.

The course plays through a hilly wooded park with enough underbrush to punish poor drives but not enough to really eat discs. There is great elevation, and the course takes advantage of it on nearly every hole. Most play up or down the hills to add fun and challenge, and many have risky greens on hills or next to the large ravine running through the course. This makes it so that even on the easiest ace run holes you can end up in trouble. There is great variety of hole shapes here, despite the similar lengths it doesn't feel too repetitive.

The baskets are older, but in decent shape. The concrete tees are in good shape, with lots of work to keep erosion down around the pads. They are small, but that's not a big deal on the short holes here. The course is easy to follow, navigation is obvious and nearly all the holes are visible off the tee. There are alternate tees for some slightly different looks on some holes, a few of the long tees add a little bit of length which makes the course a little more challenging.

This isn't a course that is going to test most players, or really work on different parts of your game. I carried my whole bag not knowing how short the course was, and didn't throw anything but a couple wizards. Many of the holes are under 200', and nearly all are under 250'. Erosion is a major issue here, on the fairways, around the baskets and tees, and on the paths between holes. With any rain, many places on this course would be really slick and tough to walk.

The signs are in pretty poor shape. Not a huge deal here, but it's a shame to see most vandalized, broken or missing. There are many signs about paying to play, but when I played there were no attendants, and the shop was closed, and I couldn't find a drop box for money. A few groups on the course had pretty poor etiquette, and locals told us that's a pretty usual thing here so you may want to play at less popular times.

This is a really fun ace run course, and has a nice old school feel. If you want to work on approaches or play a great putter/superclass round, this is an excellent place to do it. Beginners will find the lengths very reasonable, there aren't too many places to lose a disc, and some shot shaping is required without too tight of lines. More experienced players will find the course extremely short and easy, good for some fun rounds but not anything that will test or challenge more than your approach game.

short and easy course that can be played in less than a hour. 2 sets of tees(but you only need to play the pro tess), with elevation changes on almost all the holes.

for most players this is a putt and approach practice course. along with the cousre being short, the holes are pretty close to each other so PAYING ATTENTION is a must, or you will get hit.

this course gets a ton of play, along with it being over 30 years old and it is getting played out.
thursday night league is one of the largest leagues in the area( 2 rounds of best shot doubles)

This is a short course with some elevation change and well placed vegetation which provides a good mix of shots. Tee pads are 4' x 6' concrete, 2 on most holes. Mach III baskets. Lots of trash cans, that don't get used.

This course is great for introducing people to disk golf. It was my first. There are players of all skill levels at this course. It is a place where people learn and teach. My favorite part of White Birch is the atmosphere. You can easily get a pickup game. Usually there will be somebody with music that you can hear all around the course.

You have to pay to play (sometimes), $1 or $.50 for residents. It is always crowded, and since some holes are close together you have to yell 4 a lot. The course is often muddy and there is a big erosion problem due to a lack of grass. The erosion is causing the loss of trees, pin placements and tee pads. The signs are inadequate, but it's not hard to navigate.

There is a club house with disks, vending machines, toilets, etc.

If you pay to play, they will do maintenance.

They have a league on Thursday nights, the course is closed at 5:00 pm.

This course is from the 70's. If you find it too short, try it with a Frisbee or your putter.

Fun. Good Locals. 18 ace runs.

2 concrete tee pads

You can get two rounds in fairly quickly

You only need 2 discs to play due to the short pins

Short arm heaven

Lots of traffic and trash

Watch your head, maybe wear a helmet because a lot of holes are on top of each other.

Very short course that is kind of run down, but the last time I was there they did some retaining wall work and mulching.

Pay to play (if they catch you)

Not a bad course to play a few times a year. Play Sioux Passage then come here and you will understand why I called it a minature golf course. It is fun to see how far disc golf has come since this course was installed many years ago.

Good variety of terrain and shot shapes.
Both heavily wooded and mostly open holes.
Deep ravines add risk to shots on many holes
Some holes have alternate tees.
Several ace runs
Lots of trash cans
The locals were all very nice.

Many if not most holes lack signs and the sign on one hole (I think it was 2) is not beside either tee pad. This course is very short. I don't have a big arm but I still never got the chance to just rip it. Ravines and heavy foilage in some places make it easy to lose a disc.

There was a 50 cent fee to play.
The course was very busy but that was good because there was always someone to tell me where the next tee/basket was.

SHORT!, which makes it good for non-bombers like myself and as a place to tweak those trick shots. Aces are definately possible here.

The close proximity of the holes also makes finding errant discs relatively easy as so many tees and pins butt up to each other.

The park maintainance has got much better over recent years, adding some structure to the course, and there's trash cans at every hole, which (should) make litter non-existant.

Good signs to point you towards golfer parking.

Great flow to the course. There aren't any signs between pins/tees, but the next tee is always so close, it doesn't matter

Due to the hills and the presence of a creek that bisects the course, it is virtually unplayable for a few days after a strong rain, so if you go, bring a change of shoes and socks and a towel for wiping off disks.

Parking is sparse near the first hole/18th pin, so if that lot is full, you'd be well advised to park up top by the community center. Rumors abound that cars have been towed that weren't parked in marked parking spots at the bottom.

Many of the tee signs have been vandalized.

Could use a porta-john or two between the parking lot and the hill down to the first hole.

This is the first course for a great majority of people in St. Louis, so manners and etiquette are pretty sparse. Be patient and remember you were once a clueless noob too.

There is a $1.00 fee to play the course, but rarely an attendant before the first hole or roving patrols to collect dues.

Just remember, the more people that DO pay the fee, the better maintained the course will be.

The office in the community center at the top of the hill where one would pay that fee (and get scorecards) also has a small selection of discs and bags on sale should you need to make a last minute purchase. Discs are also available for rent.

UPDATE 10/20: A second lower parking lot has been added which more than doubled the parking capacity. Just be careful you don't end up in 17 or 18's firing range.

Apparently erosion is getting the better of the place and the backside of 18's green shifted a few feet closer to the creek below. As such the pin is now sealed off at its current location, but will be moved out of harms way (most likely northwest, back closer to the tees) shortly.