Willmore is among a number of 18 hole courses to be established in the St. Louis area over the last decade. Unlike the other new courses, Willmore finally checks a box in the area by providing a course within the St. Louis City limits. It's on the edge of those city limits, hugging the River Des Peres, but it provides another solid option in South City/County alongside the established JB, a redesigned Unger, and the new and upcoming Bunker next to the original JB 18.

Willmore's park entrance is on Hampton between Gravois and Jaimeson, making it pretty accessible. The disc golf course starts relatively deep into the park, but is right off the main drive. Willmore is perhaps the busiest park you will find in the area that holds a disc golf course, making for a lively environment to play a round in. This park includes lakes that see regular fishing, numerous walking paths, a selection of ballfields and pavilions, a large playground, a roller hockey rink, and a dog park, with disc golf being one of if not the newest addition.

Willmore's disc golf course snakes around the park, utilizing various fields and gaps between walking paths. The start of the course includes a bulletin board and practice basket next to hole 1. There's also enough room next to hole one to practice some midrange or fairway throws. There's a bathroom on the other side of the parking lot, and you pass by 2 other bathrooms as you traverse the course.

This course has some of the largest concrete tee pads you will find anywhere in the area. Keep in mind that the front section of the pads is actually a foul area. There are also plenty of trash cans along the course, limiting litter on the course. The tee signs are nice, including pin locations, a small picture of the hole from above, the direction of the next tee, and a bolt showing the current pin location. A couple of bolts were missing in my last round, but this wasn't an issue as those pins were visible from the tee. As the course is in the city limits, the addition of the St. Louis flag design is a nice and unique touch. The Gateway Titan baskets are not that old, and are in great shape.

It is obvious that the disc golf course was designed in a park that had every other amenity and activity already established, but for the most part the designers did what they could with what they had to work with. The course has enough elevation to make for some interesting lines, and some of the holes on this course make for some of the best opportunities to air out a bomb in the area outside of Sioux Passage or the neutered Creve Couer Lake. This course has a nice mix of shorter holes that have just enough trees or hazards to keep things interesting, and longer holes that either allow for bombs or require 1 or 2 shots to the pin.

The variety of shots is highlighted throughout the course. Hole 1 is a short uphill shot guarded by some trees. This is followed up by hole 2, which is a downhill fairway of 450 to 600 feet depending on the pin placement. After another relatively long hole uphill in hole 3, hole 4 is shorter and flat, with only some trees in the way. This variety continues throughout the course, and keeps things interesting.

While there isn't a lot of chances to really lose a disc on this course, there's some risk/reward to be found here. Hole 6 is the shortest hole on the course at 184 or 225 feet, but the pin placements are next to a creek that runs along the right side of the fairway, which makes this hole a chance to see everything from an ace to a bogey. Hole 14 is wide open for 350 feet until the pin placements that are at the edge of a tree line, but the drop off right behind the pins can make approaches and putts tricky, and leaving you with a long uphill recovery shot.

Overall, the design of this course makes it a solid option for players of all skill levels. Brand new players will find the open fairways forgiving to less accurate drives, while more advanced players will find plenty of fun birdie opportunities that still provide a little challenge. I would say that this is among the friendliest 18 hole courses to new players in the area.

I think most folks who play this course will agree that the main issue with this course is the flow. Since the course was the last amenity to go into this park, the design is limited to where there is room for holes so that they do not interfere with other park goers or activities. As a result, this course includes a number of long walks from hole to hole. The most significant walks would be from hole 5 to 6, and hole 13 to 14. For both of these walks, the next tee is not visible from the pin, which can leave first timers at this course guessing and wandering. Other walks like from 3 to 4 and 17 to 18 are also awkward. The tee signs make note of the direction to the next tee, and it can be critical to make note of this if you are new to the course. Looking at a map before your round or having one with you is even better. Some holes also have markers next the the pins, but I think actual signs noting the direction of the next tee would make this con significantly better. Watson Trail, for instance, has added directional signs, and it makes the course significantly easier to navigate. Willmore could use the same treatment.

As other reviewers have noted, Willmore Park was donated to the city by an old and prominent developer in the area, as the land served as a floodplain for the River De Pere. Although the River Des Peres was lowered and serves mainly as a large drainage ditch, you can still find some areas of this course that hold water after some rain. This isn't unusual for a lot of courses in the area.

In addition to occasional standing water, this course is less consistent with grass length than other courses in the area. It could make for a tricky time finding you drive if you catch this course right before the next round of mowing. Overall, this doesn't result in a drop in score for me, but you'll want to keep an eye on where your drive lands on some holes if the grass is long. This tends to be at its worst on hills, like on the left side of hole 7.

As a popular park, there is a lot of activity not far from many of the holes on the course, especially during weekends. I haven't had issue with this other than a couple of times where other park goers passed through a fairway from the street, but it is something that many others note as a point of concern.

Most of the holes are reasonable in their use of paths are OB lines, and I think that certain pin original pin placements are not used at all to help prevent incidents (the long placement on 6 comes to mind, as I have never seen it in use). Especially errant throws can find paths through, so make sure to be aware of your surroundings. Hole 11 also runs along a street, and while it is a good distance to the right, an errant RH anhyzer or forehand can find asphalt (a younger me may or may not have hit it with a roadrunner once). Just be careful, as the street sees a lot of traffic.

Willmore is a solid option in the area, especially once you know the layout. I can imagine there would be red tape to navigate to add courses in some of the other large parks in the city limits, so overall I think Willmore fills that hole nicely. This is a course that players of all skill levels can get enjoyment out of, and provides some enough variety that you will likely use most of your discs at some point. It's a beautiful park that makes for a nice setting to play some park-style golf. Some additional directional signage and small adjustments would take this course to a higher rating for me.

Many elevation changes
Nice variety of short/long holes
A fair mix of righty/lefty holes
Long, wide concrete tee pads

Navigation issues, particularly after holes 3, 13, 14.
Grass goes unmowed for long periods of time in the summer

Great design for a course. Most of the cons are due to the park that it's located in; things the designers could not avoid.

Loved how open the course was. Holes were challenging with a great variety of woods & openness.

Being the first time I played the course I found it difficult to find where the holes were. There were no scorecards so I had to look at the course from my iPhone to see a map of each hole.

The Tee Pads are perfect. Very clean park. Good course for new players. Elevation changes. Nice course for glow golf. Well designed to mostly avoid throwing at pedestrians. You can play the course fairly quick.

A few long walks to the next teepad. 3 to 4 and 5 to 6. (need better signage for that one). Pay careful attention to people crossing the park with dogs or jogging.

This is a fun course to play. It is open enough to give new players some peace of mind with just enough trees to cause you to consider your shot for a moment. If you can throw 300ft reliably you should have no problem playing par on this course. You can throw some rollers here. Not sure what the signature hole would be. There is water but it doesnt really come into play, I assume because the walking paths go around the water. This is a good course with great teepads. I played this course on a very cold Saturday afternoon. I can only imagine how busy it would be on nice days. I think they have designed it as well as they can to protect park goers and still make for a fun round of disc golf. Play this course to warm up and then play the more challenging Jefferson Barracks course nearby.

This course will help you to hone in on your shots, techniques, and ability to judge distance. This course makes me feel as I am playing myself rather than the course. There are several open fairways that allow you to check out how far you can drive. The open fairways do not make it boring by any means. The basket placements, hills, and the few trees out there really make this course fun and unique. There is hardly anywhere to lose your disc unless you are really unlucky.

Dirt tee pads create puddles and mud in the rain. It may be hard to find your way to the next hole if you don't have a map or prior knowledge of the course. Hole 9 ends far away from the parking lot, which means you have to start from hole 1 and play a full 18, unless you want to walk a good distance back to your car. MORE DRINKING FOUNTAINS!!

Great course for all skill levels. If you have never played disc golf before than I would reccomend this course to get acquainted. I am there 3-4 times per week.

Just a overall good course
Fun mix of long and short
Good use of obstacles and elevation
Pretty park
IN THE CITY!!!

No maps at tee
No concrete pads
Awkward walk between holes
Baskets not marked

Very happy with the addition

Willmore Park features huge civil war era trees and an expansive lake that runs through the park. This course offers multiple opportunities to really air your arm out while also forcing a player to really show a great deal of control over his or her arm. Multiple pin locations are also an added difficulty as they are all substantially different.. I would not be the one who is responsible for moving these beastly Gateway Titans...

Though some may consider this a con.. I believe that the amount of foot traffic through the park is actually quite cool for multiple reason.. 1) it generates the opportunity for new players to become involved in the sport.
2) Also an opportunity for disc golf to be shown in a positive light to the public...This could possibly lead to courses in other city parks ie..Carondelet Park, Forest Park, Tower Grove etc etc

A few cons..
- No concrete tee pads (yet)
-Some awkward walks
- Congestion of fellow disc golfers (Also a positive tho..its popular!!)

Awesome job again Dave Mac and Gateway Disc Sports & STL Disc Golf Club for making it all happen

Nice scenery in a well maintained park setting. The course uses the gently sloping terrain and mature trees well to create a good mixture of line shaping holes. Despite having an open feel, there are some holes with somewhat tight lines. I found myself hitting trees on full power drives, so some controlled power is necessary here. That said, there are quite a few holes where you can "air it out". Gateway Titans catch very well as usual - the most generous baskets in the game. Some of the baskets sit on a slope so careful placement on upshots is required on a few holes. The most notable is hole 14 with a rather steep drop off lurking behind the basket which could turn an otherwise easy 2 or 3 into a 4 or even a 5 if you aren't careful.

While there is plenty of water in the park, none of the holes make use of that. The one exception is hole 6 which has a flowing creek alongside the basket. But at 167', it's a pitch and putt type hole which seems totally out of place with the other holes. When this course was set up as a temp, hole 5 was a cool little right-hand dogleg near the water, with 6 being a huge bomber with trees/creek on the right side and sidewalk OB on the left. I assume they changed the holes due to concerns about pedestrians getting hit. Despite most of the holes having markers at the baskets to show which direction the next teepad is, navigation through the course is a bit tricky. The layout doesn't have a very smooth flow, with some holes having a 400-500ft walk to the next teepad, and some you have to walk back across or along the previous fairway. Natural teepads are in good shape and marked well with posts/signs and concrete markers, but concrete would be a nice addition and would probably bump my rating up to a solid 4 stars.

This is a great new addition to the growing selection of courses in and around STL. I had played this course once as a temp during the Sunday Nooner Doubles, and really liked the layout. While some of the holes have been tweaked, this is still a solid course and I thoroughly enjoyed playing it despite the hot weather! The course is just a quick jog off 55, which makes it a great complement to JB being just a few miles away.

Willmore Park is an old but well-kept city park that sprawls along and around fishing lakes, baseball fields and playgrounds, stitched with walking trails and still remaining open and rolling with gradual elevation shifts. The course itself is longish but open, with fairways wide but guarded by mature sentinel trees. This is a beautiful environment and a very fun round of golf.

The popularity of the park will force golfers to be considerate and cautious. While the design is such as to avoid the walking areas, courtesy must be the by-word. Also, the course needs trash cans, concrete tees. Navigation gets choppy on a couple holes.

Willmore park is the first official St. Louis City DGC, and it is critical that we the players do our part to portray ourselves in the best possible light. City park rules state no alcohol no glass. This is a pedestrian park and a very fun course!

Good variety of shots, Scenic, Well-maintained park, Great use of land, Variety of holes, Generous (ego building) pars, Classic Feel, Trash cans, Restrooms

This is a cool little course in an old park in St. Louis city. The parks has lots of mature trees and rolling hills which makes a great location for a disc golf course. The lakes in the middle of the park also add to the scenic feel, though they (unfortunately) do not come into play. There is a wide variety of shots needed. That said, the course is not very challenging. There are not many situations where you are penalized for a poor shot. Many of the obstacles are old trees, so even if you hit one, you can still save par with a good up shot. There are some fast greens, like Hole 14 which has a huge drop off behind the basket. As well as a few holes with underbrush that really punish you for an errant shot. From a competitive point of view, there are a good amount of birdie opportunities, so you still have to be on your game if you want to win the round and score well. The elevation changes will make you second guess your shot selection and makes the round more mentally challenging.

Pedestrian traffic, A few weak holes, Natural tee pads (for now), You'll need a course map, In the middle of the city

This is an old park that a lot of people use (walkers, joggers, fishermen, families, baseball diamonds, hockey rink etc.) You'll need to be patient and watch for them, because they do not realize a course has been installed and walk through the fairways. I think as the course ages, more of the people there will recognize the course and avoid fairways. That said, some of the holes have been tweaked to avoid higher traffic areas, like hole 6, which is now just a 176' putter hole.
There are currently natural tee pads, which aren't that bad, but I see this course getting a lot of traffic which could become an issue in the future. Also, the layout is a little broken up at times, so if you don't have a map or know where you're going, then you could get turned around. I think this will also be solved in the near future with a kiosk and scorecards. But, for now, you'll need help finding your way around.

This is a nice little city course. It has a classic feel and is pretty easy to score well. Definitely worth the time it takes to drive through the city to get there if you're looking for a fun round that uses a variety of shots, elevation changes and scenic back drops.
This will probably never be an epic, championship course, but it is fun enough that it doesn't really matter. This is a great course for the casual or experienced player that is looking their buddies to see who can shoot the hot round that day.