Unger Park plays behind a huge soccer complex in and among the wooded flats in the floodplain above a river, with 15 of the 18 holes taking advantage of short, tight wooded lines. If you're a Comet master, you'll love the opportunity here to throw from turf tees to DisCatcher baskets with 2/3rds of the holes falling between 165' and 255'. And it was interesting to see that they've installed circle one whiskers for each of the greens. Bigger arms get their chance to bomb a few on the much more open holes 7-9, with one even being a dogleg 690 footer. Once again, the St. Louis area impressed me with informative signage, posts with bag hooks, and infrastructure such as bridges and steps already in for what seems to be a slightly 'newer' course built for recreational to intermediate arms.

…but the bridges must be needed, indicating that the flat wooded areas may get a little swampy in the rainy season. And I say 'newer', because a few of the holes have very unforgiving lines. As courses mature, the 'extra' trees tend to fall or be felled to open up the most intended lines, and this course hasn't gotten to that stage yet (it's best to leave trees than to miss them when they're gone… so you need to work at missing them for now). There is very little in the way of elevation to work with here on this parcel of land, so don't look for that in the course design. Finally, in its current state, there is only one tee and one basket position per hole, which leads to a bit of soil compaction and erosion.

In all, a pleasant addition to the area, and a change of pace after just having played over at Jefferson Barracks.

Unger Park DGC is a course on the upswing. I say that having only played it once. From what I can gather though is that holes 10-18 are still relatively new. These are the best holes on the course in my mind. Holes 1-5 play more wooded before opening up and getting longer for holes 6-9. Holes 10-18 have you playing entirely in the woods and really ramp it up a notch.

The tees are framed up turf. These were all plenty serviceable on the day we played. Not sure how they do in wet conditions. But if it's dry you'll be in good shape. These are all about your average size for a tee pad, give or take depending on the hole. One tee per hole.

The baskets are definitely showing their age. Getting a bit weathered and rusty looking but luckily they're Discatchers. They still catch nicely. Plus there's still enough yellow paint on them to be plenty visible in the shade of the woods.

There's a good mix of distances since holes 6-9 are long and wide open. The other 14 holes are much shorter, many being around 200' or less. The open holes really let you air it out with next too nothing in the way. Hole 7 has one tree about 300' off the tee which also serves as a mando you need to fly right of before doglegging back to the left to a pin tucked in the woods. Hole 6 has a few trees obstructing the pin and hole 8' basket is tucked into the edge of the woodline. So not completely open at least.

There's all kinds of little man made wood bridges to help with traversing the creek which winds through in multiple spots. There's also a practice basket in the woods by hole 18's basket.

The tee signs are decent. Nothing amazing but have the basic info to help you figure out your play. Hole #, par, very basic hole map and distances in both feet and meters.

The course is permanent and free to play. Plenty of parking and was fairly clean and looked to be well maintained by the locals at least.

The most obvious one is the 4 open holes. I kind of sugarcoated them above but they're terrible. They feel out of place and just aren't very fun. Or even fun at all.

The tees are probably pretty sketchy when wet too. The baskets are showing their age. Just all around the course feels like a bit dated. I mean it's disc golf, let's be real here. But even for disc golf this one seems pretty scruffy.

Looks like it can be pretty muddy and wet on the back half after a lot of rain or early in the spring. The bugs were non existent on our visit but it was bone dry out there today. Not a con but bringing bug spray is probably a good idea though, just in case.

The course is completely flat. Not a con in my book, but it was just kind of a surprise how flat it was tbh. I haven't played even close to all the courses in this area but this one is without a doubt the flattest one I've seen.

Unger Park is a really fun place to throw some discs. I wasn't overly sold after the front nine but things really picked up on the back half. I'd recommend this course if you're in the area for sure. Is it a must play? Absolutely not. But if you like short technical disc golf you'll have a good time here. Just a good old school disc golf course.

Unger is a beautiful and very secluded park in the southwest part of the St. Louis area. This shorter wooden course is great for less experienced players who want some fun but not too hard challenges in a wooded environment.

Location of this course makes for a peaceful and secluded round; If it weren't for the route required to take to get to the park, you'd never know while playing this course that you are between a highway junction and an industrial park. There's a gas station right off of I-44 if you need gas or snacks, and other food options not far down 44 in either direction. If you are looking for a multi-course day, Unger is close to several other courses in the area as well.

Park amenities are limited to fishing, trails, and disc golf at Unger. While secluded and limited in what it offers, this park gets plenty of foot traffic; numerous small groups were making their way around the course while plenty of other park goers were either fishing at the adjacent lake or using the paths in the park to walk or bike. There's also one reservable shelter by the parking lot. There's also a port-o-john by the parking lot.

Course Equipment at Unger has been worked on a lot by the local disc golf club, and the effort shows. The baskets are Discatchers that are in great shape and easy to spot in the woods. The course now has 18 turf tees as of August 2021, with some final clean up around the pads taking place over the next 1 or 2 weeks. The tee signs have now all been installed and are very informative, providing pars, distances, a layout of the hole, and the direction to the next tee. The mulch that has been put down over the past year has also helped the tee areas as well as other parts of the fairways stay in good shape. This aspect of the course was more of a con when I first wrote this review, but this is one area that this course has seen some great improvements.

Course Design at Unger is primarily comprised of short and wooded holes, and really has 3 stages. Holes 1 through 5 are primarily tight fairways but mostly have some grassy fairways and greens. Then, holes 6 through 9 take advantage of the large field that greets you as you park your car, and provide opportunities to air some drivers out. Finally, the back 9 is tightly wooded, surrounded by mature trees and brush that will provide plenty of shade. A lot of players will not find a need for drivers on the back 9 at all except for some hyzers or flex shots that can be easily hit with an overstable fairway. Overall, this is one of the most wooded courses in the St. Louis area, and provides a different experience than some of the other more established local courses like JB, Endicott, and Sioux Passage. This is a good place to hone accuracy in before graduating to other nearby wooden courses like The Bunker.

While many of the holes on this course are tightly wooded, the punishment for going out of the fairway varies from hole to hole. Holes 3, 4, and 5 can be unforgiving and force you to pitch out for a 4, but most of the back 9 is actually pretty forgiving of shots that take a bad hit off a tree. This makes for a course that provides a nice level of challenge for newer players. The longer open holes will provide an opportunity for driving practice, while the back 9 will provide opportunities to practice tighter shots and hitting smaller gaps.

Holes 7, 8, and 9 take advantage of a field that has 1 lone tree in the middle, but I think the designers made the most of this section of the park. I like the mandatory dogleg on 7 that keeps you out of the fairway of hole 6, and requires you to be careful not to leave your first shot short and left. This hole also ends in the woods, requiring you to line up for a gap in the woods. Hole 9 is almost completely open, but a tree to the right could come into play if you want to throw a hyzer approach.

Navigation is easy despite the fact that 6 holes did not have a sign during my most recent round at Unger. While some holes are missing signage, the paths to each hole as well as the tee areas are well defined. The holes that are missing signs are also short enough that you'll be able to see the basket or find it by walking a few steps up the fairway during your first round here.

Course Difficulty favors new to intermediate players, who will find this course to be accessible to their skill levels. This course is surprisingly forgiving for being a primarily wooded course in terms of the ease of finding discs after bad shots, but will also result in higher scores if you throw errant shots. Anyone who enjoys shorter wooded courses will find a round here to be enjoyable.

Weather and Year-Round Playability - This course is in a flood plain, and the park is next to the Meramec River, which is known for flooding frequently. Parts of this course may be underwater after storms either in the area or upstream. You can tell where water tends to be located during flooding situations, and some holes may not be playable. It seems like the back 9 stays playable after heavier rains, but parts of the front 9 will flood after heavier rains that St. Louis is prone to getting. Spring and Summer may be dicey times for this course depending on how much rain the area gets. During a Fall round here, it was actually the complete opposite, with many of the fairways being very dusty. The local club has put a lot of mulch down recently, so hopefully this helps with both of these extremes.

Variety - This course has a little variety with holes 6 through 9 providing a break from the woods, but overall the holes on this course are wooded, flat, and between 165ft. and 275ft., requiring a midrange at most. If you enjoy elevation and long drives, you may not get as much enjoyment out of this layout.

Poison Ivy - Be on the lookout for it; while a lot of the areas surrounding the fairways are pretty clear, there still may be some further in the woods if you shank a shot.

This park is kind of off the beaten path, with no obvious signage until the entrance of the park. However, once you find it, it's a nice and secluded setting to throw a round at. Note that the entrance of this course is next to a popular soccer complex, and that many families park their cars around the park entrance during games and practice sessions.

Unger has an interesting history, going from a championship level 18, to a recreational 9, to being taken out due to flooding and lack of attention, back to a 9, and finally to where we are now, a recreational to intermediate 18. It's great to see the attention this course is getting, and continued improvements could lead to a higher overall rating overtime. Flooding will continue to be a factor in how much this course can improve, but seeing where we are now compared to the history of this course is a positive sign. It's clear that there's efforts from the St. Louis Disc Golf Club to improve and maintain Unger. The course continues to get attention, and it is really paying off.

This course is not as challenging as most of the other 18 holes in the St. Louis area, and is a good course for beginners to learn shot shaping on. If you are passing by Unger on 44 and have the time, or are a local in the area, Unger is worth a quick round.

Fun course with a mixture of hole types. Hole 1 starts you off with a nice gap to hit which could set the tone for your round out the gate. There is a nice mix of holes on the front with a few open holes where you can really air out your driver. You'll want to get some strokes on the front going into the back as hitting your line on the back is crucial to score well. Some really fun holes on the back that are carved out of some thick wooded areas.

Still need a few more tee pads and tee signs.
It floods at times.

I have heard this course has had some great recent updates and is only getting better and better. I had a great time playing the course and layout allows you to play a pretty quick round. IF you are in the area give this course a try!

This is my current home course having recently moved to the area. I remember this course from years ago and it's one of those courses in the area that doesn't get a lot of traffic. It's kinda obscure to get to and typically has several holes on the front nice under water each spring. That being said there has been some serious work done on this course in terms of clearing the woods, re-positioning tees, planting trees and adding benches that have really breathed fresh life into the course turning it from a pedestrian 2.5 star course to a 3.5-3.75 course.
Some of the things to like are.....The woods! Besides the new course at JB - The Bunker. This is the most wooded course in St. Louis. You wouldn't know that at the outset but barring a couple long bomber holes on the front 9 this course is entirely moderately wooded to heavily wooded. It's a great place to work on shot shapes as even though it's heavily wooded there isn't too dense of an underbrush. This is probably due to the course flooding each spring. This doesn't let much density grow back each year and what does is cleaned up by the crew that really takes care of this course.
-fast play. There are no long walks between holes. and the long holes are wide open meaning this course can be played by an intermediate level player in about 1-1.5hrs. The back nice can be played in about 30 minutes as it's very compact
-Shot shapes. You need them all here. Even though the technical holes are all under 300feet they shape in every direction. most require some sort of flex line to avoid trees. Fun times indeed!

not everything is a hamburger and fries here. There are some issues.
Most obvious is the flooding which as stated above makes the course almost unplayable and some point each spring. Several holes on the front 9 can be several feet under water for weeks and heavy rains can put many of the back 9 under water as well. Bummer.
boring hole design on front 9. The holes that are typically under water are quite boring and really it would be best if they were removed all together. Not sure if the county would let the course expand more over by hole 10 which is the only hole by itself on the opposite of the main road as you come in. That would be ideal.

This course is maturing like a fine wine. Changes and updates to freshen it up are working. I see more people out playing it which makes me happy. I think if you could find some way to relocate 2-3 holes form the front 9 to make 18 holes playable year round this could be a 3.75-4.0 rated course. AS it stands its a solid 3.5 and one folks in the area should get out and throw

Now has 18 holes.
Pretty flat so not much of a strenuous hike here.
Mostly tightly wooded and technical, but mixes in a few open holes on the front 9 to let you rip some shots in the wind.
Isolated park, good place for quick casual practice rounds.
Cart friendly.

Tee Pads and tee areas need some work, but are getting there.
Some of the holes have A Lot of trees.
Lots of brush piles in close to fairways.
Gets very muddy and front 9 can flood in the wet seasons.

With a bit of work, this course has a 4 star potential. It is in a good spot in the STL area to get a lot of foot traffic, so hopefully concrete tees, landscaped tee areas, and bridges can be installed in the future. Formerly 18 holes but pulled due to flooding, much of the property isn't very usable. The new course is utilizing what land is available the most, and they are doing what they can with good results.

Glad to see another St Louis metro area course.... easy to add another to the list as I climb from 200 to 500!! (With a long way to go... this was 207!)

Liked the flow of this niner for the most part... was easy to follow without a map.....

Bright yellow, easy to spot baskets... Tee markers easy to spot with distances listed on all but the last two holes. And there were blue tee markers for longer throws on a few of the baskets (1 and 4 come to mind)

The "turf" tee pads weren't bad.... hope they hold up through what is likely to be wet areas as close to the river as the course is...

Loved the first 5 holes..... wooded, narrow fairways, but not long..... could recover from a hit tree.

#1 210 ft open shot into the last 50 ft of wooded passage.

#2 Reachable 275 ft dog leg left coming out of the woods with tree protection in front of the basket

#3 220 ft narrow fairway with minor tree protection

#4 & #5 dog leg rights of 200 and 270 respectively

After the tease of #1- #5, holes #6 thru #9 were just long open field throws (6- 330 ft, 7- 620 ft, 8- 360 and 9- 570.) with minimal obstacles.
(Full disclosure: I am 55+ with a best drive of 250 ft on a good day!!)

Would have liked to see those long ones interspersed rather than 4 in a row to conclude.

Never played the original, but a look at the old map showed a few holes matching up, and new ones created.

I loved the start of the course winding through the woods, but was not wowed by the finish. As stated in the cons blending the long and short holes rather than
making it seem like two distinct 1/2 courses would have been better.

All that said, it was a fun play worthy of the 2.5 typical rating. Looks like improvements are in the works, which could get this to a 3 or maybe even 3.5....

The new 9 hole layout is a very playable disc golf course. Although lacking in elevation, tight fairways and long field shots make for a good game. Please note any reviews before 10/2017 may be irrelevant.

Still under improvement.

This course may flood during elevated river levels.

1. Quiet spot with very few other park users.
2. Decent mix of shots and distance.
3. Good compliment to nearby Watson Trails.
4. Turf Tee Pads

1. Will be under water for a few months most years.
2. Old disc catcher baskets.
3. Holes 6-9 currently lack tee signs.
4. No kiosk.

This is an ongoing project by the St. Louis Disc Golf Club. The thing I like the most is how peaceful it is back there, you will be hard pressed to find that anywhere else in the metro area.

The original course was pulled before I moved to town, so I can not compare, but the current layout seems to be a minor improvement over past attempts, there are no sub 100 foot holes (but there are a few tight shorties) the flow is good enough.

I find it easy to have a good time here.

There are plans for a back 9.

EDIT: The course is now 18 holes. Holes 10-13 are pretty well defined. Holes 14-18 have a marked tee area and baskets, but are still under construction and rough.

Unger Park DGC is now a nice Intermediate/Rec 18-hole course. Holes 1-5 and 10-18 are cut into the woods and Holes 6-9 are out in the open. The wooded holes are 200'-250'ish shots and the open shots stretch out to 300'+. Hole #7 uses a mando to stretch out over 600' and has a protected pin placement, so it is a legit rec par 4. The open holes have a few trees (except #9, which is a wide open grip and rip shot to get you back to the parking lot) that make them at least interesting. Hole #1 had a pretty tight gap you have to hit to birdie the hole, but otherwise the wooded holes have generous throwing lanes so you can avoid serious trouble. The thick punishing underbrush that was a feature of the original 18-hole layout has been cleaned up quite a bit. The tees are turf with benches at most. There are posts with no tee signs, the distance is written on most of the posts. There are good directional markers and the course flowed well so it was easy to navigate. The course has nice DISCatcher baskets that are easy to spot other than holes #2 and #7. The course had been fairly well mowed when I have visited. All-in-all, it's a pretty nice rec course.

The park is essentially a retention area for the Meramec River. As such, it is flooded a lot and swampy most of the time. Most of the holes are set up in a part of the park that doesn't flood a lot, but hole #8 is going to go underwater at some point. It is set up pretty close to the retention pond.

Maintenance was an issue in this park in the past. Grass was left to grow and the underbrush was untamed. Right now it looks kept up very well, but that will need to be watched. There is some poison ivy out there, so be aware.

Holes 6/7/9 run together. Hole #7 has a mando tree to keep you from throwing at the fairway for hole #6, but that mando makes you more likely to flip your tee shot on #7 over into #9's fairway. You have to watch what players on other holes are doing when you play these three holes.

History: Unger Park disc golf course opened in January 2009 to great fanfare as an 18-hole championship course that aggressively snaked up and around a huge retention pond. The course had a monstrous water carry on Hole #11 followed by three shots up the side of the pond. The aggressive use of water as a hazard had the local DG community buzzing.

Then, the course flooded. And it flooded again. And again. The retention pond has no outlet. Once it fills up, you have to wait for evaporation to get the water out. By the summer of 2010, the course had been under water almost as much as it had been playable. When it had been playable, the maintenance and upkeep by the parks department left a lot to be desired. Three of the baskets that were not under water had been stolen while the course was unplayable. The experiment was not working out, so the championship 18 was redesigned into a recreational niner. That course was not well received and by the end of 2011, all the baskets were removed from the park.

The local disc golf club still had permission to use the land, they were just choosing not to. In 2017 the club decided to give Unger Park another try, so a new course was established.

One of the odd things that happened when Unger went from 18 holes to 9 was that it seemed like holes 1-4, 7-10 and a shortened 18 could have stood as 8 shots with just a little tweaking to make nine holes. Instead of doing that, 9 entirely new holes were cut in that were pretty short and pretty boring. A lot of work was done to clear out shots that were not as good as shots that were out there, when the easier option of reusing existing holes would have made a better course.

This new design I think reuses some of the original holes from the 18-hole course. It's been so long since I've played the original 18 at Unger that this could be totally wrong, but I think #1 is basically the same shot as it was on the 18-hole course. I think it's a shorter tee to the old placement. Hole #2 I don't remember so it may be different. Hole #3 is the same. Holes #4/#5 are I think old holes #8/#9 on the 18-hole layout. Holes 6-9 use some of the elements of the old course, but the shots are new. Hole #6 uses a new tee to shoot up to where #18's pin was, Hole #7 uses a new tee to shoot to where #10's pin was and #8 is a baby version of the monster hole #11 that curved up around the bottom of the pond. It just plays along the pond now with no water carry. None of the shots from the 2010 9-hole layout were reused in this design to the best of my recollection.

With the addition of holes 10-18 the course is again 18 holes. At this point the new holes are pretty rough but are in keeping with the wooded holes on the front nine.

The course plays through some nice woods and some grassy fairways with brush lining them. Many of the holes have good risk reward, errant shots off the fairway will almost certainly cost strokes. The baskets are in good shape, and the fairways are nicely mowed. There aren't any conflicts with other park uses.

There is no marking other than faded spraypaint on the ground. The scorecards at the course are for an old layout making them completely useless, and the map here is only slightly more helpful. We think we found all 9 baskets and played them the way they were intended, but that took well over an hour of wandering for a short 9 hole course. Just painting the grass to mark tees and navigation isn't sufficient.

The course feels very unfinished, the fairways have dead branches and small stumps all over the place. the 'tees' are often in the same shape, without very good footing or tee surfaces. The actual holes are interesting for putter/superclass shots but don't offer much challenge with very little length and the only real challenge coming from some pinball trees on a few holes.

This is not a course to go out of your way for, and without a guide it's quite difficult to really play. Beginners will find the course short, but punishing and frustrating to follow. More experienced players won't find many interesting challenges, and should be able to reach all holes with a putter. There is some potential on this piece of property, but a lot of work needs to happen to make this much of a course.

No more muddy or submerged holes.
Very secluded, no one plays here.
I found 3 discs in one outing.
Scored 5 under, but also a CON
Good for putter/ace practice.

Now only 9 holes.
No more beaver HUT! WHYYYY??
Too short, there are holes under 100 feet..

Yes I agree with the previous reviewer about confusing layout, but its not that bad, we figured it out easily. I added a map for you to check. Im sure signs will be placed in the future.

Added a course map, in the files section.
Not 100% sure this is correct but this is the order we played. We tried to follow the spray painted arrows but they are starting to wear off. Use this map to get around.

Also added pictures of a few holes.


A lot of the older baskets are still in their original placements so you could technically go and play them as well, but it is starting to get overgrown.

Not worth a trip to play this course anymore, it had promise as a young pro 18-hole course, but now it is just a short recreational 9. It is understandable they changed this course because the water level of lake unger made it impossible to play 5-6 of the original 18

It has baskets and a parking lot. Trails are adequately cleared.

*deep breath*...

No sign to point you towards the first tee (which has been moved via the redesign).

Paint on the asphalt that points towards 1's fairway, but where the hell is the marker(s) for the pad?

Where's 2's teepad?

Where's 3's pad?

4,5,6,7,8,9 ?????

Someone had the bright idea of painting directional arrows and numbers ON THE GRASS, so info may have been marked last week, but it's all trampled/weathered away/mowed over by now. Abject stupidity.

No numbers on the baskets (they've been deliberately cut off), so even if you find them, you still don't know if it's where you're supposed to be shooting.

Still plenty of stumps to trip over. (A carry-over from the old layout)

4x4 post at the first (tee?) has big stack of scorecards in the mailbox, but they're all FROM THE OLD LAYOUT! The course map on them is completely useless. What the hell is the point of supplying a course with scorecards from an obsolete layout?!?!

Where's the benches?

Where's the trashcans?

Where's the teesigns?

The old 18-hole layout is garbage now (lake keeps flooding and ruining 5 or 6 of the original holes).

Was that poorly designed? Maybe.

Whoever drew that plan up didn't anticipate the lake getting as high as it (repeatedly) has, hence the only-9-hole redesign.

C'est la vie.

This new nine IS situated higher up away from the lake so it'll stay dry, but if you don't know where the hell to go/where you're supposed to shoot, what's the point???

It's good that the St. Louis club put the time/money in to redesign the course and create a layout that can be played year-round regardless of the river levels.

But the execution of that plan is so piss-poor, it's beyond comprehension.

This course went from being an occasionally playable excellent 18 layout to a WTF 9 hole travesty.

(For extra fun, drive around to the south/east side of the lake and see if you can find all of the baskets just sitting there in their original pins rusting in the floodwater. Makes ya wonder where exactly your membership money is going...)

This course has been in the ground for almost 2 years, making it bad enough already that basics weren't there. The fact that the simplest additions STILL aren't there after the redesign (which was being discussed 9-10 months ago) is just bullshit.

Another shining example of River City Flyers ineptitude. Don't waste the time driving there.