Columbia Park plays host to a wooded 18-hole course that takes you up, down, and all around the back half of the park. This course is on the short side, but tricky lines and obstacles will certainly keep you honest if you're accuracy off the tee isn't up to snuff.

Location of Columbia Park is off Main St., not far from the junction of highways 32 and 67. That's where most folks will be coming from, and it's easy to find from there. Once you enter the park, follow the circle drive to the back right corner of the park, where you'll see parking near a couple of shelters. There's gas and food options in town close to the course if you need anything. For course baggers or those who are making a day out of golfing, Mineral Area is right across the highway and a very open course, complimenting this wooded experience at Columbia. Other nearby options include Engler Park, Bonne Terre City, or Potosi City Park. Or you could go up to Woodsy Bogler if you played Columbia and then said "I like these wooded holes, but I want something even more ridiculous".

Park Amenities include multiple pavilions and playground areas, as well as a pool complex that looked to be under renovation when we played here. This course does have Christmas lights up during the season, but unlike many parks that do drive through lights, this course remains open since its mostly in the woods. There are also restrooms in the park as well if you're needing them.

Course Equipment checks all of the boxes. Concrete tee pads make for nice level surfaces to tee off of on what can be some very hilly terrain. Tee signs include pars, distances, pin position in use, and a hole layout that includes direction to the next hole. The baskets are Gateway Titans, and are in good shape. Love them or hate them, if you survive the nuclear apocalypse, you'll at least have these baskets in select former park locations to throw whatever discs you had in your bunker. There's a 19th hole across the circle drive as well that is a Dynamic Discs basket, which is also in pristine shape.

Course Design at Columbia Park is short, wooded, and winding, giving you plenty of hills and turns to navigate. You will find turning fairways and tight straight fairways, but rarely straight open fairways, making for a course where you need to be very intentional with your shots. According to the parks and rec website, this is considered one of the most challenging courses in the state. While I don't know about that, I will say its definitely challenging, and newer players will have a tough time here.

Elevation is present on almost every hole on the course in some way, giving you a hike to go along with your disc golf round. Holes like 10, 11, 13, and 15 will have you playing uphill to varying degrees, while holes 7, 8, 9, 14, and 16 play downhill. Other holes like 4 and 5 play through a valley. Hole 6 is flat, but has large drop-offs on either side of a long narrow fairway.

Shot-Shaping is a crucial skill on this course, as plenty of fairways are either dead straight or have a specific shape to them. Holes 2, 9, and 14 are very RH forehand friendly, while holes 12, 13, 17, and 18 favor RH backhands. Other holes like 6, 7, 8, and 16 will require a straight shot from you, while others like 4 and 5 really wind around a bit and will require either multiple shots or an S-turn drive to get a good score.

Distance are on the short side overall, with no hole topping 400 feet. Your shorted hole will be hole 3 at 151 feet long, while hole 10 is the longest at 391. While the distances are shorter on paper, the elevation will really impact how far they actually play. Hole 13 in particular is aggressively uphill, so holes like that one will play much longer and will likely require multiple shots to get to the green despite being 199 feet long.

Difficulty at Columbia definitely plays harder, as newer players will surely struggle with the various shot shapes and gaps you need to hit to score on this course. Intermediate players will find this course to be a challenge but with many fun holes. Advanced players should be able to score well here.

Mud/Erosion has to be an issue in the Spring and Summer here, as noted by GO1962. There's not a lot of grass around the course except of the more open holes, so this course could prove treacherous after heavier rains. Given some of the steeper walks on or between holes, I have to wonder about erosion as well. Hole 6 comes to mind, as it looks like the hill that goes towards hole 5's fairway is coming apart a bit. This course has been here eight years now, so maybe erosion isn't as big of a deal as it seems, but the mud will be around in the spring.

Poke and Pray starts to become the name of the game on some of these holes. Hole 2's green is heavily guarded, and starts to bring luck into play. Hole 10 gets a little ridiculous as well, especially closer to the hole.

Blind Shots are also a bit of an annoyance at times. Hole 10 immediately comes to mind, as you really cannot tell where in the tree line you are going to unless you hike up the fairway. Not knowing where the basket is ahead of time can easily add a couple of strokes by the time you get to chains. Some of these other holes like 11 and 15 are also kind of annoying in this regard, given the tight fairways that aren't exactly clear from the tee pad.

I don't have many cons per say for this course, but I think the challenging nature combined with the overall course design limits the rating for me. Folks who aren't fans of wooded courses, or ones with short par 4s or 5s that require short upshots off the tee won't have a fun time here. This also is not a particularly friendly course to new players, so a decent percentage of players won't find this course to be the most accessible.

Overall, I found it to be an alright course. I'm someone who tends to like wooded courses, but this one didn't hit the mark for me like others. Other ones have more of a 'fun factor' for lack of a better term, and longer holes to compliment shorter ones. I know that sounds especially subjective, but I think plenty of other wooded courses manage to feel fresher throughout all 18 holes than this one does. If there were just a few less trees in certain spots, I think this course could be more accessible while still being challenging.

If you like short wooded courses and are passing through Park Hills, make time for Columbia, because this course is tailor made for you. If that's not your cup of tea, stay on the highway.

*Columbia Park is a city park maintained by the City of Park Hills. The entire park is heavily wooded and consists of a series of hills. The course is on the south side of the park. With the exception of Holes #1, #2, and #3, all of the holes involve hills where the player will be walking up or down and throwing up or down.
*This is a good course for persons who no longer have strong throwing arms or who never did have a strong arm because virtually all of the shots will be technical shots due to the density of the trees.
*There are no water hazards.
*All of the tees are concrete and feature a sign with the hole number, distance, and par.
*This is a good course to choose on windy days because the wind is blocked by the trees.
In March 2023 a 19th hole was added between the existing holes of 9 and 10. The 19th hole is numbered 9B.

*The course is physically uncomfortable throughout most of the period of June thru mid-September because the course is so heavily wooded that the trees block breezes, which cause the player to feel the full effect of the humidity. Personally, when the temperature is above the mid-70s during the summer, which is most of the time, I avoid this course because it feels so much hotter and humid than other nearby courses because of the density of the trees.
*Because of the density of the trees, there is no grassy areas for most of the holes. The lack of grass is not a problem during dry periods of the year, but the hills are extremely muddy and slick during most of the winter and early spring.

*My favorite time to visit this course is during the autumn when there are dry conditions, where temperatures are in the 40s to 70s, and when the humidity is no longer a factor. Once the leaves start to fall off of the trees, the breezes are felt.
*Players from other areas who like road trips to visit more than one course per day may want to consider Columbia Park, because this course is only 1 mile from another 18 hole course at Mineral Area College and is 9 miles from another 18 hole course at Engler Park in Farmington. Plus, there are 2 state parks, Saint Joe Park and Saint Francois Park located in the same county.

If you've played any David McCormack you'll know aspects of this course. All the staples are there and those are both good and bad. First off, the things to like about this course

1. Multiple Concrete Teepads. This may not seem like a big deal but when you are the only course in a ten mile range it is important to add to allow for better tournaments and variety. Sometimes the long Blue teepads just add a little extra distance off the tee, other times they require a different line all together and make the hole play very differently.
2. Navigation. There is nothing more frustrating than wandering around a course in the woods where you can see multiple teepads and baskets and not know which one is next. Thankfully, not a problem here. There are arrows or spray paint any place where you may have a question.
3. Tee Signs. The signs are good. (however they do not have a marker to denote basket location.)
4. Technical. Tiny windows, elevation, poke and hope shots and designated layup zones. All aspects of his course design style are here. (some good, some less than desirable)
Holes I really like

first off, in general, holes 1-3 are a nice warm-up. For RHBH you get a straight/hyzer on 1, a turnover/flick on 2 and a definite flick on 3.

Hole 2. nice little turnover or flick with 2 well placed basket locations and very specific guardian trees. turnover is the shot for me but cut it too sharp and it will roll left and potentially far into the woods. The flick would require a bit more touch control

Hole 4. This is the first hole where you start to figure out what this course is all about. The gap you need to hit is 160ft down the fairway and is a 20-30ft across. This is really the only line to either location that isn't poke and hope. It's tough, but hit the window and it's right to the basket.

Hole 7. you really need to control the speed of your disc and it must land flat to slid up to the basket in A or B from the white pad. The Blue pad is difficult but fair as well.

Hole 14. If you have an anny flick in your bag then this is a getable eagle. If not it becomes a solid Par 4. You need a good placement drive and you really need to control your approach on a very fast green. Like hole 2, if you get either shot wrong they can roll far into the woods and guarantee a 4 at best.

Hole 16. A staple of McCormack designed course. If there are power/telephone lines you can almost guarantee a hole will have a downhill throw underneath them. The Blue pad to either placement is very difficult. The disc has to turnover right out of your hand but then immediately stable up but then stay straight. The fairway is wide enough to allow the disc enough room to the left to let the disc flatten out but its a very touchy shot (unless you throw a comet like MJ.) The big evergreen at the bottom of the hill on the left gobbled up all of my turnovers from the blue pad. They felt good out of the hand but stabled up before dropping. I think if I threw them a bit lower...who's to say really still an easy 3 at least. I put multiple throws inside circle 1 from the white pad to the B location.

Wooded courses can be a great equalizer for folks that don't have big arms or really want to perfect control, but then there are holes like those which I am about to describe. These types of holes can be found on several Gateway designed courses and all these do is frustrate you

The common theme on this course is that the Par 3's are standard fare and the Par4/5 are not

Hole 5 - Par 4. For this Hole you must throw a short putter down to a landing zone because the double mando right off the tee. Why not cut down a few trees and let aggressive players try to go straight up the gut with a big hyzer or give two options? The landing area is to big. The only risk is hyzering out too quickly but the punishment is still a par. An Anny flex with something like an X-Cal, Stiletto or Machete is possible but you need big power. As a Par 4 it's a very simple hole.

Hole 6 - Par 5. I get it. Tunnel shots are cool. They look the business and require accuracy. However when you stick the basket in the B location you are telling people there is no way to get a 2 (yes it's a "par 5" but really this should be a Par 3 in the A location and a Par 4 in the current B location. There is a 1% chance of a 2 in B. You would need 450ft power and a flair skip that went 80 feet left uphill and flared somewhat backwards. As a Par 5 it's an easy birdie and a 50% eagle for me. Just poor design. The A location should be about 20 feet closer and the B location should be in between where A/B are currently and they should both be Par 3 . Also it's really only playable when trimmed back like when I played it. The fairway could and probably does get too narrow if not trimmed. I did some light pruning while I was there to remove several low hanging branches 40-50ft off the tee.

If you are a beginner or Rec level player prepare for frustration ahead. if you thought the tunnel placement in B was ridiculous.....

Hole 10-12. What is up with these Par 4 and Par 5 holes. Poke and hope. forced short layup zones just off the tee. Sure they are Par 4/5 but making holes like these is just overthinking. There is actually enough space to make 4-5 holes out of the land used to make just 3. Worst of all is that you will still come out likely under par on these holes because you can just throw short putter shots and make it to the basket for par. No need to describe all the holes but briefly, hole 10 is total poke and hope off the tee, hit and tree before the hill and it's a 4 or worse. Hole 11...a forced layup zone hole.
Hole 12. It's 400ft and a Par 5...Exactly.. more specific landing zones. so much more could have been done here. 3 holes could have been cut from this 1 hole. The drive off the tee is just making sure to get the corner while staying on the fairway. If all of your shots land in the fairway it's a bird.

Hole 18. Why is there a double mando? In my opinion its to try and rule out eagle opportunities. The same with those 2 little trees left on the left side of the fairway. I would remove the right mando tree and the little trees right next to it to open the fairway a wee bit more. Those changes would make this a great score separation hole for those who can smash their drive up there

I like technical holes with lots of lines and this course has the potential to be that. a tree down here or there and this course will really be special.

My perspective. 925 rated player and still going up with a crummy forehand but excellent throwing putter/mid game. I loves wooded courses and hope to one day be the next MJ or Cale Leiviska I played this course from both pads. First round Blue, 2nd round white. The course plays better from the Blue pads with the exception of Hole 16.

My scores for the day
Blue Pads.. 58 from Par 63 -5
White Pads...57 from Par 63 -6

Nicely laid out. Holes 1 and 10 start by the lot, 9 and 18 end by the lot so playing either 9 is easy.

Variety - lots of tight, wooded lines, elevation changes and doglegs. You can use a variety of throws to work on your repertoire.

UPDATE 11/22: They have started pouring concrete for the tees. Most look like they will have 2, except for hole 5. Not sure what they will do there. Most are pretty close together. Time will tell.

No tee pads, just grass. (UPDATE 11/22: Pads are being poured) However, you can get away with never having to drive, so it is only an issue if wet.

Can be frustrating at times because it's so technical.

Great park that gets better each time. They keep clearing out more areas, added 10 benches (because the back 9 is a little hike), and plenty of trashcans.
Despite all the trashcans, there is a lot of glass around the area, leftover from years past.

Its fairly easy to navigate for a first time player of the course.
Has 2 different tee pads and pin locations
Fun mix of forehand and backhand
Personal I like the tight tight tight lines its very challenging

As a brand new course its hard to nit pick the course it's a young course that's still being worked in so I can't say there are too many flaws in the course design.
Only draw back is the poison ivy all over the ground but they will go away with foot traffic.

Its a challenging course for players of all skill levels, as this course matures and gets worked in its going to become a great course.
It does punish the player for missing the line that is cut

Offers very difficult accuracy challenge. Requires variety of shots - sidearms, turnovers, rollers, all required on this course.

No concrete tee pads, but you really don't have to run up and throw. Would be nice though for a level throwing surface.

Being a new course, off the fairway is super rough. And there isn't much fairway to throw down, it's a very tight, wooded course. You will be punished harshly for going off the fairway.

Signs at the long pads would be nice, they are currently just blocks in the ground and can be hard to find on some holes.

Most of the cons will work themselves out as the course gets more work and more foot traffic (teepads, very rough)

The difficulty of the course could be quite a turn off for novice/recreational players. Fairways are incredibly tight and with the low ceilings and elevation change there isn't a ton of variety in how to throw each hole.