UPDATE - Schroeder Park has very recently been updated to be a full 18 hole course. The new 9 holes use the woods around the original 9, and keep the short feel of the original design. This 18 hole design has been an idea that's been around for a while, and I will be sure to update this review once I get to play this course again. Check UDisc for the new layout.
Schroeder Park is a highly utilized recreational complex that gets plenty of use and love from the local community. The 9 hole disc golf course that calls this park home is among the oldest in the area, and brings with it the vibes of old school short wooded golf of the past.
Schroeder Park is located near the junction of Manchester Road and 141 in the West County region of St. Louis. The park itself is not in an obvious location, but putting the park in Google Maps or Waze should get you to the right spot without any problems. In addition to disc golf, the park has an abundance of amenities, including bathrooms, tennis courts, basketball courts, baseball fields, a large playground, walking paths, and an amphitheater. Schroeder also has a large aquatic complex as well.
The disc golf course is not visible from the parking lot, but you will want to park at the far end of the lot. The course is on the other side of a large pavilion just north of the parking lot, between the aquatic center and the parks department building. Despite the amount of courts and walking paths in this park, the disc golf course is largely secluded along the north side of the park, with it's own patch of land that includes wooded sections as well as a more open middle area peppered with mature trees.
On the other side of the pavilion you will find a bright, yellow banded practice basket, a sign at the start of the course, and the start and end of the course itself, with hole 1's tee to the left and pin of hole 9 to the right. The practice basket is in a great spot on the hill that not only allows space for practice longer putts, but also elevated putts that have you looking either up or down at the basket. The sign at the start of the course provides some nice history behind the creation of the course, and also has some pencils available. In addition to the permanent sign, there's an additional yard-style sign that notes the weekly league that takes place Tuesday nights, as well as contact info for individual and group lessons.
Each hole on the course has a concreate tee pad and a fiberglass style tee sign that takes you back in time when you see them. Most of the holes have at least a bench at the tee, with many holes having a whole picnic table. Trash cans are also available at multiple holes. The tee pads, while a little shorter than the ones at most of the 18 holes in town, are in great shape and get wider at the front. The tee signs, while showing their age, give enough info to show you the shape of the holes and the direction to the next tee.
The baskets are Mach 3s and look older, perhaps even the original baskets. They're still in great shape, and should catch and putt or throw that deserves to be caught. It looks like the glow league here is alive and well, as the baskets have tape along the basket tops as well as some small LED lights around the center poles. Each basket has a larger number plate that are elevated a foot or two above the basket, making them easier to spot. The color selection on these can make them a little harder to spot for folks like myself that have mild to moderate colorblindness, but the size and height of the circle shaped plates make them easier to pick out than the typical smaller plates that many baskets have.
The layout of this course is divided between a central, more open zone with mature trees, and more wooded sections to the east and west. Navigation could be a little dicey the first time you play here if you don't make note of the signs as you play. The next tee directions on each tee sign are pretty accurate, so if you take a look at them, you should be able to figure out the less obvious transitions. The map on DGCR is pretty accurate as well when it comes to hole and tee locations, minus a couple of fairways that bend differently now. This course actually gets a lot of traffic, so you can always watch where other groups are going as well.
There are some beautiful shots and a surprising amount of variety of shot shapes on this course. Hole 1 starts you off with an open downhill, 262ft drive that requires navigating a number of larger trees. This hole allows for either left or right hooking lines, allowing folks to play to their strengths. Holes 2 and 3 require drives into greens that are guarded by the woods line, with 2 having a RHBH line and 3 having a RHFH line depending on pin placements, though 3 can be attacked with a hyzer if you can get through a small tree and brush line.
Holes 5 and 6 are open and in the same clearing as 1. Hole 6 has a mandatory dogleg to the left around hole 1's pin. While the course is on a relatively small piece of land for 9 holes of golf, this is the spot that had the biggest risk of overlap between holes, so it's nice to see that they made that addition. The mando is noted by a white pole that is visible from the teepad.
Holes 4, 7, and 8 are the completely wooded holes of the course. These holes each offer a different shot shape; hole 4 is straight over a little valley, hole 7 finishes right, and 8's main line is a gap in the woods that is great for RHBH shots. The holes are cleared out enough so that you have clear fairways to throw down, and the brush is cleared enough so that you should be able to find shots that get a bad kick or release without much trouble.
This course has a lot of offer beginners and intermediate players, and I'd argue this is among the best options in town for folks getting into disc golf and are learning the game. Holes 6 and 9 are the only holes that require a rip to get to the basket, so newer players will find this course a nice opportunity to practice different shot shapes, as well as both forehand and backhand shots. As an intermediate player, I brought a bag of 3 midranges and 4 putters of varying molds and stabilities, and I would a good opportunity to use each disc on this course. The low risk throughout this course will have newer players not feeling too discouraged by bad tree hits, while accurate drives will be rewarded with how open most of the greens are.