Pros:
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.
Cons:
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.
Other Thoughts:
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.