Disc Golf Course Review

Starved Rock DGC is a mix of lightly wooded park style and hilly wooded holes. And I mean split down the middle kind of split. It's about 50/50 between the two styles of holes here. The course starts out easy enough with some generic, flat grassy holes with a few trees to navigate. It steadily ramps up in intensity by adding in a few more trees, a little more elevation, and just upping the challenge gradually. Suddenly you're in the grassless, hilly and much more wooded section just like that. It's a shocking contrast and it happens fast. Hole 17 is a beast of a hole and the highlight of the course. It's the climax moment on this course. Hole 18 is back to the opening types of holes, which makes sense since it gets you back to the parking lot.

The baskets are blue Discgolfpark models. These are really nice baskets, basically Discatcher clones if you've never played on them before. One basket and pin placement per hole. These baskets have a metal arrow pointing toward the next tee pad affixed on the underside of the cage. I love this feature on these things.

Two concrete tee pads on every hole out here. Nicely sized and just all around well done for these things. They're framed up with railroad ties on some of the hillier locations which will help with erosion. Very well done with these.

The course design is great for the amount of space available. They used about every last inch that they had to use without it feeling congested or playing on top of other holes. Great mix of different shapes required here too. The woods holes on the back half offer a surprising amount of challenge despite what it looks like at first. The fairways are fast with the lack grass. There's also a legit cliff just behind a few of the holes where you will not get your disc back without some climbing gear.

The tee signs are excellent. Nice looking hole map which shows both tee locations to go along with the hole #, par, distance and even some hole advice/tips. The box with the par and distance will be black for the longs or gold for the shorts.

The park was clean and there's a decent amount of parking. There's a practice basket by the lot as well as a kiosk with a full course map.

A lot of the holes don't offer much of a different look between the two tees. Just a little more distance. The first 8 holes are also pretty standard fare.

The course seems to be a hit with the locals, and for good reason. That being said it can get pretty busy. May be best to get here early if you want to avoid traffic.

There's a real chance to lose a disc out here on hole 12. There's a straight up cliff 25 or so feet behind the pin. The ground is very skippy too so one flare skip and you may never see you disc again on that one.

This course was a good one. It's definitely the tale of two halves as others have said. The locals have clearly taken a liking to it, which isn't a surprise. This is just a damn fun course and in my opinion the best in this area. Absolutely worth a stop if you're nearby or even just travelling through. Starts slow but ends strong. Really liked this one.

A few actual Cement Tee pads, then a few shots off the walking path
new DD Vet baskets
Nice DD Signs and course map

Small town park, 9 holes crammed into it.
Tee's off sidewalks
Throws over parking areas and park road.

What I love about small town courses. Very small park with 9 holes added recently.

hole 1 has you throwing AROUND the tennis course where your shot is over the parking area. When I was playing, a car was parked in the ideal landing spot and the guy was inline skating in the tennis courts.
Hole 2 is simple enough
Hole 3 is throwing off the sidewalk with a mando not keeping you from throwing down the sidewalk, but FORCING you to throw down the sidewalk. Don't get me wrong, the hole is pretty cool, it's just a major liability.

Hole 4 uses the same tee pad as hole 1 and is a nice longer shot to the left.

Hole 5 is another liability, teeing off the sidewalk with the sidewalk on both sides of the fairway marking OB. It's a good hole, gust dangerous if you have any walkers/joggers.

Hole 6 is a long hole that is wide open with backyards to your left.

Hole 7 throws back down

Hole 8 plays as an island hole in the parking area of the ball field. Again, good hole if it were not a parking lot. I did have a couple of cars parked to my left I made sure to avoid.

Then hole 9 a longer throw down, across the park road and that walking path to a mostly open basket.

In general, this is your typical small town/too small park course that it may have interesting holes, it's just a liability to you and the city.

Would I play here again? Nope, it's a one and done course. But with that said, as long as you are the only one in the park, it's got some fun holes.

Weldon Spring DGC is a short 9-hole track that snakes around the north and east sides of a nice park. This course is a great challenge for new players, with a great combination of low disc-losing risk and a good level of obstacles to navigate.

Location of Weldon Spring City Park is just a little ways from I-64, with the research park junction just north of the bridge over the Missouri River likely being the way most people get here. From there, just a couple turns get you to the park. Once parked, you'll walk along the east side of the park past a (currently under construction) shelter/bathroom, and see hole one along the walkway. There aren't gas stations or food options close to the park, but nearby 64 exits have more; if you're coming from the east, Chesterfield has just about every fast food chain imaginable. If you're making a day out of golfing, College Meadows, Railroad, and Laurel are close by, and further up 64 or nearby highways are also the St. Charles County Parks trifecta of Indian Camp Creek, New Melle, and Quail Ridge.

Park Amenities are very nice, with the park clearly getting continued attention. There are bathrooms near the parking lot by the maintenance building, with more under construction by the new pavilion. THere are water fountains available as well. There's also a nice playground and multiple baseball fields, along with a catch and release pond and walking trails. This park clearly gets great upkeep, which bodes well for the disc golf course.

Course Equipment is great considering how fresh this course is. Being a Dave McCormack design, you have brand new Titan baskets. The tee signs have all the info you want, including par, distance, a hole layout, and next tee directions. The tees are natural with a couple pavers noting where to throw from; given the look of the rest of the park, I'd be shocked if these don't get an upgrade.

Course Design revolves around short, accessible holes, partially due to the amount of space available, but likely also to attract new players. While there are certainly tight fairways and gaps at times, the distance makes it so that no one should be getting high numbers on their scorecard. The mix of wooded and open holes made for one of my favorite rounds at a course that averages under 200 feet a hole.

Elevation plays a little bit of a role at Weldon Spring. Hole 1 plays a little downhill, as does hole 7, with these holes being vastly different in terms of openness. Hole 9 plays uphill, as does 2 to a lesser degree.

Shot-Shaping actually plays a little bit of a role as well. Hole 1 is clearly encouraging a gently right ending shot, though you can also spike a RH hyzer as well if you want some pepper on your eggs. Holes 7 and 9 are very tight, and require a pretty dead straight shot to have a good chance at birdie. Hole 5 also kind of encourages a right ending shot with a larger tree to the right of the hole. Hole 4 probably favors a righty BH given the tree gaps. The other holes definitely allow some variety of options that can get a positive result off the tee.

Hole Variety is surprisingly in great supply for such a small 9 hole course and park. Holes 1, 5, 6, and 8 are very open with small obstacles such as ditches in front of 8's pin and the line of trees along the right side of 1's fairway. Holes 2, and 4 have trees to navigate after having a little space off the tee. Hole 3 has tight gaps right off the tee with a mostly open fairway. Holes 7 and 9 round everything out with very tight fairways. All in all, you have a bit of everything here when it comes to obstacles!

Difficulty definitely leans towards new players, though 7 and 9 will likely give new players a hard time at first just because of the thick foliage running along the tight fairways. As an intermediate player, I found the course to be very easy on a quick round without a warm up. That being said, it was very fun given the variety the course offers. I really think this is a great course for new players to learn accuracy on given the differences between all of the holes.

Tee pads are natural right now at Weldon Spring, which isn't the most ideal option in the long term. Given how the rest of the park is cared for, I'd be shocked if these were not upgraded soon.

Distances are the one spot that may keep everyone from enjoying this course, as the average hole length is under 200 feet and the max is 231 feet. This will feel like a warm up course for non-new players, though on the flip side, many players will be able to leave the drivers in the car for a lighter bag.

Proximity to Pathways comes into play in a few spots, mainly in the area around holes 4, 5, 6, and 7, where there's a junction point between a few paths. I played pretty early in the morning but was still sharing the park with a few pedestrians out walking. Hole 4 has the path running along the right side of the fairway, while hole 6 plays towards a path as well. I could see a bad kick on 7 making it on a path as well. The nice thing is that all of the paths are visible from each tee pad, so this is solved as easily as looking before you throw; your tee shot might just get delayed a bit.

This course was such a pleasant surprise, as I didn't even know a course was going in this park until I saw pictures posted online last week. I figured I'd get a quick birthday round in this past Saturday to bag a new course, but my expectations were far exceeded.

To be clear, this is a very recreational 9-hole course and will not provide much of a challenge to a good percentage of players. That being said, I'd argue this type of course is just as important (if not more so) than the elite courses of our sport. Everyone starts somewhere, and I would have loved to have this course to learn shot shaping on. This course punches above its stats, and seasoned players can use this course as a fun quick warm up before going to play tougher nearby courses like New Melle, Quail, or the Creve Coeur Lake complex.

St. Charles County is on track to get three new courses this year. The new nearby Missouri Bluffs Park will be getting a new wooded 18 courtesy of the St. Charles Parks Department, whose current four 18-hole courses make for a stellar resume. Also, McNair Park in St. Charles will be opening a new 18-hole course as well, also designed by Dave at Gateway. As fun as it is to keep getting new and challenging 18-hole courses like these, it's always nice to see courses like Weldon Spring go in as well.

If you're passing through on 64, take a half hour and get a quick round at Weldon Spring. I'm glad this course is now a part of the St. Louis line-up, and I hope the parks department over in Weldon Spring like the numbers they see on the course this year.

There's baskets, eighteen holes, and fairways do not cross. Hole 2 is good.

There are several cons!

This course was almost completely unplayable when I first attempted to bag. I bet it's like that often in nice weather.

Hole 1: Throwing at parked cars (overflow parking) with a big anny. Not horrible. Just not preferred.

Hole 3: Unplayable due to overflow parking in the field. No trees. Just a field shot. Holes 3 and 4 almost share a fairway.

Hole 4: Almost shares a fairway with hole 3. Same shot and same distance as hole 3. Teepad covered by vehicles for overflow parking.

Hole 5: I'd hate to be short legged and climb into this rock quarry. Am I out of bounds parked under the basket? The whole green is gravel!

Hole 6: Bad shots skip off the road into the food truck festival area. Fore!

Hole 7: Walking path traffic. More overflow parking in the fairway.

Hole 8: Basket sits a foot or two in front of an extremely busy walkway for little league players and their parents. Enjoyed the glares while I putted out.

Hole 9: Big hyzer that finishes along the walking path again. Fore!

Hole 10: Walking path head shots again.

Hole 11: Plays across a busy field. People everywhere to dodge.

Hole 12: More walking path head shots.

Hole 13: I don't even know what to say here. Is the pavilion a quadruple mando? That's the only route!

Hole 14: A busy walking path is mostly the fairway (green is awesome!).

Hole 15: Busy walking path head shots with your booming sidearm.

Hole 16: Blind uphill shot to remove heads from kids playing in the field.

Hole 17: Unplayable for me due to kid's football practice using the hill to run.

Hole 18: Have to thread the gap between cars parked for the dog park and dog park patrons! Holy moly!

The main challenge at this course is controlling your stress levels while dodging park patrons. This course needs a major redesign down to 9 safe holes.

One huge pro, this course isn't 9 holes anymore! It's actually 18 now.

The first 9 holes are wooded and mainly pretty short, the opening hole is 95'ft and the longest in the front is 290' with some winding lines and while some are tight it's pretty scoreable.

I played league there and most players were -3 to -9 coming out of the front. After that you walk across the parking lot over by the soccer fields to the brand new back 9 that is longer, more heavily wooded and pretty fun.

Baskets are blue DGA baskets, I think Mach 3s and I know they have a bad rap but I didn't have any spit outs on them and the blue is good to see in the woods.

Pads are natural and on the front packed down well. On the front there are good signs and directions, the new ones on the back are just small metal ones in the ground to show the hole number and the designer said they would have full ones in the future.

Shorter and sort of funky, with the long walk between the 9s is a challenge of this course. The main issue people will have is many holes are so close together an errant shot could go to another fairway, and holes 10/18 are near other park features so you need to be careful.

Fun little spot, largely beginner friendly especially on the front 9. But the back is a challenge for far more players.

Worth the stop on your travels and they have a fun league group out there.

In the land of sand a Joe's Crab Shacks disc golf is not a big priority for many, so seeing a valid little course tucked in to this smallish city park was a welcome sight.

You begin on some dunes near the front of the park with the rolling sands creating some fun little shots with heavy bushes around to create some challenges.

After hole 4 you cross the road and play some shorter more typically park style holes that are pretty fun and valid but not playable while baseball and softball games are going.

The courses is straightforward, easy to navigate for the most part and has decent baskets and signs. The tees are concrete, but small and they taper a little oddly but on the short holes it's no issue.

There are a ton of holes near the parking lots/roads/fields that makes this one a dicey play when anything at the park is going on and though it would be super fun for a glow dubs it would probably have to be winter only.

The pads are fine, but eroding some with the sand under them shifting so much but I don't know what could be done about it.

If you play concrete OB there you could have a ton of frustration among newer players as well.

The safety aspect is the big one though, is mainly play this one in the morning if you are able.

Fun little beachside diversion and a breezy play. If I go again I might just camp out on the first four holes and do the sand dune ace runs until I get one.

(2.252 Rating) A half parkstyle half woods course in a compact format.
- BASICS - Average sized concrete tees and Pro 28 DISCatcher baskets. Had either of these elements been a half peg lower in quality, I would have given this course a high 2.0 rating, instead of a low 2.5.
- BEST IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD - There are 2 other niners within 10 minutes of here, and I've rated this one the highest of the trio. It's way better than Jacksonville Community, which is strictly a beginner's course with no fixings. I also thought it was better than Elwell. Elwell has a better design, but that one lacks 18 holes and has less park dynamics. Thus, If players are in this general area looking to throw, I'd recommend here first, before bagging the others.
- HOLE VARIETY - I thought this aspect was averageish. There's an even mix of wooded and park style play.
- TIME PLAY - I had 40 minutes of daylight left and logged a 39 minute round. Woot woot!

Some design quirks.
- SPACING - I'm not certain, but it appears that Eastwoods was designed by a first timer. I'm cool with that, but there are some rookie mistakes. Several baskets and tees are way too close. Obviously not much of an issue when there's 2 or 3 groups on the course, but if there were ever a big league here, yelling "fore" will occur often. Holes (8) and (9) cross. Basket (11) can easily be black aced from tee (12). Tees (13) and (15) can be hit from either tee (12) or tee (14). This is not the worst spacing I've seen, but 90 to 95 percent of the courses I've played have better spacing. Hole (5) is also blind and can be hazardous to cars leaving the parking area.
- PARKING - The parking area is super small. Maybe 4 or 5 cars can park safely. I subtract very little score for this.
- AMENITIES, SIGNAGE & NAVIGATION - The course was very new when I threw it. Basically no amenities beyond the noted basics. Tee signs are just a 4x4 post and a number. A couple numbers were even missing or hadn't been attached yet. No benches, no alt placements, no alt tees, no course map. Players coming here will need a navigational app or they may play a few holes wrong or even miss one.
- LACK OF CHALLENGE - The difficulty was set at the perfect level to just barely appease veterans and not overwhelm beginners. I think even par will net around an 850 rated round, or so. Myself as an MA2, I was intrigued a few times, but bored other times. I scored the gameplay at around 40 percentile. The gameplay is better than the typical Church and School course, but the land isn't dynamic enough to compete with the top 18ers in Huntsville or Birmingham.
- NATURAL BEAUTY - Eastwood is not blessed with a big city budget, nor does it have sprawling acreage to work with. There was trash present in several areas including lots of broken glass by basket (18). It's not a hideous environment, or anything close to that notion, but I found it to be just sub 50 percentile on my ledger for course aesthetics.

I had fun throwing Eastwood, and that's what matters most. No need for those in Birmingham or Huntsville to stray this way unless they are a course bagger like me. For those in Anniston or Gadsen, I do think it's worth the 30-minute drive to check out at some point. Anyways, a 2.25 level course to me. I waivered back and forth on whether to score it a 2 or 2.5. I ended up massaging a couple amenity attributes a bit higher than they should be as the course was still super young when I saw it. Thus my score is inflated a touch, propelling it across the 2.25 threshold. A couple years ago I surely would have dropped a 2.0 on it. It reminded me of regional courses such as Henagar Log Cabin in North Alabama, Shannon Park in Rome and a young Humble Tree northeast of Birmingham.

Prides Creek DGC is a standard park style 18 hole course in a multiuse park that plays alongside the lake for the majority of the round. The grounds are well maintained and the course steers clear away from other activities for the most part. The course features some rolling grassy hills and enough trees to force you shape a shot on many of the holes.

The baskets are Gateway Titans. Not my personal favorite baskets but they get the job done. These catch fine and are certainly durable enough. There appeared to be two baskets a hole on some of the holes.

Concrete tee pads on every hole. These are average sized but poured nice and level and had good grip to them. There's a single pad on every hole with the exception of holes 8 and 9 which had two each. This was a bonus to have two pads on these two specific holes as they both require a water carry and are two of the harder holes on the course. Good call to offer a shorter option on these holes.

The design is pretty well done out here. Good flow and the course sticks to the edges of the lake which does maximize the views throughout the round for sure and maximizes the best quality of the land the course is installed on. The lake.

The course stays away from most other activities the best that it can. Nobody can stop people from picnicking by the lake or fishing, but besides things like that it's basically disc golf exclusive.

Nice tee signs. Basic map that shows any OB and mandos as well as other nearby landmarks which gives you a good sense of the hole. Additionally there's the hole #, par and distance. Solid.

There's plenty of chances to lose a disc out here with the lake being right there on many of the holes. Which should be a given.

Goose shit everywhere. One of the reasons I don't care for courses next to lakes or even ponds. All over the fairways, all over the tee pads, all over your shoes and usually your discs. Everywhere.

The holes all feel pretty similar. There's a couple unique ones, I guess, out of the 18 here. But it's miss a tree or two and don't throw it in the water. Repeat. It's not even that pretty of a lake tbh.

The last few holes have you walking an unnecessary distance to get to the next tee for no added benefit other than a little bit more distance. There's not even any water involved on these either.

You'll need to pay to enter the park. $5 a car as of this review. Pretty steep for the quality of golf you get in my mind.

This was course 1000 for me and while it was a fine round of golf it wasn't anything like I was expecting based on the rating on here. I've played courses that bordered lakes before. Quite a few actually. This was one of the least impressive on that front. In fact I played a better course along a prettier lake later this day. The fact that this course is the highest rated on DGCR in IN is hilarious. This course is the definition of average but with a view of a glorified pond. Worth a play I suppose but it was a letdown for me.

Kiwanis/Rotary DGC, or East Fork Lake Park if you wanted to google map it, is a really solid 18 hole course that has clearly been redesigned at some point. There's all kinds of older tee pads you'll encounter out here that don't seem to make any sense and, honestly, made this kind of confusing at first until I realized what was happening. Some of the older pads are still in use as short options which was a great idea. There's others just sitting there serving no purpose too of course. You can tell that a lot of work has been put into the course recently though.

The design is pretty damn good for what there is to work with out here. Hole 1 is a filler type of hole to get you into the woods from the parking lot but other than that it's a entertaining experience out here. Holes 2-7 and 13-15 are in the woods and are just plain fun. Hole 9 is a short but specific water carry, and hole 8 has an elevated basket. The rest are park style things but they did a great job of utilizing the better features here.

The baskets are white DD Veteran's. These are all in great shape and catch nicely. One basket and two placements per hole from what I remember.

Good sized concrete tee pads on each hole. Some of the holes have two tees. These are a combination of new and preexisting short pads. Regardless, all are poured well and decently sized. No issues with these.

The park itself is very pretty being perched on the shore of East Fork lake. Very clean, very well maintained and probably rarely ever busy as far as the disc golf goes.

The tee signs are very good. Solid looking hole map showing each pin placement and a next tee arrow. There's also the hole #, par and distances to both pin placements and any OB applicable is also shown on the map. My favorite part was that they had holes drilled out by the two basket distances and a bolt was inserted into what basket was currently in play. Such a simple thing that doesn't get used enough imo.

There's a couple odd transitions between holes where a map is definitely helpful. Nothing too crazy but with the old tees still present in spots but not in play it can make for a confusing situation in spots.

The park probably gets busy in the summer being right on the lake which may cause some holes to be unplayable if there's people hanging out around the lake.

A couple filler feeling holes out here, but there's only so much room here.

Two holes throw over the park road and numerous others play right alongside them. Just be cautious of your surroundings and you'll be good but it is a little sketchy in a couple areas.

This was another one of those pleasant surprise courses on my recent trip. Not a must play course or anything but it was a really fun one that I'm glad I ended up playing. Never played the old design but judging from some of the old pads I seen and the location of the course sign I'm thinking they did a good job with the redesign. Well worth a visit if you find yourself near Olney IL.

Richland Middle School is home to a decent little 9 hole course. The course plays along the outskirts of the wooded area on the west side and in an open grassy area on the very southwest corner of the property. The fact that it does play along the treeline saves this course from being a typical wide open school course.

The baskets are some kind of blue temporary models. They are mounted into the ground though which was kind of surprising, but in a good way. The blue makes them more visible than most at least. One basket and pin position per hole.

There are basic tee signs for each hole. They have a very rudimentary hole map, hole #, par and distance. The best part about these is it gets you to the intended tee area. All signs were present and in good shape.

The flow of the course is pretty straightforward here. The course starts by the SW corner of the parking lot and plays basically clockwise around the western section of the school. There's no long walks between holes either. Very simple routing from hole to hole.

The design is about as good as can be expected for what there was to work with out here. The fact that they hugged the treeline makes this course much more enjoyable than it otherwise would be while at the same time staying away from after school activities.

Free to play and well tended to grounds here. The course is also permanent and would be a nice little spot in the winter months if you were local.

The tees are natural. Not a huge deal for a course like this. The holes on the southwest corner (3 and 4) are in a clearly flood prone area judging by the look of the terrain and my muddy boots when playing. The rest of the course is not an issue though.

The baskets are pretty terrible here. Thin, single chain models that don't catch worth a damn. Hole 8's cage was busted at the welds to the pole and there was no basket for hole 1. We played to hole 5's basket to start, which was where the tee sign made it seem like it was supposed to be anyway. It worked fine that way. Just know that the Udisc map will be off from the start but from there on it's correct.

Not available when school is in session obviously.

This is kind of your typical half assed school setup. Not worth going out of your way to play obviously but can be played quickly if you happen to be near here. Honestly though, I'd play this one from time to time if I were local due to the lack of courses that close. Passable sums this one up nicely.