Creve Coeur in St. Louis (St. John) Missouri
Played on September 18, 2010 and rated it a 6 out of 10
Pros:
Creve Coeur has a good amount of length and trees. This course really tested my ability to make a decision as far as what route I wanted to take such that I had a great lie for an approach or long putt; I have yet to find many courses capable of doing that. The fairways looked like they had been recently trimmed which was nice as it made it feel even more like a real golf course. Hole 12 is a totally unique hole, it requires a perfectly placed tee shot along with a great approach for a three; I left with a six on that hole and felt as if I had stolen it considering my drive never anhyzered and flew well past the opening. The course is placed in a very peaceful and polite area; a ball golf course on one side and a lake on the other. There were concrete tees here and they were plenty large enough for a guy like me to take a full throw for the long holes. There were multiple pin placements for every hole, and a bolt on the tee sign would tell you which position it was currently in.
Cons:
The tee signs again were absolutely horrible in terms of information, the distances and pin position were often very accurate but it didn’t help me at all when I didn’t even know where to look for the baskets. Although I caught it on a day where it looked as though it had been mowed recently it doesn’t appear that it gets mowed often so the rough was a little outrageous in some areas. It was painfully flat and the long grass masked some small potholes that were perfect for turning an ankle in. There was a rather large tree that had fallen on hole 13 which altered the hole for the easier, but they chose not to remove it after it fell, which still makes the hole tough but in my mind may become a safety hazard with younger kids climbing around it (I only say it because I did it in an effort to get to my disc and managed a few good scrapes). There wasn’t any real spice to this course, outside of hole 12 and a few interesting shots for approaches it was a very straight forward course.
Continued Thoughts:
Despite the fact that I am only giving it a 6, I really enjoyed playing here and cant wait to make it back to the course again to play again. Something about this course left me all giddy inside; I attribute this to the ball golf feel. A smart drive that left you in position for the approach or field ace attempt brought me back to my ball golfing days. Even though I have a fairly big drive (on average 400+) I generally prefer shorter more densely wooded courses, however I was not let down by the shot shaping provided on some of the holes on this course. I would like to see some of the fairways lined with more trees in the future but for now they have done quite well with the limited land they were given and doing a redesign after losing much of the foliage to a flood.
Endicott in St. Louis (St. John) Missouri
Played on September 18, 2010 and rated it a 6.5 out of 10
Pros:
Endicott has some very solid baskets (they are Titans after all), good tees, and well cut grass. This is a tough course; I rank it as a Pro because when I play I want to be challenged and this is one course that will do it. Most of the trees there are mature, so the shots will hardly change in the coming years. This course is also easy to get to; it is no more than a mile off of the interstate. Hitting a tree was definitely a penalty here (something you don’t always see at a course). This must be a St. Louis theme but there were usually three pin placements on the holes, and the tee sign would tell you which one it was currently at. This course had a decent amount of elevation changes. It also required that you have a good hyzer, anhyzer, forehand and possibly hyzer-flip in your arsenal to produce a solid score. The holes were fairly average in distance; a few of the holes when they were in the “C” pin placement were long though.
Cons:
To me this course fell short in a few areas. In a lot of situations I found some shots required luck vs. skill to get close to the pin. Hole 7 was planted all the way atop a hill near 12’s tee; seeing as it was already a long shot you ran the risk of throwing onto someone on 12 if you made a poor shot. That whole shot until the last 100ft was riddled with pointless trees on the outer edges of the fairway. Some of them could be cleaned up but in no way should all of them be removed as they are still young and it would hurt the condition of the course. In some cases I got lost looking for the next tee, some better signage could fix that (this goes for most STL area courses). The elevation changes on the front 9 were great; up and down as well as some side hill angles. When I got to the back 9 though I was really let down, the hill played neutral on almost all the holes as you shot across it on almost every shot. The course took its biggest hit on the rating from me because of the poor use of the hill on the back, like I said it really took the wind out of my sail. There is also a hole where you throw very close to a ball field, during the summer it may be unplayable or you might even throw into some people that are using the field.
Continued Thoughts:
This is not a course for someone to really enjoy on a one-time play; you need to play it once and then digest it, come back a second time then I think you can appreciate its design. I felt that a lot of the shots required someone to have played there a few times to get some muscle memory. If I lived in St. Louis and played this course more I am sure I would enjoy it more than I did my first time I played it. For people that are just stopping through it might be a frustrating course, but stick with it; the course is a different challenge that you don’t see a lot of places. Holes 4-6 were my favorite of the course because they incorporated some things I really enjoy at courses uphill/downhill shots and hyzer/anhyzer shots. Despite being a tough and challenging course I didn’t leave feeling like I had to play it again.
Sioux Passage in St. Louis (Florissant) Missouri
Played on September 17, 2010 and rated it a 7 out of 10
Pros:
There are a lot of great things about this course including distance, hills, scenery, multiple pins and excellent maintenance. Almost every hole had 3 pin placements that were playable for any skill level. Tee pads were solid and generally level (not level to the ground but level where a ball wouldn’t roll.) Baskets were in good condition and the grass was even mowed. Trash was at a minimal and there were plenty of restrooms located throughout the park. There was a park set on the front and a large set of portable restrooms in the parking lot for the back 9 (I assume this is only during cross country season). I had to use my best hyzer and anhyzer shots on this course for chances to make birdies. The distance here was long at times, but it never stayed long for more than two holes. Elevation played a lot in shot making and decisions on what disc to throw. Holes never seemed to run to close together so you were never on the watch for incoming stray throws.
Cons:
Going from the front nine to the back nine was a short car ride or long walk depending on how you wanted to tackle the task at hand. When I played it we couldn’t locate basket 17 but it was also getting dark. There were a few instances where you were throwing extremely close to a parking lot, which could cause you to hit a car. The signage became a little frustrating as you never really knew where the basket was, just how far you needed to throw it (this was common at the STL parks I played). In a lot of cases it just feels really open, high grass was used in some areas to narrow a fairway though. The poor signage paired with some blind holes really left you uncomfortable on a few of the tees, which can cause errant shots.
Continued Thoughts:
Hole 9 had an amazing tee that really made the hole tough and exciting. The back nine incorporated a lot more in terms of elevation change. If you are on the last few holes and you end up in the wild grass keep a good eye on it; I found it very easy to lose two discs in there. Be prepared to walk quite a bit and tackle a few hills. Distances are accurate but because of some of the extreme elevation changes be prepared to adjust to playable distance. Despite being a long course on paper, a lot of the downhill holes made it play much shorter. This course had some of the best downhill holes I have played and the holes going back up the hills were quite exciting. During late summer to fall is when I would bet this course is in its best playable condition.
Safari Greg's Disc Golf Reviews 