Forest Park Golf Course - Hawthorne

Played it as front nine and it was a good challenge, especially the way I hit the ball@

Greens had been aerated recently, as what happens this time of year, so played 2 putt maximum, which occasionally do in this situation .

First posting round of the season, and Forest Park is still very enjoyable. It is booked up tight and there are plenty of outsiders walking the course. Grens are normally slower, but not unusual for the amount of play they get. Zosia is not in yet, but it should green in the coming month.

The Courses at Forest Park is a municipal golf course, located in the middle of the largest park in St. Louis – called Forest Park. It consists of three – nine-hole courses. Hawthorn, Dogwood & Redbud.

Hawthorn is a completely flat course which ends with a par 3 hole. The other two courses are hillier, with some elevation changes. Some of the holes on the Redbud course are quirky. The par 3, 6th hole has a green that has a front and back tier, with the middle tier being a bowl. The next hole, the 7th hole has a rectangular shaped green.

This course gets plenty of play but the staff is very organized. Usually, the pace of play can be an issue. The condition of the course for mid-February was good/decent.

Here are my concerns about the course. We played the Redbud/Dogwood course.

My biggest complaint about the course is the course set-up. They had the yellow tees at the same distance as the black tee (back tees). Numerous holes played way longer than I wanted to play at.

Hole 5, on the Redbud course had a ridiculous pin location. Sitting on top of a mound on the right side of the green. Almost everyone in our group putted the ball off the green.

The park can get very busy on a warm day, with people not realizing the path they are walking on is on a golf hole. This slows down play because you have to wait until they are out of range. Pace of play was very slow the first 6 holes but was fine after that. No ranger on the course.

The golf course does not have enough parking. This will result in people parking on the sides of the parking lot, making it only one lane to get in and out of the course. Sometimes, you must park on an adjacent road to the golf course.

I felt the price of nearly $52 for mid-February, on a municipal course was too steep. I just played a much better designed and conditioned course 4 days earlier for only $26. The course is called Spencer T. Olin, located in Alton, IL and designed by Arnold Palmer.

Course needed some attention.Too many leaf piles all over including in bunkers. Greens aerated so no true roll on the greens. Some greens chewed up and many full of divots. Cart patch only is not necessary on many holes. Tee boxes were fine but bare spots in the fairway.

Waited almost one hour for 10th tee finally left and went home

Had a good time course was nice. 60 bucks a little high for Srs on a Friday. I get it Fri are part of the weekend. All good a very nice venue.

Jim Greenwald

Granite City Illinois

Course is overrated and average at best . Seems like half of the course is roped off and cart path only which leads to a very slow round. Supposedly sold out but no ranger or starter which let a foursome in front of and behind our foursome break up into 2 threesomes and 2 singles . Pace of play has always been an issue

Great (3)9-hole course layout set in the middle of a metropolis with beautiful views of residential mansions, consumer traffic and park patrons exercising.

Tee boxes, fairways, and bunkers were in good shape. Pace of play was unbearably slow, 2-3 groups backed up on every tee. Greens are also terrible at the Forest Park courses. More divots on each green than most courses have in their entirety. Impossible to putt because of it. At $30 for 9 holes, not great value all things considered.