Gateway National Golf Links

Gateway National offers views of downtown St. Louis and the Arch. It is the only all bent grass public course in the St. Louis area. It is a links style course with berms between the holes where you feel like you’re the only one on the course.

Gateway National is always in good shape, but this time, it may have been in the best shape I have ever seen it. There really was nothing to complain about with the conditions. The greens had a little firmness to them and rolled at a great pace. Now, they have even added GPS screens in the carts. The yardages are all to the center of the green, not the specific pin locations of the day. The rough was manageable and pace of play was outstanding. They had plenty of water coolers on the course, water machine and ice chest in the restaurant and the beverage cart was out before 9:00am. The snack bar on hole 10 was already open by 9:00am.

The only small issues I saw were the 3rd green had some splotchy areas on the slope in the middle of the green. The 4th white tee is small and gets beat up some. There are a lot of ball marks on the greens but this is not the course’s fault. It is the players not fixing their ball marks. Overall, you will not find a better conditioned golf course in the St. Louis metro area.

I did notice they let the high fescue grow to the left of the fairway bunker on hole 8. Eliminating you trying to cut the corner over the left side of that bunker.

Of my top 4 Illinois courses, Gateway National is the most expensive. We paid nearly $79. You can play Spencer T. Olin in the low $50’s as a senior and Far Oaks & Annbriar for around $70 on the weekends. However, I would pay a little extra to play this course that is in impeccable shape.

From new range balls to great course conditions the Gateway team nailed it. From the front desk to the greens keeper everyone was on point! Snow Wolf should have their entire staff come take notes!

Highly recommend.

Course is worth giving a go. Conditions of greens/fairways always very good. Bunkers are not any better than a standard muny though. Either hard and dry or just like hitting out Mississippi mud. Several filled with water. Some in good shape. Just random with the bunkers always. The smell of the landfill across the street can be very potent, and on about 6 or 7 of the holes you have to try your best to time your swings around the train horns from the rail yard that basically runs along the front 9. And they love honking those horns. Then on the other side, you can hear the raceway next door - there is some serious horse power rumbling through the golf course at times or the noise from crowds/announcers. For a course not near any neighborhoods, it sure sounds like there’s a lot going on around it constantly.

Tip: If the wind forecast is 10 mph, it will be 25mph and at least two clubs there. The courses only defense mainly is the wind - but it’s abundant nearly every time I play here. Wind at gateway is 2.5x the forecasted wind speed.

The course can get monotonous after a while, as is the case with many attempts at a links course. Out of 18, I would say there are 2 or 3 holes per 9 that I would call “interesting” the rest is just long links style holes - wide with little trees, pretty straight, and big greens. Trouble is usually very obvious and easy to miss assuming you even get it remotely on your line. The greens are quick and will keep you on your toes if you are on the wrong “shelf” so short game needs to be a little better than average to score well relative to your handicap.

Practice green and range are good - real grass but little as far targets and range finding goes. Just set up and hit kinda range. At club house, No one there to help unload bags, load carts, and clean clubs etc., if you care about that. Not a big deal, but at the price point for the area that is usually coming with the price.

Pace is usually average to a little below average. Weekday round can be done in about 4 hours, however weekends will be minimum of 4.5 if not pushing 5.

Overall, at the price point I give it a B. B+ if they ever get their bunkers figured out. You will have a good time and enjoy a good golf course. Not as interesting as Tapawingo, or as nice as Ann Briar, but definitely ranks among the top 5 (public) courses in the Metro area. If prices comparatively to others in the area instead of being the priciest, then it could climb the ranks a bit. I play this course about once a month for past couple of years, so this review reflects my overall impressions across that time, not just a single round.

Was in town & wanted to get out quick. Really solid course, well maintained. Well kept tee boxes & greens, good fairways - really nice course. I’d play again if back In STL area.

I strongly recommend this course. The Gateway golf is the best golf course among public golf courses. I guarantee your satisfaction.

Even in January, this is a really well maintained course. I would recommend it any time if the year. Pace of play was a little slow, but that would have to be my only complaint.

Top public course in the metro area. Greens are immaculate and layout fair and challenging.

It would have been a lot better, but a slow group held us up. No one ever pushed them to move faster or let us pass. They had 1 1/2 holes between them and the next group. It makes it hard to drive down to play a course during the week if they are not going to keep pace.

Gateway National is one of the best tracks in the St. Louis area. Getting a chance to play golf in the middle of December is very rare in Missouri. Since the course has bent grass fairways, it is much greener than the dormant zoysia grass you see on most courses.

I thought the greens were in great shape for December and rolled really smooth The price of $45 was in line with what you would expect from a top tier course in December.

In the winter months, you do start on hole 10, so when you finish your 9th hole, you finish at the clubhouse. In the warmer months, they have food/beverage shack at the 10th hole - which is closed in the off-season months. They are aerating the fairways and we played the par 5, 13th hole as a par 3,

There were some nice touches they offered for a December round. They had the beverage cart out and they offered a limited menu in the clubhouse.

Fairways in good shape, greens in good shape, and they just poked holes. Glad this course is here.

Gateway is without a doubt, one of the top courses in the area. Even at this late date in the fall, the course was in very good condition, especially considering how many rounds they probably had this summer. It is quite a challenging layout but enjoyable to play and well worth the price you pay.

You could tell the greens had been recently punched but they had healed back up, were in good shape and putts rolled true. The bentgrass fairways always have lots of divots but I think that is because so many good golfers want to play there. They were plush and almost carpet-like in some of the bounces we saw. The fairways are pretty wide but there are many areas with very thick rough and tall grass that will gobble up errant shots.

One of the downsides to a popular place is that the course is always crowded. On a weekend with good weather, we were expecting a slow round and we did take just under five hours to play. It was slow but not painfully so as the groups ahead and behind us were skilled. There are some water hazards but the water is really low in a bunch of them. A couple lakes had dozens and dozens of balls that were visible.

A great place to play, and if you are visiting the area, is a course I always recommend. Out of towners love the fact that you can see the Gateway Arch from numerous holes, too.