Woodland/Prairie at Tapawingo National Golf Club

For $77 on the weekend, you expect a course to be in excellent shape – but Tapawingo is not. Many, many issues with this course.

The fairways were a brown/yellow color. The zoysia grass loves the heat and should be green at this time of the year. Hole 5 Meramec, the fairway was rough on the right side of the landing area.

The bunkers were awful. Not raked. There were weeds in the bunkers on the Prairies holes 1 & 4. Totally unacceptable. I found large rocks in several bunkers. Prairies holes 2 & 4.

Numerous tee shots had excessive growth of vegetation in front of the box, that ruined the view of the hole. Prairies holes 3 & 8 and Meramec hole 2.

Unfair pin placements. Prairies hole 5. Back left. Pin less than 3 steps from the fringe. Hole 6. Pin placed one yard from ridge in the green.

The greens putted on the slow side. Hole 4 Meramec, the green was stressing in the back left and had weeds overtaking the bent grass.

There are better options at a lower cost that have better conditions. Spencer T. Olin, Annbriar, Golf Club of Wentzville – to name a few.

Greens are okay, roll a little on the slower side. A little beat from poor or no ball mark repair. B+

Fairways good, some spots needing work but give them an A-.

Rough is random. Some areas don’t seem to grow in resulting in bare spots. Rough gets a B.

Bunkers rarely in great shape. Either hard as a rock or basically mud. Obvious lack of maintenance priority. C-.

Pace was not too great. Saturday afternoon round averages 4.5. Little slow for most. They also have an abnormally high number of cart path only days. C-

Layout is pretty neat, 3 very different 9s. Prairie seems to be the wonky one, however. B+

Great grass range, chipping green/range, and putting green. Excellent practice and warm up options. A

Everyone was pretty friendly, not overly outgoing, but friendly when addressed. A

Above average food at turn, but can slow okay down. People wanna finish their grilled hot dog or sandwich before teeing off in back. A-

One of the nines had been errated and had a covering of fine sandlike material. Also the staff was out moving the hole placement ahead of us.

Used to be my favorite course in STL. Not in great shape and the greens have really gone downhill.

Truthfully beautiful course. Very difficult and challenging. No complaints!

Course in very good condition unfortunately greens remain extremely slow.

I have not played Tapawingo Nationial (Woodlands/Prairies) in over 2 years. The Woodlands is a very scenic 9 holes with the Prairies being more flat and not as scenic.

My first impression of the course when comparing it from 2 years ago, I thought the course had slipped some. The grass (poa annua) has taken over much of the greens. Resulting in a much slower putting surface. The tee boxes were not in good shape. The course is priced way too high at $77. I just played the best course in the area (Annbriar) the day before for $52. Pace of play was an issue too.

They have always struggled with their practice green. Not sure why. They had sections of it roped off for repairs.

The first few holes of the Woodlands are always roped off and no carts allowed to enter the fairway. With the large, steep moguls on the side of the fairways, it is a challenge to walk up and down these. Very easy to fall when walking down them if wet.

I think they have the best all-beef hot dog at any local course. They split the hot dog in two, grill it and place it on a toasted, thicker bun.

I would still recommend Tapawingo. It has some quirky holes but they have some very scenic holes, especially on the Woodland nine. Beautiful clubhouse too.