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Billsteele

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St. Louis Publics-Any Thoughts?
« on: March 05, 2007, 04:21:26 PM »
I will be in St. Louis March 23-25 for the NCAA regionals. I probably will try to play once or twice. Are there any worthwhile public golf courses in the St. Louis area? Keith Foster's Gateway National seems like it might be worth a try. I have heard that Normandie is interesting but a bit rough around the edges. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

PThomas

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Re:St. Louis Publics-Any Thoughts?
« Reply #1 on: March 05, 2007, 05:23:51 PM »
I will be in St. Louis March 23-25 for the NCAA regionals. I probably will try to play once or twice. Are there any worthwhile public golf courses in the St. Louis area? Keith Foster's Gateway National seems like it might be worth a try. I have heard that Normandie is interesting but a bit rough around the edges. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

yes, Gateway Nat is worth a play
199 played, only Augusta National left to play!

Steve Pozaric

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Re:St. Louis Publics-Any Thoughts?
« Reply #2 on: March 05, 2007, 05:32:07 PM »
Gateway is great and only about 10 min away from downtown.  Annbriar is also good, but more like 1/2 hr away.  Especially when factoring in location, those are the best, imo.

Steve Pozaric

rjsimper

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Re:St. Louis Publics-Any Thoughts?
« Reply #3 on: March 05, 2007, 05:37:09 PM »
Granted I don't have much experience in the area having played 2 courses only...Gateway National was pretty cool, though the design of the course did not fit very well with the over-watered conditions.  As they advertise heavily on the "100% bentgrass" angle, they try pretty hard on this and there were some "Splat" spots.

Aberdeen was cheap, fun, and pretty decent, surprisingly.  For the price, I enjoyed it.

Steve Pozaric

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:St. Louis Publics-Any Thoughts?
« Reply #4 on: March 05, 2007, 06:47:58 PM »
Ryan:

I agree about Aberdeen.  It is close to my house and I played it frequently before I joined a place.  Aberdeen is about 35 minutes from downtown

Both Gateway and Aberdeen are walker friendly.
Steve Pozaric

PCCraig

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:St. Louis Publics-Any Thoughts?
« Reply #5 on: March 05, 2007, 07:29:59 PM »
Gateway National is pretty solid, however my fav. public in St. Louis is Forest Park GC, I think that is what it is called. (The Park where the Zoo and Art Museum is located). Anyway, it was recently redone and is a really neat little place.
H.P.S.

Bill Shamleffer

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Re:St. Louis Publics-Any Thoughts?
« Reply #6 on: March 05, 2007, 07:52:57 PM »
With Forest Park you will get a recently refurbished muny, so the conditions are vastly improved from 5 years ago.  The course is short but is fun and has some good short par 4s, which offer a variety of options.

Gateway is a very convenient course which is a very good value and a quality true public course.  Annbriar has the more interesting layout, although is a bit further and does not always allow walking (and some may consider it to be a hard course to walk).

There also is an almost 100 year old design, Normandy.  The conditions are not very good, and it is also short, but is a great layout.  It is cheap, so if you do not mind the conditioning, you will play a quality layout and a layout little changed from its original design.

If you want to drive further, in Alton is Spencer T. Olin which has had 2 recent Publinks championships (men’s and women’s).

About 20 minutes south of downtown is a Hale Irwin design, which is not as good as Gateway or Annbrier, but is a quality course, Quail Creek.  This course can also be quite a challenge.

Finally, if you can get access, St. Louis Country Club is a legitimate top 100 course in the US.  Although the club has a reputation for being very limited in who it allows as a member, access is not quite so difficult, although will probably require some effort.  But is may be easier than Bellerive or Old Warson, as anyone entertaining client in St. Louis during the NCAA Regional may be trying to get access those courses first.
“The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that's the way to bet.”  Damon Runyon

Tom Roewer

Re:St. Louis Publics-Any Thoughts?
« Reply #7 on: March 06, 2007, 06:59:25 AM »
AnnBriar is well worth the ride across the river.  It's in Davenport, Ill.  

Ron Kern

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Re:St. Louis Publics-Any Thoughts?
« Reply #8 on: March 06, 2007, 07:53:23 AM »
About 20 minutes south of downtown is a Gary Kern/Hale Irwin design, which is not as good as Gateway or Annbrier, but is a quality course, Quail Creek.  This course can also be quite a challenge.

Bill Shamleffer

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Re:St. Louis Publics-Any Thoughts?
« Reply #9 on: March 06, 2007, 10:18:46 AM »
About 20 minutes south of downtown is a Gary Kern/Hale Irwin design, which is not as good as Gateway or Annbrier, but is a quality course, Quail Creek.  This course can also be quite a challenge.

Ron,

Thank you for the clarification.  I am a fan of your father's work.  Fox Run still does not get the credit it deserves, and I have always enjoyed Crescent very much.  Unfortunately, I currently do not live in St. Louis, but if I did, Crescent would be my first choice as what club I would want to join.  First because it s a pure golf club, and secondly (and just as important) I always enjoy playing Crescent.  To my thinking it is a wonderful example of minimalism and simplicity resulting in a great and challenging design.

Your father's work gets little notice on this site, but his courses have always seemed to me to be great examples of how to create quality layouts while also keeping construction and maintenance cost under control.
“The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that's the way to bet.”  Damon Runyon

Steve Pozaric

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Re:St. Louis Publics-Any Thoughts?
« Reply #10 on: March 06, 2007, 10:28:26 AM »
Bill:

Where/what is Crescemt?  Is that the Players Club?

Ron:

I too like your dad's work - Fox Run, Aberdeen, Eagle Lake and Knoll.
« Last Edit: March 06, 2007, 10:32:55 AM by Steve Pozaric »
Steve Pozaric

Bill Shamleffer

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Re:St. Louis Publics-Any Thoughts?
« Reply #11 on: March 06, 2007, 03:40:33 PM »
Bill:

Where/what is Crescemt?  Is that the Players Club?

Ron:

I too like your dad's work - Fox Run, Aberdeen, Eagle Lake and Knoll.

Steve,

The Players Club, began as Crescent Golf Course and was a public course owned by local pro Jim Cochran in the 1980s.  It then went private, but kept the name Crescent.  While private the name changed to The Players Club.  It is now owned by Walters Group and the name has been changed to Crescent Farms.

Under the current structure, members of Crescent get discounted fees to all of the courses owned by Walters Group, including Normandie and Gateway National.
“The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that's the way to bet.”  Damon Runyon

Steve Pozaric

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:St. Louis Publics-Any Thoughts?
« Reply #12 on: March 06, 2007, 06:56:06 PM »
Bill:

Thanks.  I had heard the Players Club had financial issues, but couldn't find any info.  Always liked the course (never fond of the name, thought).

Steve Pozaric

Ron Kern

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Re:St. Louis Publics-Any Thoughts?
« Reply #13 on: March 06, 2007, 07:02:11 PM »
Bill:

Where/what is Crescemt?  Is that the Players Club?

Ron:

I too like your dad's work - Fox Run, Aberdeen, Eagle Lake and Knoll.

Fox Run and Eagle Lake were co-designs by my father and myself.