Spencer T Olin Golf Course

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Contributor

Joined 10 years ago

Though it's a little out of the way, don't miss this Arnold Palmer-designed course.. The Skinny
North of St. Louis and across the Mississippi River, it's a bit of a trip to get to Spencer T. Olin, but the highest-rated public course in the area is worth it. Designed and still managed by Arnold Palmer, the course is in the 750-acre Gordon E. Moore Community Park.

The Course
Palmer wanted to make Spencer T. Olin challenging to the seasoned golfer but accessible to the novice, and he's succeeded on both fronts. The learning center features a nine-hole walking course with seven par 3's, one par 4 and one par 5. And the monstrous practice facility has a range, a putting green, a chipping green and a sand trap. The championship course, set amid the rolling hills of southern Illinois, plays 6,941 yards from the back tees and 5,049 from the front. The course has a lot of doglegs, which makes it a duffer's delight--you don't need to hit booming drives to have an advantage.

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zenhog

Joined 11 years ago

Forget those April ratings. We played this course on the first weekend of July 02 and it was fabulous. I'm impressed with both the condition it is in and the layout. (Keeping in mind this is public golf we're talking about here.)

Additionally, the greens, which I'm sure take a beating from hundreds of hackers who don't know the difference between a pitch mark and a divot and don't usually worry about repairing either.

Forget that goofball who said Arnie would be ashamed. This place was well worth the drive and the $$$.