St. Louis Country Club

Saint Louis, MO Private

Overview

One gets the impression, playing St. Louis Country Club, that C.B. Macdonald was perplexed about how to route a course on such a tight piece of property. After all, his previous design efforts were spacious. But at St. Louis C.C., Macdonald must have felt squeezed, for he installed back-to-back par 3s at the second and third holes, placed his Redan par 3, the 16th, near the entrance road, then had players walk back to the 16th tee to play the 17th. Those quirks aside, St. Louis C.C. is a sublime, hilly museum of golf. It has so many enormous, unique landforms, it’s like playing golf through a dinosaur graveyard. The short par-4 18th is Macdonald’s version of the 17th at Prestwick, the Alps, and features a blind approach over a ridge into the green. If you miss a 30-incher on this punchbowl green, remember Sam Snead did, too, to lose the ’47 U.S. Open.

About

Holes 18
Length 6494
Slope 138
Facility Type Private
Designer Charles B. Mac Donald

Awards

100 Greatest the Second 100
Best Courses in Every State

Second 100 Greatest: Ranked since 2019.

2023-'24 ranking: 128th.

Previous ranking: 138th.

Highest ranking: 128th, 2023-'24.

Best in State: Ranked first, 2021-'24. Ranked second, 2019-'20. Ranked third, 2015-'18. Ranked fourth, 2013-'14. Ranked inside the top five, 1977-'85, 1999-2003. Ranked inside the top 10, 1997, 2005-'12.

Current ranking: 1st.

Panelists

Ratings from our panel of 1,900 course-ranking panelists

4.5

100 GREATEST/BEST IN STATE SCORES

Shot Options
7.4136
Character
7.7336
Challenge
7.2054
Layout Variety
7.5719
Fun
7.5014
Aesthetics
7.3073
Conditioning
7.3962

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