The Courses at Forest Park (Dogwood/Redbud)

Overview: The Dogwood/Redbud combination at The Courses at Forest Park is an 18-hole public layout in the heart of St. Louis’s historic 1,370-acre park. The two nines combine the park’s older golf ground with the dramatic hills, water features and rebuilt corridors of the modern course. Dogwood is more rolling and includes a water-fairway hole, while Redbud is hillier and more forceful. Mature trees and compact green settings keep the course tied to Forest Park rather than making it read like a suburban development.

History: Golf has been played in Forest Park since 1897, and Robert Foulis laid out the original course in the early twentieth century, with the 1912 layout forming an important part of the site’s heritage. The three nines and clubhouse were rebuilt between 2001 and 2004. Dogwood construction concluded in September 2003, Redbud followed in spring 2004, and Stan Gentry directed the reworking of the historic golf ground. The current Dogwood/Redbud combination is therefore a modern routing built on a much older public-golf foundation.

Did You Know? Forest Park’s three nines were designed to function as a 27-hole public facility, with Dogwood and Redbud forming the preferred 18-hole combination. The two nines are deliberately different: Dogwood is shaped by more moderate hills and a water-fairway hole, while Redbud uses steeper ground and some of the park’s more dramatic terrain. Their contrast is one reason the combination is more interesting than a simple front-nine/back-nine course.