I don’t think I knew The Falls Golf Club existed until sometime last summer. It is not on any of the apps and it is in a part of St. Charles County I rarely am. The somewhat strange thing is that a guy running the register at another course, Links at Dardenne, was the one who told me I would like it. He wasn’t wrong.

I wasn’t planning on playing The Falls for the first time today. I ended up missing my tee time at Golf Club of Wentzville and was desperately searching for another tee time late in the afternoon at any course that was open. The Falls lets you walk for just $25 which is a steal. I ended up getting a tee time just before 5:00 p.m. and decided walking would allow me a better chance at finishing because they wouldn’t be waiting on my cart.

The course was amazing. The fairways, rough, and greens were all in peak or near-peak form. The setup is great. It did kind of wear me out walking though because it is longer between holes than some other courses with a couple holes with especially long uphill walks. Riding can make you somewhat forget about how hilly a course is. The Falls isn’t as hilly as courses built in the hillier parts of the area like South of St. Louis or places like The Bluffs or Incline Village in St. Charles County, but it definitely is much more interesting design-wise than my previous favorite course, Links at Dardenne. It is in the best condition of any course I have played so far this spring.

The only thing holding me back from giving it a full stamp of approval is I played it from the White tees, which are only 5700 yards because that is where my playing partners I was put with were playing from. From up there, it was pretty easy. I want to see how it plays tipped out.

From the shorter tees, it was basically a round of bomb-and-gouge. From the stats, it would appear I had a bad driving day with just 5 fairways hit. I did in some respects. I lost my swing for a bit with the block right, but some of the misses were because I barely missed the perfect target line but still bombed the drive through a dogleg and had an easy shot into the green from just barely in the rough. My driver wasn’t perfect, but it put me in spots to hit 12 greens.

I had a pretty great iron and wedge day. The only real mistake of the day was on the first par 3 of the day, the 145-yard 12th. I slightly pulled a 9-iron and came up just short and left of the tricky front pin. I got too fine with my first chip and was still getting used to the thick, deep rough, and left it short forcing myself to putt on from the “fairway” poorly and two-putt once on for a double. That lone double-bogey proved to be the difference between myself and an even-par 71.

All four of my birdies on the day were pretty easy. I honestly was in position for three or four more and an eagle. I putted really well as far as direction, but I struggled a bit with pace. They were super slippery even in tight as far as break goes, so I was worried to blow it past holes and leave myself with a tougher second putt. As a result, I left countless putts right in the heart, but 6 in. or less short.

I flew through the front (which I played second) trying to beat the sun. I played the final six holes two-under to finish the front even. The last two holes I played in complete darkness and couldn’t see the ball after the clubface. If I wasn’t hitting my target line, I might never have found the ball and been able to finish. I finished the par 5 9th hole nearly 40 minutes after sunset with a birdie. I hit 8 of 9 greens on the front and 10 of the last 11 overall.

Obviously how you play on a course colors what you think of it, but The Falls is a great course. I am excited to play it from the Tips to see what challenges it has to truly offer.

It was also nice to walk a full 18-hole golf course again. I used to walk all the time in North Carolina and when I first moved out here. I walked the nine-hole par 3 Heritage at Hawk Ridge on Super Bowl Sunday twice and the front and back at Pinehurst No. 9 on separate days when I was back there over Christmas break. Before that, I honestly don’t remember the last time I walked a full 18 on a real course. It was cool to do and see that I can still score well with that added test of hauling a bag while walking over 8 miles before and during the round. Granted, it was a beautiful 65-degree day and cooled off significantly as the sun went down, but I want to do this more over the summer because it will make cart golf easier presumably.

The rest of the week looks to be back to rainy and windy, so Monday looks like my next chance to get out there.

Photo courtesy of The Falls Golf Club Flickr because I forgot to take a photo myself because I was too busy power walking to keep up with my playing partners in the cart and racing the sun.