As a long time Portland disc golf local, Benson park was one of those courses I always knew about, but due to its reputation, I just never stopped and played it. Benson is conveniently on the way to Rooster Rock DGC as well as on a longer trip out to the other courses in the Columbia River Gorge. Honestly, one of the main "pros" to this course is simply the fact that the course is really easy to get to off of I-84. From the highway exit, it's about 2 minutes to the parking lot, and the first tee is 10 feet from where you park. You will likely have the course to yourself, and an experienced player could run through this course in 15 minutes. In many ways, I regret that it took me 14 years to finally play this little rest stop course. While the course itself is not exciting, the park itself is quite pretty, and despite its lack of challenge, this is definitely a course where the "fun" factor outpaces the overall quality of the course itself.

As for the layout, at least 5 or 6 of the holes feature enough trees to at least force you to shape some sort of interesting putter shot. With every hole between 150 and about 200 most experienced players could comfortably play this course with just a mid range and a putter. And honestly, I think that for a lot of intermediate-skill players, this course will help you develop some important putter shots. And this sort of relaxed warm-up feel plays well as mentioned previously, if you use Benson as a way to get ready to play one of the more challenging gorge courses.

As for amenities, I found navigation to be pretty easy. I think the pictures on the site of the holes are from before a re-design occurred, but the on-site map is accurate. I also liked that the hole distances, other than hole 1, seemed to be pretty on-point, a rarity for short pitch-and-putt courses in the area. If you are directionally challenged, it might be worth using the course map off the website here, or just taking a picture of the course map near hole one.

Unfortunately, one of the big things that in my eye can really aid a shorty course like this one is at least having high-quality baskets. The baskets at Benson are very dated Discatchers that lack the nicer stacked chains of the newer models. The chains are also quite rusted, and visually, the baskets are just pretty beat-up. It's hard to really knock the natural/non-existent tee pads too much, and I would almost consider it as neither a "pro" or a "con" due to the fact that the holes are short enough to not need nicer pads, but ultimately, the course *would* benefit from small concrete tees. I would say the same about navigation, with the sign near hole one and the fact that the course does at least have small sign-posts near each tee, the navigation is pretty good, however, there were a few tees that took me a few minutes to find, especially on the back half where numerous baskets are visible on each hole.

The main thing that could improve this course would be some more challenging holes mixed in. Even a few holes in the 225-275 range would help quite a bit. For even moderately experienced players, this course won't really challenge your game.

Overall, I was very glad I finally got out and tried Benson State Park, and I can see myself taking newer players here on a trip out to Rooster Rock, or just using it as a quick warm-up on a Gorge day trip. I think that this course is really close to being a 2/5 for me, better baskets, signage or just a bit tougher of baskets would bump this course up to a 2 very easily.

This course is in the middle of some of the greatest courses in the country. My girlfriend loved this course before she learned how to get the distance she gets today. There are nice baskets and beautiful scenery. It is a easy on and off the Interstate if you are headed east out of Portland. There are bath rooms.

This course is very short. As the title of this review says my girlfriend beat me at this course, watch out guys your arm wont save you here. You really only need to bring your putter. In the rainy season it can be very muddy and the tees are dirt so don't bother unless you have your rubber boots. It cost 3 dollars to park unless you play fast wink wink. Paying 3 dollars is hard when you could go play one of many Portland area gems. And I mean short holes really short...

So I gave this course a passable 1.5 because for as short as the holes are it is kinda fun. They change it up and you play across a running creek on some fun tight shots. It is one that is worth marking off your list if you are in the area and wanna kill a half an hour.

- Nice setting (park/picnic area in the Gorge).
- A couple of fun shots.
- Right off the freeway, if you're headed east.

- Most holes are very short, and some are ridiculously easy.
- Hard to follow (tees are marked with half-buried 2x4s).
- No access from I-84 westbound.

Benson State Park is a day-use fee area; if you already have an Oregon State Parks sticker (or bought a day pass to play at Rooster Rock or Dabney), then you might want to check it out if you're passing through the area anyway. Otherwise I don't think it's worth the $3. Hole #1 is long enough that you're not going to easily birdie it, and there's a couple of other shots across the creek that are fun with a mid-range or putter. But a few of the others will leave you scratching your head, wondering, "why isn't the basket further away, or at least behind those trees?"