Large course with lots of variety of lay outs. Pro and amature tees.
Tight shots and challanging use of elevations.
some not so challanging holes (for a nice confidence booster lol)

poorly maintained.
lots of trash, broken bottles, soda and beer bottles and cans.
signs leave a bit to be desired.
can get crowded quickly.

We started disc golfing as a "family outing" with out teens and preteens. And for the most part we have found this to be an enjoyable past time. we have visited a few courses and we are learnig the "rules" and "protocalls". For the most part the people we meet on the courses are friendly and helpful. I guess that we luckily havent met the people on the courses that toss thier trash all over like their maid is following behind them. It shows such a lack of respect for everyone when you leave your filth behing for other people to walk through, trip on, and have to pick up, and the graffiti, its just pathetic. Not only does it show that your a hood rat, but it shows your low IQ when you cant spell half of the things you are trying to write/paint....The best positive I can find from this part of this course is it helps me to emphasise to reinforce to my kids to have more respect for themselves and for others.

Overall a very good course.

Nice mix of types of holes. Some in thick woods, some in the open, some uphill, some downhill.

I really liked the long distance holes (3, 16, 18)

Interesting artwork mosaics made of beer bottle caps pressed into the dirt on several holes (but this speaks to large volumes of alcohol consumed by the regulars, which might be a con).

Super-friendly locals helped us find our way around an unfamiliar course.

No way to figure out where to go for the next hole in a number of spots. Signage could be better.

I'm not a big fan of holes that require more luck than skill to make it through the woods. This course has several of those (witness the chain link wrapped around the trees on several of the deep woods holes).

Too many underage drinkers in this park on the two nights we played.

Really good course. We spent a couple of days in Novi on business, really enjoyed playing Cass Benton in the evening after sitting in meetings all day.

-Great course design
-Great elevation change as well as basket placement
-Challenging from the backs, fun from the fronts
-Easy access, free

-the local color sometimes is not always conducive to disc golfing
-the city doesnt much care for its disc golf course
-when it rains the course can flood and gets very muddy
-in the summer the fairways can get very tall

This was the course where i first learned on and have played probably 100 times on, the course itself is awesome if a little down in the dumps from people stealing tee signs and trash, etc. The course is sometimes a local meeting spot for high school kids which sometimes is good because it gets new people into the sport but can also be bad because they are often drinking or engaging in behavior of questionable legality. i love this course but its definitely not my favorite

Large Course Sign at Parking Lot
Decent Amount of Parking
Great Design (Flows Well, No Really Long Walks)
Great Variety (Left, Right, Straight)
Great Variety of Distances
Pro and Am Tee Pads on Most Holes
Nice Sized Concrete Tee Pads
Nice Tee Signs (When Present)
Amazing Use of Elevation
Both Open and Wooded Holes
Benches and Trash Cans Throughout
Restrooms In Park
Figure 8 Design (Front & Back 9 End at Parking)
Course Has A Lot of Character

Can Get Very Crowded
Litter Can Be An Issue
Many Tee Signs Missing or Vandalized
Erosion Is Becoming A Problem
Very Little Maintenance Done To Course
Can Get Muddy In Spots
Navigation Could Be Hard W/O Guide

Cass Benton Hills DGC is a classic 18-hole course located in Northville, Michigan. The course is located just minutes from I-96 in Cass Benton Park. The park is very nice, and fairly large with amenities such as picnic pavilions, restrooms, and playgrounds, none of which come into play on the course. During the winter months there are many winter activities such as cross-country skiing and bobsledding.

The course itself is located along Edward N Hines Drive, look for the large sign that says Cass Benton Hills Disc Golf Course on the east side of the road. Park in the lot behind the sign, along the road. Once in the lot, to get to the first hole, head towards the woods near the back of the parking lot and walk up the hill towards the road. Follow the path between the road and tree line and look for the trail that cuts into the woods. Hole 1 is just inside the trees and has both a Pro and Am tee pad.

As you play through the course you'll see many features that make this an above average, standout course. The first thing you will notice is the variety of open and wooded holes. Not only is there a great mix of both, there are tight wooded fairways as well as moderately wooded holes that are still quite technical.

The next great thing about the course is the amazing use of the elevation throughout the park. Right from the beginning you will play over rolling hills, up hills, and a couple of down hill bombs as well. The elevation doesn't stop with just the drives and fairways either. Many pins are positioned with a great risk reward factor, do you lay up, or go for it and risk the 40 foot roll-away?

The only downside to this great course is the lack of maintenance and upkeep done on the course. One major problem is the amount of litter. There are trash cans throughout, but people either choose not to use them, or they are full and trash finds its way to the ground. Another issue is the vandalism done to both benches and tee signs, if the signs aren't just missing altogether. Unfortunately you can really see the age and poor misuse of the course over the years and, from what I can tell, not a lot is being done to try to correct the problems.

Other than the extremely large crowds and the poor maintenance on the course, Cass Benton is a really great course. Great layout, great design (beginning and ending at the parking lot), and great variety are all keys to a great course and this has all of them. I would definitely play this one again and would recommend it to anyone in the area.

Cass was the first disc golf course I have ever played on, and is my home course. There is a lot to like about Cass.
- The variation of wooded to open, short to long, challenging to relatively simple and flat to rolling hills never lets the player get board.
- There are a few holes you will never forget; The long tee from #3 is over 700 feet on top of waht seems like a mountain, #16 the longest 350 feet you will ever throw and good luck ducing #18.
- Cass is absolutely free, one of the best free courses out there.

- The course has a lack of funding for up keep.
- At noon or five, be prepared to wait at every hole.
- Many downed trees block your way, may not be the best course for someone who has trouble moving around.

Cass was an amazing course back in its heyday, but with neglect it is falling apart. This course is an unpolished gem that is a must play!

great course design
verity of holes
distance from hole to next tee
secenery
some holes challening some not so much makes for a great time
18 holes
plenty of new holes can be made with some imagniation [hole 19: shoot from 17 pro tee to basket 18]
plenty of parking
lots of like minded individuals
pro and am tee's
free

lots of people
has a tendency to flood when it rains for a few days
missing signs
park system dose not take care of it

this is the first course i every played at and is still my favorit even with all the Cassholes its big its challenging i never have the same game twice

Cass Benton Hills offers a wide variety of hole design with some great topography to work with. Tight and tree rich, open, short, long, down hills, up hills, some water to contend with as well. This course offers a great walk and some terrain that is refreshing with some beauty to take in along the way. It is moderately challenging in spots but never becomes frustrating. A revisit would be welcomed.

Navigation can be confusing at times. Most signage is absent and vandalism has unfortunately taken its toll in some spots. The grounds were pretty clean though. It was relatively early in the day and the place was quite steady with traffic. Other players displayed good etiquette at the time of this review and playing through was permitted where applicable. Plan for hold ups. Have a good time.

If you are in this area this is a good one to tack on to your tour. It is a free park that seems to be well maintained, although this review is based on the very early season where garbage and destruction may not have had proper time to proliferate. The locals in this sample population seemed pretty decent despite their reputation and nickname.

I was pretty impressed with this course. Nice mix of distances and hills. Along with open and confined shots.

None that I can think of though I have only played this course once at the end of winter.

Cass Benton (Hines Park if you're from the area) is the course I picked up the game at. Since then I have yet to find a course that compares. The amateur and pro tee option is something a lot of courses in Michigan don't have, and very helpful one for beginners. There's a mix of thick woods and open field; uphill, downhill, and level; and hole lengths vary enough that each drive doesn't seem redundant. Not to mention anyone who doesn't enjoy Hole 3 "Heartbreak Hill" has to be out of their mind.

Poorly respected by the people there to put it simply. Each tee is surrounded by a mound of cigarette butts and bottle caps. A ton of hole signs are missing, which accounts for why navigating the course can be a bit difficult for first-timers. If Hines was maintained at a higher level, there would be nothing bad to say about it.

The earlier you go the better. Once it hits about noon on weekends and 4 or 5 on weekdays, be ready to do a lot of waiting if you're just arriving. Hines isn't just the best course in the area, it's also one of the only free ones. Don't be surprised if a caravan of 10 people in front of you ruin your day.

Awesome variety of holes and a dynamic layout make this course sparkle. Every kind of hole is on display here and it allows the use of many of your discs and many styles of shot.
Hole No. 3 can't be oversold, just a beautiful vista-like view from high above. A wild throw on Hole No. 2 or 3 can land you over Hines Drive on your right, so be wary.
Hole No. 16, called Flexible Flyer is amazing. A semi-short hole that's aceable, it has this great drop-down location for a pin at the bottom of the hill, surrounded by trees. A really cool design.
Concrete tees, excellent pin placement, huge park and convienient location make it a must play.

People, people, people. The term Casshole only scratches the surface. Deuchebag circus kind of covers it. From over-privileged kiddie punks to obnoxious adults to vagabond rapist-looking weirdos who seem to wander in from time to time, there' s a little of everything. Because this is where I started playing, I thought every course was like this, thank goodness that's not the case.
Plus, there's always big groups of 10+ who sometimes lack common courtesy to let you play through. Luckily the course layout can allow you to skip around them with enough hustle.

Also besides the human trash, there's the trash on the ground. Litter is everywhere, and vandalism rampant. Signage is defaced or removed. The first tee is almost always missing it's sign. C'mon, people.

Also, the brush is brutal in some cases moving from tee to tee. You almost need a machete to get through it all between overgrown trees and downed trees.

If the crowds get you down, you can move over to Hole No. 11 to the left of Hole No. 1, called "Knock on Wood" or jump over to Hole No. 13 set across the dirt road/parking area, to start your round.

My love for the game started here and I still consider it my home course, but the people and course condition can really be a drag.

Anytime before noon is a good time on the weekend, on weekdays come after work at your own risk.

-Free to play
-Pro and AM tees
-Mix of open holes and tight shots

-Poorly maintained
-Lots of course traffic
-Missing signs
-Lack of trash cans
-Lots of down trees

This is a very good course but it could be a great course. Some of the holes are missing their signs and navigation from hole to hole can sometimes be confusing. If you care about time avoid this course during peak hours because it gets backed up fast. Overall this could be a great pro caliber course. It has a good mix of wide open big drives and tight wooded precision shots. I defiantly plan on coming back to play this course again.

Good variety of shots and elevation changes. Free to play. wide enough fairways that if you botch a throw you wont lose a disc

Poorly cared for course now. Lots of slow moving groups it seems when i play.

Not the same since the state stopped funding it

Lots of elevation changes, good variety in shots. A lot of tight tree shots in the woods, outside of the woods long big fairways. Some sharp hooks to force you to learn your hyzers. Most of the roughs are pretty open, making for easy disc finding, though in the sunnier areas, some of the edges are quite thickly grown. Hole 12 is absolutely gorgeous with a little creek winding through it. Many fallen trees give this course a unique and picturesque appearance. Hole 3 and 18 are both extremely long, 3 from the top of the hill, 18 with a right dogleg.

A little difficult to find your way around. A lot of the tee signs have been removed/destroyed, but with a few exceptions it's not too bad to find your way around, and if you find yourself shooting at a black ace, there's still good play to be had. The concrete tees at get you started. Hole 1 has been crushed by a tree, you can still hit the chains, but landing it in the basket is a different matter. This course is strenuous. Expect to get a good workout on your legs going up and down hills and climbing over the fallen trees. Erosion has definitely aged this course, making some of the concrete tees undesirably sandy. Running water behind Hole 3's basket can take your disc away if you overshoot.

This course is definitely one of the finest courses in the area, and I will definitely be making the trek out there more in the future. It easily competes with Hudson Mills for scenery, design, and challenge, while offering more shade and being free of charge. Took us a little bit to find the first tee, but after that, this course was pure discing joy. If you're in southeast Michigan and haven't played this course yet, remedy this as soon as possible. The rest of the park looks to offer a pretty good and scenic time, too, if you've not got the desire to throw anymore.

Re: Cassholes and litter, the condition on the course was pretty good today. We arrived a little before noon on a saturday, and found the people friendly, the course quite clean and uncrowded. Hopefully this is a sign of a change in attitude, and not just us lucking out.

There are many challenging holes. Each hole has different obstacles to overcome. There are a few holes that could be aced.

Quicksand like mud on hole 11. Lots of trees to play through.

Good local course. Well maintained.

July 17th - basket on hole 1 was crushed by a fallen tree.

-Great technical shots
-Great forgiving "catch-up" shots
-A few ace run holes
-Decent sinage and naming for the holes
-Tables/Seating at most holes
-Nice scenery
-Right along Hines Dr. so easy to get to.

-As someone else stated, all the Cassholes
-Many large groups play, and none understand the concept of "playing through"
-Littered badly
-No land care (i.e huge trees down, city hasn't fixed, trimmed, or cleared out anything in over 2 years)
-Vandalism

If the city would just reguard this as a great attraction, maybe start charging the average $2 to keep all the inbreds off the course and to also KEEP UP THE COURSE. This is a great place I've been playing for 12 years and last year through now is the worst I have ever seen the course. Both populous wise and course care.

Sure, Cass Benton is a great course but you will have a drastically different experience depending on when you play it.

For best results, play early in the morning or wintertime.

If you want to have a long frustrating distracting round with a bunch of "cass-holes" then play afternoon on a nice day. It gets worse here than anywhere else in Michigan, in my opinion.

Let's put aside the casual player issue just for a minute here and talk about just the course.
Actually, the course itself was once great. Now it is good. The number of trees taken down by cass-holes and ash borers has opened up the line-of-flight to make it easier in general. It can get muddy. Teepads are still in OK shape. Navigation between holes is pretty easy. Signage is spotty.

The land here has the potential to house a 5 star course but as it stands now my experience at Cass is worth about a 2.5 star. This course is 10 minutes away from where I live and I rarely play it.

I can't offer a solution other than to take it out for a few years to let the land recover. Everyone around here is scared of that happening though because then the cass-holes will start to wander around to other area courses. Best to keep them in one spot, even though that spot is hurting. It's sad, really.

Free!
Course is very well designed
Good placement of pro/am tees
Great variety in holes

Course isn't very clean, lots of litter, vandelism, etc. (But its a free course)
Tendancy to be muddy
Can be very crowded at times

This course is probably one of the best I have played. If a few minor things were fixed it would be amazing!

18 holes with lots of woods
Long drives
A really good challenge every time through

Needs more trash cans
Some of the trees could be cleared up
Can be hard if it's your first time
Can get quite crowded at times

Could use some more brakes on 13-18
Could build some more holes on the other side of the street

As a beginner this course has been the most challenging of the metro Detroit courses to play. I love the challenge of playing from the Long Tees even though I don't have a great arm yet. Hole 3 has the great view and is obviously the highlight, but I like Hole 15 the best due to the fun downhill shot into the woods. The first time I played it I set my drive down about 7 feet from the basket. Just walking through the course is great with all the wooded trails and the terrain changes. The last time I played (10/24) the leaves were in peak colors and made for a beautiful discing experience!

My cons have to do with the upkeep of the signs. Graffiti and missing signage are my main pet peeves when it comes to disc golf courses and I don't understand the mentality of the people who feel the need to ruin the details that make a course so special. When I see pictures of courses that have clean signs, brooms at the tee pads, covered sitting areas, mowed grass, etc. They may be small things compared to course design and location but if Cass Benton had those details in place it would be rated higher.

As far as the course being crowded, I haven't really experienced that but I can certainly understand. I've only played there on Sunday's around noon and I've always had good luck with moving through the course easily without much wait. I cannot vouch for the other days of the week.

I've only been playing disc golf for less than a year but the most fun I've had on a course has been the 4 times I've played here. The scenery, the challenge, the length, this is the best course I've played...so far. Next summer my friends and I are traveling to Ludington to play the Beast, Leviathan, and finally Flip City. I cannot express how excited I am for that trip and I assume I will have a new favorite course after I return.

EDIT from 9/3/14: Flip City is my favorite course now

The signs at Cass Benton have really been terrorized by vandals which is a shame since it's one of the nicer courses in the area. Since 2009 I've played the course a few times and each time has been busier than the last. Try to go earlier in the morning and avoid Memorial Day!

I've re-rated the course a 3 because it's condition has deteriorated over time and the courses I've played since then have proven how beautiful a well-tended disc golf course can be.

Playing the longs makes the course much more difficult.
The variety of the holes tests all aspects of your game.
Very convenient location.

This has been my home course on and off for about 5 years. It has changed every year because of the emerald ash borer knocking out many of the trees that "back in the day" made the course more difficult. For this reason, I consider this course to be the "standard", in the area, for judging whether or not you have the skills to make the jump to the long tees. This course is pretty easy to shoot under par on from the shorts. However, from the long tees, this course is a much more difficult experience. Shooting scratch from the longs is much more impressive that ripping off a -8 from the shorts.

The very convenient location makes for the most crowded course I have ever experienced in almost 11 years of playing. During peak periods, expect groups of 10+. Also, average wait time on any hole at any given time is about 10 minutes during peak times.

The vandalism is not as rampant as it used to be, most of the signs having been destroyed years ago.

The best times to come to this course are early afternoon/morning. Also, if you come on Friday, the course is much less crowded between 4 and 7. I think it has something to do with all the damn teenagers and alcoholics having better places to be horrible.