Camp Benson is a private camp with many activities ,one being disc golf . The course features 9 holes . Make sure you call or email ahead or you will be turned away . The office personnel; are nice and are as accommodating as they can be , but if the campers are on the grounds , you can't play . No bathrooms here unless you are staying on the grounds . A small parking lot is across the street from the #9 basket .
-- THE EQUIPMENT -- There is no tee pad here . Not even a dirt strip . I guess left handers throw to the left of the post and right handers throw from the right ? There were 8 posts for the 9 holes . #4 was missing when I was here . The posts are yellow tall and yellow tipped with hole numbers on them . The baskets are the best equipment feature . They are yellow banded Discatchers .
-- THE LANDSCAPE -- The grounds here could be a picture on a postcard . Clear lakes , nice woods , well mowed grounds . Lots of branch trimming , as evidenced in front of hole #5 ( more on that later ) . The first 5 holes are open and on rolling terrain 7 drops downhill on one of the holes with actual trees obstructing a clear shot . A road comes into play once or twice .
-- HIGHLIGHTS -- None here to speak of . A bizarre hole exists at #5 . The camp stacked branches and sticks 10-12' high right in front of the tee box . It would be hard to throw over and know where it is going or how far . You can throw right or left of the pile and take your par , though . #7 is the best hole . It is a descending short drive with the road on your immediate right and some punishing rough on your left . The tree lined fairway brings a canopy with it , forcing you to make a low drive to the basket , which has some tree protection close by .
-- THE TIME -- It took me about 30 minutes to play the course after finding where #1 is . Behind the office . You throw down toward the lake . A foursome will tear through this in about 50 minutes .
-- DISC RISK -- There is some high brush on the left of 6 or 7 . Depending on where you tee of from for #4 , there is woods on your left ., and I guess your disc could sit up on its edge and roll into the lake on #1 . If you don't try to throw over the brush pile on #5 and get your disc stuck , I would say you risk is LOW.
Course flow is pretty easy once you find hole #1 . Even if you have the go ahead to play , make sure you check in at the office . They are good people .

#1 Tee Pads -- The ground isn't level , which means that standing on an uneven surface can make your disc fly anywhere but its intended flight path . This is going to be more evident with the people that this course serves .
#2 -- Tee #4 . Having minimal equipment , you have to have all of your posts . The missing #4 causes a lot of confusion .
#3 Challenge -- This is an intro and an extra activity for the camp kids . Locals and up won't get much out of the design .
#4 Safety -- Not a big seal , but worth mentioning . 6 ,7 & 8 are out near the road . There are people on the premises that ride around in quiet golf carts . An inexperienced disc golfer could possibly throw into a driver .
#5 Time Restrictions - The camp only allows outsiders when not in session . Call and find out when that is . You will have trouble during their season during the week and on Sundays
#6 The brush pile on 5 . I'm not sure who's brain child this is , but it makes the course look kind of trashy . If you want to make obstruction , grow trees or bushes . On the other hand , if you were to light the pile on fire while playing ,,,,, WOW !

Even though it is a short drive from I-840 and I-40 , Camp Benson is a place you might never know about . Installing a course , putting it on sites like DGR , and allowing the public to come meet the staff and see this beautiful area . If it gains just 1 camper a month , the baskets will pay for itself in a couple of seasons . Again , make sure you call ahead to see if you can play , or you will be turned away .The course really graded out closer to a 1 than a 1.5 , but they are allowing the public to enjoy a nice piece of property , when they don't have to .
MY RECOMMENDATION -- A fun activity for the weekly camper to do . This is a good intro course . Intros and newbies will barely or not notice at all , the bare necessities of this course . Locals and families might look elsewhere , unless they build up a friendship with the staff and play here out of season . Intermediates and up will need to look to Dickson if wanting variety and challenge . Travelers might want something else that they can stop and stretch on a short notice . Baggers beware . You can string several courses together close to here , but you better plan before coming during summer camp season .YOU WANT TO PASS THIS BY .

The good.

* 9 new Innova discatcher baskets
* Hole number stakes in ground
* At a private church camp so we had the entire course to ourselves
* Mixture of uphill, downhill, and flat holes

The bad.

* No teepads at all. We were left to figure out where to throw from so I just picked to the right of the stake each time and stuck with it.
* No hole footages provided.
* Other than a stake and a basket, there was nothing really to see here.

The ugly.

Disappointed after seeing what was there and was expecting much more after it receiving a 4 ranking by the few others here that had played this course. The course isn't bad, there just isn't much to see. They sprung for 9 quality baskets,stuck some numbered stakes into the ground, and layed out a course around the area that they appeared to be already mowing. There seems to be a lot more land here to work with, but whoever installed this 9 hole course seemed content to just keep things simple. The local groundskeeper was very friendly and informed us that you do need to call ahead if you want to check out their course. Fine little 9 hole course for beginners, just needs more all around substance.