The wooded section is great when dry. There are a veriaty of holes.Well maintained.

Poor directions to next tee.No signage at tees.Really muddy at times.

Lots of elevation change, differing hole lengths and well placed baskets were the first pros that came to mind when I thought back to my experience at Van Buren. I especially liked the hole 12 pin placement which was designed to punish players for overshooting the basket by utilizing a small cliff. A few holes had pins placed on the sides of hills and there is an elevated pin. I played from the white tees and still found the course fun and challenging. There is also a blue set of tees which adds significant length to most holes. The blue tees will challenge even the most experienced players. Benches are located throughout the course if you need a rest. Theres also a near even mix of open vs. wooded holes. The course map located at hole 1 was essential in order to navigate the course. I advise you to take a picture of it with your phone before you begin playing.The pond comes into play on a couple holes to add some risk vs. reward shots. I found the holes themselves to be well designed and very fun to play, but getting from hole to hole is another story.

The course is difficult to navigate even with a map and the flow from hole to hole is at times very frustrating. The frustration comes from too often having to backtrack across the hole you just played to get to the next hole and the long walk to get there. The transition from hole 6 to hole 7 was especially bad. I think hole 7 could easily be redesigned to correct the flow problem and still utilize the same basket. There are some very unforgiving spots of rough in places, hole 7 again being an example. Thorns are ever present even if your throw is slightly off the fairway on a couple holes on the front 9. This seems unfair. Its also quite the pain to retrieve a disc. The rough on the left of hole 7 should be addressed. Cutting a path through it could alleviate this problem. Natural tee pads. Next hole arrows and permanent signs that won't blow away will greatly help the navigational issues. I hear that cement tee pads and permanent signs are in the works.

Overall I'm a big fan of this course and really look forward to playing it again. I recommend you check it out for yourself and share your thoughts on how to improve this young course. Once cement tees and permanent signs are added this course will significantly improve. Throw in some 'next tee' arrows and markers and this course is a solid 4 in my opinion. There's a lot to like about Van Buren despite the flow issues. I had a great time and was very impressed with the individual hole designs. Very fun and unique designs throughout. No repetitive feel to the course which is very difficult to achieve. Come check it out for yourself!