Lots of land variation, super technical, but super fun for everyone. I love this course.

I wish the course has a bit more open space to get some long bombs in. The trees are sometimes your best friend and your worst nightmare!

- The course is in a fantastic spot - heavily wooded and rocky. It's different than any other course I've played. Each hole is a lot of fun to play.

- This is not a challenging course in relation to par. It's a birdie-fest with most holes having a good ace chance. There are only one or two holes where you can even give it a good throw.

- The tee areas are rather poor.

- No signage to speak of.

The course is a pushover, but that doesn't mean it can't be fun, and fun it is. The unique layout and awesome terrain makes this course a destination for a weekend of fun with friends.

This was the most beautiful course I've ever played. Mossy rocks and well worn paths wandering through a forest, but no underbrush! Each of the three separate 9 hole runs all loop back and end at the 'clubhouse' so you can stop early if you want. A sylvan paradise.

One of the benches at the 'clubhouse' was in disrepair and did not look sturdy enough to sit on. The car ferry out was like $55 for the two of us.

The paths were well worn. I only had to walk ahead on two holes to find the baskets as the rock arrow cave man writing was actually enough to get me to the holes! Signs on posts would have ruined the charm.

Very scenic park on a lovely British Columbia "Gulf" islands.

3 9 hole loops. One with (great!) tonals and two basketed 9's

Amazing and elevation changes throughout the course playing up and down both sides of a very rugged rocky hill.

Lots of challenging gaps and tricky greens.

Practice basket and practice tone pole at courses central with a couple picnic benches and a covered shelter. There is also a practice basket at the back end of the course near the bathroom somewhere around hole 21 or 22.

Heavily wooded with ancient Douglas Fir and beautiful Arbutus trees. It looks like you are playing disc golf in a Endor forest!!!

The course is old, well established and played a lot. The paths are well worn, it is easy to navigate from basket to tee

Loads of friendly locals and a very very busy and vibrant disc golf community everything from children to senior citizens.

The course in really really short. Some holes as short as 100 feet, the longest is just over 300 with the average clocking in around 150. You can easily get around with a roc and a putter.

Could be a very challenging walk for someone with mobility difficulties. Some extreme climbs with jagged rocks everywhere.

Signage is very very basic and the first time through I had to walk ahead on a handful of holes to spot the basket.

Teepads are not really teepads but a place to plant and throw. They are uneven and bumpy but I also think paved pads would look out of place.

I spent a weekend on Pender, played the course 3 times and loved every second of it.

If you go plan to spend some time exploring the island away from the course the whole island is breathtaking. There is plenty of cheap camping options as well as more expensive lodging if camping is't your speed

If it was longer and had proper pads it would likely be my first 5 disc review.

The course plays through a beautiful hilly forest. There is some limited underbrush to punish some errant shots, but never enough to hide discs or frustrate newer players. Nearly every hole has some elevation change, keeping things interesting and adding some nice challenges. The course is pretty short overall, but the third loop of 9 has a couple holes with a little more distance.

The rocks throughout out the course make for great obstacles, and add some tricky greens that can really punish you on missed putts. There is a nice mix of hole shapes so it doesn't get too repetitive. All three loops bring you back to the beginning where there is a shelter and a drinking fountain. The 9 tone poles and 18 baskets are all in good shape. The course flows well and is quite easy to navigate.

The tees are terrible, most have ruts, roots and rocks sticking up waiting to trip you, and few have any room for walking/running up into your throw. The signage is very basic, so you have to scout ahead on the few blind holes. The course plays very short, and doesn't offer many real challenges for better players. Some might find the tones a turn off, I didn't mind them.

I would definitely make a stop here if you're in the area. Once you're on the island there are a set of stops for a free ride program on the island so you might even be able to catch a lift to and from the ferry or marina (we did).

Beginners will find the course very approachable, with shorter holes and limited underbrush. More experienced players will have a good time playing super class or putter only rounds, but shouldn't expect to be tested on more than their short game here. It was great to see a bunch of people out playing, from kids to families to a group of middle aged women!

What can I say. An incredible setting for a day disc golf. There are some absolute signature holes here, and plenty of ace runs (scored mine on #20). This course caters exactly to my desires for disc golf, wooded, 18 baskets (plus 9 tonals), removed from the city, and lots of variety and creative holes. You'll want to make a weekend out of your trip to Pender.

While I love this course, I have to be honest. It is short. A little more length would make it perfect.
The locals are awesome friendly people who are always looking for some outside competition, but they tend to play in very large groups. That being said they're very good about letting faster groups play through.

I personally would take out the tonal 9 and make an epic 5 star 18 hole course, but apparently there's too much history invested in those tonals for that to even be considered by the guardians of the course. They're fun to play regardless, I just tend to discriminate against tonals. If you're like me you'll still find 18 awesome baskets here.
Have fun!

The Pender Island course consists of a series of 3 nine hole loops which wrap around a large rock-laden hill. The front 9 (with tone targets) plays up and down the center hill and offers the most rugged, rocky terrain in the park along with the shortest bunch of holes. The second 9 (baskets) plays along and down the north slope of the hill and offers moderately rugged terrain and has probably the most tightly treed fairways. The final 9 (baskets) was in our opinion the most complete group of the three and offers huge elevation changes, tightly treed fairways, a couple of longer holes, and much more accommodating dirt teeing areas.

Hole highlight: I'd like to highlight the 27th hole at Pender for an example of what you'll find here. From the tee, you have a high-angle uphill throw from a short rock-lined tee at the very base of the rock hill. Several windows are available off the tee through 3 decent gaps in the moderately treed fairway. Choose one, check your feet for your 1 or 2 step run-up, and rip one up the hill. If you've managed to miss the trees, your disc will be playing plinko over the rocks high above you - hopefully it snags a crag and sticks 50-60' above the tee with a view or putt to the pin which is set in the center of a large old madrona tree and sports a dangerous sheer drop just off basket left. Keep an eye out here for the final resting place of your disc if you can because there are many crevices and hidey holes not apparent until you are on the hill searching. As you pick your way up the rock wall, be careful of dislodging debris onto those below you and make sure your footing is sound so you and your fellow group mates can enjoy another round!

Course aura - Families, seniors, and casual golfers abound here and really give this course a strong feeling of neighborhood "connectedness". Everyone is extremely friendly and always ready to point out a lost disc or direct you to the next hole. A small clubhouse, putting area, and picnic tables serve as a focal gathering point at the start and finish of all 3 loops.

Ruggedness - This course is just downright off the rugged chart, maybe not Diamond X, but definitely more than just about any PNW course I've played. You'll see discs take some of the strangest skips, jams, bounces, and rolls out here. Just be prepared to laugh off the bad luck and check your footing.

Navigation - You'll find really cool homemade painted rock tees on each hole with distances (in meters) and basket direction painted on each one. Navigation is pretty easy from start to finish.

Maintenance - With as many people who play here, one of the striking things about this course is the complete absence of garbage, bottle caps, cigarette butts; you can really tell everyone takes care of this park. There are garbage cans at several of the tees and all bottles SHOULD be left in the club house because course funds are raised through bottle returns.

Variety - Both a 'pro' and a 'con', the course consists of 90% or so short putter shots through tightly wooded trees. These holes hit the top of the fun factor and each one has a nicely placed tree, rock, window, or dropoff which will make you think about the best route. However, at the same time, the course doesn't offer much in terms of variation. With the exception of a few holes, you'll be throwing upshots (or putts!) through tight wooded fairways and on only two of the longer holes do you have the opportunity to really put some power behind a shot.

Rocks - The extremely rocky terrain is one of the things that makes this park so cool. All the bumps, skips, and unpredictable rolls are fun in my opinion. But...be prepared to have plenty of gauges in your disc after a round or two and come prepared with some resilient or expendable plastic!!!

Tees - The tees here often only offer a one-step or stand-and-deliver style throw because of jagged rocks, dropoffs, and other pointy things near the tee. Again, this is one of the items that I found endearing about the course and you shouldn't really need a run up on the vast majority of shorties. At the same time, it is sometimes frustrating trying to throw off an uneven pile of rocks - be prepared for more shanks than normal and adjust expectations accordingly

Overall: One of the most fun courses I think that I've ever played and certainly worth the experience from Seattle to come play.

Costs and logistics: I just wanted to post for other out-of-towners how we got here and what it ended up costing to make this day of golf happen.

We drove from Seattle to Tsawwassen (South Vancouver) to take the ~3 hour ferry over to Pender Island (Otter Bay). We decided to leave the car behind because of the exorbitant cost of transporting it and parked it at one of the pay lots near the ferry terminal (it cost us $11 CAN for the day and included a shuttle trip to/from the terminal). The ferry itself was nice and not too expensive (~$20 CAN per person).

After arriving at Otter Bay, take a right onto the main road and walk for a ¼ mile to the first right. Walk to the bottom of the hill to a small shop which rents bikes and scooters. We opted for the scooter which ended up costing $95 CAN for 4 hours (plenty of time for a round or two). If you rent a bike, be prepared for some very hilly travel and leave plenty of time to get to the course. Finally, make sure to get a good map because the street names change often and there isn't any signage to get you to the disc golf course.

Be careful because there are a very limited number of ferries going to and leaving from the island each day - definitely make a plan in advance. We left on the Sunday 9:40am ferry and returned on the 7:40pm ferry and finally arrived home in Seattle around 2am. We knew this ahead of time but it might be a rude awakening for the unprepared!

Total cost without gas or food: ~$126 Canadian

Great course, fun for everyone, has a good mix of easier holes (front 9) and more technical holes. Fabulous area, once of the mose sceenic courses I've played. If you like Aces!!! play it, you wont be dissapointed, and if your in the area come out for the Pender Bender, its a blast, usually May long weekend (ish)

I guess you can hurt yourself if you gete too intoxicated while trying to navagate the terrain.

Sweet times here, definately worth checking out if your in BC.

27 amazing holes, each 9 start and finish in the same place. Amazing landscape: Hilly rocky, some flat, heavily wooded.
Each hole is pretty unique.
Tees are marked, some hole are baskets, some are tonals. Some holes have amateur tees.

The only con is that it is on Pender Island (not really a con in itself but...), it is not easily accessible if you don't already live on the island.
Ferries are expensive. But that isn't the courses fault.
However you go for a weekend and it is definitely worth the trip. Wish I could go more often.

This is seriously the best course I have ever played, and it was during the Pender Classic Disc Golf Tourney (2010) "Pender Bender"
Was a truly amazing time.
There was an older guy there from New Mexico. Says it's his favourite course. NEW MEXICO!

Tight and technical, tricky but achievable aces. Gorgeous heavily treed and rocky park setting, well maintained on 10 acres, the "first" 9 pins have been the same for 30+yrs, the other 18 are baskets. Friendly locals, clubhouse, practice baskets. The signature hole is #27, a basket well guarded in the middle of arbutus 250' out with 35' elevation on a hillside.

*Edit 2022. Many benches replaced and a new outhouse on the bottom near teepad for #22. New clubhouse as well with an extra picnic table. There's also a second auxiliary parking lot at the bottom of the hill (closer to Rum road) in case the top/main lot is full

Teepads are dirt or compacted dirt and too short for runups. All the rocks are hard on DX discs, you only need a driver for 4 or so holes, it was originally designed for Wham-O's. Outhouse without running water but there's a fountain.

*edit 2022.. Some teepad work has been done so it's not as bad. Still dirt, no concrete.

The tournament at the end of May every year is one of the better attended casual tournaments on the westcoast (220+) Sunday random mixed doubles 10am bring $7, BYOB.

Welcome to de island mon.

Great wooded setting with interesting rock formations, arbutus trees, and challenging terrain. All three nine-hole sections start and end near the clubhouse. Friendly and talented local players. Wide variety of tight technical holes to challenge your mid to short game, with a few longer holes thrown in to the mix. Ace-run heaven. Lots of benches and garbage cans, and parking never seems to be a problem. Good campsite nearby, discs for sale on island. It never rains on Pender.

If you don't like shorter technical courses, this may not be your cup of tea. More of an old school 'classic' design. Put away your big drivers. Also, mix of baskets and tonals may put some people off (I personally like the variety).

This is one of the oldest courses in B.C., and has inspired many people to embrace the sport, great introductory course. One trip to Pender and chances are you will be hooked on disc golf for life. An annual pilgrimage to Golf Island is a must in these here parts...