Fort Smith, AR

Ben Geren Park - Orange

35(based on 2 reviews)
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Ben Geren Park - Orange reviews

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7 0
Pevio
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 12 years 189 played 120 reviews
2.50 star(s)

I hope my experience isn't common...

Reviewed: Played on:May 29, 2022 Played the course:once

Pros:

The Orange course borders on a world-class course with some really long shots, nasty rough, a little shot shaping, and plenty of opportunity for some aggressive shots that will get punished if they're executed poorly.

The par 4's here are absolutely insane at times. All kinds of distance, usually some elevation change, and punishment if you miss your line. Hole 4 is the longest of these, and will play as a par 5 at least for all but the best players, but several others have some tough shot decisions and will reward replayability for longer shots coming into the green. A few start in the open but play into the woods towards the end, so knowing how hard you need to throw to get the disc below the canopy of trees will be important.

The best par 3's are the ones that play between two treelines and give you all kinds of options, but force you to execute perfectly if you want to get to the green. Holes 7, 10, and 11 are all examples of this, and to a lesser extent, 3 and 8. Weirdly, most of these are pretty flat, but I appreciate that they can be very spicy holes without constantly relying on elevation change.

On that note, this course does a good job balancing difficulty on most holes. Rarely did one hole seem far easier than any others, and while I would say the par 4's are a little harder than the par 3's, that might not be the case if I had better footing on the fairway.

Cons:

Is there any maintenance here whatsoever? It doesn't seem to be that way because in May 2022, every hole had long grass down the entire fairway, and with the creek, there were bugs and ticks everywhere. The only respite from the long grass is when the fairway plays down a mountain biking track... which is a con in itself.

Next, the creek(s). It's a good challenge on 4 and 16, but not anywhere else, and there wasn't any infrastructure to help you cross that I could see (except using the road bridge on 16). Everywhere else, you might be getting your feet wet, depending on how much water there is. Good luck if you have a cart. The walk from 8 to 9 is really long since you have to use the same creek crossing by the tee of 7 (check the map). There was also some standing water on 6, 7, and 14, with no real way from the tee to see where it was.

While I appreciate some of the long holes, a lot of them are too similar. The holes at the start and end of the course can mostly be reached with a wide RHFH/LHBH hyzer (because they play along the left side of a treeline), and while they all have their uniqueness, they're not a good way to start or finish a course. And it seems like all the par 4's have a slight dogleg. Not massive, and sometimes right or left, but it's still not great.

The open holes are also a real downer here. Holes 1, 2, and 15 are pretty much wide open, and an additional several holes have open fairways, even if there is rough nearby. Speaking of which, looking for your disc in the rough is real annoying here. Maybe it's because I played in tall grass, but don't be ashamed if you want to play more conservative shots.

Other Thoughts:

I really hope the tall grass is taken care of soon because this is a really good course if managed well. Even the annoying water and thick rough would be much more friendly if you weren't tramping through knee-high grass to get there.

Some of the open holes were probably used purely to get from one part of the course to another, but I think there could have been some better holes if a few trees were cut down in the rough and more technical shots added. The area west of holes 9 and 11 could be used for this, and it could potentially mean holes 7 and 8 could get taken out, which would remove the worst of the creek crossings and standing water.

If conditions are good, there's certainly opportunity for this course to be a word-class course, but it still has its weak spots. The good holes would suggest it is, but I think a small redesign would be needed to accomplish that. If the course could start farther to the west, near current hole 15, I think there would be more opportunity for creative shots and better ways to utilize some of the woods.

If you come here and the grass is too tall, it's probably okay to play the Yellow course instead; it starts at the same parking lot and has less problems with maintenance.
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13 1
Shuie
Silver level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 22 years 940 played 43 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Mixed Feelings 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Dec 15, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

The south course much like the north course is well manicured and in excellent shape. I feel like this course which is more of a bomber course complements the north which is bit more technical and wooded. Although most of the fairways don't offer a lot for trees in play, you mush keep it in the fairway(which are 50 - 70 feet wide)and avoid the few trees in play while being able to throw 350+(for a decent look at the basket), if you end up off the fair way more than 5 feet odds are your are gonna take a stroke for it,(Holes 4-14) as the rough is very thick and tough to get out off. Baskets catch nice and are powder coated orange to get a better look at them. The creek comes into play a few times to add some risk reward to the course. The course also has a couple for 240-275' shots to kinda even things out. They add a few gimicky things like two triple mandos and a hanging basket. About half the holes had a alternate pin places, tee signs showed a diagram and distance to both placement when applicable. Tee pads were a mix between turf and concreate.

Cons:

I feel like this course was a bit more RHBH dominant, even throwing a nice flex shot RHFH that was straight down the middle of the fairway, i was still left with 60' plus putts for birdie, where the RHBH would be looking at 30' putt or less. Some holes almost felt tweenerish. Triple mando used once cool but twice(Three times if you play North too) gets a bit to much.

Other Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this course but left feeling kinda upset that every hole had an option for a RHBH hyzer and even when they did offer multiple routes the RHBH was the more favorable shot, i think two or three shots were really RHFH dominant. I would say this course is closer to a 3.75. I would be thrilled to have this coupled with the north course as my home courses. Together they offer a lot of variety.
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