Van Buren State Park is a nice piece of land with a lake and a lot of camping . It also features a 18 hole disc golf course . Coming off the road and down the park driveway , drive towards the lake . there is plenty of parking here , and once you park , you will realize that the first hole runs parallel to the driveway you just drove . Bathrooms are close to hole #2's tee .There is a Port O Let down by hole #12 .
The Equipment - Some of the tee pads , mostly in the front of the course are about 3 1/2 X 7 cement . A lot of the ones in the back are natural . Signage is nice and answer all questions . The baskets are the old Machs with no numbers at the top , but catch okay . One of the bottom rungs in the baskets are painted orange to point you to the next tee . There is a kiosk near the parking lot with a map of the course . Take a picture of this or print an online map , or you will be lost after the first few holes .
The Landscape . The Park looks nice . It is flat with a couple of short gully shots . The lake where you parked shouldn't come into play on this course unless you overshoot hole #3 by a good distance . There are some nice uses for the mature trees on this course . This course is typical park-style . The Highlights : #3 is a nice park drive . 296' , it has the lake behind it , but even though it is sloping down behind the basket , you shouldn't hit the water . #6 , 381' , has a brush/treeline on the right and the fairway bends to the right at the end . A good basket placement extends the hole . #11 is a tight putter shot over a gully to the basket on the right . Only 105' , a clip of the wrong tree can send your putter downward on a hill with overgrowth .#16 is a 305' drive o a flat fairway to a basket tucked into trees with low canopies . #18 is a nice finishing hole . 365' , it has a tree line on the right where you will eventually have to break your drive left to right . The trees form a canopy to where it is hard to avoid it if you put lift your driver too high .
Time : It took me about an hour to play here . A foursome will be done in just over 2 hours .
Disc Risk . There are a couple of places that the overgrowth will give you trouble , like #6 , that wraps around a brushline , or a couple of the short gully holes . Other than that , much of it here is fairly open park and your risk is minimal .

#1 Safety - WOW ! Where do I start ? There are overlaps on holes , mostly in the front . You could catch a disc in the back in a few places . Beware . Hole #1 is a narrow drive where most don't wan't to drift their drive into the brushlined gully to the left . The right is the driveway you just drove down . Imagine having your car whacked while driving to the parking lot . On #7 , I had to skip this hole because you have to throw over parking spaces , I guess for campers , and one of them was filled . Since the canopy is low , the chances were good I was going to nick this person's car . Bad hole location . Many of the back holes might be full of campers on a weekend . I played early in the morning , but the familes could be grilling and chilling right in fairways 12-15 . 2,3, 17 and 18 are also hot spots for park patrons to either walk through or set up chairs . . I think on #2 , you throw right over a picnic table !
#2 Navigation - The park is fragmented ( print or copy the map ) . 1-7 + 17 & 18 , 8 & 16 , and 9-15 . You will have some walks between sections . 16-17 is one of them . I never did find the tee pad or sign for hole #9 . It is supposed to be behind the #8 basket in that path leading to the woods .
#3 Challenge . Many of these holes look to mirror one another . Straight or slightly altered flat fairway drives with little or no obstruction . There are exceptions , like #14 , a slight downhill drive with trees in the fairway and small alleys to throw through . Most are mundane or easy . This will be a birdie fest for many .
Crowd Control : This park will fill up in the summer and on weekends . I can see someone skipping several holes because of campers or park patrons .
No amenities to speak of . A shelter near #18 but away from the bathroom would be nice . maybe a bench or 3 along the way for crowded days .

The park is nice , and seems to be in constant use . There were joggers and walkers on some of the roads , and lots of people camping on the early Monday morning that I was here . The park extended the holes from 9 to 18 at some time and had to jam them wherever they could find open ( or not open ) space .
I do have to admit that I had a little fun when I played the course .I just wish that the fun could have been extended instead of on random holes .
My Recommendation : Definitely something to do here if you are camping , or visiting the park . :Okay for newbies or locals and families . This course will feel like a waste of time for frequent plays , intermediates , ams or pros . The course is okay for a traveler to step off I-75 and get a flat play in ( hey , you may only be able to play 12-14 holes anyway ) , and very good for the Course Collector to grab this along with North Baltimore , Firestine and Riverbend . Do NOT go out ofyour way for this course , but if in the area , take a look .

This course has some pretty scenery in the direction of the reservoir.

Nice baskets and signage and a few elevation changes, which is nice in north-central Ohio.

This course lacks imagination, especially on the shorter holes. There is no flow to the course, and a lot of walking for the actual play length.

To compromise the great view there is a trailer-park along one side of the course, which is not necessarily what I would consider scenic.

No trash cans, and part of the course runs around a playground, so careful there is anyone there.

Sadly a single bad throw on a few holes will result in water hazards eating your discs, which is a high price to pay for this course.

Good equipment does not a good course make. There needs to be a serious renovation for this course to increase in quality.

It is just a mile off the interstate, so if you are starving for a course, this is and easy in an out, just be prepared to walk a lot.

Heavy duty baskets catch well despite no inner chains. Great scenery, as should be in a state park. Lightly wooded, most holes have obstacles between the tee area and the basket. Multiple routes on most holes, different shots required. Hole 18 ends back up near parking lot. Maps and scorecards by parking lot, by the big sign with the map on it.

Natural tees, this is unlikely to change as they didn't install concrete when they upgraded from 9 holes to 18.

The long walks between holes have been eliminated, but the holes they replaced those long walks with are either too short or WAYYYY too short. 95 feet? Seriously?

They took the best area (the pine grove) and eliminated it. Now we hug the lake with sub 200' holes and play around a playground.

They could have done a lot with this course, but the redesign just made it worse.