Magnolia/Willow at Ben Geren Regional Park Golf Course
Rating Snapshot
About
| Tee | Par | Length | Rating | Slope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| championship | 72 | 6732 yards | 71.3 | 114 |
| middle | 72 | 6320 yards | 69.6 | 111 |
| forward | 73 | 5023 yards | 67.9 | 109 |
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue M: 72.7/133 | 393 | 544 | 335 | 169 | 401 | 405 | 196 | 530 | 407 | 3380 | 381 | 512 | 192 | 361 | 568 | 371 | 155 | 407 | 405 | 3352 | 6732 |
| White M: 71.2/127 | 364 | 482 | 311 | 156 | 390 | 394 | 184 | 508 | 395 | 3184 | 367 | 487 | 164 | 289 | 552 | 359 | 135 | 388 | 395 | 3136 | 6320 |
| Gold M: 67.5/119 | 342 | 390 | 288 | 114 | 299 | 324 | 128 | 421 | 316 | 2622 | 320 | 439 | 145 | 240 | 442 | 321 | 119 | 363 | 333 | 2722 | 5344 |
| Red W: 69.9/117 | 342 | 390 | 288 | 114 | 299 | 324 | 128 | 421 | 316 | 2622 | 272 | 392 | 121 | 200 | 369 | 283 | 119 | 303 | 289 | 2348 | 4970 |
| Handicap | 13 | 3 | 15 | 17 | 11 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 4 | 16 | 14 | 2 | 12 | 18 | 8 | 6 | |||
| Par | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 36 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 36 | 72 |
| Handicap (W) | 9 | 3 | 13 | 17 | 11 | 5 | 15 | 1 | 7 | 12 | 2 | 16 | 14 | 4 | 10 | 18 | 8 | 6 |
Course Details
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Reviews
It’s fun to playa th
It’s fun to play this course and plenty challenging. The course has three nine holes and you play one and go to the other.
Solid
If you can secure a deal for it, you might as well play it. I know Ft Smith has had issues with golf courses but I’m glad BG is still around. Course is very patchy and has a lot of drainage problems but it’s fairly priced imo. Several holes have amazing grass and setups (Silo’s par 3’s are fantastic and look great). Greens run on the slower end but roll true.
Overall the friendliness of the staff has gone down hill over the years. They treat this public course like it’s a PGA course. Something that definitely needs to be worked on. The course itself was in pretty good shape. Some of the tee boxes could use work but the greens rolled true and fairways were overall decent for the area and the conditions we’ve had. With the amount of heat that’s in the area I would recommend having jugs of ice water for people to cool off with at least 2 per 9 holes. Overall, a good course and I’ll continue to play it. These things I mentioned could definitely be worked on though.
Great value but needs work
I play here pretty regularly. The course is one of the better public tracks around Ft. Smith but still needs some work. Greens are in pretty good shape but they’ve lost around half of their fairways. Still not a bad bang for your buck.
Course is always on and off as far as management goes, there’s one specific staff member that works that at the front desk that’s a hardass and everybody knows it. Pace of play sucks sometimes due to how they tell you what courses to play which is unfortunate. I’ve played here all my life layout is fantastic arkansas weather just sucks.
Worst Pro Shop Staff Ever
The guy working the counter at the pro shop is the most unfriendly person I've ever seen at a golf shop. If there was another decent public course option in this area, I wouldn't ever play Ben Geren.
Not Good
Pace of play is always terrible. They allow 5 and 6 people to a group without a marshal. Miserable experience when you have to wait 15 - 20 minutes between shots. Condition of the course has declined over the past 2 years. Ball marks aren't repaired on the greens.
How to rate higher
Like the course however they need to:
Work the sand traps after after they get actual golf course sand. Current sand appears to be concrete sand with rocks in it.
They need to take an aerator and go over the bare spikes in fairways so the Bermuda can sprig over. The bare spots are too hard (like concrete) for the Bermuda to take hold.
Unfriendly staff
Very unfriendly staff, talk’s to me like I am his so, without any respect. I come to the Proshop desk first, but helped person behind me like I am not there. He talks to me with angry look, makes me intimidated.
