Benson Park Golf Course is an 18-hole, par-72 municipal course designed by Larry Packard and opened in 1965 on the rolling hills of northwest Omaha. Operated by the City of Omaha Parks and Recreation Department, the course features mature tree-lined fairways and well-bunkered greens within Benson Park.
History
Golf has a long history at the Benson Park site in northwest Omaha. The city acquired the land north of Military Avenue in 1931, and a nine-hole course opened in the park shortly thereafter, providing recreational golf for Omaha residents during the Depression era. That original nine-hole layout operated until 1947, when it was closed, leaving the park without a golf facility for nearly two decades. In the early 1960s, the City of Omaha Parks and Recreation Department undertook an expansion of the park's recreational infrastructure, commissioning prolific course designer Larry Packard to design a new, full 18-hole golf course on the property.
Packard, who had designed and was concurrently working on courses throughout Nebraska, Wisconsin, Illinois, and surrounding states, laid out an 18-hole, par-72 course that opened in 1965. The new course at 6,651 yards was a substantial improvement over the original nine-hole layout in terms of both length and design sophistication. Packard routed the course across the rolling hills that define northwest Omaha's terrain, taking advantage of natural grade changes to create visual interest and strategic challenges. Mature trees that had grown up over the decades before construction frame many of the fairways, giving the course a sense of established character that belies its status as a municipal facility.
Greenside bunkers add definition and penalty around the putting surfaces, demanding precise approach play. Benson Park Golf Course operates as one of eight municipal courses managed by the City of Omaha Parks and Recreation Department, a system that collectively provides affordable public golf access across the metropolitan area. The course's course rating of 72.2 and slope of 124 from the back tees reflect a genuine challenge appropriate for a championship-length municipal layout. The facility is located at 5333 N. 72nd Street, convenient to the neighborhoods of northwest Omaha, and has served as a community gathering place for golfers across multiple generations of Omaha residents.
Its position within a city park gives golfers access to the broader recreational amenities of Benson Park while making the golf course itself an anchor of active outdoor recreation in that part of the city.