Golf suggestions near Columbus, Ohio

[Brett Waters]

I'm making the trip to Columbus, OH from NC on Thursday and staying the weekend. I'd like to play Friday and/or Saturday. Anybody have any suggestions?

           Thanks

[PThomas]

obviously lots of great privates if you can get on

on the public side, Cooks Creek is pretty good

[Doug Sobieski]

Brett:

What part of town are you staying in? Once I know that, I'll make some suggestions.

Thanks,

Doug

[Brett Waters]

I'm actually staying at OSU for the weekend. However, I don't mind having to drive a ways if I have to.

[jonathan_becker]

As a resident of Ohio, I would highly suggest Longaberger.  It's about 45 min east of Columbus.  Cooks Creek is a good option as well.  But, Longaberger should definitely be your first public choice.

[Cabell Ackerly]

On the public side, I'd consider Granville Golf Club (Donald Ross). It's about 30 minutes from OSU in the all-Ameriacn town of Granville.

[Doug Sobieski]

Brett:

All good suggestions so far. Reality is that the public side in Columbus is not very good compared to the private side. A couple things....

- If you like to walk, I'd rule out Longaberger. Longaberger is very polarizing. It's either love it or hate it (see if you can find a thread from 4 or 5 years ago called "Does Art Hills Work For Free". Put me in the camp of "I've played it once and that's enough", but to each his own.
- There is an inexpensive public course about 25 minutes west of Dublin called Indian Springs. If you are overly concerned about conditioning, it wouldn't be for you. But you can walk it, and you are forced to think on nearly every tee shot. The par 5's are very strategic. Matt Ward is also a fan of Indian Springs for decent, cheap public golf. I rarely play public golf around here, but that's where I go when I do, because there is some strategy involved.
- Golf Club of Dublin is a faux links course designed by Mike Hurdzan with stacked sod bunkers and the whole nine yards. Not terribly difficult, but one of the nearest courses to where you'll be and a couple interesting holes.
- Cooks Creek is always a good option if you want to drive a bit.

Hope this helps.

All the best,

Doug

[Brent Hutto]

I love, love, love Granville Golf Course. I love it so much I even like the four new holes over in the housing development. The little town of Granville is a nice place to spend the night, as well. Don't know what exactly it is about the course but it just feels good to play there.

I've played a few times at Indian Springs and consider it as well as Champions to be well worth playing, as far as public courses go. But neither is a patch on Granville in my book.

[JLahrman]

We actually had a thread on this recently, I believe it was titled something like "The best golf city in America" or something like that.

If you want to stay within the 270 belt, Champions is your best bet.

If you're willing to venture outside, I'd recommend:

- Darby Creek
- New Albany Golf Links
- Cumberland Hills (I think that's the name)
- Cooks Creek

I never played Granville but I heard good things about it, same with Indian Springs.

[Jed Peters]

If you're staying at OSU, perhaps you can arrange a round at the Scarlett Course at OSU?

[Billsteele]

If you have any OSU connections, the Scarlet is worth trying to get on. The Nicklaus re-do has drawn mixed reviews but I still think it is worth the effort and, at least in the past, access was not that difficult.

I am a big fan of Granville (although Brent Hutto is much kinder to the four "new" holes than I am). The 14 Ross holes still in existence are very good, with small greens and subtle challenges. It is probably an hour from the campus area.

Champions is also very good. The formerly private Winding Hollow Country Club is a Robert Trent Jones, Sr. design with small greens, a fairly intimate routing and some neat elevation changes. Champions is inside the 270 outerbelt and is a 20 minute drive from the campus area.

Another good option is Tartan East. Although it is an Art Hills design, it is pretty well done. This is, again, the formerly private Winding Hollow Country Club. The club moved to this site when the area around the Champions venue deteriorated economically. Unfortunately, the financials did not work out at this location and it went belly up. However, it has been reincarnated as Tartan East and provides a pretty challenging round on a fairly flat, heavily wooded piece of property. More modern design elements are present here than at Granville or Champions but it is a decent option. Probably 30-40 minutes from campus.

The other options discussed here are fine also. Cook's Creek is a favorite of mine. The Golf Club of Dublin has grown on me over time but, unless they are running a special, is a bit overpriced. Longaberger is a mixed bag: a great site with some very average golf holes. It is no longer that hard to get on but I feel no real hurry to get back there and the other options presented in this thread are much less expensive.

Enjoy the weekend in Columbus.

[Doug Sobieski]

Brett:

Do you already have a group? If you are looking to play EARLY on Saturday, let me know. I live in Dublin.

All the best,

Doug

[jonathan_becker]

I forgot about Granville.  Pound for pound and dollar for dollar that would be your best bet.  The new scarlet course is pretty sweet as well.  IMO, with the new work at scarlet, the course improved 1000%.  When I played the OHSAA state tourney there a decade ago, scarlet was a legitamate dump.  Anyway, since I forgot about Granville, I retract my previous post about definitely playing Longaberger.  The new mix is Granville for overall value, Scarlet for toughness if you can get on (those bunkers are tough.....really deep and tough to spin the ball out of them), and go play Longberger if you want some fantastic views and you want to say you played the #1 ranked public in Ohio.  Just my 2 cents.

[Kenny Baer]

Double Eagle and Scioto are excellent; I have heard good things about The Golf Club as well.

I thought Longaberger was good but not half the course OSU Scarlet was; in all honesty if you are staying on OSU campus that should be your first priority and it is very doable; Granville and Longaberger are quite a hike. 

[Brian Laurent]

Some good suggestions. 

I'll also chime in for Tartan East and GC of Dublin.  Granville is also good, but from OSU, a bit of a hike.

Be sure to take in all of the scenery as well...Four Kegs on 15th, Bar Louie and Spice Bar downtown.  Should be a good weekend in Columbus!

If you're looking for a game, I think I'm around this weekend as well.

[Niall Hay]

LSD....nice Laurent.....headboard....

[Tom Yost]

I am a big fan of Granville (although Brent Hutto is much kinder to the four "new" holes than I am). The 14 Ross holes still in existence are very good, with small greens and subtle challenges.

What happened to the old holes?

[Doug Ralston]

We actually had a thread on this recently, I believe it was titled something like "The best golf city in America" or something like that.

If you want to stay within the 270 belt, Champions is your best bet.

If you're willing to venture outside, I'd recommend:

- Darby Creek
- New Albany Golf Links
- Cumberland Hills (I think that's the name)
- Cooks Creek

Cumberland Trail, and it's 'ok' only, IMO. Very fast greens but pretty bland layout.

Agree Cooks Creek is better.

I actually liked Players Club better than either. First five holes were kinda dull, but then picked up dramatically and was quite pleasing.

Tartan East is a water course. I think it may be in play on every hole ... or did it just seem that way? If you are not intimidate by a lot of water, it is very fun.

Columbus is actually fairly bland overall for publics. Cincy and Cleveland far better for those. Private courses are obviously another story.

Doug

[JLahrman]

Yes I forgot about the Players club, that's worth playing and isn't too far from town.

I would agree that Cumberland Trail (thx) would be the lowest priority on my list.

[Billsteele]

Tom Yost-Four of the original holes were lost to a housing development in the 1980's. Unfortunately, there were very good (with the exception of the old #10 which was an uphill par three). The new #14 (a par three) plays along a corridor that contained the old #16...a really good long par four that played straight away along the ridge line. When the green on the new #14 was being regrassed about two years ago, the old #15 (a par three) was brought back into play. You can still see the green site behind what is now #13's green. The old #17 is the new #18 (notable for it's dramatic downhill tee shot). The old #18 was a terrific golf hole that occupied the section of the course that now houses the practice range. It was long and had a creek that cut through it.

When the decision was made to convert some of the existing land to housing, Jack Kidwell was brought in to design three holes (and convert one) to route some of the course through the new homes. Surprisingly, none of the original routing contains housing but golf course lots were a selling point for the homes and three holes were added across a street to accomplish this. The new holes are not really in character with the Ross design and it does detract from the golf course. If the original Ross holes are still there, Granville goes from very good to off the charts for public golf in Ohio.

[Richard Hetzel]

Granville is a fun golf course.

Here are pics of the course from a few years ago....

http://www.hetzelfamily.org/golf

Cooks Creek is pretty decent, I even thought the stinky links (Phoenix) was well worth the $26 to walk!

Champions is a great layout, play it now because the city has the land up for sale!

[Joel Zuckerman]

I am reading mixed things on this thread about Cumberland Trails.  Anyone ever played the Lanny Wadkins--designed Pinnacle GC?  I just was invited to play there this Monday morning by the head pro.  I appreciate any insight--thank you.

[Billsteele]

Joel-Pinnacle is very good, fairly difficult. When Scioto redid their greens two years ago, they worked out a reciprocal arrangement with Pinnacle so that their members would have a place to play. Many of them thought Pinnacle too difficult. You start across the road from the clubhouse and the first two holes lull you to sleep but when you cross the road and start playing the third hole on, it is very interesting. Good piece of property, some good strategic holes...one hole with a very hard tee shot (blind and uphill), I believe it is #16 but am not entirely sure. I would go with Pinnacle or Champions. However, Pinnacle is probably 40 minutes from the airport.

[Joel Zuckerman]

Bill--you seem to know your stuff in the area.

Out of curiosity--how good is CC of Columbus?  (The problem with most of the nice privates is they are closed Monday--Pinnacle being the exception)

[Billsteele]

Columbus Country Club is very good. It always seems to get lost in the mix of the Big Four in the Central Ohio area (The Golf Club, Scioto, Muirfield Village and Double Eagle). It has a very strong set of par fours, a solid set of par threes and a relatively average set of par fives. It's biggest problem is that some of the very best holes (including the first which has an all-world greensite) come early in the round. The course is situated on a plateau above a river basin and in the river basin itself. You begin the round playing up, down and along the palteau's ridge lines. You then descend into the river basin area and then re-emerge from the basin to play the 8th and 9th holes on the front. Unfortunately, those holes are relatively bland. You then play back toward the river basin and descend into it again on the back. However, when you emerge from the basin to finish the round, once again, the final stretch of holes is relatively vanilla in comparision to what you have seen before. The exception is probably #17: a long par three with a relatively small green and well protected by bunkers. The par five finishing hole also is a bit of a letdown. However, it is well worth seeing and playing. For me, it is a favorite that I have been fortunate enough to play several times.