[Tom Allen]

No. 16.  A rare gem of a whole.  Roughly 420 yard dogleg left, but the real fun starts on the approach to the three-lobed green.  This green is the most challenging one to hit on the course.  Usually approaching from 180-200.

From the tee  Bunkers inside and outside the dogleg:

The view from right of the right fairway bunker.  You see more bunkers than green here:


The zoomed in view of the green from that bunker.  You can start to make out the left, right and front lobes.


Green from the left side of the fairway, with a fairly clear view of the island in the right bunker:

Zoomed in view of green from inside left of dogleg:

[Tom Allen]

17.  Dogleg left with trees left and right.  Fairly flat, with a beautiful green again.  Working around the same lake, which would require a very very bad short slice to hit.  (My bad slice goes into the trees right.)  I recall this green as beign fairly deep.

From the tee:


Zoomed in:


From the right side (bunkers left and right again):

[Tom Allen]

No. 18.  A tough, long, dogleg right with the green uphill from the landing area.  Takes a good long drive to avoid the bunkers through the dogleg, or the trees protecting the inside of the dogleg.  The green is 50 yards long so make sure you have the right number!  It could be a 3 to 4 club difference depending on pin location.  THe bunkers right are deep, so avoid them at all costs.

From the left side of the fairway:


From about 125 out:

[David Whitmer]

Thanks for the tour, Tom. There are many things to really like about Coldstream. The property is great, though as we have mentioned it could use an industrial-strength tree clearing program. The bunkering is fantastic. The golf course is always in very good shape.

The ninth is one of my favorite holes...a really good break from the previous eight. After seeing very large greens that are open in front and bunkered on both sides, this green is tiny, wider than it is deep, with bunkers in front. With what will probably be a short iron in your hand, it requires distance control.

The tenth is a really good par 5. With the way the green is situated (running left to right), the best angle to come in from is far left. That is exactly where you don't look, however, as you stand over your second shot. For some reason I always fall victim to playing too far right (or towards the green), and what I'm left with is a pitch over a bunker to a very shallow green. It drives me nuts how often I do not hit that green in regulation.

As I mentioned in another thread, I think the fourteenth is the best hole on the golf course. It's unlike almost any other par 3 I have ever played. The green is huge, and it's a short iron in.  Having your golf ball land on the green is not the issue. The issue is picking the right club, and controlling your golf ball, so the ball ends up where you want it to end up. Being careless on the tee may lead to the easiest three-putt you've ever had.

There are some things I don't care for, however. Too many holes are too similar to each other. Greens are bunkered on both sides, at the front of the green, on holes #1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, and 18. Tom mentions how great the sixteenth green is. I'm not as gung ho about it as he is, as the front of the green is very similar to the sixth (very, very narrow, with bunkers on either side).

I think the fifteenth is a weak hole. It's short (around 350 yards I think), but there's no character to it. The fairway is huge, with no trouble other than rough on either side. You almost always end up with around 120 yards to the green, which has a bunker in front of it. Everyone ends up hitting some sort of wedge from no matter where their drive ends up. It's a question of who can hit a wedge closer. A big yawner for me.

I think the removal of trees and a bunker here or there greenside would really spice it up. But...it's a good golf course, and always a fun time.

[JLahrman]

As I understand it, Coldstream has just reopened after some Keith Foster work, anybody got the goods?

[Paul Jones]

I have heard great things about the renovation, but have not seen the course yet.  I am glad to hear that it is completed.

[Brad Engel]

No news yet, but I will be there this Fall, so I’ve made a note to report back!

[JLahrman]

OK thanks Brad...I'm a Cincinnati native but it's been a good 25 years since I've played the course. I'm sure I posted on this original photo thread so I'm probably about to repeat myself. I remember it as a quite challenging course and although not up to snuff with (in the Cincinnati area) Camargo as far as GCA chops, certainly a good course. I'll definitely be interested to hear more about what's been done to it.

[JLahrman]

Video of the work:


https://vimeo.com/560873041


As mentioned it's been 25 years since I've played Coldstream. Routing is the same but my recollection isn't good enough to notice the changes made by the recent work...

[Steve Kohler]

I'm not a Coldstream expert... but I've played it a handful of times over the years.


The routing in the video looks virtually intact from the previous version.  The most obvious change is that bunkers have all been rebuilt in a more natural-edged style.  It appears several fairway bunkers have been added or moved as well.  11 and 12 seem to have been shifted slightly - the old Google Earth aerial shows 12 tee has moved to the other side of the pond, immediately next to 11 green, which probably means that green was shifted too. 


It also appears the previously used "runway" tee boxes stretching 30-40 yards have been abandoned in favor of multiple, smaller tee boxes.  One of the other videos on the Vimeo site shows plans to grow in a golden fescue between some holes that will add definition and contrast to the property.


One of my biggest previous criticisms appears to have been fixed - namely that homogenous, amoeba shaped bunkers were just copy-pasted across the property.  The routing and land movement have always been underwhelming to me though, and this remains unchanged.  All of the par 3's have water in play, and there is a plethora of long, hard par 4's with heavily-bunkered greens that start to run together.


Overall I think the video shows a nice upgrade from the previous version.  I'll be interested to see it in person.

[Brad Engel]

As promised, reporting back after my loop around the renovated Coldstream! I didn't have a chance to play the course before Keith Foster's work, but the first thing that stood out was the vistas across the property and the rolling terrain.

View from the 1st tee looking across the rest of the front nine. Tree removal evident from the start.


One of my favorite holes on the front, the slight dogleg right 3rd with a rolling fairway pushing drives towards the woods.


The other competitor for my favorite hole on the front, the uphill 6th.


The 7th was the first hole where I felt Coldstream got its reputation from. It was a brawny par-4 down the hill to one of the smaller greens on the course (still pretty big). For all the flack that Coldstream catches for being a long tournament slog, if you play the right tees (we played from ~6600 yards), I didn't find it overly painful.



The 8th is the second par-5 on the front with a tee shot to a blind landing zone. Pictured here is the approach to the green that sits at a pretty good angle to the line of play requiring a draw.



Excluding the par-3's with carries over water, the 9th probably had the least forgiving approach shot. The green was entirely surrounded by bunkers and you were wise to not go long (like I did) as the bunker shot from back there was ticklish, to say the least.



For some reason, the approach into the 13th reminded me of something you'd see at a place like Peachtree, just with a much different bunker aesthetic.



The 14th was the only par-3 where water wasn't directly in the line of play, but still lurked off to the left for a tee shot that was pulled just a bit too far offline.



A continuation of my favorite stretch on the course was the par-4 15th.



My favorite stretch of holes culminated with best reveal on the course as you came around the corner to this view of the approach into 16.



I wasn't overly impressed with the finishing hole. It was fine, but nothing to write home about. It was a pretty sharp dogleg that kind of reminded me of the 18th at the Ohio State Golf Club Scarlet Course, just in the opposite direction.

Overall, I walked away pretty impressed with the Coldstream. As mentioned, I didn't get the vibe that it was a brutal, boring, tournament slog, so long as you played from the right tees.

[Steve Kline]

I haven't played the renovated Coldstream. A friend ( a plus handicap) who has said it was better, that the bunkers were a lot deeper, and that the still wouldn't want to play there that much


Brad's photos show a lot of trees have been taken out. A definite improvement.


While I agree with Steve Kohler that the routing is uninspired (the course has never excited me in any way), the topography is quite good. It is a nicely rolling piece of property that probably should have yield a better golf course. Who knows have many interesting features will bulldozed away during the initial construction.


I must add that I'm not really a Dick Wilson fan and that he butchered two of the par 3's at my home club (a classic Ross).

[Brad Engel]

Steve - You are definitely right that the bunkers are quite deep. I didn’t find them overly difficult/penal, but definitely deeper than what I saw in the original pics in this thread.

I haven't played the renovated Coldstream. A friend ( a plus handicap) who has said it was better, that the bunkers were a lot deeper, and that the still wouldn't want to play there that much


Brad's photos show a lot of trees have been taken out. A definite improvement.


While I agree with Steve Kohler that the routing is uninspired (the course has never excited me in any way), the topography is quite good. It is a nicely rolling piece of property that probably should have yield a better golf course. Who knows have many interesting features will bulldozed away during the initial construction.


I must add that I'm not really a Dick Wilson fan and that he butchered two of the par 3's at my home club (a classic Ross).

[JLahrman]

Brad, you're a man of your word. Thanks for the pictures. There appear to be fewer trees from what I remember from the mid-1990s, so I'm sure it's a big change from the pre-renovation look!

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