Golf Across Ohio: An Octet of Courses

[Ronald Montesano]

KPL, ECH and I returned yesterday to Western New York. We reserved an AirBnB (886 Macon Alley) in the German Village section of Columbus, as our home base. Our itinerary went like this:

Day One: Drive to Hudson, play Lake Forest CC, drive to Columbus;
Day Two: Play Ohio State U Scarlet and Ohio State U Grey;
Day Three: Drive toward/to Dayton, play Springfield CC on way, play NCR South;
Day Four: Play Columbus CC
Day Five: Drive to Zanesville, play Zanesville CC, drive to Strettsboro
Day Six: Drive to Sleepy Hollow (OH) and play, drive home.

Lake Forest: Bendelow with lots of shoring up by Richard Mandell.
OSU Scarlet: Mackenzie, then JWN, then Andrew Green.
OSU Grey: beginner Mackenzie with a few surprises
Springfield: Ross, with some massaging
NCR South: Wilson. Restoration coming to North course.
Columbus CC: Ross, then many, most recently Hargrave.
Zanesville: Ross and Chick Evans
Sleepy Hollow: Stanley Thompson

Things we did, outside of golf~
*Ate at Olde Mohawk, Barcelona, and Schmidts (creme puffs only) in German Village;
*Stopped at Tom's Ice Cream Bowl in Zanesville;
*Purchased a book found only at ZCC, titled "Searching For Donald Ross," by ZCC member Mike Bennett. We played with Bennett, and KPL chatted with him for 4+ hours about the book. What does a membership do, when an investigator uncovers evidence regarding its purported Donald J. Ross, Jr. lineage? You can call ZCC and ask them to ship you a copy of the book. It's about $65 total with tax. Hardcover and well written. Coffee-Table size.


Anyway, I don't fill up GCA threads anymore with photography. You can find my images on Instagram. Just like on GCA, you can lurk on Instagram. You don't have to post anything, but you can follow everyone. My Instagram handle is @buffalogolfer and there's plenty to see there.

[Joe_Tucholski]

Ron, didn't you do a similar trip 2 years ago?  I love NCR.  We knew we were going to eventually have to go to Ohio and tried putting it off as long as possible and we weren't looking forward to it.  When we got there we loved it.  Great golf that's relatively affordable and accessible (they accepted me as a member at NCR).  I wasn't ready to leave (and we left to go to Hawaii).

[Ronald Montesano]

Hey, Joe.

Great memory, sort of. I was over that way to do photography. I took photos at Springfield, NCR South, and NCR North. I wanted to shoot Moraine, but ...

Ironically, this time through, we had an in at Moraine to play, but they were punching the greens that day. Some courses just aren't meant to be.

I agree about Ohio. I've photographed Camargo, and would love to play it some day, but it won't happen in this lifetime. Same for Moraine and Inverness (without the photography.) You can play great public golf in Cleveland, terrific private golf in Columbus, and there are many, smaller private clubs where a phone call might get you on.

[Matthew Lloyd]

Ronald, would love to hear your thoughts on OSU Gray. That's the course I learned how to play on. I love the closing stretch from 16-18.  #16 feels like it's good enough to belong on Scarlet, and #17 is trickier than it appears.


I think the toughest hole on the course is the par 3 #11, which if you play from a long enough distance is a tough green to hit - and you're in serious trouble if you go long.


#9 can play tough with the angled tee shot.


When I step onto the tee of #6 lots of great memories of long summer nights come back.


My personal opinion is that OSU Scarlet is the most difficult course in central Ohio. I really, really miss the old #4 (the Nicklaus revision of that hole is dreadful) but I still love to play there when I'm in town. #9 to #12 is my favorite sequence there.

[Ronald Montesano]

Our "friend" in Columbus believes that Muirfield Village from the tips is tougher than Scarlett from the tips. I cannot confirm nor deny.

Gray could use some centerline hazards. That's all.

[Stephen Smith]

If they are both in tournament shape, I agree with your "friend." MV is just flat out difficult. I live by MV and I host a couple of caddies every year for the Memorial.  They said MV would not be course that you would want to play every day. They specifically rant about the 16th hole. 


If you are ever back in Columbus, I am a member across the street at the Country Club at Muirfield and would be happy to host.  It is not as interesting as the some of the courses you played, but it is always in great shape.

Our "friend" in Columbus believes that Muirfield Village from the tips is tougher than Scarlett from the tips. I cannot confirm nor deny.

[Ronald Montesano]

Thank you, Stephen. Yours is a generous offer.


Our problem now with Ohio (if it can be called a problem) is that the courses we want to see are scattered to the corners of the Buckeye state. Having a base camp like Columbus is terrific, but we would still have 1-2 hour drives to the courses that hold the greatest charm. I don't know if we'll be back through, but we will be in touch with you if we are.


For those not in the know, Ohio was that perfect combination of east and west for golf course architects, back in the day. Unfortunately, with the exception of Sleepy Hollow and Manakiki (both of which began life as private clubs) there is not a lot of top-shelf, public golf in the state. Despite this dearth, the many private clubs have shown themselves to be quite hospitable, if you make an early and good case.