Last week I knocked off another course in my quest to play every golf course within 60 miles of Cincinnati, Ohio. (In case you were wondering, all I have left is Kenwood CC, Western Hills CC and Miami View CC). I played Fort Mitchell Country Club which is located approximately 1/2 mile off of Interstate 75, just South of downtown Cincinnati. The course is quietly tucked away in an older, upscale neighborhood. Fort Mitchell (the town) was named after civil war Union General Ormsby Mitchel (the correct spelling). The area was fortified to defend against the confederacy during the civil war. It was one of many forts in the area. Although not advertised as such, Fort Mitchell CC was designed my Tom Bendelow in 1904-05. Mr. Bendelow was very active in the Cincinnati area designing new courses in the early 1900's. The course presented a unique (to me anyway) design feature whereas the 1st and 9th fairways actually "criss-crossed". Although the course sits on a compact, hilly parcel of land, it was generally speaking, a fairly easy walk. The course was in great shape, considering our almost 4 months without rain. The course is very short by today's standards and tips out at 5878 playing 2 different sets of tees/tee markers for the front and back nines.
Here are 2 aerial shots (1956 and 2006) from Historicaerials.com.
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Hole # 1 crosses over the 9th fairway and plays slightly uphill to 330/337 yards. The fairway has natural movement and slopes from left to right.
#1 fairway looking back
Hole #2 is a par 5 that plays short and straight away to 485/402 (par 4 on back 9) yards.
Hole #3 is a 320/331 yard par 4 with a hilly fairway. Out of bounds (street) on left.
Looking back.
Hole #4 is a 247 yard par 3 on the front and a 300 yard par 4 on the back 9.
Hole #5 is an uphill, 470/477 yard par 5.
Looking back.
Hole #6 was my favorite hole on the course and is a great par 3 hole. 145 yards uphill, anything left feeds down the bank and OB into the woods. Anything short is collected by a crescent shaped bunker the guards approximately the front 2/3rd of the green. The green has a nice ridge running through it as well. Anything long can also be considered gone here as well.
Hole #7 is also an uphill par 3 that plays to 150/165 yards. The tee box is tucked about 15 feet below and behind the previous hole's green. I thought this hole was ho hum until I went back and looked at the pics and liked the bunkering down the slope to the left of the green. Good hole.
Hole #8 was also a cool hole with great movement in the fairway and a nice view from the tee. Par 4 451/444 and is a tough par without a VERY solid drive. Hit is long and high and you can cut the corner, but the green is back in a chute ( I wonder if this is the original location, or was it moved back to gain some yardage?) Perhaps the tee box was moved back as well. My camera died after the 3rd green and I had to go with my iphone 4 since the walk back to the car was too far. These pics came out nice!
Looking back to the tee.
Looking back again.
Hole #9 finishes up as a short 330/360 yard par 4. The fair way crosses over the number one fairway. The green lies in close proximity to the clubhouse.
Looking back down fairway.
All in all, a very interesting, fun, older 9 hole country club this is definitely worth a look see.