Golfing With Shawn: NorthStar Golf Club

John Cook came into the Columbus golf scene when Hurdzan designed Cook's Creek for him. It was well received and received national acclaim, but truth was it was built on a flood plain, so every time it rained the course became saturated. Cook's Creek was eventually sold and the Cook family bought the property that has become NorthStar.

NorthStar did not receive the acclaim that Cook's Creek did, but Golfstyles magazine put it in their top 100 public courses for Ohio. This tidbit lead me to Sunbury to see if Cook had designed a better course than the one he had. It's neighbors with Bent Tree and makes for a favorable one-two punch. (To be honest, this maybe the only way I'd play NorthStar again.)

NorthStar is a big golf course. It is probably the longest public golf course in the state at 7516 yards. The front nine is relatively open with the wind having a large influence on how the holes play. This may explain why the fairways are so wide. I think they're too wide. My biggest gripe was the lack of interest off the tee. Most players will just blast away without any fear of where the ball lands. Coincidentally, the two best holes on this side are the par threes. The fourth is a nice slightly uphill par three where players can bailout short or right of the green. Any type of hook will find the hazard that guards the left side. The eighth is a very long par three hit over a couple water hazards to a wide expansive green. Plenty of bailout options and pin positions to make this a fun interesting hole. The other hole that caught my eye was par five third with its table top green. The earthwork was a little strange but the green was cool.

The back nine has more trees in play and has a more movement, but the overall width in several of the fairways remains disinterest. Ironically, the par threes on this side are not even close to being as good as the ones on the front. The par five tenth is a solid hole that is reachable in two shots if the player can judge the second shot up and over a ridge well. A trap directly fronting the green means hitting a high shot. The twelfth is a short par four that I thought was really good. It also had the only tight fairway which I believe added to the strength of the hole. Finally, the eighteenth ended the day with a long demanding par four. The fairway narrowed before curving around a natural hazard. The green lies on the other side and only a well struck ball will find the
green for a birdie attempt.

NorthStar is fine for central Ohio golfers. It gives them another nice course to play, but coming from Cleveland, it's not really worth the two hour drive. Columbus is stacked with plenty of good courses that are better. It's possible that this is a top 100 Ohio course but it's in the latter portion of that list. I give it a above average rating. (4)