Springvale (North Olmstead, OH)

ISpringvale is one of the few places I've seen before I actually started playing golf. My father belonged to a league there and I caddied a couple times for him when I was a kid. It s always been known for the party center, where there is a huge ballroom, than it was for the golf.

 Well, things have been changing ever since the city purchased the course. The course is in very good shape and the word is getting out. Being in a prime location just off 480 by Great Northern Mall means more and more players are showing up to check it out. 

I went to check it out a few weeks ago. It was designed in 1956 and the two nines are very different from each other. The front is pretty much pitch n putt. There are many short par fours and it doesn't get interesting til the seventh, a short par five with a pond fronting the green. 

The back nine is much longer and possesses a couple long par fours. 13, 14, 16, and 17 are all in the 400 yard range and require solid play to walk away with a par. The two best holes on the course are also in the back, eleven and eighteen. 

Eleven is a wonderful par five that takes advantage of the valley that crosses the property. The valley is actually the only distinguishing feature on the course and it's no surprise the two best holes use it. 

Eleven is reachable in two shots but from the fairway it looks very intimidating. The green is quite pitched towards the left so the left bunkers are not horrible place to be. However, being long is a nearly impossible up n down. It's a terrific hole!

Eighteen uses the same valley off the tee as the fairway doglegs left around a lake formed by damming the creek that flows thru. What makes this potentially an awesome hole is the ability for the long hitter to drive the green! 

It's an incredibly crazy play, but it's possible! Most players will hit a nice drive past the dogleg and take a chance getting short iron close. Either way, it's a picturesque and memorable finish. 

Springvale used to be a par 72 but nine and seventeen were both shortened into par fours. 

Nine is a well bunkered hole. It doglegs right and the valley that I feel is the best part of the property is not used. Then seventeen is simply shortened. 

You can barely see the bunker in pic above but it guards the left side of the  green. Not bad. 

The par threes are the big disappointment at Springvale. As a whole they are pretty forgetable. Two of them are easy simple shots. So even tho the conditioning is much better, the design makes this a league type of course. Nothing worth seeing. I give it a 3 (average). Eleven and eighteen give it a nudge.