Twin Lakes (Kent, OH)

I don't often talk bout nine hole golf courses, but Twin Lakes in Kent has some of the coolest holes I've seen. 

(The pic above is from the fifth hole looking across the pond at number one green.)

The first hole is a 401 yard par four that doglegs right. It takes a big drive to get past the trees, something that the short hitter will have to overcome by keeping the ball down the left in order to have a straight shot into the hole. 

Two is 171 yard par three. 

What a great looking hole! The obvious hazard is the slope short of the green, but the player will realize after a few plays that being long is no picnic either. Bunkers cut into the base of the slope not only add to the forbidding look, but play very difficult should ones ball find them. 

The third is the only par five at Twin Lakes, a 512 yarder. 

The dogleg is a bit awkward mostly due to the trees that guard the corner. Too high in my opinion. This means laying up at the turn and hitting up to the green. Long hitters who can hit far enough maybe able to get an angle that takes tree out of play. 

The 421 yard fourth might be the toughest par on the course. As fast as it drops from the tee is as fast as it rises to the green. 

No bunkers needed! It plays into the wind  and uphill. A four is a good score. 

The fifth is an awesome short par four!!

It's 363 yards, the fairway rumples out, doglegging left and falling away on the right. The approach is where the blood gets pumping. 

I love how the green sits atop the ridge. The putting surface has a valley straight down the middle with plateau wings on the side. I haven't seen a green this good in a long time!! It's the best Sandy Alves hole I've played!! 

Sandy was one of Donald Ross' assistants, and I'm sure the next hole would make him smile. 

This 345 yarder has an extremely small green. The proper play is determining where to hit the tee ball. I was where the pic was taken, and the ball was above my feet which is difficult to judge the amount of sidespin. The three deep bunkers on the left see a lot of action because of that slope. 

Seven is pretty vanilla, and plays straightaway. It's a lil downhill, and should offer a fine chance at getting a birdie. Eight follows with a nice par three. It looks like the green is closer than the yardage says, but it really does play it's listed yardage, possibly more. 

It's a very nice par three, and has some great views. It's not a difficult hole, but it's work to put a deuce on the card. 

The ninth is a fine ending hole. It's a 454 yard par four that plays across the water to a fairway draped across the hill. 

The first inclination is to cut the corner of the dogleg left, but a good drive up the right center is the best choice. 

Just like four, there are no bunkers needed! A four is a very good score!

Nine hole courses are possibly the future of golf. When I was in Maine, I came across a nine holer called The Causeway Club, and the started told me how he felt eighteen holes was overrated. I think time is very valuable, and nine holers do have a place in golf. (18 holes is not overrated)

((My opinion)) Twin Lakes is a really good nine hole course. It has scenery, good architecture, a variety of holes, and great greens. I'm pretty excited to play it again. 

(5) 

Silver Lake CC (Silver Lake, OH)

The private golf scene in Ohio features some of the best courses in the country. This leaves a plethora of courses that fly under the radar but hold up very well on their own. Silver Lakes CC falls into that category. This Packard design uses the excellent terrain to create a very fun, very challenging golf course. It's the best private course I've played in quite awhile, which has me wondering why so little is said about it. 

(The above pic is the reachable par five second from about 230 yards out. It's all downhill, but to reach it in two, the ball must carry over the fronting bunkers.)

Packard does a great job attacking the hills in a variety of ways, and in the first five holes, the golfer is treated to some interesting golf. 

This is the long uphill par three third. It plays at least two extra clubs. Then the fourth is a beautiful short par four. 

While most players think birdie when they step to the tee, the picture shows just how difficult a three is to achieve. It's a tight driving hole, the approach is off an uphill lie, and the green is pitched forward, making for some testy putting. Put it all together, and it adds up to a great short par four! 

The fifth follows with another excellent par four. 

The player drives to the base of the hill just short of the creek before hitting a long iron or hybrid uphill to a large green. It's one of the best holes here at Silver Lake! 

The par three sixth plays downhill, and it's this up and down movement hole to hole that makes this such a pleasure to play! This is the kind of golf I love playing!!

And the view is pretty damn good too! 

The seventh is a solid par four that plays back to the clubhouse. Eight tees off next to it, and nine plays back towards the other side of the clubhouse. These three holes play right in front of the clubhouse for all the members to watch. It's a cool quirk in the routing. As for the golf, eight is a good par five that can be reached in two. There's a lake on the right that channels across the fairway bout 280 from the tee. Nine is a long par four that doglegs right before it plays uphill. Unlike seven that has a bunker guarding the green, nine has an open entrance to run the ball on. 

The back nine starts off with a short par four whose tee box is directly behind the pool. (On a nice hot day, this is the most scenic tee shot on the course.) Its a straightaway hole with a marsh all down the left. Getting the ball in play should give the a good birdie chance. The par five eleventh offers another good birdie opportunity. 

All the par fives so far have been reachable, and this one is no exception. The longer players should be able to carry the hazard short of the green, but it's presence will make them think twice before pulling out the lumber. The twelfth is yet another birdie opportunity, and it's also the only forgettable hole on the course. It's a really weak par three. And to be honest, this is the weakest stretch on the course. 

The thirteenth rekindles the golf with a solid uphill par four. 

As you can see in the pic, the elevated tee box gives a great view of the challenges ahead. It also makes what could have been a slog of a hole, something holes of this nature seem to be, into a really nice hole where a good drive will leave a mid iron into the green. 

Fourteen follows with one of my favorite holes on the course. 

I love how the green sits atop the highest knob, sand guarding the left, a mound protecting the right, and a natural slope short for those who mishit their shot from what is usually a sidehill lie. It's a fabulous hole! The player has to golf his ball to make a four! 

Then fifteen follows with another great par four! This one doglegs left around a tree filled valley. The drive is simple, but the green is beautifully placed on the slope of the hill. (I wish I had taken a pic of it) I like how the bunkering and the mounds behind the green frame it for the approach. 

The finish starts with a 506 yard par five with trees left and right. It's still reachable in two, but the drive must be long and straight. The par fives are the key to a good round at Silver Lake. Each one is a good birdie opportunity. Seventeen continues with a well designed short par three. 

The little green just sits all alone with sand guarding the front and sharp slopes all around should the tee shot miss it's mark. Typically this is an easy yardage to hit a short iron, but depending on the situation, the pressure could make this a tough little hole. 

The last hole is a 425 yard par four. 

A large bunker eats into the fairway forcing players to carry over it or fit it past. It then plays uphill to a sloped green. It's a solid ending hole that doesn't give up birdies too easily. 

Silver Lake really impressed me. Having played several private courses the past couple years, I don't hesitate to comment this is the best one I ve seen so far. And it just goes to show the  strength of northeast ohio golf. I give it a solid 6 (very good). 

Kebo Valley Club (Bar Harbor, Maine)

Bar Harbor... A great little town on the coast of Maine, gateway to Acadia National Park, and the home of the eighth oldest golf course in America, Kebo Valley. 

Kebo Valley Club was founded in 1888, and Herbert Leeds designed six holes in 1891. Three holes were added in 1894 to bring the total to nine holes. (In 1894 Leeds would design Myopia CC, a very challenging course that would go on to host four US Opens) In the 1920's, Kebo would expand to the present eighteen holes, guided by Donald Ross. 

The first hole is 392 yards, and it is an excellent starter! 

It plays uphill where the green is beautifully etched just over the rise. It basically slopes front left to back right, and the player must gauge the bounce and run the ball will have coming off the club face. Thankfully, any ball that runs through will have an uphill chip shot to save par. (I believe 1-4, 17&18 are the original Leeds holes) 

Two follows with a hefty 443 yard par four  down over the hill. Like most long par fours of this period, the green is wide open in front for a running shot. Then three plays back up the hill. (1-3 are parallel to each other) Originally, the green was way above atop a second hill. When Donald Ross came to see the course, he opined that the green was too difficult a shot, and suggested it be placed in front of the hill. And so it was. 

And this is one tough green to hit! The putting surface is pushed up and slopes away on all sides. Good hole!!

The only downside to moving the third green is the tee box for the fourth is no longer on the hill, where it supplied gorgeous views, and a tough downhill shot to a green surrounded by sand. The new tee box is even with the putting surface. The fifth follows with the only par five on the front. Its a good length at 528 yards, and the player makes a decision off the tee to be agressive or not. The main feature is the rolling valley, where any type of shot that fades with the slope will run all the way to the stream in the valley on the right. The green is smartly designed too. It's fairly flat in the front, but the middle portion starts to slope away in the rear. It requires several plays to learn the proper way to attack. 

The sixth hole is a flat out brutish par three, playing 181 yards straight uphill.

This crowned green is not only difficult to hit, but anything short rolls downhill several yards. 

Seven is a wonderfully designed short par four! 

The player can use the hill to his right to bring the ball down to the fairway. The stream on the left is in play should you pull it or overcook it off the hill. Not seen too well in the photo is the mound just short of the green. In today's game, it doesn't have much influence, but in the old days, trying to gauge the pitch was vital to making a birdie. 

The eighth is the best hole on the course! It follows the stream from the last hole, racing towards Cadillac Mountain, then doglegging left towards the valley. 

Watching the ball soar against the blue sky and the gray mountain is awesome!! It's another green etched nicely in the crook of the stream, sloping away and to the left. It's an excellent hole! 

Whenever the pro tip in the yardage book suggests laying up on a par three, I tend to take notice. 

 It's only 201 yards so I'm not sure why one would lay up unless the wind is blowing in your face. In the pic, fairway can be seen short of the creek, so that strategy is given to the player. I felt the best part of the hole was the internal contours within the green. (As a side note, the way a short course plays tough is by having long par threes. Six and nine definitely qualify here at Kebo.)

The back nine at Kebo Valley is a little easier. It begins with a 353 yard par four that plays uphill. I like how the corner of this slight dogleg is guarded by mounding as opposed to a bunker. It has a great old school look! Then eleven follows with the longest par four on the back, 410 yards playing straightaway. There's plenty of width to run the ball thru the shallow valley into the green. 

In the pic above, the bunker on the right is probably thirty yards short of the putting surface.  Twelve is a 286 yarder uphill that's really not driveable from the tee. Not only are two bunkers guarding the front, but the small green is not visible. 

This is a side view of twelve green. A tough target to hit with a wedge, let alone hit it with a driver! 

The thirteenth is 399 yards, and a field of mounds is a classic crosshazard that challenges the approach shot. 

A ball that carries over can bounce forward onto the green. Also, the view is obscured from the fairway, misleading the player into hitting a club that may not be the correct one. 

Fourteen is the only par five on the back. I liked how the ridge came off the hill down by the 140 mark, making the layup problematic by blocking the view of the green, and leaving the player with the ball above his feet. The pond short of the green seemed out of place. The green slopes away to the right, the exact opposite of the ball flight above your feet. Carrying the ridge is a big advantage.  

After putting out, the player walks across the road and plays my favorite par three on the course, 156 yarder whose green has a false front all on the right. I love the setting, the way the road goes by the tee, and the look of the bunkering guarding the green. 

(I wish it was a better picture. Almost left it out.) 

The sixteenth is driveable. It's only 268 yards, and a drive over the crossbunker will roll up on the green. It's the one hole I felt was a throwaway. Besides being short, it was on a really small parcel of land. I was beginning to think Kebo Valley was running outta gas, a common trait many of these old courses share, but stepping to seventeen tee, I was in awe of the hole in front of me. 

This is the "Taft" hole, where president  Taft took a 27(!) after hitting it in the hillside bunker. 

Look at that bunker!!! It's a good 30-40 feet to clear it! The challenge doesn't stop there. The green is severely sloped to the right! It reminded me of Aurora's fifteenth with it's steep uphill approach except instead of a wall of rough, a wall of sand needs to be carried to hit the green. This hole alone is worth a play at Kebo Valley!! 

The final hole is 348 yard par four that plays across the road and up the hill. 

The hole plays in front of the clubhouse and the green has a fall off to the right. No bunkers needed! The ball is below your feet on the approach, bringing the fall off into play. It's a simple ending, but one that demands skill to make a birdie. 

Kebo Valley has the luxury of being in the national park. It's not a destination course per se, but Acadia is one of the great places to visit in the country! Wheather you re into hiking the trails, or whale watching out in the ocean, the fact that a wonderful old course awaits when you're ready to golf is fantastic. I give it a 5 (good). 

Stow Acres CC (Stow, MA)

I played here sixteen years ago, and I learned a very valuable lesson. Just because the USGA plays one of their national  championships at a specific course, it doesn't mean that said course is a great place. I'm not saying the North course is bad, it's just the South course looked sooo good. It has rolling hills and valleys. And the North has...more length. And that is a huge factor in what they look for in their championship. 

There are three things that I can recall about Stow Acres. I remember the fourth, a 421 yard par four whose green is protected by water short and left. I hit a five wood onto the green, a pretty incredible shot for me back then. 

The eighteenth is a par five finish. 

The fairway narrows considerably, with the left side providing the only "entrance" for a short iron third shot. 

I do remember the large greens being simple enough to hit. However, a few had what I would call "Sunday pins" where the green narrows or forms a tight little pin placement. So there's plenty of options to make it difficult. 

Finally, the yellow clapboard clubhouse remains one of my favorite clubhouses of all time. 

It just has a grace to it. With the putting green next to it, and the patio on the side, it seems like a great place to while away the day. The North is probably a 4 (above average). I wished I would've listened to my gut and played the South.