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Sunday, July 10, 2016

The Tanglewood Club (Chagrin Falls, OH)

"Set the tees back, grow the rough, and you have a US Open course here."

                      -Fuzzy Zoeller


Tanglewood always had a reputation for being a very difficult course. In the 1972 Cleveland Open, David Graham shot six under par to win. Then in 1976, the LPGA played the Babe Zaharias Invitational, and Judy Rankin won with a score of one under par. 
(The view behind the par five tenth green. Usually the third shot is from the valley below. It is reachable if the player can position the drive far enough down the right side.) 

William Mitchell designed Tanglewood in 1966. He had a formula for his golf architectural. Depending on the length of the second shot, the width between the bunkers guarding the green would be narrower or wider. 
(The par four ninth doglegs left up the hill. Cutting the corner is an option, but conservative play leaves a long approach into the green. Originally it was the eighteenth hole.) 

(The short par four eleventh is one of my favorites. The green has a false front and a fall away in the rear, thus making it a very small target. This part of the property is the most dramatic, and the views back towards the tee and across the valley is beautiful.) 

(The par three twelfth illustrates the bunkering and the width of the opening to the green. Look how the green is built up and the bunkering is cut into it base, making it somewhat a low profile.) 

(This is a better view of the bunkering. It's flat bottom so the most visible part of the it is the edging.)
(This pic shows the width between the sand. Note how difficult depth perception is from the fairway. Just being slightly elevated changes the sight line significantly.)

New management is spending a lot of money to bring Tanglewood back to it's former self, including a bunker restoration project that should be completed by 2017. The money is also going into the clubhouse and it's huge reception hall so banquets and weddings can be held there too. It's a financial plan that seems to be working. The course's difficulty however is the true weakness of the property. As golf forges ahead into the new millenium, pace of play, enjoyment, and affordability are the keys to surviving. Tanglewood has issues with all three. 
(The reachable par five fifteenth is fronted by this massive bunker. As the pic shows, only the top of the flagstick is visible. With the green sloping away, it's a very difficult shot to hit this 40 yard pitch close to the flag.) 

(The par three sixteenth is a short to mid iron. OB is literally just left of the photo. It's another complaint I have of Tanglewood. All 18 holes have OB. The view from the green is the hole's best feature.) 

(The signature hole is the par four seventeenth...
....unfortunately the fairway is too narrow and too canted to hold a drive unless you tug it left and get a good kick forward like I did from this view. Note the bunker restoration. The pro told me his draw holds the fairway, but I'm still skeptical.) 

(The finishing hole plays uphill to a green laid across a plateau. A good drive typically ends up by the hillock coming from the left, so the approach is uphill from a ball below your feet. A four is a good score.) 

I think Tanglewood needs to build a membership. I just don't think it can survive on daily play from average golfers. Quite simply, it's a single digit handicap course. It has tennis courts, a swimming pool, a fishing lake so there are plenty of amenities to attract people. I give it a 4 (above average)(worth 30-40 min drive). With the golf landscape changing, Tanglewood has an opportunity. 
(View from behind eighteen green) 




















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