Millcreek Park South Course (Boardman, OH)

I play Millcreek Park every year. It's the only muni in the country with 36 holes designed by Donald Ross, and the people in northeast Ohio, specifically in the Youngstown area, are very fortunate to have such a treasure. 

(The par four eighth is one of six par fours that doglegs left. The green is protected short by sand, but the player should have no problem carrying it.) 

I typically play the North. I think it has great green complexes, beautiful bunkering, and a good routing. (7-10-14 review) The South course however gets all the accolades when the regulars discuss which is the better track. It's a premise I never understood. And after playing it last weekend, I'm even more convinced it's the lesser of the two. 

(The 450 yard opening hole emphatically introduces itself to the golfer.) 

The pride of the South is it's long par fours, specifically one, nine, ten, and eighteen. The first hole is 450 yards, a perfect example of Ross' firm handshake philosophy. 

(The 438 yard ninth is a great hole! It doglegs just a bit the last fifty yards, so the second gets blocked out by the crossbunker unless the drive is down the right side.)

(The tenth is 426 yards. It's small green is bracketed by bunkers.)

(The 424 yard eighteenth slightly doglegs left to an elevated green. Bunkers front right and front left narrow the entrance to the putting surface. Note the avenue of trees on both sides. Accuracy is a premium on this final hole.) 

While these four holes are very good, there are several reasons why I prefer the North. The South has bigger greens, and they don't have the internal contours like the North. If you're driving straight, then it's not too difficult to put it on. 

(The par five fourth is my favorite hole. It double doglegs right, the second time past the bunkers in pic. The green can be seen just ahead. If one drives it up the left, then it's possible to give the second shot a go!) 

The South is also heavily tree-lined, so the fairways are thin. These are mature trees so air flow and sunlight issues are present. The rough especially can be sparse. 

(The crossbunkered par three seventh is nearly 200 yards. The tee shot is in a canopy of trees, as is the entire hole, or so it seems.)

Then there's the dogleg par fours. Four of them turn close to ninety degrees, and with these huge trees, they have an awkward look. It takes discipline to look away from the inside corner, and more to the 150 marker. 

(The beautiful par three thirteenth has a gaping bunker front left.)

(The seventeenth share the tee with thirteen. It looks similar but a grass bunker guards the front right instead.)

The South is par 70, and the two par fives are both very good. The aforementioned fourth doglegs twice with the crossbunkers forcing the action on the second shot. The fourteenth is slightly uphill and reachable with two big shots. 

(The fourteenth is 516 yards. The bunker straight ahead disrupts the view of the second shot, causing a little uncertainty as the golfer hits his second shot.)

(The view of the 411 yard eleventh from the twelfth tee. Note how it's slightly built up. No big drop offs behind or to the sides.) 

At 6500 yards, the South can play as difficult as any in the Youngstown area. I assume that's the reasoning behind the locals glowing reviews. It definitely is a challenging course, and regardless of my preference for the North, it's a solid 5 (good)(worth driving an hour).  With both courses at Millcreek being a five, anyone looking to play 36 holes should consider coming here. As I mentioned in the other review, Millcreek is a muni so conditions can be spotty. I have no problem overlooking such things, so I always have a good time. 

Pine Lakes Golf Club (Hubbard, OH)

Pine Lakes Golf Club is a throwback. The small greens insist the approach comes from the fairway, has the proper angle, and is hit the appropriate distance. Usually small greens play larger because the surrounding terrain funnels balls onto them or one is able to putt their ball from off the green. When I played Harbour Town a few years ago, a tour stop noted specifically for small greens, those two features were prevalent. At Pine Lakes, the small greens play small! 

(The false front at the fifth makes the green play extremely small! With a short iron or wedge in your hand, it's very common to see the ball spin off the front and down the fairway.)

Pine Lakes came highly recommended from my league president who grew up in Youngstown. He was the one who prodded me to play Oak Tree, a course I really enjoyed playing this spring. His eyes lit up when he talked about it, so I knew I had to check the place out! 

(The opening hole is a par five that is reachable in two...

....the green is steeply pitched forward and the only place to miss is just short. Anywhere else and a five is a fortunate score.) 

There's an ambiance as soon as you pull into the parking lot. The clubhouse is a small little building with a metal bag stand out front, but it's offset, so one and ten are directly in your vision. The course is in great shape so it pops out at you. I was chomping at the bit before I stepped out of the car. 

(The second hole is tighter off the tee. It's a severe green too so be in the fairway.)

(Um...the third hole is a short par three, but I'm not sure how I feel bout the "lane" to the green. Water is short right, and the pine trees block your view of the left side. It's unnerving.) 

(As you can tell in the pic, not only does the fourth green slope to the front, but it sheds balls off to the sides as well.) 

(The sixth is a long par three whose green is framed by trees and sand. The front entrance is open to a running shot, but it's not very wide.)

Brian Huntley did some remodeling on a few holes. A couple of them stood out since the greens are so large, but there were a few that I couldn't tell. 

(The eighth is the longest par four on the front nine. The best drive draws around the pine in fairway....

...the green is hour glass shaped with the lower portion in the rear. Being on the left side of the fairway will give the player an angle, otherwise the approach is hit directly over the wetlands.) 

(The ninth is an uphill par five. It's one of the new holes, but the green looks similar to the other complexes throughout the front.) 

The back nine was altered the most by Huntley. It flows beautifully until it gets to what was suppose to be an addition to the housing development, then there's an awkwardly green to tee walk. But the tenth starts it off with a fun par five. 

(The reachable par five tenth has water fronting the green. The fairway short of the green would be a great way to attack the pin in the pic!) 

(Twelve is one of my favorite holes on the course. The natural vegetation frames the moment as the player hits to possibly the smallest green on the course.) 

Thirteen is the only green elevated above the fairway. I'm not sure if it is new, but it's a very fine hole!

(The hazard fronting the tee continues down the left side at the thirteenth. A good drive leaves a mid to short iron approach.) 

(The view from the driving zone into the green at the par five fourteenth....

....the green is tiny and the bunker fronting doesn't leave the player much room to land it on. Pitch shots are just as difficult as the ball has to be nipped perfectly to bite by the hole.) 

(The new sixteenth replaced the old punchbowl green. It's a beautiful hole with several good flag locations. All the original greens have been little oval targets, and then here it's just a massive one. It doesn't blend in.) 

(The seventeenth is new too. It's actually driveable, but playing corridor is narrow. Laying up leaves the best odds of making birdie. Note the old green just in front of the tee box. This used to be eleven and played the other way.) 

(The longest par four is saved til the end! It plays uphill and requires two strong shots to reach in regulation. No sand is needed to defend par as a false front and  a tricky green combine to make this the toughest hole of the day!)

Add Pine Lakes to the list of places to play in Youngstown! This region of the state continues to impress me with it's public golf. (I think the course is so good, I wish the CGA would put it on the schedule. It's perfect for the players in our association.) The architecture is so simple, it's beautiful. The course is in great shape too. I give it a 5 (good)(worth driving an hour). This place is a hidden gem. With Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Akron all being within an hour, it deserves to be better known. 

Ashland Brookside Golf Course (Ashland, OH)

Typically any drive to play golf in Ashland would lead straight to The Country Club of Ashland, a place I feel is one of the Ohio's top ten public courses. However, a very good golfer who I play with on occasion was raving about the greens at Brookside and suggested playing it. So I took a chance and went to see it. 

(The par five thirteenth rolls beautifully towards the green. At 566 yards, it takes three precise shots to set up a birdie.)

Admittedly, I was a little hesitant because Jack Kidwell designed the course, and I've never seen or played a great Kidwell course. He s called the "father of Ohio golf" because he designed many tracks throughout the state, but usually his work is average or slightly above. When you're building courses to promote the game and grow it, then you have to make sure people are enjoying themselves. 

(The green on the par five first illustrates Kidwell's biggest strength, a well bunkered, well contoured putting surface.)

The back nine at Brookside occupies the better part of the property. The front nine slopes towards the clubhouse while flattening out by the road. 

(The green of the par four second.)

Most of the front nine was bland with the uphill par four third being the best hole on this side. The green actually sloped away and to the rear. 

(The tee shot on the 397 yard seventh is set behind the pond...

....the approach to a green open in the front. A rear pin is the toughest to attack.)

The back nine was more rolling and had better holes. Besides the aforementioned thirteenth, the sixteenth is a really good uphill par three, similar to the third at Sylvania CC. 

(The 165 yard sixteenth plays nearly two club lengths longer, more depending on the wind....

....the view of the par four fifteenth from sixteen green.)

The only other hole worth mentioning is the eighteenth. From the white tees it's only 298 yards with this view

(The valley in front of the tee is really not in play and the green is possibly driveable...

....from the back tee it's 379 yards with a big carry over water and rough to reach the plateau. The valley that wasn't in play from the whites looks pretty good from the blues!) 

Ashland Brookside's best attribute is it's commitment to junior golf. The Ashland high school team plays here too. As much as I knock Kidwell's designs, they do promote golf, both playability and affordability. For the serious golfer, the country club is the place to go, but Brookside is a nice anmenity for the locals. I give it a 3 (average)(worth driving 15-30 min). 

 

Hilliard Lakes Golf Course (Westlake, OH)

When I first started playing golf, Little Met, Big Met, and Mastik Woods were the three Metroparks courses that nourished my appetite for the game. Occasionally I would wander up to Ridgewood because my buddy lived off the second fairway, but those three were the primary places.

(As a beginning player, the carry from the tee on the par five sixteenth was very intimidating. It was my favorite hole for a long time.)

Hilliard Lakes was the first course I played where water was the prevalent hazard. I felt like I had "graduated" to that level of challenge, and for a several years, "Lil Augusta" as it is affectionately called, was my club of choice. 

(This canal plays throughout the course, cutting across fairways, guarding a particular side, and flat out being a continuous pest waiting for a mishit.)

As a young player, Hilliard Lakes had two things I thought were synonymous with good golf; sand traps and water. Almost all the greens were bunkered in the left and right corners, and the damn canal always seemed to pop up where I liked to drive the ball. A few times it would cross the fairway, and I would have to decide if I was hitting the ball well enough to risk hitting over it. 

(The ever present canal making one think on the second tee.)

Hilliard Lakes was designed by Matthew Zaleski in 1967. It's located at the end of Hilliard road in the affluent suburb of Westlake. (This is prime real estate. I wonder how many offers they get from developers.) Recently I played the course for the first time in fifteen years. My friend lives close by and this is his home track. It plays exactly the way I remember it, with the canal lurking at every corner. The course seems to be doing well, and the attributes that made me enjoy it when I was learning the game are still present today. The last three holes are the highlight of the round. Sixteen is 568 yards from a new back tee, and the pic above shows just how challenging the drive is. Seventeen is 213 yard par three. The canal is to the right of the green, waiting for a push or cut long iron/hybrid shot. Then the 428 yard eighteenth is a long par four with a bunker fronting the green. 

(The last hole is a challenging par four.) 

Next year Hilliard Lakes turns 50 years old. It s a wonderful anmenity for westsiders and particularly the regulars who call it home. I give it a 3 (average)(worth driving 15-30 mins). 

Chautauqua Golf Club-Lakes Course (Chautauqua, NY)

Thirty miles north of Conewango Valley is another Donald Ross design, the Lakes course at Chautauqua Golf Club. 

(The 338 yard eighteenth is a feel good ending hole where birdie is a very realistic score.) 

Chautauqua GC was designed in 1921. The lake and mountains make this the perfect summer getaway, and with the Chautauqua Institute across the street, there's plenty of activities for a summer vacation. 

(#1 402 yard par 4)

The course is routed over a steady slope that goes down to the lake. There's some tumble to the terrain in spots, but overall, it's just a steady pitch. Most Ross courses have greens atop ridges n knolls, but Chautauqua's greens are typically extensions of the fairways. That's one reason why the few greens that are elevated stand out so much. 

(The fifth plays uphill over the entrance road. It's a 466 yard par five, so it is reachable, but it's all carry over a steep valley.) 

The greens are very fast so the player must take heed on how he approaches them. Bunkers that look out of play suddenly come to life when the ball is running across the ground. Ross varied the green sizes, and several of them are exceptionally small. 

(The par five tenth plays downhill to a tiny green. A plaque on the tee celebrates Sarazens double eagle made during one of the many matches played at Chatauqua.)

The eleventh is my favorite hole on the course. It has one of the few greens perched up above the fairway.

(Even from this view behind the green, one can see the slope of putting surface on eleven...

(..,the side view however shows just how difficult the mid iron approach can be. Note the hardpan in the pic. I can remember when this was a subtle hazard golfers had to incorporate into their decision. I wish more courses would refrain from overwatering.) 

(The camera is not crooked! There really is that much slope in the green! The 184 yard twelfth requires a high cut, otherwise the ball could roll off the green, or into the bunker guarding the left.) 

Chautauqua doesn't grab your attention like most Ross courses, but the nuance and subtlety make breaking one's handicap a challenging task. Overall, I feel the course, and the club in particular, does exactly what it's suppose to do in this setting, and that's provide a place to play the game that accommodates all skill levels. I give it a 4 (above average)(worth driving 30-45 min).