Oglebay Resort - Palmer Course (Wheeling, WV)

I’ve been to Oglebay several times but never played the Palmer Course until this past October. What it put it my radar was my friend Pizza saying it was in his personal top fifteen. My interest piqued, I finally made a concerted effort to see it. 

(The downhill 183 yard par three seventeenth offers great views and a chance at birdie if one can properly judge the elevation change.) 

Oglebay Palmer plays on opposite sides of a huge hill. 1-3 17-18 are on one side, while 4-16 play on the other. There’s no walking here, and the cart ride from 3-4 and 16-17 takes a few minutes. 

(The 480 yard first hole is a long downhill par four. The green has an upper front and rear tier while the middle is sunken. It’s one of the best holes on the course.)

With terrain this severe, the architect must come up with a good routing that takes advantage of the nuances and subtleties of such a large tract of land. Palmer’s group decided to tackle this challenge by designing a course with six par threes, five par fives, and seven par fours. 

(The par three third plays over the corner of the hill. The green is somewhat hidden by the elevation change, and slopes away from the player.) 

(The downhill par three thirteenth looks similar to the par three on the Jones Course next door. The player must calculate several factors when determining the proper club selection. It was three clubs shorter the day I played it.) 

Palmer also designed the course with wide fairways and large greens, and even though the property is severe, the course is very playable. That’s a testament to the Palmer group. It would have been very easy to have a couple holes shoehorned into the routing. 

(The 334 yard tenth is a driveable par four. There’s plenty of room to layup left or short of the fairway traps for those who choose to play it conservatively off the tee. The green is surrounded by a lot of short grass, so the player who can carry over the valley will have plenty of options to get his ball close for a birdie.)

(The uphill 560 yard eleventh has a two tier geeen that will require an excellent shot for those trying to shave a stroke from their score.) 

The superintendent keeps the course in excellent shape. In fact, I’d say, along with Peek n Peak Upper, it was one of the best conditioned I played all year. I agree Pizza that it’s on the short list of courses worth driving a couple hours. I give Palmer a 6 (very good)(worth driving two hours). 

(The 273 yard fifteenth is one of the longest par threes you’ll play!)