Fox Den Golf Course (Stow, OH)

Northeast Ohio golfers are fortunate to have so many municipal courses to play and it seems like the eastern communities all have their own. Cuyahoga Falls has Brookledge, Hudson has Ellsworth, Twinsburg has Gleneagles, and Solon has Grantwood. Together, these four courses are a mainstay on many traveling leagues schedule. That list however might expand to five since Stow is investing in their course Fox Den.

I’ve never heard anyone talk about this course until I seen it on the Suburban Ladies Golf Association schedule, the league my girlfriend plays in. She commented that it was the type of place that I would like, so it made my list of courses to check out. What a pleasant surprise it turned out to be! It reminded me of a mix between Maplecrest and Skyland Pines. It’s a fun course with a good blend of easy holes and hard ones. 

(There’s nothing like a well landscaped tee box and a short par four to make one smile on the first hole. The old Maplecrest (NLE) was the best at this. Every tee box was beautifully done. Fox Den does a nice job here.) 

Like three of its brethren courses, Fox Den plays to a par 71 and has five par threes. I find this tidbit fascinating because I think most municipal courses have a limited amount of land, and this possibly allows the best routing. At Fox Den, they’re the strength of the course. From the back tees, the shortest is 181 yards and the longest is 217. Golfers will find the fifth, twelfth, and seventeenth to be particularly engaging. All have really good green sites that require long irons or hybrids. 

(This view from the sixth tee shows just how narrow the opening is on the 197/167 yard par three fifth. The proper shot is a high draw that comes in from the right and doesn’t tangle with the traps.) 

(The 217/193 yard par three twelfth has a shallow swale just short of the green. The long hitter who can flight his ball to the putting surface has an advantage over the player trying to run it in…
…the crowned nature of the front is fickle, and can shed the ball as easily as it can accept it…
…any type of hook is in the water unless one is fortunate enough to catch the sand. A par on this hole will gain a stroke or win a match more times than not.)

(The 196/164 yard par three seventeenth is my favorite hole on the course. The elevated green has two bunkers guarding the front with a tongue of fairway between them. It’s all carry as the golfer tries once again to hit a quality long iron or hybrid. It’s a first rate hole!) 

Fox Den has plenty of easy holes to ease the burden of the par threes. All the par fives should be birdie opportunities and the longer player can even get an eagle putt on one or two of them. The par fours however have a lot of variety with short ones and long ones combining to give the player different looks. My favorite was the eighth which plays 443 yards from the back tees. The downhill tee shot is followed by a long iron over a rolling fairway. I like that most of the fairways bleed into the greens. Bouncing it in or running it on from a distance is ideal for the juniors, seniors, and lady golfers who frequent Fox Den. This keeps a quality pace of play too. 

(The 371/334 yard par four sixteenth has a demanding drive over a valley to a rolling fairway. The approach shot has several options as both high and low will be accepted by the green.) 

(The 414/397 yard par four fifteenth has a lovely green situated on the other side of the valley. While the low handicap can flight his ball to the green, weaker players are still allowed the benefit of running it up the hill. While bunkering would make this a more demanding hole, the architect declined for the sake of simplicity and playability.) 

Fox Den was designed by Frank Schniedel in 1966. Stow took over in 2006, and invested some money into making some additions. Having just seen it, I cannot say exactly what was changed. However, what is there now looks good. My only complaint is the width of the fairways. The city needs to bite the bullet and expand them. They’re too narrow in my opinion and making them wider would make the course more enjoyable and the pace of play faster. 

(Between the ninth and eighteenth green are two man made ponds separated by the cart path. I felt they were out of place. The one on eighteen is behind the green on the right. They’re both outlined by raised bricks and a ball rolling in can actually carom off and go towards the green.) 

Fox Den fits the municipal profile well. It has a driving range and a good practice facility. I wouldn’t  be surprised to hear more about this course in the next few years, especially if Stow continues to make improvements. I know in the Cuyahoga Golf Association, new places to play are always being looked at, and I believe Fox Den is worthy of consideration. I give it a 4 (above average)(worth driving 30-45 minutes to play).