Westfield Country Club - North Course (Westfield Center, OH)

The big news this year in Northeast Ohio is the redesign of Westfield’s North Course done by Michael Hurdzan. I got to play it a few weeks ago at the NOGA fourball event. It’s an American links on a treeless track of land played on fescue grass. Sod and timber-walled bunkers guard the fairways and greens. 

The bunkers at the North are very difficult. Not only are they deep, but the walls are steep. Any ball that gets close to the face poses a real dilemma. There will be times when one can’t advance it, or will have to play out either backwards or to the side. I’m surprised the membership signed up for this. They are the most penal I’ve seen. They also have timber faced bunkers which I haven’t seen since Sleepy Hollow. I can envision the ball ricocheting off the wood, and heaven forbid it snuggles up close to the boards. It’s a bit over the top.

 

I’ve been hearing a lot of rumblings about the North. It opened to rave reviews and the folks I know who have played it hype it up considerably. It’s very different looking from any other course we have in Ohio. Hurdzan used fescue grass which creates a very different playing experience. The way it sits down reminds me of dormant Bermuda. The ball is tight to the ground. 

(The 421/401 yard par four opening hole has a central bunker guarding the green. The right side is open but one will have to fly it to a left flag.) 

There’s plenty of short grass around the greens. Golfers have options and can work the ball around the sand. Hurdzan tends to twist his greens, so they slope one way on one side and the opposite way on the other. Chipping and putting across are challenging. Looking at the slope rating, the course comes in at a very reasonable number. This is for two reasons. The fairways are very wide, and the greens are quite large. The average player can get around in a decent score just by hitting away from the trouble. Since I was playing in a tournament, I saw the pins in some dicey locations. Hitting the fairways wasn’t a problem, but attacking the hole locations was. The bunkers were very much in play, and I found myself in three of them. Twice I was able to get it out but with no real chance of getting it close to the pin. 

(The 332/316 yard par four fifth has water on the left and this deep trap in the middle of the fairway. Note how both bunker styles are guarding the green.) 

The North has one of the weirdest routings I’ve seen. The front nine is a par 34 with the back nine a par 36. One does not play a par five until the fourteenth hole, then you play three of them in the final five holes. The back nine itself has a 3-3-3 routing with an equal amount of par 3s, 4s, and 5s.  Sixteen and eighteen are both long, uphill, into wind par fives that are not what I’d call birdie holes. At 6,733 yards from the tips, it seems like a short course, but it’s only a par 70 and plays much longer. 

(The tenth and eighteenth holes both are lined by decorative rock walls that play as immovable obstructions. They can interfere with your lie, stance, and line of play. It’s an odd hazard.)  

(Nothing like an artificial man made pond guarding the green at an American links. It kind of beats the motif. It’s a fine hole, but totally out of place.) 

Hurdzan basically had a clean slate to design anything he wanted. While the bunkering makes the course stand out, I didn’t think there is enough land movement to give each hole its own distinctive feature. The holes tend to blend into each other, and it’s hard to remember many of the individual holes. Right now everyone is clamoring to play the North, and the members are very proud of it, but I’m curious to see how much play it receives a few years from now when it’s newness wears off. 

(The 176/155 yard par three thirteenth was my favorite hole. I like how the green sits at the top of the landform with the two bunkers on the right urging the player to bail left…

…the green slopes away in the rear. My entire foursome hit the green but only one stayed on. The other three balls rolled part way down the back.)

(The 552/516 yard par five fourteenth has this intimidating timber face bunker guarding it. The green is completely hidden and long hitters going for it in two face the prospect of the ball bounding off the wood slates…
…the putting surface is larger than one expects and the bunker doesn’t cover the entire green. Getting the correct yardage and visualizing the shot is the hardest part.) 

Overall, I feel the North is an awkward test of golf. Everything from the unusual bunker style to the odd stone walls to the unconventional routing adds to this feeling. Westfield’s South course is a great parkland design, and eventually all these things will relegate the North to the “B” course again. It’s worth a play right now, especially if you’ve never played on fescue, but be prepared to face a lot of difficult shots and avoid the bunkers at all cost. I give the North a 5 (good)(worth driving an hour to play). 

[The tournament proved to be a battle of pars. Only five teams broke 70 and in the championship flight where the best players compete, two under was the winning score. Considering this is a best ball event, that is a very high score.]