Green Meadows Golf Course (North East, PA)

This was one of the more disappointing courses I’ve checked out. The back nine was chocked full of trees to the point the par threes doglegged. It overshadowed a decently designed front nine and left me with a poor taste in my mouth. I reckon Robert Boyd, who is the architect of record (1975), was also the owner, and maybe he ran out of money or was a super accurate driver of the ball. Either way, a conscience effort to trim back branches and remove multiple trees could make this a local darling among Erie golfers. 

Courses like Green Meadow are very instrumental to introducing people to the game of golf. I think having a nice setting, being in good shape, and being fun are a few of the keys. This course checks those boxes … on the front. Well, the back does play alongside the vineyards and the course as a whole is in fine shape. The price point is great! $21 to walk eighteen holes is 1990s pricing. There’s some good qualities here, for sure, but to travel anything more than twenty minutes is unwarranted. I’m being generous so I’ll give Green Meadows a 3 (average)(worth driving thirty minutes to play). 

#2 503 yards par 5

Favorite Hole: The green on this hole was very cunning. The front edge is not circular but angled, so you can be hole high but in the fairway. That point of green is challenging to get an approach close and anything past the pin is fast. 

Worst Hole:There’s several to choose from on the back but the 291 yard fifteenth is my choice. The back tee was fine but the white tee, where most people were playing, is literally behind a huge stand of trees. My playing partner, who was on his second year, hit a nine iron from the tee just so he could get it over them. 

Diamond in the Rough: The 423 yard par four eighteenth has the potential to be a great finisher. A creek crosses diagonally, forcing a powerful drive down the shorter carry left side. A row of pine trees seventy yards from the green defines the left side. It’s a well contoured putting surface, and if they could get rid of those trees, then this would be an ending worth talking about! 

#17 514 yard par five

(I played the back tees at Green Meadows and did reasonably well on the front nine. A bladed chip on six started a series of unforced errors and saw me bogey the last four holes on the front. When the driver is not your friend, super tight corridors like the back become pitch out fests. An 83 was what I deserved.) 

Old Avalon Golf Course (Warren, OH)

Old Avalon is directly across the street from the Grand Resort. If you ever want to see how much dirt Pete Dye moved to create the Lakes course, pop over here for a round. The place is dead flat. The front is prairie like with an open feel to it while the back is claustrophobic with huge hardwoods lining many of the fairways. A sign on the eleventh tee welcomes golfers to the loop, a five hole stretch (11-15) where you’ll be hard pressed to navigate your ball between the trees and make par. 

I feel sorry for Old Avalon. The city of Warren owns it and they should be doing a much better job running it. Frankly I think the fairways should be wider, especially on the back, and the rough should be cut more often so it’s not so difficult to find the ball. Clover is rampant. Those white little flowers are a nuisance. It’s a shame because the course is a strong test. The architect routed it so there’s a series of long par fours and short par fours. 1,6,7,11,12 are all over 400 yards (three are over 430) while 4,8,18 are under 350 yards. 

(The dogleg left 415 yard par four seventh demands you either drive it long or stay down the right side to have a shot into the green.) 

(The 350 yard par four eighth follows the tough seventh with a decent birdie opportunity if you can avoid going left off the tee. A pond up by the green on the right will persuade long hitters from pulling out driver.)

Old Avalon reminds me of Heather Downs in Toledo. Both have open front nines and heavily treed back nines. The back at Old Avalon however has more doglegs. The size of the trees makes it very challenging to maneuver the ball accurately into position. (The condition of the rough had me wondering which tree was the corner on a few holes.) All the times I’ve stayed and/or played at Avalon Lakes, I never made it over to the Old until now. Truthfully I’m not sure too many people venture across the street to even see it. It does have a good driving range and short game practice area. I give it a 3 (average)(worth driving 15-30 minutes to play). 

(The 550 yard par five seventeenth plays through the trees before doglegging left around a pond to a two tiered green.)

(The 345 yard par four eighteenth has a creek crossing the fairway and a bunker guarding the green. The view of the Grand Resort is literally in your face the entire length of the hole. The difference in price between Old Avalon and Avalon Lakes (separated by a road) is over $100.) 

(The 360 yard par four tenth has the creek playing down the entire right side before the hole doglegs right.) 

East Potomac Golf Links - White Course (District of Columbia)

East Potomac is one of the most energetic, enthusiastic places I’ve seen in my golf travels. The amount of people milling around, on the driving range, practicing their chipping and putting, playing the Blue course, or the nine hole White, or even the par three Red, is like a scene in my dreams where life revolves around golf. Set on the Potomac River, a lively waterfront mixes post round and mid round festivities, making this a cool hang out for any summer evening. 

Robert White designed the 2,943 yard par 34 White course in 1920. Its executive length attracts beginning and intermediate skilled golfers, however, its presentation makes it more interesting than most would admit. The greens are beautifully perched up a few feet above the fairway and are a good representation of what one would find over on the flat linksland of Scotland. The mounding breaks up the sight lines and the bunkering is artfully cut into the base of them. It is not a boring, drab nine holes that barely mimics golf but rather a simple straightforward design that demands quality shots to hit and hold the greens. I would even argue the short game chips and pitches are more challenging than what one finds on Walter Travis’ Blue course. 

(I like the clean look that distinctly differentiates the playing surfaces between fairway, rough, and primary rough. The hazards are clearly defined, a trait not always evident on municipal courses. This is the 285 yard par four fourth. Today’s pin is on the lower tier.) 

(The 247 yard par four fifth is the only hole where bunkers front the green. It’s a dogleg left from the tee with trees, a deep bunker, and mounds encouraging players to play out to the wide fairway right. Imagine a fifty yard pitch to the pin in the picture. Is that a shot a beginner, or even intermediate golfer, would have? 

Note the par three sixth green in the background and how proud it sits above the flat terrain.) 

(The 286 yard par four eighth has a green obscured  from view behind the bunker. Notice how the terrain on the sides of the putting surface catches shots, preventing them from advancing forward.) 

East Potomac prides itself on player development, pointing to all the amenities that encourage golfers to improve. Robert White’s design helps achieve this objective. If he can make a flat, nondescript piece of land interesting, then I’m curious to see how good his other work is. It’s no surprise that he is one of the founding members of the American Society of Golf Course Architects. (First President of PGA of America 1916) (Designed the first putting green on the White House lawn) If you’re looking to play nine holes while in DC, the White course at East Potomac is a fine choice. I give a 4 (above average)(worth driving 30-45 minutes to play). 

(I had to make a trip to DC and found myself with some time to kill on a Friday night. I was paired with a threesome where two guys were teaching the third how to play. I lasted two holes before moving forward without them. They insisted and I didn’t hesitate. I played through three more groups and finished before dark. Sometimes it’s not easy being a single. I shot 37.) 

Medina Country Club (Medina, OH)

Medina has come a long way since I first played it back in the early 1990s. They removed hundreds of trees, giving the course a clean, pastoral look as you peer across the countryside. For many clubs this would be enough, but in 2027, Dave Zinkand will change the routing, add new bunkers, and tweak several holes. It will essentially become a new golf course. 

Medina was designed in 1967 by Jack Kidwell. In order to put 27 holes on the property, he routed only straight holes. On the championship course he used the seldom used combination of five par threes, five par fives, and eight par fours. The par threes have always been the lynchpin, and it’s no coincidence that they are the best holes on the course. The property has good movement with several tee shots hit over the crest of hills. The greens have a variety of shapes and sizes, however, they are all crowned on their sides. Most slope back to front, but a couple feed to the rear, and three of them are two tiered. The course is a lot of fun and yields good scores.

(The 405/375 yard par five opening hole plays shorter than its listed yardage as drives bound down the hill into a shallow valley. A small portion of the green slopes forward with most of it going to the back right corner. Tough green to read. Avoid three putting; be happy with a par.) 

(The 220/185 yard par three third is a great hole! The creek on the left angles in, catching any pull or draw that fails to stop. It even snarls balls hit too strong. This brings the tree on the right even more into play. Par is a very good score.) 

(The 200/180 yard par three fifth is hit from an elevated tee box to a perched green. The two tiered green requires an accurate club selection otherwise one might find himself with a very daunting putt.) 

(The 175/155 yard par three fourteenth is downhill to a forward pitched green. Together with the eleventh, both one shotters on the back nine are good birdie opportunities.) 

The third nine, called Lilac, is opening this summer and will be Ohio’s first reversible course. It’ll be a par 31 with five par threes and four par fours. Dave Zinkand’s work is a preview of what will eventually happen with the big course. The bunkering is very noticeable and pops from the landscape. It’ll be challenging to escape from the steep faced, concaved traps. The heart of this section of property is the creek with is shale stone walls. There’ll be some exciting shots played over and alongside this hazard. For northeast Ohioans, this maybe the most anticipated new course in the past twenty years. (In my opinion, architecturally more interesting than Westfield’s North) 

(#7 clockwise green view…
…and it playing as #2 counterclockwise.) 

(The double green will be #1 and #8 clockwise while only being #8 counterclockwise.) 

I’m thrilled Medina has taken a bold leap to expand in a way that puts Ohio in the national spotlight. Fingers crossed, maybe it’ll provoke someone else into building a new course nearby, especially since we lost so many recently. Even as it is now, Medina is the best course, minus Westfield’s South, in the far southern suburbs of Cleveland. In five years, I’ll be back to revisit Dave Zinkand’s changes. I give Medina a solid 5 (good)(worth driving an hour to play). As for the new nine, golf aficionados will be traveling from all over to play it. It might even make the best executive course list. (If there is one) 

(Remember the adage “It’s not how good your good shots are but how bad your poor shots”. My mistakes were quickly punished while my good shots weren’t rewarded or I failed to take advantage of them. My range sessions have been getting better, and I definitely see improvement. My 87 was probably the worst I could have shot.)

(The 580/495 yard par five seventh ends at this pushed up green. The pitch is steep so stay below the hole.) 

(View from sixteen green) 

(The 395/355 yard par four eighteenth used to be a quaint little hole played in the intimate setting of the clubhouse. It is quite surprising how different it looks with all the trees gone. Medina is one of the courses on the ICPGA schedule. It’s an excellent opportunity to play several area private clubs for a modest fee of $75.) 

Lake Forest Country Club (Hudson, OH)

Richard Mandell did a great job with the renovation at Lake Forest. Besides widening the fairways, he took out a bunch of trees. Like well over one thousand. It opened up the views, but more importantly, it allowed the rolling terrain to come to life. There are now angles and different yardages to carry to different locations. It has made Lake Forest, in my opinion, one of the top second tier clubs in northeast Ohio. 

Lake Forest was designed by Tom Bendelow in 1930. It was in the height of his American Park Builder’s era when he was transitioning from introductory to championship style golf courses. For those who aren’t familiar with Bendelow, his putting surfaces slope from the middle towards the front while the rear pitches away or to the left or right. The back pin positions are difficult to access, so when you choose to play conservative, putting the length of the green becomes problematic. There’s strong length here too so mid to long iron is a common club for the approach. 

(The 142/127 yard par three sixth plays downhill to pedestal green surrounded by bunkers. It’s a precise short iron, or even wedge, where controlling your spin is vital to hitting it close. It’s a picturesque hole with the large trees and wooden shelter in the background.) 

(The lake is the centerpiece of Lake Forest and the 338/320 yard par four tenth is the signature hole. It buttonhooks around the water demanding one choose an appropriately line off the tee. As the crow flies, it’s very much driveable for the longer player, and it’s great fun watching the tiger golfer take a rip at it. The rest of us must control our nerves and make a good pass on our approach shot.) 

I always thought the 2-5 stretch was the key to a good round. If you can play these four holes well then the next five will give you a few good birdie chances. The only true round wrecker is the par four eleventh where it’s easy to mishit your long iron second from a downhill lie into the hazard. You’ll have to play solid golf if you want to play the last seven holes well. Nothing is overly difficult but birdie is not easy either. The final hole is a long par three to a green perched above the valley. It’s an unusual finish, and while the hole itself is good, it’s a bit anticlimactic. 

(The chocolate drop style bunkering gives Lake Forest a unique look. Mandell reinstated every fairway with them and they are definitely visible from the tee. One would be unlucky to have the mound directly on their line to the green.) 

(The 414/370 yard par four fifteenth is one of my favorite holes. It reminds me of the second hole at the NLE Aurora Golf Club. The hole plays along the boundary line, giving bold drives down the left a premium angle while bailouts to the right must contend the gaping bunker front right.) 

The renovation has really impressed me and I’ve loved the course the last two times I’ve played it. They keep it in perfect condition and the little creek that flows through with the wildflowers make it a great experience. All the improvements have made me bump it up one notch. I think anyone within 100 miles would have no problem driving the distance to play here. I give Lake Forest a 6 (very good)(worth driving 1-2 hours to play). 

(Little things like walking over the bridge to the first tee add to the experience at Lake Forest.)