Gulf Hills Golf Club (Ocean Springs, MS)

Ocean Springs is one of the few places in Mississippi that is near the Gulf of Mexico. We won a four night stay at the resort, and decided to take a vacation there. 

(Postcard of the par three 17th) 

Jack Daray designed Gulf Hills in 1927. There were three things I took away from his design. First, he wasn't afraid to use the native landscape, specifically the huge live oak trees. Holes four, five, and nine all featured big trees to be driven over or around. 

(Not necessarily tall, but very wide, these giant trees have a big impact at Gulf Hills.)

Second, one and eighteen are both sub 300 yard par fours, yet birdie opportunities are not so easily gained simply because Daray built narrow putting surfaces where the wedge shot is best played from short of the green.
Spray the ball and the angle becomes very shallow with little room to work with. It's an excellent strategy and one that I don't see too often. 

(The beautiful eighteenth. Notice the contour in the green. Maybe laying up is best way to play.)

Third, a couple of the greens were placed closed to the OB stakes, sloping away from the "bailout" side. This forces the good golfer to take on the approach shot, otherwise a delicate chip is needed to save par. 

(Plenty of room to hit down the right, but the OB stakes are just left of the green. The sixth is one tough hole.) 

(The second hole doglegs left. A tight draw will leave an unhindered view of the flag yet a ball hit down the right will need to carry the bunker just short of the green.) 

(I'm not sure why the seventeenth is so well known. The green is uphill with a severe back to front slope. A very scenic hole especially when the sun is setting.) 

I had a good time at Gulf Hills. It's an above average course. I give it a four. 

The resort is nice and if you like Atlantic City then Biloxi is the place for you. Jack Daray also designed Medinah CC in Chicago so this is an opportunity to experience his philosophical opinions on golf. 

Pine Hills Golf Club (Hinckley, OH)

Pine Hills is the best public golf course on the west side of Cleveland. It rolls and tumbles over several hills, it's greens set on plateaus and ridges. Harold Paddock did an excellent job with the routing, and it's possibly his most well know design. 

(The eighteenth is arguably the best finishing hole in northeast Ohio. The player who challenges the left side off the tee will have a flat lie for the approach. Any ball that shies away will be below the golfers feet, a perfect recipe for a ball to come up short in the water. It's an excellent hole!) 

The course is laid out over three ridges, and Paddock attacks them in every way possible. There are so many excellent shots to be hit. Even the average holes require thought and strategy to score well. 

(I love the third hole! It's a great short par four bout 310 yards. The fairway is laid out over a spine, and it's a challenge to carry the valley and still keep it in the fairway. 

...then the second shot is to a pushed up green with no place to bail out. Missing it is big trouble. Several great pin placements make for an exciting wedge shot.) 

(What an exciting par three!! It's downhill with water and sand guarding the green. 210 from the back tees but downhill quite a bit. It's a tough club selection. Many people feel it's the highlight of the round.)

(My favorite par five!! The seventh is such a fun hole. The pressure on the drive stems from wanting to hit my three wood across the valley to the green. Where the pin is in pic is where you want to land the ball. Fairway runs into green so the ball will bounce up. Option to layup down in valley but very difficult to gauge elevation change and yardage.) 

Pine Hills follows many of Paddocks design philosophy. The par fives are reachable, the par threes transverse the severe parts of the property, and the par fours vary in length and challenge. 

(The par five tenth is a great birdie opportunity. It's reachable in two but the green is high above the fairway and is difficult to hold. Don't be short! The slope will scuttle the ball into the rough resulting in a difficult lie.) 

(The par three twelfth is 190 yards across the valley to a green that is well defended. It's not as picturesque as four, but plays more difficult. Balls coming up short will roll downhill, leaving a tricky pitch.) 

(Thirteen demands a long straight drive to view the green from atop the hill.) 

Management felt the course needed some extra length so holes 2,14, and 17 were changed. Are they better holes? 

Probably. However the old greens were pretty severe which made them tough pars. 

(The new fourteenth takes advantage of the lake and doglegs left around it. It also added 140 yards to the course. It went from 310 to 450!, a big improvement in my opinion even if the old potato chip green was cool.) 

(The 183 yard sixteenth is a lovely par three across the pond to an elevated green. A Harold Paddock classic)

Pine Hills is in a great location, basically in the heart of the western suburbs off 130th street. It's also a strong club with good players. I played in the men's tues golf association for two years, twice making it to the championship match where I won once and lost in a playoff. Like I mentioned before, there are a lot of great shots to be played here. I also like the fact that both nines have holes which have you thinking bout them before you tee it up. That's not always the case on most courses. It's one of the top five public courses in Cleveland, and top twenty five in the state. I really enjoy playing here. I give it a 6 (very good).  

Grey Hawk Golf Course (Legrange, OH)

Five years after designing Red Tail, Von Hagge was back in northeast Ohio designing another residential golf community at Grey Hawk. The difference between the two is Avon is a thriving suburb while Legrange is an outlier where selling real estate is more of a challenge. Nonetheless, Von Hagge incorporated his artistry design concept, and much like Red Tail, the aerial game is the style of choice. 

(The 180 yard island green eleventh. If the wind is against, this can be a very difficult shot.)

Von Hagge used several concepts that are seen in Florida and not necessary in Ohio. The first hole has a beach bunker guarding the green on the right. Two holes later, the first of two island greens appears. 

It's a short par four with a green completely surrounded by sand. The fourth follows with a par five whose green is built up to form a plateau with traps guarding the front. 

(Green of the par five fourth. Don't be short, or miss it to the sides.)

(The par three fifth green. It looks a lot like the par three eighth at Red Tail.)

Grey Hawk's best holes are 7-8-9. The seventh is a difficult par five that doglegs left around water all the way to the green. It would reason that the left pin locations are well guarded, but the back right is the toughest as the bunkers hide the flag. 

(The seventh green) 

Eight is then a nice par four with water guarding the right, crossing the fairway, and protecting the green short. Then nine curves alongside the lake. It's in your face, and it takes two quality shots to make a four. 

The back nine has the island green eleventh. Yes the second island green on the course, except this one is surrounded by water. It plays 180 yards and I've always felt it was too long a shot. If the wind is against, it can almost be impossible to hit the green. Even when it moves up twenty yards, it can be a very dangerous shot. 

(Wish there were more holes like this where a well executed draw can work it's way towards the flag.) 

Grey Hawk is so modern, the aerial game so prevalent, that if one is not hitting the ball well, then it can be a long day at the course. I think some of the holes are over the top, and that has, for the most part, pushed Grey Hawk to the rear of the Cleveland golf scene. This was not always the case, especially when Grey Hawk was nominated as one of the most affordable new courses in the country. I give the course a 4 (above average). 

Red Tail Golf Club (Avon, OH)

Red Tail is a residential golf course built in Avon, a western suburb of Cleveland. Robert Von Hagge designed it in 1999 and I remember it having difficulty getting members, so it was semiprivate for a while. 

(The short par three seventeenth has a penisula green that can accommodate several testing pin placements.)

Red Tail is a better player golf course. There are very few opportunities to run the ball into the green, and many times the aerial game is the only way to the pin. Water is used often here, and the par threes all feature a carry over it. Von Hagge does a lot of artistry architecture where he "paints" a setting, and then the player has to fit his shot into it. 

(The par three fifth where the options are carry the water to left pin placements, or carry the front bunker to right pin placement.)

(The par three eighth requires a fade.)

The housing community is doing well at the Red Tail development, and the golf membership is strong, so the course is back to being private. The houses are in play on a few holes. And the double dogleg fifteenth is possibly one of the most awkward par fives I've seen. After doglegging left around water, the hole doglegs back to the right between trees. There's very little opportunity to hit it in two, so the second is typically a short or mid iron.  

A good layup will leave this approach to the green. It's a beautiful approach shot, but the hole itself is not well designed.

There are two par fours I remember quite vividly, ten and eighteen. Ten curves alongside the water, producing a very exciting second shot. 

(The stone work edging the green is visible on several holes. Ten is an excellent hole.) 

Eighteen doglegs left to finish the round. The green is fronted by a stream and guarded by several bunkers. 

It's a wonderful ending hole.

Red Tail is one of the few west side courses I would like to see again. It's visually attractive, and consistently demands well struck shots. I'm not sure how well Red Tail treats high handicaps, or if junior, senior, or lady golfers can enjoy it. It's a demanding test. Nonetheless, it's a good course. I give it a 5 (good). 

(Water water water everywhere! The par three twelfth is all carry including deep grass bunkers for balls that come up just short.) 

Shaker Run Golf Club (Lebanon, OH)

Shaker Run was designed by Art Hills in 1979 for Armco Steel as a corporate course to compete with NCR and it's courses in Dayton. When it went public,  it was instantly rated the #1 public course in Ohio, and stayed that way until Hills designed the nationally acclaimed Longaberger. 

(The excellent 420 yard dogleg left eighteenth. One of the best finishing holes in Ohio.) 

At Shaker Run, the player must position his ball off the tee to have any chance at shooting a good score. 

(The par five opening hole.) 

Length is definitely a plus, but it's not the key. Trees play a huge role in Hills strategy, specifically on 6,7,15,& 17.  On these four holes, the player must find the proper side of the fairway to have a straight forward approach, otherwise a fade or draw is required. 

The elevation change on the front nine creates two of the more dramatic holes at Shaker Run. 

(The green on three is fifty feet down the hill from the landing area with a creek fronting. Note the bunkering behind the green.)

(Two holes later, the downhill par three fifth demands an expert shot to walk away with a par.)

The lakeside holes are the most memorable at Shaker Run, and the first taste starts at the ninth. 

(The penisula green on nine is the second shot one has to hit over water.) 

It's a true cape hole over water where you must pick the appropriate line, and not error too far off it. The second shot is just as tough as the player hits over water again to a penisula green. At 435 yards, it's an absolute butt pucker! 

(Seventeen is a reachable par five whose green is backdropped by gorgeous views) 

The back nine has several good holes. 

(The tenth plays downhill, narrowing close to the green) 

The tenth is a great par four that plays downhill. Eleven follows with a short par three over water. Hills uses traditional strategy where angles are setup by challenging bunkers off the tee to obtain premium angles to the green. Twelve is an excellent example. 

(Not much room to land the approach on sixteen green so It's imperative to carry cross bunker to set up short iron second.)

Fourteen, sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen all touch the water in some way, making for some interesting shots and for some wonderful vistas. Eighteen in particular stands out as an excellent par four that doglegs left with water all down the left.  The player must shape his ball into the fairway otherwise big trouble lurks either with a wet tee ball or a terrifying approach. It's considered one of the best in the state.  

Shaker Run is still one of the best courses in Ohio even with the influx of new designs and old private country clubs going semiprivate. I heard some of the trees are being cleared out so it's possible that it is better than what I remember. Ten years ago Hurzdan added a third nine, but I would recommend sticking to the original. It's definitely worth a play if one is in the Cincy area. I give it a 6 (very good). 

Shawnee Hills Golf Course (Bedford, OH)

Shawnee Hills doesn't have the historical importance of Big Met, or the architectural pedigree of Sleepy Hollow and Manakiki, but it is the most complete golf facility in the metroparks stable. It has 18 holes, a 9 hole par three course, both a chipping green and a putting green, and a driving range. Basically everything a golfer needs, whether to improve his game, or to challenge his skill. 

(The short par four twelfth where course management trumps power. Laying back to 150 marker will leave a level lie for the approach.) 

The back nine was designed by Ben Zink, former superintendent at Acacia CC. (He also designed Berkshire Hills in Chesterland) Zink used the rolling terrain to layout some visually pleasing holes. 

(The reachable par five thirteenth shows off the natural beauty of Shawnee Hills.)

(The short par four sixteenth offers multiple options. It's simplicity makes it one of my favorites. No sand traps either.)

(Yes the tree is in play and guards all left pin locations. A fitting way to finish the day.) 

Shawnee is where I like to practice during the summer. I can work on my game, including chips and pitches, and play either a quick nine or take a few irons for the par three course. The front nine doesn't interest me but the back nine is a blast. I give it a 3 (average). 

Delaware Golf Club (Delaware, OH)

Delaware is a hybrid Donald Ross course with nine holes by Ross and nine holes by Hurzdan. It sits next to Ohio Wesleyan University, and it's home to the Perkins Observatory, one of the largest radio telescopes in the world. Both are part of the ambiance, and are in view from the course. 

(The diificult eleventh with a drive across the ravine.)

The course condition was the best I've seen all year. It's a pretty impressive statement considering we played it in November! The Hurzdan holes (front nine) really set up best for the speed of the greens. The best angles all had open entrances, while shots over bunkers had to be hit perfectly to stop on the green. 

(This is the par five fourth with an excellent water hazard dividing the hole in half. Both fairways provide great options to make birdie.) 

(The center bunker does a good job of hiding the putting surface, but also let's the golfer know where the lower right section begins compared to the upper left. My favorite par three at Delaware.)  

(Challenging the bunkers off the tee at nine opens up the approach to a green hard against the ravine. Coming in from the right, the green looks very small, especially with the ravine directly behind.)

The Ross holes are low key, and have more subtle features. It probably takes a few plays to fully understand the best method of attack on them. 

(Heres the skyline green tenth where a rear pin position requires deft touch to get close. The rough short of the green takes the low runner out of play, a shame if you ask me.) 

Like all Ross holes, the greens are interestingly placed at Delaware. 

This green has falloffs left, right, and back. It makes what could be an average hole into an interesting one. 

The par three fourteenth is not far from the main road. In fact I saw a ball ricochet off the guardrail. The green has fairway just short to bounce the ball in. 

The best hole on the course is sixteen, and it is a beautiful example how Ross uses the natural features to create cool challenges. 

The par four doglegs left around a hill, and player decides to either carry it or try to use the slope to propel the ball to a flat spot far on the right side. The green is beautifully placed with a large tree forty yards short guarding the right side. 

Delaware Country Club is the type of course I enjoy finding. Good architecture, strong history, and superb conditioning make for a grand day of golf. As I stated previously, it had the fastest greens I played all year, and I can understand if someone wanted to bump it up based purely on that. It's a strong 5 (good). It definitely needs inclusion as one of the top public courses in Ohio.