Saturday, June 27, 2015

Fremont Country Club (Fremont, OH)

I'm always intrigued by rural country clubs. Little towns like Fremont usually had a few wealthy people who got exposed to golf, liked it, and then decided to build a course. And I think Fremont CC  fits this scenario. It was established in 1921 and Lawrence Packard remodeled it in 1960. 

The first hole (pic above) I believe is an original hole, and it kinda reminds me of Inverness #10. In fact, the first five holes are in a compact space that takes advantage of the valley and creek that run thru the property, a feature typically seen in early 1900 golf courses. Where the picture is taken, the fairway ends before resuming in the valley. It's a very small green that has a significant pitch to it. Then on two, the drive is over this valley! I was really impressed how good the course started out! 
This pic is from long left of the second green. That bunker in background, which is guarding the front right, is a few feet higher than the green. If the drive is not on the left side of the fairway, that bunker obscures the view. 

The fourth is the best hole on the front, a 390 yard par four that plays downhill, crosses the creek, and climbs up the opposing hill. 
The approach is played from a sidehill lie below your feet, to a green that is guarded by trees ala like field goal posts.  It's a beautiful hole. 

Fremont starts getting good again at the eighth. 
It's a nice par three over water to a green protected by sand. The previous two holes play in a pastural setting, and they are dead flat, lacking the charm the first five holes have. 

The ninth hole is unlike any I've seen! The tee shot must carry 190-200 yards over a valley to a plateau fairway. If the drive hugs the left side, then it's a shorter distance to carry.  There is fairway in the valley, so playing short of the plateau and hitting a hybrid or fairway metal to the green is a play too. The pro inside called it stupid. I'm not sure if he was opposed to the fact shorter hitters couldn't make the carry, or if those who could had to be concerned with driving thru into the trees. This was however the first time I saw a Lawrence Packard green. The fairway went straight into the putting surface, exactly the way it looks at Rawiga. 

The back nine has a couple sequences of holes that are good, and the first one starts at eleven. Possibly the best hole on the course, eleven is a long par four that doglegs right. 
I love how the green sits atop the hill, the tree standing sentinel right next to it. The approach has to be perfect, otherwise anything short will roll backwards into the rough. The tee box for twelve acts as a chipping area for balls that go long. Just a great hole! Then twelve, just literally a few feet from eleven, is a short par three across a valley. 
The bunker fronting makes this a very good par three. The inclination is to just carry the sand, so that trap gets alotta play! 

Thirteen is a 540 yard par five. The creek crosses the fairway bout 280 yards out, and the player who is brave enough to hit just short can possibly reach it in two. I like how the terrain goes uphill so the second shot is blind. It makes what could've been an average hole into a good one. Then fourteen is a fine par three played to a green with wetlands to the left. This section of the property is the flat pastoral parcel seen on the front that I said lacked excitement. It's also Brian Huntley's addition to Fremont. I think he did a nice job. 

The next sequence of holes that I like is sixteen and seventeen. Sixteen plays across a valley with the fairway racing uphill before flattening out and rolling into the green. 
The green is the most severe on the course, the middle sloping hard off into the right rough. Seventeen is similar to sixteen at Sleepy Hollow, a hole where laying back to the flat area leaves a better lie and stance, but a longer shot. The long hitter could drive it far down the right side, but the water, and the possibility the  ball could stay on the slope, makes that an unpredictable strategy. 

The tenth and the eighteenth are both bland and/or weak holes to begin and end the back nine. That's definitely one of the drawbacks to Fremont. 

In rating it, I think Fremont is better than Rawiga. It has more solid holes, and it has a couple excellent ones too! It probably just creeps into the 5 category (good). I'm not sure I would travel the 90 minutes to play it, but the locals must definitely be pleased. 

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