Windmill Lakes (Ravenna, OH)

Windmill Lakes is the home of the Kent State University golf team.

On the walls of the clubhouse are some of the university's best players including British Open winner Ben Curtis, the only major winner of Herb Page's program so far. Having played Lonnie Poole (NC State) and the Warren Course (ND), I can say that Windmill is probably one of the toughest college courses in the country. 

Windmill challenges the two most difficult aspects of golf, the driver and the putter. The first hole, 450 yard par four, illustrates this perfectly. Not only does it require a long drive, but the green has a buried elephant on the left side that wrecks havoc on any pin near it. 

This is the fifth green. Note the pin which is on a little ledge. Once the ball hits past it, the green dips down to a shallow swale, and then it goes back up to create back ledge. In the middle right half of green, a couple ridges are visible. All this movement creates some great pinning locations. 

This is the fifteenth.  Besides great length and undulating greens, the pins are fiercely defended by bunkers. Several times during a round, the player will come across a flag that is literally mere feet behind the sand. 

Here are a couple holes of note. 

The sixth is a tough uphill par four.  The green is one of the best. Not only is it bunkered on both sides, but a low area in the middle makes the higher sections by the traps difficult pin positions. 

The ninth is one of the few holes that doglegs, this one slightly left. The right trap is the key feature. Besides guarding that side, the shoulder that comes off it leaves those bailing out a mighty difficult two putt. The tenth basically has the same feature, except the right side is higher. 

Twelve is not only a long par three, but possesses a wicked green. 

(Not sure if you can tell, but the pin is actually off the right edge of that right bunker!) A pimple type feature is in center of green. Putting over it requires deft touch. Nine times out of ten, it's best just to hit it to front edge, and two putt from there. 

Sixteen is the only par five on the back. With a trap fronting nearly the entire green, which btw is only twenty paces deep, not many can reach and hold this green in two. It requires three well thought out shots. 

Seventeen is a great par four!

Length, sand, and water all make an appearance. A back left pin position is a real challenge. 

Finally eighteen. 

It's treelined and plays uphill on second shot. Like most of the holes here, a trap guards the front right side of the green, so it's a challenge to go pin hunting if you need that last birdie. 

Windmill Lakes is a challenging golf course, a good golf course, but it is not a fun golf course. The longer hitter may hit mid or short irons, but everyone else will wear out their fairway metals and hybrids. And when those clubs are being used, the interesting contours in the greens are not of much use. The player is basically trying to survive, happy to just hit the green in regulation. It s a great course for the college players. I give it a 5 (good). However it's a course I'm not interested in playing too often.