(Arguably the most famous finishing hole in Ohio, the eighteenth plays from a tee box elevated 145'. The town of Granville, it's church steeples, it's old mason brick buildings, and the rolling hills of central Ohio make for an amazing view!)
There are six Donald Ross golf courses in Ohio that are public, and Granville is the one that gets the most recognition. The relationship it has with the town is the reason behind that. It's located in downtown Granville, so if you're staying at the Inn, you can walk over with your clubs. If you're going to Denison, you can walk over from campus. It's very similar, I suspect, to the relationship courses have to the towns in Scotland, where an identity is associated with the course.
(The opening hole is just a short drive n pitch hole. Note the push up green and the bunkers short left. The sand is typically not visible but the shadows and mounding let you know where they are.)
(The second hole is 444 yards and is well defended. This is one of the better holes on the course. The green has a step-like feature on the right which is a flat spot, and everything else slopes away.)
Granville lost four original Ross holes when the ridge line that the sixteenth played along was developed into housing. The clubhouse was moved to it's present day spot, a driving range was installed, and holes 10, 15, 16, and 18 were lost. Hurzdan and Kidwell designed four new holes, 14-17. The sequence of the other holes were changed. The second hole was originally the ninth hole, and the clubhouse was the building overlooking the green. The significance of this is, the present day third hole was the first back then. Three is 422 yards and a creek cuts diagonally down the left side of the fairway. It's an intimaditing tee shot! And I can't imagine how difficult a hole this was when that carry off the tee was the first shot of the day!! (Wish I had a pic of it)
The par three fourth continues the round. From the back tees, it plays 233 yards while the men's tees it's only 160 yards. With crossbunkering forty yards short of the green, I would gather the back tee was the original. The fifth is 396 yard par four.
(The uphill fifth doglegs left from the tee before climbing the slope. Note how much pitch is in the green. Compare it against the lake in the background. Reading putts correctly takes skill here.)
(The par five sixth is 501 yards, plenty reachable for today's golfer. The green however is elevated so holding it is problematic. Note the slope in the fairway. For most golfers, the ball will be below your feet, making the green tough to hit even with a wedge.)
(My favorite par three at Granville is the seventh. The green is well defended and is severely sloped. Staying below the hole means challenging those two front bunkers.)
(The uphill 434 yard eighth is a cracker of a hole! Not visible are the crossbunkers forty yards short of the green. From the fairway, if you can just carry the traps, then the ball can be chased onto the green.)
(The ninth is a solid hole and one of the few greens at Granville with internal contouring. Note the big trees. Putting the ball in play is a must here.)
The old tenth was a grand uphill par three. The green is still there, but it is now the practice green in front of the clubhouse. The old eleventh is now ten, and it's a solid par five. Like six, the green is elevated, but this time the golfer will have a pitch with a ball above his feet.
(The par four eleventh is the only hole with trees this much in play. I felt the other holes had plenty of width to them, while here I actually had to play a low runner just off the fairway.)
(The green to the par five twelfth. The hole played very similar to six and ten, though I was relatively close to the green, so this could be best chance to reaching in two. That said, all three played in the same direction, and all three had elevated greens, and all three had pitch shots with ball (1) below your feet and (2) above your feet. They were solid holes, but too similar in my opinion.)
(The reverse cambered par four thirteenth is only 323 yards, but the play is to the far corner of the dogleg so you can have an uphill approach to this green. Note how short the bunkers are from the green, punishing the typical miss from an uphill lie, a fat shot.)
The next four holes are Kidwell/Hurzdan, and they're very different than the Ross holes. From what I read, the long par four that played along the ridge line was the best hole on the course. The eighteenth was a strong par four too.
(Sixteen plays uphill through the mounds. The view from the green is beautiful, and probably similar to the view from the old Ross holes.)
(Seventeen is a decent par three. The tee plays atop the ridge that separates fifteen and sixteen. The big house behind the green is an indication how valuable the land is on this portion of the property. Thankfully Denison University owns the course now, and it can be enjoyed for a long time to come.)
Then we have the eighteenth. If you show a picture of it to any golf affianado, he would know you're at Granville. However, he might not know it was originally the seventeenth. At 368 yards minus the 145' elevation, the green is driveable. Of course the green has a little trick up it's sleeve, a lower shelf in the back left. A pin back there requires a very deft touch.
Granville is one of the top public courses in the Columbus area. It has Donald Ross' nuances and strategies. It takes a keen eye and knowledge of architecture to attack the course appropriately. The four Kidwell/Hurzdan holes are obviously different, however my biggest complaint is the Kentucky blue grass/bentgrass mixture they use. The fairways are thin and don't provide the best lie to hit from. It's a course I would definitely play if I find myself in Columbus, but I'm not willing to drive two hours to exclusively play it. That said, the town is very cool and is worth searching out. So if a weekend away is what you need, then Granville is the place. I give it a 5 (good)(worth driving an hour to play). 
(The Granville Inn)
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