Chapel Hill Golf Course (Mount Vernon, OH)

Located halfway between Mansfield and Columbus, Chapel Hill occupies the grounds that formerly housed the Mount Vernon Bible College. The chapel was converted into a clubhouse and is one of the more unique nineteenth holes. 

(The view of the eighteenth green and clubhouse. This 429 yarder can be quite challenging if the pin is stuck in the front right corner.) 

Chapel Hill was designed in 1996 by Barry Serafin. He mentored under Hurzdan and Kidwell, and much of his work is down in the Columbus area. Most folks in Cleveland aren’t familiar with him, possibly Black Diamond being the exception, but several of his solo designs have been listed in Golfstyle’s Top 100 Ohio Public list including Chapel Hill. 

(The 440 yard seventh demands a solid tee shot down the left which opens up the angle to the green. Laying up to marker and trying to save par from the hill is a viable strategy.) 

Chapel Hill demands strong solid driving. Even on the holes atop the hill to start the round, Serafin designed interesting and good driving lines for players to obtain an advantageous position to make birdie. The course starts getting good at the seventh, and by then one better be hitting it well. 

(The 437 yard ninth can be a round wrecker. It’s a very tough hole to make par. My

CGA buddies would love the patio! I can only imagine the ooohs and ahhhs as balls made or didn’t make the green.) 

(The 441 yard eleventh is a beautiful par four. The entire left side is guarded by a hazard and the elevated green makes par a good score.) 

The stretch of holes 7-11 is particularly strong. Par will be a good score on any of these. The course then crosses Johnstown road and holes 

13-17 are located over here.  Each one is a birdie opportunity, highlighted by the beautiful par five fourteenth. 

(The 581 yard fourteenth is every bit as strategic as it is beautiful. The golfer plays to a spot where he can hit an approach head on at the pin. Failure to obtain that angle can result in a problematic third shot.) 

(The 153 yard sixteenth is a lovely hole over wetlands to an open green.) 

The course crosses back over the road and finishes with a strong par four played under the shadow of the clubhouse steeple. 

(The view looking back from eighteen green. Note the beautiful rolling topography!) 

Chapel Hill is a course worth playing, and it is one of the better courses in the Columbus area. Granted, it’s thirty minutes north of the city, but most of the play comes from here. I did play with my girlfriend, and the lady’s tees at 4600 yards is well done. All in all, it’s a really fun course to play. I give it a 5 (good)(worth driving an hour).