Monday, October 7, 2019

Eagle Creek Golf Resort (Findlay, IL)

I played Eagle Creek over 25 years ago, but I had to blog about it because it shaped my personal perception towards golf. At the time, I was 19 and had only been playing for two years, but somehow I was on the Cleveland State golf team. I was writing for the school newspaper when the athletic dept placed an advertisement for players to try out. So I did. 

There was really only one reason why I made the team... not enough guys showed up to compete, so I was on the B team. The best part  was the free golf at Medina CC, and the free range balls over at Johnnycake in Mentor. None of us on the B team had to worry about playing in a tournament, well, until the university had invitations to two  places on the same weekend. Yes I was going play collegiate golf!!

I played two rounds at Eagle Creek, and neither time did I break 100. In fact, I came in last place!! I beat no one! It was the epitome of embarrassment. I recall whiffing not just once but twice! Most people would’ve given the game up, but I fell more in love with it. In my mind, if you could play good golf, a very difficult objective, then you were actually achieving and accomplishing something. And so my golf journey started here. 

I met my best buddy at Eagle Creek, and we’ve been golfing all over the country ever since. We talk about coming back to this place and playing it again just to see how much better we are compared to then. I recall it being very difficult with narrow fairways. The twelfth and eighteenth are both par fives that I remember vividly. Maybe one day, we can make the trek over. 

(This is the long par five twelfth with Lake Shelbyville in the background...


...the long par four fifteenth offers commanding views too.) 






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