Located on the southern edge of the Ohio University campus in Athens, Ohio, the course has an interesting layout that takes into account the local terrain and the Hocking river where four holes are located on the south bank. The third hole from the green tees, the drive challenges the player to "cut-off" as much of the hole as possible as the tee shot is across the river. The course has only 9 holes with one par 5 and the 9th hole ending with a par 3. Having gone to OU back in the late 90's and early 2000's, when there barely was a course, this design is a tremendous improvement.
Unfortunately this recent visit to the OU course has been disappointing from previous trips as the condition of the tees and fairways have diminished significantly. According to the course manager, maintenance has been an issue as the grounds crew is made up of mostly students and all costs to run the course come solely from greens fees. This coupled with a hot summer has been a recipe for the tees and fairways getting burnt out. Fortunately the greens are still rolling well, but care must be taken such that their condition is not ruined permanently.
The course is very walkable, if there is such a word. Green fees are also very affordable as I paid $10 on Thursday as an alum. Overall I rate this course 2.5 stars.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Maumee Bay Golf Course
Located on the shores of Lake Erie in a state park near Toledo, Ohio, Maumee Bay Golf Course is branded as a links style golf course. The layout does have that feel, but it is hard to believe that a true links golf course would have cart paths on every hole or carts would be allowed on a course to begin with. Although many holes had tall fescue grass, the bunkers were also poorly maintained such that they had no "definition" that many would associate with a links style course.
As with many courses nowadays, there is a mandatory cart policy on weekends before 3:00. This is quite sad as the course is operated by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), whose chief duty is to promote recreation. I presume that the idea behind the cart policy is to "speed up" play. On this day, however, we waited on every shot. After an hour to play three holes, a call to the pro shop indicated that there was nothing that could be done to speed up play. (I do believe a ranger is allowed on golf courses still.) I later learned that there was an outing of some sort ahead of us. Why courses allow outings on a weekend during peak hours is beyond me. In total the 18 took 5 1/2 hours to play.
Overall I was disappointed with the course. I had heard good things about the course and its layout is neat. But the conditions of the course warrant some TLC. As a courtesy, for the long round and our disagreement with the cart policy, the pro shop granted us a free round of golf. In the end, however, I give this course 2 stars.
As with many courses nowadays, there is a mandatory cart policy on weekends before 3:00. This is quite sad as the course is operated by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), whose chief duty is to promote recreation. I presume that the idea behind the cart policy is to "speed up" play. On this day, however, we waited on every shot. After an hour to play three holes, a call to the pro shop indicated that there was nothing that could be done to speed up play. (I do believe a ranger is allowed on golf courses still.) I later learned that there was an outing of some sort ahead of us. Why courses allow outings on a weekend during peak hours is beyond me. In total the 18 took 5 1/2 hours to play.
Overall I was disappointed with the course. I had heard good things about the course and its layout is neat. But the conditions of the course warrant some TLC. As a courtesy, for the long round and our disagreement with the cart policy, the pro shop granted us a free round of golf. In the end, however, I give this course 2 stars.
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