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.
No comments:
Post a Comment