Central Ohio Golf Course Scene

There are three common answers to the question: “Why don’t you play golf?” In no particular order they are: the expense, the time commitment and the degree of difficulty, whether it be understanding the rules or learning the complexities of the swing.

All of the aforementioned responses are obstacles to the growth of the game, and until the barriers are broken down, the number of people participating in golf around the country will remain stagnant.

A new golf club outside of golf-crazed Columbus is doing its part to introduce new players to the game, as well as allow avid golfers to get in a round without having to schedule a vacation day. Little Bear Golf Village is a 10-hole track located in Lewis Center that’s affordable, family-friendly, and most important of all, fun for everyone regardless of ability.

Built on 300 acres of rolling farmland more than 80 years ago, the Tam O'Shanter Golf Course features 36 holes of championship golf on two courses, the Dales and the Hills, a premier practice facility featuring a complete driving range with 30 grass tees, a full-service restaurant, pro shop and lounge.

The Dales Course, which was built in 1928 and recently celebrated its 80th anniversary, is slightly longer than the Hills Course. It was built on somewhat flat terrain and is the more tree-lined of the two layouts. However, mounds in the generally wide fairways can cause uneven lies. The course is a challenging layout used for the final round of the Ohio Open Championship from 1988-2003. It was designed by Harold Macomber, who was a disciple of the legendary Donald Ross.

Scattered from the shores of Lake Erie near Toledo to the suburbs of the capital city of Columbus, the ten courses that combine to form the Buckeye Golf Trail represent a sampling of the championship-caliber layouts found throughout the state and celebrate the heritage and history of the game nearly perfected by Ohio’s own Jack Nicklaus - the most decorated major champion in the history of professional golf.

This spring the Buckeye Golf Trail will celebrate its first full year of operation and is offering residents and visitors a chance to experience some of the states finest courses designed by the likes of Arthur Hills and Brian Huntley for a fraction of the regular cost.

The backbone of the majority of public golf courses in the state of Ohio is the small family-owned business that is passed from generation to generation. Some courses even trace their beginnings to a modest family farm prior to being transformed into 18-hole arenas dedicated to pitching, putting and the like.

For Tom Holtzberry, owner of Colonial Golfer's Club, much of his adult life has been dedicated to the betterment of the golf course and making sure his facility fulfilled its obligation to grow the game of golf and bring the tiny community of Harrod together. Just shy of 40 years after his late father Bob purchased the land now occupied by Colonial, the Ohio Golf Course Owners Association has bestowed an honor upon the course that the two men dreamed of but weren't sure was possible. 

The ascension of Dublin from tiny, quaint central Ohio village to its standing as a bustling suburban city begins and ends with one man. Jack Nicklaus led Dublin’s renaissance, transforming the Columbus suburb into an active community of over 32,000 and making it “Ohio’s Most Famous Golf Address” in the process.

Nicklaus was born in nearby Columbus, home to The Ohio State University he would later attend, and was raised in the suburb of Upper Arlington. Together with Arnold Palmer and Gary Player (collectively known as the “Big Three”), he is credited with turning golf into the major spectator sport it has become. The project that launched him into the stratosphere of golf course design, Muirfield Village Golf Club and its corresponding residential area, became the cornerstone of the Dublin area.

Entering just their third season as owners of Ashville’s Upper Lansdowne Golf Course, Bryan and Tamie Wallake have drastically improved every aspect surrounding the venerable old course. Changes for the better abound at Upper Lansdowne Golf Course and people are noticing.

Since the change in ownership significant improvements have been made that include remodeling of the clubhouse, completion of an irrigation system, addition of extra cart paths and an aesthetic upgrade to the bunkers, which are now filled with white sand.

A few minimal changes are also planned for the routing of the course which will make for a more efficient round, allowing golfers to more rapidly progress from point A to point B and quicken their pace of play. 

The clubhouse restaurant, Oasis Café, was also remodeled and now features an expanded menu that includes weekly home cooked specials. Additionally, a breakfast buffet is now served every Saturday morning from 7:30 a.m. until 10 a.m.

In two weeks Dublin will take its yearly turn in the spotlight as The Memorial, Jack Nicklaus’ vision and annual PGA TOUR event rolls into town. While the tournament is being contested Muirfield Village Golf Club will be preoccupied so Memorial patrons will have to look elsewhere if they’d like to tee it up themselves.

There is no better spot than the Golf Club of Dublin, which is making a name for itself as one of the best public golf facilities in the region. 

Shortly following the course’s opening awards would follow. Numerous publications and media outlets, including Great Lakes Golf, Golf Magazine, ESPN and Golfstyles, dubbed the design one of the best new golf courses in the country.

The four-man scramble is one of the most enjoyable formats for team competition in golf. After all, finding one decent shot out of four is a welcome proposition to many golfers. Beginning this spring, golf clubs across the country will be able to compete in The Great American Scramble and vie for the coveted title of National Champions in Las Vegas.

After the longstanding Buick/Oldsmobile Scramble shut down in 2005, golfers were left without a national scramble competition. PGA Professional Wayne Stone decided to change that. Stone created an event aimed at bringing excitement, camaraderie and team-building experiences back to golfers through the scramble format.

Stone, who is the director of Golf at Windermere Country Club in Windermere, Fla., decided there was enough interest to create a national scramble just by gauging the response of his members to the loss of the Buick event. Encouraged by the feedback, Stone set out to create the national tournament that was currently missing from the golf world.

There is something very important to be said about “been there, done that,” especially when it comes to creating a great golf experience. The new owners of Cumberland Trail Golf Club in Pataskala bring the background of building the ONLY Golf Digest Places-to-Play 5-Star club in Ohio, Little Mountain up on Lake Erie, to the fabulous farmland setting just east of Columbus.

Cumberland Trail Golf Course and Little Mountain already share a past, created by the Columbus-based, but internationally recognized designers Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry. Now they share a future, under the umbrella of Little Mountain’s awardwinning management and as part of the growing Hurdzan/Fry Trail.

If you’ve been to Cumberland Trail before, the spectacular bentgrass greens that were kept at 10-1/2 on the Stimpmeter before they’re ever double-cut or rolled are still there, but are now joined by bunkers restored to the Hurdzan/Fry original specs, even though it involves much more maintenance. 

The Village of Groveport likes to think of itself as “Central Ohio’s hometown,” which would make the Links at Groveport the hometown’s hometown course. The formerly private Willows Golf Club was obtained by the village in January of 2005 and word’s still getting out that this private club-style gem located just 15 minutes southeast of downtown Columbus and 5 minutes outside I-270 on US 33 is open for everyone to enjoy.

You don’t have to imagine a privatequality course carrying a top weekend greens fee of $40 (with cart) and many opportunities to play for much less. It is very real at this historic layout, begun with 9 holes from Frank Waugh back in 1929 and complemented with nine “new” ones from Dr. Michael Hurdzan and Jack Kidwell, a pair of Ohio design legends, back in 1971. 

Its former name, the Willows, tells you a lot about the landscape at this classic tract. Woods and water and immaculately-kept fairways and roughs, greens and tees, welcome you to an original golf experience. Four sets of tees that range from 5,500 to 6,600 yards assure you’ll get all the challenge you’ll want, but an experience that’ll keep you coming back to The Links at Groveport for more.