Central Ohio Golf Course Scene

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.

We all love “new,” especially when it’s new and improved. The newest jewel in the great golf gallery of the Columbus area is the “new” East Golf Club.

This New Albany getaway that’s located just seven miles outside the I-270 loop off Rt. 161 has been reconditioned from the formerly private Winding Hollow Golf Club with thousands of hours of TLC by the same Management people who’ve built quite a reputation for excellence at Fields and the Golf Club of Dublin.

The best news is that we can now all play this Arthur Hills masterpiece that just re-opened late last summer.

Hills is an Ohio native who already has a Hall of Fame list of classics on his resume across the Buckeye State, from Longaberger and Red Hawk Run to Shaker Run and Turnberry. East Golf Club East is now ready to take its place among that group of Hills gems. 

We’ve all heard the line "you’re known by the company you keep"? How’s this for a short list of names that includes Little Mountain Country Club in Concord, less than an hour up I-90 from Cleveland — Bandon Dunes, Pacific Dunes, Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill, Pinehurst #2, Bethpage Black, The Ocean Course at Kiawah, Whistling Straits and Arcadia Bluffs?

Those are some of the OTHER 16 public-access courses, only 16, in the entire country given 5-Stars the last two years in Golf Digest’s Places to Play ratings.

If it is possible for a 5-Star course within 3 hours’ drive of 4 major metropolitan areas to still be considered a hidden gem, this stunningly gorgeous, yet still reasonably-priced Hurdzan/Fry design is that glittering diamond in the not-so-rough. What nearly all those other 5-Star classics have that Little Mountain Country Club doesn’t is either an ocean or mountain view, though you can see Lake Erie on a good day from the top of the 17th tee.

A World-Class Resort Experience Right Here at Home

Imagine the picturesque landscapes of Arizona, the lakes and marshes of South Carolina, the wispy fescues of the Great Lakes and stunning elevation changes of the Appalachians. All brough together within the city limits of the home of Pro Football’s Hall of Fame?

You don’t have to just imagine, you can play it, right now! The Quarry Golf Club is only just crossing its first birthday this spring, yet already feels like it has fit into its old Stark Ceramics clay quarry for decades. Its hundred-foot cliffs, rock outcroppings, natural waste areas, deep water lakes and streams and mature stands of native trees have created arguably northeast Ohio’s most unique golf venue, and proven once again the old real estate axiom that it’s all about location, location, location. The course’s location in a more friendly climate just off I-77 and SR 30, away from the Great Lakes and mountains, yet easily accessible from the Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Columbus metro areas has made it, and Canton’s other fine courses, a new destination for golf lovers who crave a new challenge.

There is nothing in sport quite like the risk/reward decision, and no sport where that decision is so common than golf, except maybe horse racing. The two sports of kings come together in that passion for challenge nowhere quite like Windy Knoll Golf Club , just on the north side of Springfield. The former world class thoroughbred horse farm that was home to Avatar, Native Uproar and other Derby-quality horses has matured into its fifth season as the home to a Scottish links-quality layout that dares you to seize the roses if you’re willing to risk the thorns of failure.

Ances on the rolling, heather-covered pastureland with considerable mounding and undulating greens. And the name Windy Knoll? It’s as much a tribute to the most important element you’ll face than it is to any reference to horses. As with any true links course, the breezes are always a factor at Windy Knoll, making, for example, the par-5 18th a possible driver/6-iron with the wind at your back, and a three-shot monster into a stiff northeast breeze, with out of bounds right off the tee and water left at the green to add a little more risk to a decision that could be rewarded with eagle, or double-bogey.

#2 Best New Public Golf Course Under $75 in America – Golf Digest

Let’s face it, while we appreciate how great the golf is in the Buckeye State, we also realize how rare the access is to much of it on private course. The new Blue Heron Golf Club in Medina is changing that perception. Ranked #2 in Golf Digest’s “Best New Courses in America Under $75,” Blue Heron will feature 27 distinctive holes designed by renowned architect John Robinson with the opening of its third (River) nine this spring. This quiet venue offers visitors a full day (and then some) of fabulous golf, a gorgeous weekend stay-and-play getaway and an outstanding outing facility, all within about a half-hour of the Cleveland and Akron metro areas, and less than 90 minutes from Columbus.

Valued - To regard highly, esteemed, respected.
Value - Receiving more than you expected for the cost.

Value is an idea we all, well, value. We value those who value us. And we love to get a value. Not “something for nothing”, but something worthwhile for our time and treasure. Eagle Creek Golf Club just outside Norwalk is that type of valued venue. Its 4-1/2-Star rating in Golf Digest’s Places to Play puts it on a very short list alongside the EagleSticks, Stonewaters, Shaker Runs and Longabergers as one of the top dozen-or-so public courses in Ohio. And yet with a stunningly-low top rate on a weekend of $49 with cart, Eagle Creek can be the kind of home-away-from-home course you’ll want to come back to, again and again.

The 1995 Brian Huntley design is maturing like a fine wine amidst the woodlands, wetlands and valleys of northwest Ohio. With large, undulating greens, water on 11 holes and thousands of mature trees, it’s easy to boast that every hole on this par-71 layout has something different to offer.

The next time you’re turned off by the corporate-designed golf factories and want to get back to natural golf in an unspoiled setting, with family ownership, and yet also be challenged by a lay aot from one of Ohio’s most renowned architects that’s been awarded 4-Stars by Golf Digest’s Places to Play (in the company of courses like Longaberger, Elks Run and Avalon Lakes), you’ll be surprised at all you’ll find at Mohican Hills Golf Club in Jeromesville in Ashland County.

Original owner Jim Markling still manages the operation with his daughter Jan and son Tom, and what they oversee is truly something worth seeing, and playing. Markling, who was in the oil drilling business, had a secret ambition to someday build his own golf course.