Around 10 years ago, when my wife Marilyn and I started to search out and play public courses that have at one time been ranked in the Top 100 by Golf Digest, we did not realistically think that we actually could complete this very long list. After all, Golf Digest started these rankings in 2003 and has been coming out with a new list every two years since. That means there has been eight Top 100 lists that have included 202 different courses. By the time we started playing our way though these courses, two had closed and seven others became private courses and no longer had public access. That left 194 courses to complete this unlikely quest. As we traveled to different regions of the country and played anywhere from 7 to 21 courses per trip, we suddenly realized that we could actually pull off the goal of playing every course ever listed on each of the eight top 100 lists. In other words, play 194 ranked courses in 39 different states. Another realization that my wife made me aware of was the fact that once I reached the 194 finish line, she would not be able to share the satisfaction of this achievement since I had played 16 of these courses with my buddies or on business trips. You probably can guess what that meant. Yes, I had some courses to revisit with Marilyn as my playing partner this time around. I have to admit, I really enjoyed going back to these fine facilities as in the case of several, it had been some years since my first visit. Luckily for us, playing these 16 courses did not require a lot of traveling as two were in Ohio where we live, four next door in Indiana and seven were in South Carolina fairly close to our Litchfield condo. There were two in Alabama, The Judge at Capital Hill and Limestone Springs which we played on a somewhat out of the way trip back to Ohio from South Carolina. The final course is Kapalua Plantation in Hawaii which would normally be a big problem, but we will finish our quest in Hawaii later this year as there are five other courses that we both have to play. Since the South Carolina and Alabama courses were already discussed and reviewed in other posts, this post will discuss the six courses in Ohio and Indiana.
It had been about 30 years since I had played Otter Creek (#31 Last Ranked in 2003) in Columbus, Indiana. This is a 1964 Robert Trent Jones, Sr. design and his son, Rees Jones was brought in to add another nine and to refresh the original 18 holes in 1994. Although this course has not been ranked in the Top 100 since 2003, it can still hold its head high as it is a very interesting championship style golf course. The West and the North nines make up the original Trent Jones, Sr. course that was rated in the Top 100. This layout is extremely interesting and quite varied in its design. Approximately the same number of holes move to the right as favor the left, it has varied lengths for the par 4’s from 307 yards to 440 yards if you play the blue tees, about half the holes have water hazards, the bunkers are strategically located and practically every hole has some opening in the front where a short but straight approach can run onto the green. The slope rating from the blue tees which measure 6,537 is a stout 138. That yardage is a little long for my enjoyment but the white tees played only 5,690 yards. Therefore, I did what more golfers should do, I played a combination of tees which ended up being 6,051 yards. This is a recommendation I would make for Otter Creek in the future. When new scorecards are printed, include a line for this combination of tees. Many courses that we have played in the past two years are now doing this. The forward tees which most ladies play from are marked as 5,363 yards on the card but the new staff at Otter Creek realized that this is too long for most ladies, so they have located new positions for the forward tees on most holes to see how they are received. I know from my wife’s perspective that she greatly appreciated the shorter yardage which I estimate to be about 4,900 yards. She is a 13 handicap and she shot an 88 and really enjoyed her round. The only other recommendation that I would suggest for Otter Creek to make the round more enjoyable would be to lower the rough by at least one inch. I do not mind playing in a competition with high rough, but for 95% of the rounds played at this course, this extremely high rough makes it more difficult to enjoy your round, and more importantly, it really slows down play as you have to search for every shot in the rough and can only find the ball by looking straight down. In this day and age of trying to attract and keep golfers, you want the round to be enjoyable and you want to play at a respectable pace. Otter Creek may no longer be a Top 100 course in the United States, but it is most certainly a great golf course still. Like many other courses, it has had its share of tough financial struggles but things look much better now as the overall course condition was very good. There were three fairways that had a great deal of grass kill due to the huge amount of rain and very high temperatures this summer but the rest of the fairways were very good, the tees and greens were outstanding and the bunkers were some of the best groomed that we have played this year. All of the staff was extremely friendly and helpful and you can tell that they have a lot of pride in this facility and are working hard to bring it back to the standards it deserves. Another plus about playing Otter Creek is that there are no homes lining the fairways so it is a very serene day on the course. I would not hesitate to return to Otter Creek and I also would not hesitate bringing along my golfing friends as I am sure they would enjoy playing this classic course.
Shaker Run (#81 Last Ranked in 2003) is another example of a great golf course that fell into different stages of disrepair because of financial difficulties. This course is located in Lebanon, Ohio and is a wonderful Arthur Hills design. Like many courses that were built in the economic and boom period of the 1990’s, they added a third nine by Dr. Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry called the Meadows. The original 18 by Hills is made up of the Woodlands and Lakeside nines and consist of great variety and 18 distinct holes. Like Otter Creek, Shaker Run has just enough water hazards and bunkers to create interest to the round and challenge for golfers of all levels. There are a few excellent risk reward holes that will justly payoff for the player that can execute a fine shot but the designer gives the average player plenty of room to make a steady par. The course is built on rolling terrain through very mature hardwoods and around a large lake that is enjoyed by fisherman and boaters. The condition of the course overall is very good and much better than a few years ago. There are several bunkers that are in need of serious repair and it looks as if they are being worked on a few at a time. Hole #3 on the Woodlands nine is a particularly stunning design as it requires a blind tee shot and then an approach over water to the green. The two par 5’s on the Lakeside nine are outstanding and both give you the opportunity to buckle up and go for the green in two but you have to navigate a narrow opening on each. The two closing holes wrap around the lake and you have to decide how much you want to take off from the tee on these stunning par 4’s. In summary, I think that this is certainly one of the best public layouts in the state and if they can get the conditioning up to championship standards, Shaker Run will once again be mentioned in the same sentence as The Virtues which is the top rated public track in Ohio.
Another Indiana course, The Trophy Club (#89 Last Ranked in 2003) located in Lebanon, is an outstanding golf course design and quite interesting to play. Although somewhat like a links in that it has few trees on the holes themselves and a lot of tall fescue between the holes, it would have to be considered a Midwestern parkland design. It was cut from fairly flat farm land but Tim Liddy turned it into a rolling 18 hole diverse challenge. Liddy gives you plenty of room off the tee, but with several water hazards and strategically place bunkers you still have some challenges to overcome. The undulating greens give the course a lot of defense but make for an enjoyable round. The condition of the course was outstanding. The bent grass tees, fairways and greens were in immaculate shape and even the rough was very well kept. The only course condition that was not close to perfect were the bunkers as the course had two inches of rain the night before we played and most bunkers still had a great deal of water standing. Tim Liddy was a long time associate of Pete Dye and this is certainly reflected in the quality of the design. I originally played The Trophy Club in 2016 and posted my thoughts on this site. I spoke highly of this course at that time and I now feel that the course is only better.
Purgatory Golf Club (#87 Last Ranked in 2005) is located just north of Indianapolis in Noblesville, IN and is a very interesting design. The playing surfaces themselves were in very good condition although the rough was very spotty, the bunkers somewhat inconsistent and the cart paths were in bad shape. If you are on a somewhat limited budget, you want to keep your greens, tees and fairways in top condition and they are at Purgatory. This course has many very interesting holes and it certainly keeps you on your toes. It gives you sufficient room off the tees but it is a target golf course so you need to study the hole a little from each tee before just reaching for your driver. The greens are very large and underlating which means you can have some very challenging putts. There are several water hazards on the front side in particular and there are many bunkers to add to the challenge. One of the unique features that I liked in particular was the large rock wall that fronted hole #11. Purgatory was designed by Ron Kern and some of the holes and features remind me a little of some work done by Mike Strantz. It has hosted many area events and tournaments and provides a challenge to all that come to play this layout. Friendly staff and a fine clubhouse facility welcomes you to this central Indiana golf facility and the course will intrigue you. I do not think I would want to be a member at Purgatory as it does not necessarily have the fun factor that you would want from a course you play frequently, but it is unique enough that I would enjoy playing it from time to time.
The fourth Indiana course that Marilyn needed to play to catch up with the courses that I have played was Rock Hollow (#99 Last Ranked in 2003). I previously have mentioned playing Rock Hollow in a post about Indiana courses but will just provide a short new update. This Tim Liddy design remains a favorite of the golfers around Peru, Indiana and they do a lot to promote the game with the youth in the area. This like many other courses in the Midwest, is friendly, welcoming and caters to the public player. It is a very interesting design that provides a lot of diversity in the hole designs and without homes intruding on the course, is a peaceful, serene day on the links. I like Rock Hollow a lot and have come to enjoy all the Tim Liddy designs that I have played. The course conditions were not pristine but were overall were good.
Stonewater (#71 Last Ranked in 2007) in Highland Heights, Ohio was also previously discussed on this blog but I wanted to mention it again since it has been a couple of years since I played it. This is a Hurdzan-Fry design that has good hole variety but many hazards and cross hazards so it is a target golf course to be sure. It sits among many homes in this cleveland suburb and seems to be very popular with the locals and has a lot of play. It has a very small pro shop but a large restaurant that attracts non-golfers as well. The course conditions were not as good as I expected as the bunkers were quite inconsistent and the rough had many weeds and was not well maintained. The greens and fairways were good as this seems to be the trend with many courses that we have played this year. It is no longer Top 100 worthy but provides a nice championship type layout for the locals. After playing these 6 courses, Marilyn is now caught up with me in playing current and previous Top 100 Public courses and when we finish our quest of playing all 194 courses later this year at Pasatiempo, we will be able to celebrate the fact that we played all of these top courses together.
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