PennOhio Golf Trail

[pulledabill]

Looks like I will be heading to Golfworks in Ohio come the last week of October for a couple days of classroom work.  I plan on playing Virtues and maybe John Cooks family course while out that way.  I see this PennOhio golf trail advertised.  ANybody with any info on what courses are worth my time or courses to avoid? 

I might fly into NY for a couple days then drive out as I have never explored that country much. Or since I've been to NY, I might do Chicago and hit courses along that route instead.  Early stages of what will fit my budget.  I might just hit Columbus then go where the wind blows me. 

[skrupa15]

I grew up on the PA/Ohio border so I'm very familiar witch quite a few of these courses.  I'll do my best to give you a brief overview of the courses I played:

Pine Lakes:  Smaller greens and routing that uses the local terrain well.  Always in good shape.  One of the very best value courses I've played; a $35 dollar greens fee that should easily be $45-$50.

Boulder Creek:  Beautiful property and excellent conditions.  The greens are constructed with seed from Augusta (for whatever that's worth).  You'll pay a premium to play here but it's stupid easy to get to and worth the price in my opinion.

New Castle Country Club:  A tough, classic track.  This course always looks so lush no matter what time of year.  I'm actually getting married here in October.  Not sure what the greens fee would be as part of the deal, but there's no denying how nice this old school course is.

Olde Stonewall: This is 10 minutes from where I grew up and one of the best public courses in all of PA.  I've been told the only greens faster in PA are the ones at Oakmont (take that with a shaker of salt).  Some holes will absolutely blow you away with the scenery.  Front and back nines are VERY different.  I would NEVER pay the $160 greens fee to play here but often you can snag a $90-$100 greens fee as part of a deal.  At that price I would never pass it up.

Yankee Run:  Another good value.  Only played here a handful of times but my dad's league keeps coming back to this play for field days year after year.  Hard to put in the class of courses you should go out of your way to play though.

Reserve Run:  One of my favorites.  A slightly more contemporary design that has some unique features.  Always in good shape.

Firestone Farms: Another of my favorites.  Another contemporary design with some really pretty holes.  Not quite as good a value as Reserve Run but at the right price I'd never pass this up.

Tam O'Shanter:  Classic design with rolling hills and tree lined fairways.  One of the more impressive clubhouses and practice facilities you'll see for a course of this size and price.  Not exactly a course that I would go out of the way to play, but it has a large and loyal following.

Lake Arthur:  Another tremendous value.  I once paid $29 for 18 holes and cart that included a hot dog and fountain drink at the turn.  Small greens, tree lined fairways, and classic design (starting to notice a trend?). Kind of in the middle of nowhere and not a course to make a special trip for.

Stonecrest:  My home course growing up.  Nothing fancy.  A really nice piece of land that I can't imagine being anything other than a golf course.  Friendly staff, reasonable prices but not a course to go out of your way for.

Castle Hills:  Maybe the best value on this list other than Pine Lakes.  $27 for 18 and a cart on weekdays.  Greens are always in great shape.  I think many would also class this as a course to not go out of your way to play but it's the first place I look for a tee time when I'm visiting my parents.

Green Meadows: VERY small greens.  Another good value. I played a lot of high school golf here and always enjoyed it. One downside is being in the middle of nowhere.  Not really a course to go out of your way for.

Mill Creek:  36 holes of Donald Ross design at muni course prices. Convenient location.

Knoll Run:  Full of long, straighter holes, with a lot of tree lined fairways.  Only my opinion but this is the first course on the list I would skip.  It's a perfectly fine place to play, just uninteresting and close to some of my other favorites (reserve, firestone).

Kensington:  Only played here one time.  Very contemporary design; not long at all and LOTS of water.  Seems to be well received over all.  Can be a little pricy in my opinion.

 

I hope this helps.  If you have any specific questions I'd be happy to answer them.

[DiscipleofPenick]

Unfortunately Tam O'Shanter is gone, all 36. The city of Canton bought it and is splitting the property between park and retail...

Boulder Creek you can get on for $40ish during the week, it's a helluva deal. Must play at that price.

I need to get out to those eastern courses- Firestone Farms, Mill Creek, Kensington heard nothing but good things.

Take Dead Aim

[skrupa15]

1 hour ago, Tsmithjr9 said:

Unfortunately Tam O'Shanter is gone, all 36. The city of Canton bought it and is splitting the property between park and retail...

Boulder Creek you can get on for $40ish during the week, it's a helluva deal. Must play at that price.

I need to get out to those eastern courses- Firestone Farms, Mill Creek, Kensington heard nothing but good things.

Take Dead Aim
 

This Tam O'Shanter is in Hermitage, PA.

[DiscipleofPenick]

This Tam O'Shanter is in Hermitage, PA.

My bad

Take Dead Aim

[MaxEntropy]

Other courses I would recommend:

The Quarry: pretty pricey, but a very good course.

Shale Creek: owned by the same group as The Quarry and have heard it's very good, too, but I have never played it.

Windmill Lakes: nothing spectacular, but a nice course and good deals can be found.

I'm not sure the last time @skrupa15, was at Boulder Creek, but when I was there last year, conditions were not so great and there have been grumblings among people I have talked to that the conditions are sliding so the course may not be worth the price they generally charge for it. I think it is a very nice layout and interesting course. I believe they may be under new management, but not really sure?

[skrupa15]

9 minutes ago, MaxEntropy said:

Other courses I would recommend:

The Quarry: pretty pricey, but a very good course.

Shale Creek: owned by the same group as The Quarry and have heard it's very good, too, but I have never played it.

Windmill Lakes: nothing spectacular, but a nice course and good deals can be found.

I'm not sure the last time @skrupa15, was at Boulder Creek, but when I was there last year, conditions were not so great and there have been grumblings among people I have talked to that the conditions are sliding so the course may not be worth the price they generally charge for it. I think it is a very nice layout and interesting course. I believe they may be under new management, but not really sure?

Thanks for the update. It's been at least 6-7 years since I played Boulder Creek.  Sad to hear the conditions are sliding.

[MaxEntropy]

3 minutes ago, skrupa15 said:

Thanks for the update. It's been at least 6-7 years since I played Boulder Creek.  Sad to hear the conditions are sliding.

Pretty sure I had heard they were under new management, but maybe I'm wrong. Hopefully they will get it turned around. I assume I'll play there at some point this year, so I'll let everyone know how it looks.

[DiscipleofPenick]

Other courses I would recommend:
The Quarry: pretty pricey, but a very good course.
Shale Creek: owned by the same group as The Quarry and have heard it's very good, too, but I have never played it.
Windmill Lakes: nothing spectacular, but a nice course and good deals can be found.
I'm not sure the last time [mention=69557]skrupa15[/mention], was at Boulder Creek, but when I was there last year, conditions were not so great and there have been grumblings among people I have talked to that the conditions are sliding so the course may not be worth the price they generally charge for it. I think it is a very nice layout and interesting course. I believe they may be under new management, but not really sure?

I haven't been down to Quarry, but I've heard tons of nice things.

Shale is nice and kind of links-y but no deals to be found so I think it's even $60 during the week. Which is expensive around here.

I played Boulder in July there was nothing wrong with the conditions when I played it, but maybe it's not quite where it's weekend price tag should be. Also all the tees were moved up at least two boxes.

But I gotta ask... what's not so special about Windmill? It's an older style course that doesn't have the modern contouring like Boulder and Shale, but it's a long course well designed course that tests every aspect of the game. Maybe I just prefer the older courses with the no nonsense come and get me vibe.

Take Dead Aim

[MaxEntropy]

18 minutes ago, Tsmithjr9 said:

But I gotta ask... what's not so special about Windmill? It's an older style course that doesn't have the modern contouring like Boulder and Shale, but it's a long course well designed course that tests every aspect of the game. Maybe I just prefer the older courses with the no nonsense come and get me vibe.

Don't get me wrong, I like the course and if it were closer to my house I would play it a lot more - and it can be a great value. The two times I played it were 1) late summer, very dry conditions and 2) very, very wet and swampy, so maybe my perception is skewed a bit.

[DiscipleofPenick]

Don't get me wrong, I like the course and if it were closer to my house I would play it a lot more - and it can be a great value. The two times I played it were 1) late summer, very dry conditions and 2) very, very wet and swampy, so maybe my perception is skewed a bit.

Ok cool, that makes sense. It's hard to judge a course when it's a swamp, but right now everything is...ugh. I used to play it a lot when I lived east of Cle but I still try to go at least once a year.

Take Dead Aim

[WeArePSUGolfer]

On 5/2/2019 at 7:09 PM, skrupa15 said:

This Tam O'Shanter is in Hermitage, PA.

I used to travel to Sharon, PA for work a lot and played this course a few times.  Hotels within 1/2 mile of the course and all of it not more than 1/2 mile off I-80.

You can also head downtown Sharon and eat at the original Quaker Steak & Lube. 

[skrupa15]

On 5/4/2019 at 11:42 AM, WeArePSUGolfer said:

I used to travel to Sharon, PA for work a lot and played this course a few times.  Hotels within 1/2 mile of the course and all of it not more than 1/2 mile off I-80.

You can also head downtown Sharon and eat at the original Quaker Steak & Lube. 

Combine Brothers was our traditional stop after playing at TamO.  Have you ever been?

[WeArePSUGolfer]

I wasn't aware of Combine Brothers.  Looks great.