Had a chance to play New Albany this week. Decent condition, but another example of claustrophobia with stroke-and-distance-hay (can't anyone just grow high rough anymore?) and water all over the place. I could live with that, but with no map book, a bad scorecard map and no gps, you have no idea what you are doing unless you've played the course five times. Who decided that a golf course is no good unless your choice off the tee is three hybrid or four hybrid?

Better get out there before it's too late. Course is now starting to peak!

Anyone play Boulder Creek lately? Word is the bunkers and greens are a mess.

Munson Township is holding a meeting Tuesday, August 10 at 7 pm to discuss the future of Fowlers Mill. Here are more details:

Township Trustees Regular Meeting - FOWLERS MILL GOLF COURSE will be on the agenda at 7 pm. THE MEETING WILL BE HELD AT THE NOTRE DAME PROVINCIAL CENTER AUDITORIUM, 13000 AUBURN ROAD.

Anyone planning on attending?

does anyone know how Greyhawk looks this year? It was terribly burned out late last year-a real disappointment?

My foursome took a road trip to Kensington today based on it's top 20 ranking. What a disappointment! The course was in horrible shape. Most of the greens were burned out, diseased or dead. The fairways and tees were scruffy at best. The layout was so-so; way too many blind shots. NO WAY SHOULD THIS COURSE BE IN THE TOP 20.

Anyone want to give me their opinion?

If I had the chance to play the following courses, which one should I play? I am looking for scenic, tough, but well kept. Here would be my choices:

Shale Creek
Blue Herron
Greyhawk
Boulder Creek

By the way, has anyone played Stonewater? How is it?

Fowler's Mills is the fourth top course on the top 20 list and yet it is closing? What's up with that.

Just played Hawthorne Valley Country Club in Solon- now public. A very challenging layout. The course is in fantasic condition and deserves to be reviewed on this site. Great amenities - complimentary juice, coffee and danish/bagels/etc., also freash fruit and water set out on the course. Top shelf experience.

Played Thunder Hill last Saturday. The course doesn't even resemble the pictures shown on this site. I understand new new mgt (took over a week ago) is now in place. They have a monumental task in front of them. The course is in absolutely abysmal shape. You can play 18 weekend now for $20 and it is the worst value i've seen. Conditions are similar to Seneca. I wish them luck, what a great layout to suffer this indignity. Best looking cart girls around though....

Hi, has anyone played a round at Blue Heron. All the reviews I have read are very disappointing. I am setting up a golf outing in Medina and considered this course over the weekend. Do you have any suggestions on courses in the Medina area? Thanks Karl

Has anybody played Spring Valley since they completed the course renovation? The price is right now ($25/round) but curious if its worth the trip out there. Thx.

hawks nest

has anyone played hawks nest lately?

is it still in excellent shape

This site is great! I always check the reviews before I go play a new course. For the most part, I agree with the ratings and comments. I have played 9 of the top 20, with my personal top 10 being Stonewater, Little Mountain, Aurora, Pine Hills, Grey Hawk, Sleepy Hollow, Sweetbriar Legacy, Deer Ridge, Turkeyfoot Lake and Ellsworth Meadows.

I think Blue Heron is slightly overrated. While it is a beautiful and well maintained golf course, the course requires too much target golf to be enjoyable. I have not played the Rivers 9, so maybe that side is better.

If additional reviews are going to be added, I would suggest the following:
-Tanglewood (has been public since late 2009)
-StoneWater (I know they say it is pending, but it has been public since 2009)
-Hawthorne Valley (recently public)
-Willow Creek in Vermillon
-Vermillon CC (9 holes)
-Pheasant Run
-Mud Run (9 holes)

Note: I have not played all of the above courses nor am I recommending them. I am just offering suggestions to improve an already great site.

For trips, I would suggest adding River Greens in West Lafayette, OH and any of the courses in Mercer County, PA.

Played Good Park in Akron. Excellent condition. Lots of mature trees and penalizing rough.

NE Ohio's best kept secret. Under new management and the course is in great shape. Our greens are rolled and Fast! Come visit us between 11am and 2pm, Mon, Tues or Wed for a special price of only $28 18 w/cart for the month of May. For golf outings starting at $65 for 18 w/cart & steak dinner call Milan at 440 729-9516. Ask for me when you come out.

My friends and I first experienced NE Ohio golf last summer after I found this site. We traveled from 50 miles south of Columbus to enjoy your courses. We played:

The Quarry--outstanding layout, great conditon, friendly staff.

Black Diamond--unusual layout, very undulating greens, great conditon and a fun test of golf that you don't normally see.

Hawk's Nest--Nice layout, well conditoned, enoyable staff, especailly the starter---but not the same level as the other two.


We are planning a 3 day return trip this year and are looking at Little Mountain, Stonewater and an undecided course near that area. Any thoughts for a stranger to NE Ohio golf?

What are some good golf courses between Toledo and Cleveland (not to far off 80/90)?

Hawthorne Valley Country Club has transitioned to a semi-private club. Now offering rounds packages in groups of 25 or 50 rounds! No membership dues! No sign up fees! Complimentary continental breakfast and a $10 lunch buffet daily!

Played Fowlers Mill and Manakiki in the past week or so. For March they were both in remarkable shape and not too soggy, balls didn't plug all that often.

Boulder Creek has openings for leagues weekdays after 5:00 and on mornings including Saturday and Sunday.Please call 330-626-2828

St. Denis has some prime time Weekend permanent tee times for foursomes and there's no cost to you or your group.

Also our golf outing schedule for 2010 is starting to fill up, St. Denis golf course is a wonderful course for a scramble event and the beautiful party center is perfect for the after golf banquet.
Please contact Gary Hackle @ 440-749-9584

Great site for N.E Ohio golfers. I've played most of the top twenty I know rankings are subjective but Firestone farms and Kensington are very ordinary and overpriced courses.Play Manikiki,Sleepy hollow,or Aurora .

First time I've been to this site, its good and I think most of the ratings and discussions are pretty close to being right on, based on my very humble opinions. I'm an east sider, so with deference to the west-siders, here are just a couple of my thoughts on some of the good public golf we are lucky enough to have here in NE Ohio.

Manakiki and Sleepy Hollow are can't miss places to play. Shawnee Hills is a good track but could be a really good track with just a little bit of tinkering (let's hope the new exec director of the MetroParks, who has a golf course mgt background, sees it that way too). The MetroPark's Frequent Golfer Plan is a great value-added program. Punderson and Fowler's Mills are always a good challenge. Grantwood and Glen Eagles are good muni courses and great values.

Sugar Bush, in Garrettsville, is a hidden gem...ya got to make the effort to get out there and play, there's plenty of reasons why its on this sites top 20 list...#5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 are a great stretch of holes.

There's alot of talk here about Boulder Creek, its a good layout, but overrated and over priced. Same goes for Little Mountain and StoneWater. Tanglewood and Aurora are on life support but are great tracks, in there hey day they both hosted PGA events. Tanglewood made abit of a come back towards the end of the season last year, hope they both can make it.

For a surprise, check out Oak Tree on the Ohio/PA border near Hubbard, OH

For anyone who enjoys playing golf indoors on simulators, check out the Lost Nation Sports Park. They recently installed some of the best looking and functioning systems that I've ever played on in Cleveland. I was very impressed.

does anyone know of any courses that open during the winter when the weather breaks a little bit like for this weekend...38 and sunny....just find me a course???

Has anyone played Hawthorne Valley Country Club in Solon? I heard they recently opened to the public, is this true?

Golfers Wanted – Saturday Morning Traveling Group

A few spots are open for golfers to add to our Saturday morning traveling group for 2010 (April 17 – October). Play every week or only a few weeks – various NE Ohio area courses. We have hcps ranging from 5 to 36. We play modest but fun games totaling $16.00 per week. Stats/schedule kept on website. If interested, email me at jimc@crmoh.com

Does anyone know of any other indoor practice facility other than the golf dome in chagrin falls?

Anyone heard of or know of any public courses along the lake here in the cleveland area. I've heard rumors about some public courses being built along the lake but I don't recall where or when they'd be opening. Thanks.

Boulder Creek is offering league play for $22.00 including cart Tuesday through Friday after 5:00 pm. We also can accomodate nine hole leagues each morning from 7:00 to 8:30 am. Please call 330-626-2828

Hey I was wondering if anyone has had a chance to play Tanglewood? Its open again and public.

Played Windmill Lakes, The Sanctuary and Turkeyfoot this week and all 3 should be on the top 20 list! Turkeyfoot is the best conditioned course I have played this year. It truely is in country club condition. Windmill Lakes is a close second in condition with awesome greens. The Sanctuary is a great layout and although not as in good a shape as the other two it is still very nice. The greens do show that it gets a lot of play but the roll true and are very very quick! The guy in the clubhouse said they just had them stimped at 11!

Has anyone played Ellsworth Meadows in Hudson this year or recently? What can I expect?

Played Eagle Sticks in Zanesville. Great layout. Lots of fun holes with elevations that allow you to bomb it. Some holes are right next to eachother so you need to be ready to yell fore. A very good and fair challenge. Worth the drive. Check out stay and play specials for the course and tie-in with Longaberger.

First of all, this is a great site. Yesterday I played Brandywine for the first time. The front nine was decent and fun, but the back nine.....HOLY COW! I wouldn't consider this a top tier course, but I've never seen anything like the back nine at Brandywine. Tight and bizarre are the only words I can think of to describe it, but both fall woefully short. It was cartoonish....and I loved it despite the fact that it brought me to my knees. If you haven't been....check it out.

Played Thunder Hill this weekend. We all know about the excellent layout and level of difficulty, that will never change. I want to talk a bit about why the guru's at this website knocked this course out from the top 5 a while back. One word sums up the course conditions - inconsistent. You'd have chewed up greens on one hole, and a perfectly manicured green on the next. Bare patches in the fairways one hole, nice green pastures on the next. That theme kept coming up hole after hole. And it wasn't just the greens; fairways, bunkers, all were like that. It's really too bad. This is all of course my humble opinion, but if not for some awesome discounts that are available, I wouldn't play there. They still seem to get a lot of outings though.

I played Black Diamond this week. The course is in excellent shape. It has to be one of the hilliest designs in Ohio. My only complaint is the greens. they are so slanted that you are severly penalized. Takes away from a fun day of golf. Definetly worth the trip. Maybe you need to play from the tee boxes that allow you to drive the green to give you as many chances to put so you can make par.

When are they going to update the top 20 it says spring of 2009 but its summer of 09 now so.......a little late how about some updates please. oh and by the way Boulder creek is one of the best/worst courses i've ever played in Ohio. The course is challenging which makes it great and depending on the time of year I agree with Tazman, it can be in poor shape. But overall I love the course, give it another chance Taz you just caught it at the wrong time and I think you will enjoy it when its in the shape it is now. The employee attitude still needs improving but hey they love their course and they "drink their own Kool-aid" I love that crack!!

I am new to golfing, I read Harvey Penicks three books last year and then I got some hand me down clubs and went to the driving range. So this year I dared go on a course. It seems a pretty simple sport you hit the ball, swear and then go into a grove of trees and tried to find it. Most likely even if you don’t find your ball you will find a ball to play. I have taught myself how to play but I may have to se a pro soon because I am not getting any better. Well anyway I had a review of royal oaks in Grafton Ohio that I played last Sunday. It’s not a very pleasant course it has bare spots in the fairways and rough. The greens were actually nice. There is train that comes by three of the holes there is a bulldozer on four I think and on five behind the green is a ditch full of cinder blocks and other debris. When we called for pricing she gave us the weekday pricing and that was disappointing when we got there being twice what we were quoted.

Played Manakiki over the weekend. I used to play there a lot but I haven't been back in a few years. Since then they've done a fabulous job reworking some bunkers and changing the shape of some holes. I thought the changes made to the par 3 7th hole are incredible. It used to be a bland hole, now they've made the green smaller, added some contour to the bunker on the right and turned the cart path around to the left. I really liked it. Also they reshaped the 18th green complex, the fairway extends all the way up to the green with a small grass bunker in front of the green. They also reduced the uphill slope considerably. A few new bunkers on 12 to help shape the hole better. Overall conditions were good, greens were consistent and medium paced. Slow play always plagued this course and that hasn't chnaged. The starter was not very friendly either.

played Chippewa in Doylestown. Course was in excellent condition. I haven't played there in a long time. They have really improved the course.

Played Spring Valley in Elyria Sunday and it had some ups and downs. The major down was finding the tee boxes and the layout of the course it has you going in every direction to the next hole except the logical one, second was the ranger tried to tell us the group behind us was playing at a faster rate of play and if it continued to let them play through, we (3 golfers) had to wait on a two some who were a bit more amateur then your normal in front and with all fairness to them they played 10 to 15 minute holes which to me a descent standard. third and last complaint was cart path conditions, back roads looked better then these, I don't know if they under renovation for alot of these conditions but its mid season and this should all of been completed. Now on the positive note the holes (with exception to tee boxes) were great. Alot of elevation changes, the 3rd hole has you driving it down into a valley and flying it back up to the hole. The greens were in good condition along with the fairways. "Grip it and Rip it"

Played Boulder 3 times this year. As a beginner golfer I didn't fair too bad, did well espc on the greens. The course could be much nicer but is overal a great course. I would much rather go to Kennsington in Canfield, Ohio. Plays very well and is well maintain and has no off color comments from its staff. At Boulder I have often felt like I was troubeling them. Kennsington has a great practice facility, gps equipped carts and a friendly staff and group of players. Boulder seems to promote Drunk golfers who enjoy gleaming in the glow of their alochol enticed handicaps. If you haven't tried Kennsington, what are you waiting for!? They offer great specials for such a nice course. Huntley did a great job with this course, I beleave he is the same man who desighned The Quarry as well. Next year we are taking the trip to Whistling Straights, looks like a beautiful Open style course. Any feedback?

i just wanted to bring up something about the pictures of the golf courses. I've played cherokee quite a bit this year, and i don't know how it was before or how long ago you took the pictures, but all your images and hole numbers are backwards. you have the back 9 and the front 9 mixed up. hole one's picture is actually 10. it's like that for every picture you have

Played at Kennsington in Canfield, OH yesterday. The course was in excellent shape. Very nice layout. They have some very nice par 3's. Check out the website for email specials. Worth the drive!!!

Played Sleepy Hollow on Saturday - the course is in excellent condition. I highly recommend playing there soon. Bring cash for the turn (no credit/debit cards) and your own bag/cooler for beverages as they no longer provide plastic bags.

Hey Maurice… Pine Hills has better service than Boulder Creek? Unless they just recently came under new management this season I do not see them having better service than Boulder. I have had nothing but bad experiences from the staff there; which is a shame because it is a beautiful course. It is almost as if they put themselves on a pedicel and are more of a country club than a public golf course and that is clearly not the case. I don’t appreciate being talked down to like a child and for $10 more I’d rather play Boulder.

To GCO… I love the site and your top 20 for northeast Ohio. I am playing the Quarry this weekend for the first time and look forward to the round. Also, you need to get the Aurora Country Club listed as an available course; it could easily make the top 20. I do not see it as top 10 yet, they need to improve the conditions of the course for the cost but it is a great track to play.

Played Little Mountain Sunday just after the rain came through. Course was in excellent shape even after the rain. Definately deserves a top spot on the list. Staff was friendly. Best greens I've played all year. Only complaint is the rocks in the 100 or so bunkers on the course, seems like an easy thing to get rid of.

When are they going to update the top 20 it says spring of 2009 but its summer of 09 now so.......a little late how about some updates please. oh and by the way Boulder creek is one of the best/worst courses i've ever played in Ohio. The course is challenging which makes it great and depending on the time of year I agree with Tazman, it can be in poor shape. But overall I love the course, give it another chance Taz you just caught it at the wrong time and I think you will enjoy it when its in the shape it is now. The employee attitude still needs improving but hey they love their course and they "drink their own Kool-aid" I love that crack!!