It’s not unwalkable like Boulder creek but it’s not far behind. Yes, early on it’s wasn’t the best and needed some maturing but last year it was great. Every year it’s gotten better for me personally.
You must really like it—that’s like over an hour drive for you.
I don’t want to speak for Mr. Bag Tag, but I personally always dislike courses that are unwalkable, like to the point that I tried and the golf shop wouldn’t even let me on a random Tuesday at 10am. Especially ones that are designed as such when they don’t have to be. Legacy and Greyhawk are through developments, and that restricts them to needing carts, but VotE doesn’t such restrictions and its unwalkable anyways.
It also felt like target golf to me a lot of the time, very little strategy or risk/reward, basically just hit it here and hit it there. And I have NEVER seen an available tee time there before 11am on weekends.
Pine Hills or Sleepy Hollow are kind of my personal barometers for public golf around Cleveland, and VotW is both more expensive and less accepting than both of those places, and that’s before I even hit a shot.
I’ll definitely play VotE again, I want to this year. Hopefully to be proven wrong and that it has improved dramatically.
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I just play it once or twice a year. I don’t mind driving for golf especially in the morning.
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I wouldn’t put it above pine hills or sleepy but I do enjoy the course very much. I didn’t know that you weren’t even allowed to walk if you wanted to. That is nonsense. I don’t think I’ve ever made a tee time either, they’ve been made by people I play with but it does always seem busy. Pace of play never seems terrible.
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They put themselves in that category with those courses based on their price level. I can go down the street and play Forest Hills for $22 and walk. You’d spend half the round walking between holes. Continuity is something that helps me enjoy a course, and its tough when every time is a 2-3 minute drive. They are definitely busy, so their model won’t change, and they aren’t hurting for my greens fee.
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I think @quicktempo hit most of the talking points. It’s essentially unwalkable being the key nit to pick but also a lot of it felt sort of contrived. I did play it the first year it opened in about 30mph winds in late October so that may have affected my opinion but overall it was just sort of meh. I was sold a premium experience but can get better for cheaper elsewhere. Probably time to give it a second chance.
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Great course to walk. And reallly good range, even if finding it was a challenge the first time.
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A summer staple for an dawn patrol 18. Once the “Low 6” dry out down by the river.
I don’t mind walking or riding. I’d prefer to walk but some rounds call for a cart. I don’t understand why they won’t let people walk. There’s a little room between holes but it’s not Boulder creek room between holes.
Even if they did let you walk, you’re still paying for a cart. They only have one rate.
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Would love to join for a round at Mayfield or Sand Ridge this summer. Really tempted by that Sunday tee time but I’m withdrawing from the dad coin account on Friday for Firestone and Saturday for a concert. Can’t go bankrupt this early in the golf season.
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Forest Hills is such a hidden gem. Buddy and I played it early April on a 65 degree weekday at like 4:30 and we were literally only ones there. Walked nine in like 1.5 hours
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Chiming in here of VotE. I played once a few years back and thought there was some good and some bad. Routing, previously mentioned, fits into the bad. A few fun shorter par 4’s (the first and the one on the back where the approach is over the river) and conditions were solid when I played. The most egregious thing I found about the course was how easy/short the par 5s were compared to how difficult/long the par 3s were. I think all par 3’s were playing between 200 and 230 the day I played and I was able to get on both par 5’s on the front in two with 6 iron or less on the approach.
What’s everyone’s opinion on Boulder Creek? I played it once- First tee time off and I thought it was phenomenal. Decent range, course was in good shape and greens were rolling true.
Have heard pace of play can be sluggish so this was likely key
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Have to be out early. Pace of play in afternoon is bad. Massive course. I mean massive. Can get a little beat up on the weekend but is usually very well kept. Definitely not walkable but fun. Hole 13 is my blow up hole for some reason.
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My buddy and I did Boulder/manakiki 36 that day. He is somewhat on the slow side or we’d have been done in 3 hours. I can see PoP being an issue, some tough holes out there.
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I really like Boulder, has a handful of memorable holes and always fun to play. I’ve only ridden because of the size of the place and distance between holes. Would agree on pace of play – no bueno playing there midday on a summer Saturday.
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Lotta chatter about two courses I like playing quite a bit. I’ll start with the fact that everything said about VotE is true. Long 3’s. Short 5’s (except 18). Definitely not walkable. With that said, my experience has gotten continually better with each passing round and think it’ll be exceptional when matured. Living in Lakewood, I like that’s only a 25 minute drive. I’m not expert in design or course routing, but you’d be hard pressed to find better scenery in a daily fee course around here. There are others, but this one contends. Boulder is fantastic. Probably all around better in my opinion. Absolutely avoid at all costs from mid-day Friday to Sunday morning. Also not walkable. But I’ll be honest, I don’t mind riding so the walkability of a course is only a measurement I care about during mud season (now). Neither are as good as Pine Hills, Sleepy or Kiki. But I think both are just as good as any other public around here. Sorry if that was a lot. Man, we’re lucky with courses here in NEO!
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