Played Grand Beach Golf course today. A 1912 Tom Bendelow designed 9 hole course (originally a 27!!) right in the subdivision we’re staying in. Shot a cool 43 which was good seeing as I couldn’t get the ball off the ground the first two holes. Course still features the original greens which was pretty cool, one of them was a little punch bowl type feel which I don’t see much these days. All in a really neat course and like stepping back in time as it’s largely unmodified. Took my brother, who doesn’t golf, with me and if I had to guess I’d say he shot at best mid 80s, but I wasn’t counting all those. Claimed a 5 on the par 3 9th but he hit his first two tee shots into the bushes so he was hitting 5 off the tee before he got a useable shot. Ha!
Played the short course at one of our local courses tonight with my cousin.
It’s first come, first served and we showed up to a line of like 5 groups waiting to tee off.
2 groups in front of us are 4 guys, 3 of which had just come off of playing 9 and they (scummily I think) jumped back in line ahead of several groups when they noticed a (single) friend to join
They’ve had a few to drink and are also enjoying the devils lettuce before teeing off.
3 of them proceed to hit and make their way towards the green. The 4th waits until they are about 40 yards in front of him and then he hits. He starts to walk away without his bag and we politely point that out.
Him (stoned): “That’s not my bag” (turns out he didn’t have clubs)
Us:
One of the guys about 50 yards ahead: “Oh that’s my bag!”
Let’s go in the complete opposite direction of f-ing Sand Hills (!) and post some silly resort golf in beautiful BC. Chateau Whistler Golf Club was an enjoyable drive through the woods. Plus it’s always fun to beat your FIL (pictured)
The day before: Springfield Country Club. Played the back nine first, as a single, in 2:30. Took my time because I knew otherwise I’d catch up to some people.
The ninth is a 150-yard downhill-20-yards par three. I chipped a 9I that sat in its own pitch mark otherwise it may have rolled back down the slope and into the hole.
Hamilton Elks may be my favorite of the trio. A ~1997 nine by Mike Hurdzan, and 18 by Donald Ross in 1918/1931. Springfield was good, but Hamilton Elks is a really good “every day play” type course. Really enjoyable.
Hamilton Elks is another solid one. I only got to play there once for a college tournament but I still remember quite a few of the holes. The downhill par 3 11th particular I remember liking a lot.
Got to have the C-Suite life for a day Wed. Played CCB (Country Club of Buffalo (NY) Ross designed, and just a real treat. I didn’t take a ton of photos. The members i was there with weren’t on their phones much so i didn’t want them to think i was on mine to much. So only snapped a few. But from tee to green. So good.
Third hole on the White is a downhill par three, about 200 yards. Third hole on the Red… I just drove around the red, but I think it’s a hard dogleg left par four. Third on the Blue is… a short par three near a pond.
Springfield is no longer hidden, but still a gem. They seemed to manage to keep it firm and fast whenever I played there, which made it really fun. A few treacherous greens make posting a medal score pretty challenging. No shortage of good golf in central OH.
I literally just remembered that I mentioned possibly having you out to Indian Ridge. So sorry for not following through on that! My wife and I are expecting our first-born any day now, and it’s been a very hectic week trying to prepare for the little guy.
In any case, I’m glad to see you enjoyed some SW Ohio golf! Total agreement from me about Hamilton Elks - not to knock Blue Ash or Springfield, but the few times I’ve gotten to play Elks were a real treat. I’ve seriously thought about becoming a member there someday.
Next time you’re in the area, let’s meet up and make Indian Ridge happen! Obviously I’m passionate about it because it’s my home course, but it’s also where some of the NLU crew spent a lot of time during their days at Miami. I have a not-so-secret dream of getting Soly, TC and Randy to come back there eventually - would love to have a bunch of Nest friends out there as well!
