Nasty 9: The most difficult golf holes at public courses in central Ohio
Narrowing hundreds of challenging golf holes scattered across central Ohio public courses to the nine most difficult is like trying to rank aches and pains. How to select among a stubbed toe, bitten tongue and banged elbow? They all hurt like crazy.
Ultimately the degree of agony is in the poked eye of the beholder. To that end, my list of the nine hardest holes in Franklin and the six surrounding counties is subjectively objective, based on first-person inspection as well as feedback from dozens of golfers and input from teaching pros from across the 50-plus area courses.
Golfers will argue for and against the picks, but all can agree that birdieing any of these bad boys will put a bounce in your step.
An endeavor like this requires rules, in this case constructing the list to match the make-up of a typical course design: five par-4s, two par-3s and two par-5s. Following that 5-2-2 format means potentially more treacherous holes get left out — e.g. a sixth par-4 arguably could be more challenging than one of the chosen par-5s — but no one ever said golf was fair. For consistency, I have chosen teeing areas located one marker behind the equivalent of senior men.
Private courses: Nasty 9: The most difficult golf holes at private courses in central Ohio
Golf: Best public courses in Ohio, according to Golfweek
Golf: Best private courses in Ohio, according to Golfweek
Also, holes were selected with a “spread-the-wealth” mentality that kept any one course (e.g. The Virtues) from dominating.
Hole 1: The Players Club at Foxfire No. 16, a 372-yard par-4
What makes it difficult?
The third hole in Foxfire’s “Hell’s Half Acre” is a tree-lined terror that might be great for arborists, but not for golfers who struggle knowing what swing will show up on any given shot. After missing the trees on your drive and clearing the creek — good luck with that! — you face an elevated green with a slope in the middle. Front bunkers protect both sides of the putting surface, which means the only bailout is to thread the needle between the two traps. Are we having fun yet?
Teaching pro Brian Barnett said to favor the left side of the fairway at all costs, whether that means hitting a 3-wood or hybrid to keep the ball left.
“If not in the fairway you have no chance of making par,” he said. “Then the second shot there’s a big decision to make. Am I going to hit a long iron or run a hybrid up through the middle (of the bunkers)? Once on the green, be below the pin.”
Barnett offered one secret: “The green has two levels but from the fairway you can only see the top-third of the pin, so when standing on 15 tee box have a look over at 16 green to find out where the pin is — up front or in back.”
Hole 2: Rolling Meadows Golf Club No. 8, a 445-yard par-4
What makes it difficult?
Seeing No. 8 offers a different take on Dean Wormer’s “Fat, Drunk and Stupid is no way to go through life,” line from Animal House. In this case, it should be, “Short and crooked is no way to play this hole.” Your game better be long and straight when setting foot on the tee, because out-of-bounds left and lateral hazard right means that driver/3-wood/hybrid combo better not stray from the fairway.
How to play it.
“It’s a dogleg right, so the best position to hit your drive is the left side of the fairway,” longtime employee Ryan Miller said. “Depending how far your approach is, you have about 5 yards of downhill to an inclined green. You just want to keep it in play. Walking away with par is a good score.”
Hole 3: Thorn Apple No. 11, a 245-yard par-3
What makes it difficult?
The toughest holes often balance between fair and unfair. No. 11 walks the tightrope between being a great test and gimmicky design. Having to hit a driver 220 yards to carry a creek? On a par-3? But this IS a list of the hardest holes, and this long troublemaker designed by Jack Kidwell qualifies, especially with the prevailing wind usually into you.
How to play it.
Thorn Apple pro John Whittle estimated that about half of all golfers choose to lay up, opting to risk converting an up-and-down for par rather than chance finding the creek off the tee.
“Once in a while an extremely long hitter will hit a long iron to carry the creek,” Whittle said, adding that a survey conducted when the course opened in the mid-1960s showed golfers enjoyed the challenge. “Something like 93% said ‘Leave it as is. We can go play a par-3 that is 170 yards on any course.’”
One more tip: later in the summer, with less rain, the creek can dry up. Maybe check that before teeing off.
Hole 4: Groveport Municipal No. 18, a 514-yard par-5.
What makes it difficult?
If the beginning doesn’t get you, the finish absolutely will, when friends (and enemies?) enjoying their cold beverages on the patio overlooking the green laugh at your misfortune.
“You’re typically under pressure at that point or getting heckled for doing bad,” said assistant pro Mark Williams, adding that the nearby patio is “a frustrating feature for a lot of people.”
Before ever reaching the green, players must maneuver a gentle dogleg right that moves along a creek that Williams described as a “canyon” of water. It is wide. It is deep. It is not forgiving.
How to play it.
“Anywhere along the right and you’re in the creek, and left is in the long grass,” Williams said. The proper way to play it is to hit driver — you have to, because if you don’t you’re not down far enough to get around the first set of trees. Then it’s a mandatory layup on the second shot. Maybe some of the longest hitters can go for it, but for most you have to lay up to a very specific spot, then hit a 150-yard shot over the creek to a green that is very severe, at least on the front half.”
Hole 5: Darby Creek No. 18, a 432-yard par-4
What makes it difficult?
By the time you reach any finishing hole, your score is either burnt toast or salvageable, which plays right into the hands of this high risk-reward monster. With the scorecard in flames, the decision to cut the corner and flirt with the water that cozies to the green becomes easy: nothing to lose. Except the golf ball, that is. With a good scoring going, pressure intensifies to hit the perfect shot into a green that angles away from the pond, making the approach shot longer.
How to play it.
“A normal drive from the white tees leaves you about 190 to 200 out, and the objective is to keep it right, but still left of the bunkers (beginning about 185 yards out),” Darby teaching pro Ken Collett said. “The thing that’s also tough about the hole is if you go over the green you have a tough (third) shot because the green slopes back toward the water. Club selection has to be pretty accurate.”
Oh, and pray the pin is not placed on the left side of the green.
Hole 6: Denison Golf Club at Granville No. 15, a 352-yard par-4
What makes it difficult?
If you grew up playing baseball, this is the hole for you. For all the wrong reasons. Any drive sliced too far right ends up leaving a sidehill approach shot that requires a baseball swing. Make sure your playing partners have the cell phone video working, because you’ll need a good laugh after “striking out” with a 7-iron. Oh, but drive the ball slightly left and too far (220-ish) and the pond will rinse your Titleist for free.
How to play it.
Teaching pro Trevor Bright advises leaving yourself about 145 yards to the green with your drive, then clubbing down on the approach.
“What throws a lot of people off is the second shot plays a little downhill even if it doesn’t look like it. And the green doesn’t hold very often, so make sure any miss is short. It’s death if you go too far, because five yards off the back of the green is solid pine trees, which if you get into you will not find your ball.”
Hole 7: Turnberry No. 17, a 339-yard par-4
What makes it difficult?
The lone Columbus Recreation and Parks Department course to make the list tests your ability to shoot straight. Or, rather, hit straight through the shoot. The hole presents not one but two narrow openings through which players must thread the needle. Typically, they prick themselves instead.
How to play it.
“It’s not a driver hole off the tee, because it’s so tight. Hit some other kind of wood,” explained pro shop employee Aidan Isaac, who plays for Capital University. “Then, when you’re in the fairway, if you make it past the out of bounds on the right and trees on the left, you still have a tight window toward the green. You can be above the hole, but you don’t want to be. If you’re lucky enough to two-putt and get out with a par, you’re quickly on to the next tee box for sure.”
Hole 8: Cumberland Trail No. 17, a 195-yard par-3
What makes it difficult?
This wicked little number actually begins messing with your mind one hole earlier, as you come down the adjacent 16th fairway and look over to see No. 17 staring back across its long sandy beach, watery grave and small woods. By the time you reach the 17th tee your mental goose may already be cooked. Lose your tee shot right and it’s either bunker or pond. Lose it left and say hello to a rough-cut collection area. Go long and it’s into the long grass two yards beyond the green. Oh, and watch out for the trees, too. Water. Sand. Trees. That’s a trifecta of trouble.
How to play it.
“To score well, account for the prevailing winds from the south and west that push errant shots toward the bunker bounded by a water hazard,” explained C.J. Fosnaugh, administrator for golf operations. “Miss short and left of the green, then pitch-and-run to play into the green that slopes to the front and left.”
Hole 9: The Virtues No. 4, a 452-yard par-5
What makes it difficult?
This one is more “so long” than soooo long, which is to say you can kiss your score good-bye if not careful on this relatively short but diabolical par-5. The drive is intimidating enough — too far right and it’s in the woods, too far left and it drops down a grass embankment — and then things go downhill fast, as the fairway dives left the twists right to the green. Did we mention there’s a pond to the right of the green. And zero room to the left or long. In other words, no miss area.
How to play it.
“If you hit driver off the tee that is going to leave you from 150 to 220 yards, and then on your second shot you have to make a couple decisions,” teaching pro Justin Stiegler said.
In other words, you have to think. And thinking often leads to overthinking, which causes problems.
“Either try to go for the green, which has the hazards — left is dead, long is dead, right is wet — or choose to hit 8-iron to a flat layup area. Some go for it. Not many make it. If laying up, hit a wedge towards the green, depending on where the pin is. If it’s up front you have a good opportunity to make 4. If it’s in back … hope to make par. If the pin is back right it’s the hardest pin on the course.”
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: The most difficult golf holes at public courses in central Ohio
