Ohio Golf: America’s Best Under the Radar Golf Destination?
I’m willing to bet you have a number of dream destinations. Places you would absolutely KILL to go to.
I certainly do. Places like the Maldives, Bali, or Scotland are high on a lot of people’s lists.
And last week I was fortunate enough to cross another bucket list destination off of my list.
Where was it?
The wild, and exotic state of….
Ohio.
OHIO?!
Yes, Ohio.
I had a follow up appointment from a recent surgery and the doctor asked if I had any trips lined up.
The 2nd at Muirfield Village
“Yep, I’m going to Ohio in a couple weeks.”
“Oh, do you have family there.”
“Nope.”
“Oh. Usually that’s the only reason anybody visits Ohio.”
That might be true, unless, of course, you’re a diehard golfer.
You have to be a bit of a golf nerd to know that Ohio is a hot bed of world class golf.
It boasts 6 courses that you’ll find on top 100 in America lists – and 4 of those are on the Top 100 in the world.
Pretty remarkable.
So after years of pining over a trip to the promised land which is the Home of Jack Nicklaus, Cedar Point, and unfortunately “The Hulk” (more on that in a minute), my good friend Patrick Koenig and I embarked on a golf trip of epic proportions.
You can check out Patrick’s recap here.
Ok, maybe it wasn’t THAT epic, but it was a pretty solid lineup.
For the golf traveler, historian, and purist, a trip to Ohio is a pilgrimage in a similar vein to that of St. Andrews, Pebble Beach, or Bandon Dunes.
It holds an important place in the history of modern golf, and offers you world class courses from many different eras and styles – making it a truly unique and enjoyable destination.
The 18th at Scioto
Next time I hope to work in rounds at Double Eagle and Inverness, while skipping the unfortunate bout of food poisoning – but overall the trip was a roaring success.
You can catch all the details of the trip on my reviews of the courses below:
- Day 1: Scioto Country Club
- Day 2: Muirfield Village Golf Club
- Day 3: The Golf Club
- Day 4: Valhalla Golf Club
- Day 5: Camargo Club
A Few Favorites from our Ohio Golf Rounds
People always love hearing about favorites from trips like this, so here are some of mine:
Favorite Courses:
- Muirfield Village
- The Golf Club
- Camargo Club
- Valhalla
- Scioto
Favorite Par 3s:
- #3 The Golf Club
- #11 Camargo
- #12 Muirfield Village
- #8 Camargo
- #17 Scioto
Favorite Par 4s:
- #2 Muirfield Village
- #5 The Golf Club
- #2 Scioto
- #14 Muirfield Village
- #4 Valhalla
- #7 Camargo
- #15 Valhalla
Favorite Par 5s:
- #5 Muirfield Village
- #8 Scioto
- #2 Camargo Club
- #11 Muirfield Village
- #14 The Golf Club
- #7 Valhalla
Best Example of Old vs. New
The elegant, traditional, and understated Camargo Club with a million dollar Porsche 918 Spyder parked behind the 18th green.
- Best Addition to a Club: The “Man Cave” at Valhalla.
- Best Bunkering: Camargo Club
- Most Well Maintained Course: Muirfield Village
- Best Getaway: The Golf Club
- Best Social Scene: Scioto Country Club
- Best Halfway House: Muirfield Village with dozens of koi fish in the pond
- Biggest Missed Opportunity: Missing the milkshake at Muirfield Village
Thank You!
Thanks for reading and following along on our trip!
Make sure to give me a follow in Instagram if you haven’t already, and if you’re a member of a private club who likes to travel and experience new courses, make sure to check out The Eighty Club.
Sean,
I’ve been fortunate to play all of the good courses in Ohio and your comments are exactly right. Camargo’s fairways are a bit too generous but the par 3’s are tremendous.
You should get back to Double Eagle to play it as it’s worth the trip and fewer people play there than at The Golf Club. You must play Inverness; it has improved tremendously over the past five years due to tree removal and new grass on the greens.
Canterbury is well worth a visit as are Brookside (the one in Canton not the one near Columbus), the Country Club, Mayfield Sand Ridge and Firestone South.
Would encourage you to get to Moraine Country Club in Dayton and its next door neighbor, NCR South. Both have hosted PGAs and big amateur events. Great terrain and layouts. Coldstream in Cincinnati, like NCR South, is a Dick Wilson course and is also great fun and a great club. Two Brooksides, one in Columbus and one in Canton, are way fun and interesting. So too is Kirtland in the Cleveland area, one of a set of great clubs on the east side of Cleveland (including Canterbury) Great to be a Buckeye! @patrickpaul5 on Instagram
Awesome recap. In depth coverage of “The Hulk”, surprised to see #2 at Camargo high on the par 5 ranking! Congratulations on an excellent 79 at Scioto!