If you’re looking for a remote course outside of the Cincinnati/Covington area, Pendleton Hills might fit the bill. It is located 40 minutes south of Covington on US 27 on the south side of Butler.
The layout is over a natural setting without homes or development save for one hole. It moves over rolling topography with several ponds in play and Harris Creek traversing the middle of the course. It’s generally straightforward along fairways bordered by scattered trees with 15 sand bunkers mostly positioned around the mid-sized greens. There’s five sets of tees from 5,429 yards to 6,601 yards, 71.8/134 course/slope ratings off the tips, designed by Brian Huntley.
Brickyard is on the north side of Macon off I-75 at US 23 slightly to the north.
The layout is over rolling terrain along fairways defined by pine trees and mature hardwoods. There’s multiple ponds and a stream in play on numerous holes and 25 sand bunkers scattered along the landing zones and green side. There’s multiple tees from 5,099 yards to 7,128 yards off the tips, the green tees play to 6,256 yards, 71.2/132, course/slope ratings, designed by Chic Adams, redesigned by Mark McCumber.
Located 45 minutes northwest of Fort Wayne off US 30, Stonehenge is on the southeast side of Warsaw on Pierceton Road in a residential community.
The layout traverses a combination of broad and narrow fairway corridors over level topography. There’s eight water features in play in the form of lakes and streams, 25 pot, conventional, and waste sand bunkers, and modest, kidney shaped greens. There’s six tees from 4,545 yards to 7,041 yards off the tips, the blue tees are 6,084 yards, 68.5/124, course/sloe ratings, designed by Florida based golf course architect, Ron Garl.
Midway between Cheyenne and Omaha just off I-80 there’s a worthy stop for golf.Rivers Edge Golf Course is located on the south bank of the North Platte River just north of downtown.
The layout is over level terrain with one hole along the River with a pond and a stream bisecting the course. Its fairways are lined with trees and there’s several dramatic doglegs with 25 +/- sand bunkers defending the modest, oval greens. It’s in a predominately natural setting on river bottom land without homes or development along the golf course. There’s four sets of tees, the Blue tees are 5,888 yards, 69.2/127, course/slope ratings.
The Morris CC is off I-80 at the Morris exit 60 miles west of Chicago on the north side of the Illinois River with its Nettles Creek track open to public play on the weekends only.
The Creek course has a wide open, prairie/links feel to it as it moves over slightly rolling topography within a residential community. There’s patches of tall prairie grasses throughout bordering the landing zones, six ponds, 35 sand traps, and generous, undulating and contoured green complexes. There’s tees from 5,059 yards to 6,562 yards off the back tees, the white tees play to 6,129 yards, 68.8/118, course/slope ratings, designed by Buzz Didier.
The Waynesville Inn is a classic North Carolina resort from the 1920s located on the south side of Waynesville on Market Street and its golf course is private, but open to outside play to guests of the lodge on site.
The original 27 hole course has been reduced to 18 holes by Bobby Weed with the original Donald Ross “The Carolina Nine” becoming the front side. The Carolina is over the valley floor while the backside moves over rolling terrain along wooded fairway corridors. It is situated in a scenic setting surrounded by mountain views throughout the at an elevation of 3,000 feet.
With its recent reopening, there are now four excellent golf courses in the Waynesville area making it a legitimate golf destination. It’s especially favorable this time of year as the temperatures are generally 10-15 degrees cooler at this elevation. Our guide for Waynesville includes the Springdale Country Club, Maggie Valley Resort, Laurel Ridge, and the newly reopened Waynesville Inn.
TheElk Rapids Golf Club is on 3,000 feet of frontage on Elm Lake on the east side of Elk Rapids 30 minutes northeast of Traverse City and an hour southwest of Boyne.
The golf club is on an isthmus between Elk Lake and Grand Traverse Bay on level land with a couple of fairways bordering the lake and the occasional lake view. It’s a proper 9 hole layout along fairways defined by trees with 25 sand bunkers in play and mid-sized, raised greens. It’s a Donald Ross original design, mostly untouched, and plays to 3,067 yards off the back tees, 69.0/121, course/slope ratings with two shorter tees.
The Best Public Golf Course guide feature 4,500 of the best golf courses from the national golf periodical lists as well as those hidden gems our readers discover. Every week we profile special courses that may just fly under the radar screen or be located away from traditional golf destinations. The Cassville Golf Club is just such a golf club. It’s located about 1 1/2 hours from either Springfield or Joplin, Missouri on the south side of Cassville. It’s just north of the Rolling River State Park, 20 minutes from the Eagle Rock Marina on Table Rock Lake, and about an hour west of Branson.It’s a small town, community golf club that welcomes public play and was designed, financed, and currently supported by its membership.
The course is set on a roomy tract of land with homes well off the fairway on a couple of holes. Its fairways are dotted with trees along straightforward and slight to moderate doglegs. There’s three ponds impacting play on multiple holes, but less than 15 sand bunkers overall. There’s four sets of tees from 4,809 yards to 6,665 yards, 71.3/122, course/slope ratings.
Paramus is a municipal golf course in Northern New Jersey off the Garden State Expressway at Route 17 in Paramus.It was originally the Saddle River Golf and Country Club which the city purchased for $4.5 Million in 1976.
It’s located adjacent to and on similar land as Ridgewood C.C. which has hosted PGA Tour’s Barclays and Northern Trust tournaments, the U.S. Amateur, and the Ryder Cup.The golf course features hardwood tree lined, parallel fairways over level terrain with 35 sand bunkers defending the landing zones and greens, and ponds or streams in play on 1/3 of the holes. There’s four sets of tees from 4,539 yards to 6,309 yards at the blue tees, 70.2/124, course/slope ratings, redesign work by Stephen Kay.
Links Courses originated in the UK and aresimply the sandy wasteland along the North Sea, the Irish Sea, the English Channel, and the Atlantic Ocean “linking” the agricultural land to the seas. Many people favor the courses in Bandon Dunes as the best example of U.S. links courses, but traditionalists point to this relic on Cape Cod as classic links.
Highland Links
Parkland Courses are simply layouts which are routed through fairways lined with trees for the most part. It’s the predominate type of layout in the U.S. and is easy to find in every state. While unusually, we don’t have a golf course named parkland in the guide, we do have one called Treetops!
Heathland designs are sometimes referred to as inland links in the U.K. They tend to be wide open featuring slight fairway undulations with very few trees, but with fairway bordered by heather, fescue, and gorse among other gnarly, undesirable grasses and shrubs. There’s very few heathland courses in the U.S. but Tom Doak designed one in Myrtle Beach, and there’s one in Bandon, just not at the Bandon you’re thinking of.
Sandbelt courses tend to be in or near Melbourne, Australia and are are on a deep sand belt featuring undulating surfaces and quick draining soils. There’s a few examples in the U.S., maybe in the most unlikely of environs such as this course in Oklahoma and this Nick Faldo design in the Palm Springs area.
TPC Scottsdale
Stadium Courses originated by PGA Tour Commissioner Dean Beaman with the TPC Sawgrass in Port Vedra Beach, Florida in 1980. The elements of a TPC course were to provide spectators with advantageous viewing areas with challenging design standards to the players. Today, there are 33 TPC Stadium courses in the U.S., this course in Arizona may be the most notable if only for the spectacle of its 16th hole!
Par 3 and short courses seem to be the rage today since they take less time to play, are maybe more enjoyable to the masses, and they provide ample opportunities for elusive hole-in-one. We profile a number of great par 3 and short courses in our guide, but our favorite is this one in the Palm Beaches of Florida on the Atlantic where Sam Snead famously lost to an Hall of Fame LPGA member Louise Suggs.
