COURSE
REVIEWS
Years later, Sharon Woods still a challenge
By John Eckberg,
Staff Writer
SHARONVILLE, Ohio (June 24, 2003) -- Long before America had an incredible golfer named Tiger Woods, Sharon Woods Golf Course in the Sharonville suburb north of Cincinnati had another golfer named Woods.
This Woods -- a golfing gambler with a first name of Jimmie, who supposedly put a daughter through college with his side-bet winnings on the golf course -- was nearly as awesome.
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He made that score with a three-putt and after missing two or three other putts within 10 feet. Anyone who has played this course probably will marvel at those low scores as Sharon Woods offers championship golf and a trio of the toughest par-4 golf holes anywhere.
Holes 3, 4 and 5 tape measure out from the blue tees at 468 uphill yards, 458 yards and 405 yards respectively. Get through that meat grinder of holes with a bunch of pars and you know you're playing some real golf.
Besides that course record, Sharon Woods has an even more storied past. Like the Black Course at New York's Bethpage, Sharon Woods was built as a public course but to standards that would challenge any professional.
The legendary Bobby Jones cranked the first ball off the No. 1 tee (an easy dogleg) to inaugurate Sharon Woods.
He
got in his car and left and never again played the course.
Both Bethpage and Sharon Woods came to life at the end of the Great Depression, when federal public works and New Deal projects financed by the Works in Progress Administration put money in the pockets of unemployed Americans and left struggling communities with professionally designed courses.
William Diddel, a mid-20th Century golf course designer known from Hot Springs, Ark., to Naples, Fla., got the job to design Sharon Woods. He came to the farmland after he was hired to create a layout for Cincinnati's Kenwood Country Club.
The course snakes through a wooded park above a lake with distant views of the Mill Creek Valley and because it was a public works project, men etched the fairways with shovels -- not dozers with blades.
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Supposedly a high-school aged Jack Nicklaus played this course and it kicked his rear. Nicklaus never even made a par during his round -- at least that's the folklore.
"It doesn't give up many low scores," said Phil Black, assistant golf professional. "The third hole is generally voted one of the hardest holes in the region.
From the tee, the hole spreads out down and away, but your second shot is an uphill lie and the holes runs uphill all the way to the pin. "It won't bounce onto the green. You have to pretty much carry the shot all the way there," said Black.
Welcome changes have come to Sharon Woods this season. An in-house reclamation program is underway at 40 to 45 bunkers. Fluffy sand has been installed in most of the bunkers with the rest scheduled for completion by Labor Day.
Make
no mistake that this course is a test of golf -- and it's not
a course for beginners, says 70-year-old Glenn Stultz, who had
just wrapped up a round one recent afternoon. "But it is
a beautiful course," he said.
Playing partner Jerry Yarnell, who on this afternoon carded a birdie on that terrific third hole, said spring rains have made the rough quite tough, even though it has been mowed twice a week. "All that rain means the course is in great shape," he said.
Sharon Woods is a great stop for golfing vagabonds headed south from Michigan. It is a perfect halfway point for those driving to the Carolinas.
(Take Interstate 71 or I-75 south to I-275, greater Cincinnati's outer-belt. At exit 46 off I-275, head south and after about a half mile, turn left on Kemper Road then follow the signs to the course.)
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For those passing through Cincinnati and want to drive a little farther before dining, continue on I-275 to the east to exit 57 and a fabulous bit of Maplewood, NJ, cooking at the Lighthouse Pasta & Grill.
For a good place to rest your golf bones venture south of the Ohio River to Bellevue, Ky. to Christopher's Bed & Breakfast. Rooms are in a rehabilitated church, and furnishings are exquisite with stained glass from German craftsman of another century.
Also, Christopher's is close to downtown Cincinnati and the new Great American Ball Park, where game day tickets still sell for under $8 each for upper deck viewing -- an entertaining end to any day of golf.
Sharon Woods Golf Course
11355 Swing Road
Cincinnati, Ohio 45241
Phone: (513) 769-4325
Web site: greatparks.org
Rates
18 holes with cart: $34.25 seven days a week.
9 holes: $13.50 to walk/$19.75 to ride
Monday-Friday before 4 p.m. seniors pay $30.25 to ride for 18
and $17.75 for nine holes.
Eat at
Lighthouse Pasta & Grill
Northeast off I-275 at Exit 57, east of I-71
(513) 831-6484
931 State Route 28
Stay at
Christopher's Bed & Breakfast
604 Poplar St.
Bellevue, Kentucky 41073
(859) 491-9354
(888) 585-7085
Embassy Suites Hotel
Blue Ash-Cincinnati
4554 Lake Forest Road
(513) 733-0106
