Toledo August 2019 Trip Report

[Argonne69]

I'm in the Toledo area for three days, and (hopefully) five rounds of golf. I started the trip this afternoon at The Legacy by Arthur Hills, and I'll tee it up at Maumee Bay, Red Hawk Run, Bedford Hills, and Giant Oak. I'll post reviews as I go, and full photo sets when I get back home.

 

The Legacy is a prairie style layout with a handful of trees, but for the most part it's fairly wide open and more or less flat. There are some mounds, but I would have liked to see more. A few small lakes bring water into play on a handful of holes, but otherwise it's fairly benign. A few fairway bunkers come into play, but other than a couple of forced carries there's not a lot of trouble off the tee. The greens are not particularly challenging. I didn't really care for the mix of holes. There are two short par 4s, but the remainder are in the same yardage range. The par 3s were decent, including the island green 8th. The par 5s were forgettable.

 

Course conditions were so-so. It looks like they are recovering from some heavy rains. There were a number of GUR areas roped off, as well as a few bare patches in the fairways. The greens however were quite nice, and rolled with some decent speed. Bunkers needed work, with standing water in several of them.

 

After a long fairly long drive from Chicago, the aging back was not cooperating. I was able to hit 9 fairways only because most of them were fairly generous. Irons were spotty. Luckily my putter was warm, and it kept the round from being a bust. Two birdies on the day helped offset the six sloppy bogies. I guess it was a good warmup round for tomorrow.

 

I'll be honest, I'm not a huge Arthur Hills fan. Still, I don't think he had much to work with with this piece of property. It's pretty much a piece of farmland, and one can only move so much dirt. I think they could have done a lot more with the greens, though.

 


 


[Argonne69]

A beautiful morning at Maumee Bay GC. Nothing quite like being the first one out on a cool morning with the course to myself. The course is a links/prairie/wetlands style layout. Water comes in to play on roughly half the holes. There are no trees on the course itself, but plenty of native grass to lose balls if you're not hitting it straight. While the terrain is flat, they did a great job of sculpting the dirt to create plenty of mounds and uneven lies. Fairways are very generous, as the course's main defense is the wind. It was blowing 10 to 15 this morning, but I can imagine it getting quite difficult out there. The greens are fairly benign, no surprise on a links style layout. Very good mix of long and short holes, with water playing a big factor on a number of them. The par 3s had decent variety. The par 5s had moderately challenging layup areas. If I had any minor complaint it was that the last three holes are fairly uninteresting.

 

Course conditions were excellent. The fairways were lush. The greens looked and rolled great. Honestly, I was very surprised given that it's basically a muni.

 

With the wide fairways I had little problem hitting 12 of them. The greens are on the smallish side, and with the wind I only managed 9 greens. Good day scrambling. I managed one birdie and five bogies.

 

Overall I really enjoyed the course. It was so much more visually appealing than The Legacy. Definitely worth a visit.

 


 


 

[Argonne69]

A pleasant afternoon round at Red Hawk Run east of Findlay. I guess I wasn't paying attention to the mileage, as it's a bit of a hike to get out here from Toledo. The course is somewhat similar to Maumee Bay in that it's a prairie/wetland layout. The property is much more expansive though. I swore I was in Nebraska on the isolated front nine. The back has homes along a handful of holes. While still very open, it didn't have quite the same feel as the front. Native grasses abound. There is water on two holes on the front, and one on the back. A few holes have small creeks cutting through the fairways. Once again a good mix of holes. I really liked the par 3s. The par 5s were fairly meh. The fairways were quite generous. There were a few bunkers that come into the play off the tee, but I thought there could be more to help frame the holes a bit. Again, wind is a defense on the wide open course. The greens were moderate in size with few undulations.

 

The fairways were in good shape. Greens were nice, but no where near as nice as Maumee Bay. Sadly the bunkers were trash. There was more dirt than sand, and many had weeds growing in them. They look like they haven't been touched all season.

 

I had an excellent front nine with one birdie and one bogie. My back called it quits on the final nine, and I stumbled home with five bogies and one birdie.

 

Overall I thought it was a decent layout, but I'm not sure it's worth the drive if you're staying in Toledo. Maumee Bay provides a similar experience.

 


 


 


 

[Argonne69]

Another nice early morning round at Bedford Hills. The course is basically an old school parkland layout. I played the Wolverine and Irish nines. It's a short course with not a lot of trouble off the tee. The Wolverine is a bit more open with water on a couple of holes. I preferred the Irish. It had denser trees, fewer dead straight holes, and more interesting greens.

 

Conditions were a little spotty. The fairways appeared to have different patches of grass types. Maybe they were weeds. The greens were in nice shape and rolled with moderate speed.

 

Solid front nine with one birdie and two bogies. The back was tougher, but I still had one birdie to offset four bogies.

 

Overall it was a very forgettable course.

 


 

[Argonne69]

I finished the trip with a late morning round at Giant Oak. I guess you could call it a parkland layout, but the trees on the back nine are sparse. They're a little denser on the front, but it's no walk in the woods. A decent mix of holes. the par 3s are pretty good, especially the 3rd which was a beast playing 240 into a headwind. The par 5s are quite mundane. The greens were moderate size, and had little in the way of undulations other than the 18th which had a fairly severe right to left slope.

 

Course conditions were decent. Greens rolled nicely with moderate speed.

 

I had a good front with two bogies and one birdie. However, I simply ran out of gas on the back. Oh well, it was still a nice round and a good end to the trip.

 

I'll post full photo sets tomorrow, and follow up with some course rankings and final thoughts.

 


 

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The Legacy by Arthur Hills (Front Nine)

 


 


 


 


 


 


 

The island green par 3 8th

 


 


 

 

 

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The Legacy by Arthur Hills (Back Nine)

 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 

 

 

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A light dinner

 


 

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The early bird gets the first tee time

 


 

 

 

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Maumee Bay (Front 9)

 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 

 

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Maumee Bay (Back 9)

 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 

 

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Red Hawk Run (Front 9)

 


 


 

The tough par 3 3rd

 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 

 

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Red Hawk Run (Back 9)

 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 

 

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Bedford Hills (Wolverine 9)

 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 

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Bedford Hills (Irish 9)

 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 

 

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Giant Oak (Front 9)

 


 


 


 


 


 

 

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Giant Oak (Back 9)

 


 


 


 


 


 


 

 

 

[Argonne69]

OK, Toledo isn't the first place that comes to mind when you think about a golfing destination. However, one can't beat the prices. I don't believe I paid over $50 for a round on a holiday weekend, and the least expensive was $37 w/ cart. Two of the courses were top notch, one was decent, and two weren't worth the drive. There are numerous brewpubs around the city, which is always a plus. Overall I can't say it's a worthy destination, but if you happen to be passing by, do check out Maumee Bay and/or Red Hawk Run.

 

My rankings:

 

1. Maumee Bay: Excellent prairie/links/wetlands course. Running through a state park, you're pretty much isolated from the outside world. Plenty of trouble if you're not hitting them straight, and that's without the wind factored in. Fantastic greens. Highly recommended.

 

2. Red Hawk Run: A lot of similarities to Maumee Bay, but the conditions were no where near as good. The bunkers need to be blown up and replaced. Pity, because otherwise it's a solid track. That said, I'd still recommend it.

 

3. The Legend by Arthur Hills: A bit disappointing. Definitely some challenging holes, but I guess I was expecting more mounding and elevation changes along the lines of Washington County in Wisconsin.

 

4. Bedford Hills: The Irish nine was a fum tight layout. The Wolverine was more of a bombers layout, although there was some trouble on a few holes. Conditions tee to green were spotty, but the greens were fine for a local course.

 

5. Giant Oak: OK, I now see why they don't call it Giant Oaks. I was expecting a lot more trees. Definitely a bombers course. Two of the long hitting young players I was with hit 14 of 14 fairways, but at least 10 of them were on adjacent holes. Lol. Good for a casual round, but not a destination course.

 

 

[tjblue]

You did a fantastic job with your report. It's nice to see how others view the courses I've played for over 20 years.

 

I'm stunned by the quality of your photos...the courses never looked so good. Well done.

[nikegolfer1983]

If you can swing it, gotta try and get on Inverness Club, Sylvania Country Club is another great golf course in the area