East Cleveland area golf trip

[aarondjensen]

Hey all - I'm bringing our annual 16-man golf trip to the East Cleveland area in September 2023. Found a great house in Burton as a home base. The short list of courses I've compiled within ~30 mins is:

 

Boulder Creek, Fowler's Mill, Manakiki, Little Mountain, Chardon Lakes and Sugar Bush. (Sleepy Hollow is bit outside our driving radius at 60 mins). 

 

Our trip plays 18-36-18 so I'm curious how you guys would rank those courses and if there are any that I missed? Much appreciated

[aarondjensen]

update: Little Mountain suggested we consider their sister course Stonewater. 

 

[OGrads13]

I went to college out there so I’ve played a decent amount of the courses. Fowlers & Manakiki are certainly the 2 best options you’ve listed. If you’re not willing to make the drive to Sleepy I’d probably go with Stonewater or Boulder Creek. Only played Little Mountain once - it’s an interesting layout but it was in rough shape (granted this was 6 years ago). Stonewater used to host a Web.com event - I personally believe it takes driver out of your hands too often but it’s a good track. 
 

[mikewohlwend]

Here's a list to maybe help you out. Some of these are out of your driving range though.

 

[markheardjr]

Trust me, Sleepy Hollow is worth the drive. It feels like a course that could host a major. I've played Riviera, Firestone, Torrey Pines, etc and Sleepy Hollow passes the vibe check. Sleepy Hollow is #1 on that list above for a reason and I'd say its worth it to go.

 

Manakiki can be slow rounds at times, but its classic Donald Ross and has great character. Its one of my go-tos to/from the CLE airport to my parents house in the Ashtabula area. 

Little Mountain is a fun track, my buddy has been the Asst. there several years. Slick greens and tall trees make it a challenge. Has a higher end feel to it, big houses surround a few holes.

Fowler's Mill is an old Pete Dye, great course. They had some fungus issues on greens last year which is why I skipped it on my annual trip. Local knowledge is required, so bring a phone with GPS that shows layout of the holes (GolfShot, 18 birdies, etc.)

Another Pete Dye, longer drive, is Avalon Lakes. We played it for under $100 last year but its quoted at $155. Former LPGA course, its excellent and a challenge. Flawless condition, tough. You're basically member-for-a-day on a high end club. Could hit there after Boulder Creek, its 45min due east of Boulder Creek.

You're also next to Punderson State Park which has a course.

 

Firestone has a charity event every year, usually in Sept/Oct. If you can go last week of Sept or first week of Oct you may be able to play for $350 with a shotgun and dinner event. They post in on their facebook page around Aug/Sep.

 

You're just oustide Middlefield, so a stop at Mary Yoder's Amish Kitchen and Mesopotamia End of Commons general store are usual stops for people in that area.

 

If you go to Sugar Bush, check out Nelson Ledges state park. Amazing rock formations carved by glaciers. You can walk/hike it in under 30min and see waterfalls, crevices, caves, etc.

 

For future years, courses that aren't great but aren't terrible, for variety could check out Painesville CC, Madison CC, Hemlock Springs, Erie Shores, Geneva-on-the-lake (course is meh, but you get to the touristy area up there) Village Green (My home course, nothing special, across from the lake, hit Covered Bridge Pizza for dinner,) St. Denis Golf Course, Powderhorn, Mill Creek Metroparks (1hr from Burton.) Wild card, go play Whispering Woods in Erie, PA. Its maybe 1hr15min from Burton but its like a modern Manakiki. If you like Manakiki, you'll like Whispering Woods. 

 

The Quarry in East Canton is an interesting track. Insane elevation changes, a lot of "up" shots, which is different for golf, usually we like to hit it down a hill. They have those too. Different course worth checking out.

[aarondjensen]

Incredible stuff man, thanks. Above and beyond!

[Gabino]

On 12/14/2022 at 12:18 PM, aarondjensen said:

Hey all - I'm bringing our annual 16-man golf trip to the East Cleveland area in September 2023. Found a great house in Burton as a home base. The short list of courses I've compiled within ~30 mins is:

 

Boulder Creek, Fowler's Mill, Manakiki, Little Mountain, Chardon Lakes and Sugar Bush. (Sleepy Hollow is bit outside our driving radius at 60 mins). 

 

Our trip plays 18-36-18 so I'm curious how you guys would rank those courses and if there are any that I missed? Much appreciated

Sugar Bush is one that'd I'd definitely skip out on, interesting layout and scenery but I don't think the course is in the shape that it once was. Same could be said of little mountain, great scenery but the course was in pretty rough shape last time I played it. Manakiki is a great course, it started as a private club before it was bought by the metro parks. Greens roll great there, plenty of sand on the course. It's a very well taken care of track but it can get to be tight target golf at times. Fowlers mill is a great track, I have nothing bad to say about that course. Boulder creek is a must play in my opinion, I'd say its like a resort course in the middle of farm country. I know a lot of people that don't enjoy it because it can be challenging at times, also the fairways are lined with dikes and its a very hilly course so if you get it on a cart path only day it can be kind of rough. Definitely my favorite course in the area though. Not a single forgettable hole on the course. Can't speak on chardon lakes but I've heard good things about it

 

A couple other ones I would think about. First is Ellsworth Meadows, Its a course owned by the city of hudson so they don't advertise it a whole lot but I'd say this is my second choice to boulder creek. Beautiful terrain, great layout and maybe one of the best manicured courses in the area. You definitely will not be disappointed. Another plus is they have the best practice facility that I've seen in the area.

 

Shale creek is another great course. Links style, always very well maintained, and great amenities. I find the course layout to get boring at times but it's one of those courses you really cant go wrong with. 

 

The quarry Is another local favorite. Its built on an old rock quarry so naturally there's some pretty interesting holes there. It can be a little quirky so it's not a course I'd want to play every day but you'll definitely have fun playing there and you wont forget it. 

 

I could go on forever, there's a ton of great courses around here. One more I wouldn't put off your list but it might be a little drive is Chippewa Golf Club, probably third on my list in the area. Extremely well maintained, some very interesting holes, and It's not an overly difficult course. It'd be my choice for a course I could play every day out of all these.

 

Also on sleepy hollow, I grew up in brecksville so maybe I've just seen enough of it, but I don't think its all that its cracked up to be. It's still a great course and I play it very often but I don't see the hype with it. There's a couple interesting holes but a lot of just basic golf. Also some of the greens can be just unfair if you catch it on the wrong day. 

 

Pm me if you need anything!