Aston Oaks GC - Labor Day 2011

[churnd]

Quick Review

Being Labor Day, I had to get a round of golf in. I decided to play Aston Oaks, as it had been a years since I last played it & had a good experience last time. I got a 1:51pm tee time from www.golfnow.com for $31 for 18 holes, which included a cart. Not a bad deal at all. My only regret was playing as a single on Labor Day. Apparently there was some senior citizen couples outing right around the time I teed off. I'm all for those outings & think they're great, as long as I'm not stuck behind them. I'm talking elderly women hitting it ~15 yards per shot. I stopped keeping track of my wait time after 15 mins per hole. I was finally allowed to play through enough to get back on a semi-regular pace, but the damage had already been done to my rhythm & tempo... I never got it going. The course was also pretty soggy from rain the night before & there seemed to be a headwind on every hole (or at least the longest ones). Shot an 87.

Being from the southeast, I'm learning apparently courses in the midwestern region don't fare so well during/after summer. I will say that during spring is no comparison... midwest is far better. I try to keep that in mind as I pass judgement on a courses condition.

I played from the tips, as I'm generally a longer hitter & 6,908 yards isn't very long. The front 9 was in decent shape with some spots bare, which seems to be normal for this time of year. All of the necessary spots that were bare/damaged were marked as GUR, which helped on two holes because I wound up in them, so the free drop was nice. The greens were responsive & were rolling at a decent speed. Shots hit into them (from ~150 in) held with a slight bounce, a check, & some backspin, which is my usual play. There were spike marks all over them, I guess from the outings earlier in the day, & some were pretty bad.

The back 9 was a different story. The first couple of holes were OK, but quickly deteriorated. I'm guessing due to some of the severe slopes in the fairways & possibly poor irrigation, but I would say half of the fairways were mostly marked GUR. The biggest problem with this is some of the par 4's on the back are designed where you tee off from an "elevated" tee, then it quickly dips down & the fairway rises up a hill on the opposite side. So you're essentially hitting it straight "into" the fairway, almost like into a wall. You can see on these holes where the water has washed away a lot of the turf. 11 was the worst hole for me because I duck hooked my drive OB left & then hit the third into the right rough. I went to look for my first & got cussed out by a homeowner for walking in their yard... got a chuckle out of that one. One of the signature holes, 16, the entire landing area off the tee was GUR! The nearest drop that gave a decent angle was in the rough! The wet conditions & headwind on the 470 yard par 4 14th brutal. I had 230 to a small green after a 240 yard drive that was all carry & no roll. Barely got out with bogey. The bad conditions really got to me & I basically gave up "trying" after my tee shot on 15. I felt like I couldn't hit a good shot.

Other observations:

• The golf carts are nicer than usual: http://www.ezgo.com/...reedom_rxv.html
• The carts have GPS & it seemed to be pretty accurate, but it was mostly useless since it was cart path only. I bet this contributes to why they have turf problems later in the year from allowing people to drive all over earlier in the year.
• Golfshot GPS for iPhone 4 seemed to be mostly accurate, but had a weak signal in some places.
• I noticed there are no really visible yardage markers on the course. Some sprinkler heads are marked & I only saw one 100 yard red fairway marker. Might just have been that I wasn't looking too hard since I had GPS, but I got the impression the course would have been hard to play without it.

Some pics:

Nice view on 12:




Again on 12 from the green (you can see the muddy conditions). The smokestacks in the background are a nice backdrop, IMO:




My scorecard (I didn't accurately enter the club I used off the tee on every hole):




All in all I think Aston Oaks is still a great course & I just need to play it earlier in the year, & preferably on an off-day (if they have any).

[Frohlich]

Thanks for the review. I live in Cincinnati and usually play Aston Oaks a few times a year. I will say last year they basically lost a lot of the fairways due to lack of rain and developed what looked like a black fungus. I stopped playing it for the rest of the year. I played it in July this year when we still had a lot of rain and it was in pretty good shape. I had heard from friends the conditioning is starting to suffer again so I have not gone back since then. Other courses, such as Heatherwoode and Stonelick Hills are in great shape as I played them both over the last couple of weeks so with proper budget and a good staff, you can keep courses in good shape around Cincinnati throughout the summer. I like Aston Oaks layout except for a couple holes like the final par 5….just hate that hole. Feels like they stuck in par 5 where a par 4 belonged so they turned into a Mickey Mouse hole.

[churnd]

[quote name='Frohlich' timestamp='1315331742' post='3545814']
Thanks for the review. I live in Cincinnati and usually play Aston Oaks a few times a year. I will say last year they basically lost a lot of the fairways due to lack of rain and developed what looked like a black fungus. I stopped playing it for the rest of the year. I played it in July this year when we still had a lot of rain and it was in pretty good shape. I had heard from friends the conditioning is starting to suffer again so I have not gone back since then. Other courses, such as Heatherwoode and Stonelick Hills are in great shape as I played them both over the last couple of weeks so with proper budget and a good staff, you can keep courses in good shape around Cincinnati throughout the summer. I like Aston Oaks layout except for a couple holes like the final par 5….just hate that hole. Feels like they stuck in par 5 where a par 4 belonged so they turned into a Mickey Mouse hole.
[/quote]

I played Stonelick my first time in July & it was without a doubt the best in Cincy (& surrounding areas) that I've played. I felt like I was playing on a course manicured for a tour event, very enjoyable... just more expensive so can't justify playing it a lot. Never played Heatherwoode, but I'll add it to my list.

I actually enjoy that final par 5 (16) when it's in good shape (& not mostly GUR!). It's a 3 shot to the green par 5, no two ways about it, but the approach 3rd is a nice shot. I guess if you hugged the left side on your tee shot & hit it long enough, you might be able to hit a cut 3 wood into the green & get it to hold if you're lucky, but I have a hard time seeing that shot, especially from the tips.

[Frohlich]

Heatherwoode, this weekend, was in better shape then Stonelick Hills last weekend but that is being picky. The greens where in a touch better shape and the teeboxes and fairways darn near perfect. They were both in great shape overall and better then any other courses I have played the last couple of months. Heatherwoode is north towards Dayton and is a little cheaper then Stonelick. The layout at Stonelick is a little better in my opinion and that is why overall I think it is a better course then Heatherwoode.

[churnd]

[quote name='Frohlich' timestamp='1315333138' post='3545869']
Heatherwoode, this weekend, was in better shape then Stonelick Hills last weekend but that is being picky. The greens where in a touch better shape and the teeboxes and fairways darn near perfect. They were both in great shape overall and better then any other courses I have played the last couple of months. Heatherwoode is north towards Dayton and is a little cheaper then Stonelick. The layout at Stonelick is a little better in my opinion and that is why overall I think it is a better course then Heatherwoode.
[/quote]

Wow, that's saying a lot about Heatherwoode, IMO. I'll have to play it soon.