LOCAL GOLF - Sunday Morning Golf Course Review

Course:  Thunderbird Hills North

Location:  Huron, near Sandusky

Directions:  On Route 2, easy access from 2, or the Ohio Turnpike. One hour from Akron

Dewsweepers Tee Time Was:  724AM

Conditions:  Cool, overcast 55 degrees

Thunderbird Hills Website

This is a place we really like and is one of the real well kept secrets in Northeast Ohio.  Thunderbird Hills has two courses, the North, and the South.  The North is the older, more mature course that is tree lined and really fun to play.  The North is a moderate length course that has a nice mixture of hills, and rolling fairways.  There is not a lot of water at all, but the lies, the rough and the fast greens are the story and the challenge. No sane traps either.  On this day the course played long, as it was a bit soggy from the weekend of rain. It was not soaked as it drains well, but there was no roll and the rough was really brutal.

Joe Red had an interesting round.  Overall he hit the ball well and avoided real problems for the most part. Red's putting was the culprit today.   With the greens this fast, especially above the hole, they were challenging.  Joe missed (by his count) 7 short maybe 6 foot putts, and the greens were breaking hard, and quick  That kept him from going low,  he played better than he scored, scoring 44/45.  But it could have easily have been 6-7 strokes better.

Tex had the tale of two nines.  On the front Tex fired a nice 44 and was sailing along nicely even uner tougher conditions.  But Tex ran into big trouble on the back settling for a 97 on the day.  There is no doubt the back plays tougher for us every time. Tex had a couple of bad numbers there, and that hurt.  But on the front Tex was solid.   His TaylorMade driver is starting to pay off.

Beef  was in a position too to score low with a bunch of pars on the front, but a bad double on number 9 really hurt.  But Beef was consistent all day long, without too many highs or lows, and fired a nice 87.  He birdied number 6 with a great drive and a sensational down hill chip to about 2 feet out, then a nice putt.  But then he, like the rest of us didn't make a putt of any consequence the rest of the day. Overall a good round for Beef.  But his cart driving skills had a bit to be desired.

I got off to a rocky start with a stupid double on number one, I got caught in the rough coming in and simply hacked to the green.  But I birdied 6 and shot a 41 on the front. On the more difficult back, I was steady, with a birdie on 17, and shot a 41/42 and 83 on the day.  All of us shot higher on the back.

This is a great golf course that you need to play well on the front for the most part to score, because the back plays more difficult.   There's really no reason for it, but it does.  The stretch of holes from 6-13 is the teeth of the course.  Play those holes well, and you will more than likely play the course well.  Number 10 may be the hardest par 4 we play.  400 yards, downhill,  to an uneven fairway.  Over the creek, way uphill to a slanted and fast green.  Brutal!  As hard as any 4 you will ever play.

This is a great course that is worth the drive.  Good plan would be, make the drive and play all 36, play the North and the South.   Would be a good day!  Nice facilities too on the North Course called Bar North, great food, and drink.  We will be back again.

Look for the next review of Sleepy Hollow in Brecksville.