LOCAL GOLF - Dewsweepers Gof Course Review - Ironwood

Course: Ironwood Golf Course

Location:  Rt. 94 in Medina County, (Hinckley) just north of Rt. 303

Directions:  Easy access from Rt. 303, I-71 and State Road. 20 minutes from Akron and Cleveland

Dewsweepers Tee Time Was: 620

Ironwood Website

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This week we made our annual trek to Ironwood, a very nice golf course that to some flies under the radar.  But this is a nice place, and a challenging course at that.  This is set in the deep, and rolling hills of Medina County, back in the trees.  Only a few holes where the terrain doesn't come into play.

I wouldn't call Ironwood a long course in actual yardage, but it plays longer than the card says. You have to make many shots here that have to carry all the way to the pin.  Much of this plays uphill, either steadily or drastically.  So you need to disregard the yardage and choose clubs wisely.  We really like playing this course.  The whole complex is a simple one. A basic clubhouse, with basic services, but really nice service from the staff, and there's always a nice feeling surrounding this course.

The story here is the terrain.  For example, all 4 par 3's play either way uphill, or down.  And that makes them really challenging.  Plus the par 5's all play uphill steadily making them longer.  And there are a few approach shots here, that are just flat out tough.  And this course has one of the toughest first swing drives you will play.  Right in front of everyone, to a long par 4, downhill with trees lining both sides of the fairway.  The greens here were really nice, and as the morning dew dried out, they got a whole lot faster as the day got older.

Beef was out of town, so it was just me, Joe Red and Tex.  There was some battling out there today, as Ironwood makes you think. We all had our moments of good and not so good golf.  Red had tough first hole but rebounded nicely. His front didn't match his back 9, as he shot an 86 on the day, with a real nice 40 on the back. That's a nice nine here, as the back is tougher, and not by a little.

Tex shot 47 on the front, and took advantage of the course the best he could. But Tex found some difficulty on the back, and that's not hard to do here.  He ran into trouble on #14 and #15, and that's not uncommon. Both are very tough and can ruin a round.  Tex has to settle for 96 on the day.  I almost budget those two holes to kill me every time.

I got off to a great start with a nice 39 on the front, that could have been even better without 2 - 3 putts.  But on the back I too ran into trouble on 14, with a terrible triple that really hurt. Plus, I had two more 3 putts, that sank me to a 45 on the back for 84 on the day. Not bad, but I was in position to to shoot much lower.  That's why I am a amateur.

Course highlights?  #2,  210 yard par 3 way down hill to a slanted green. #5, 426 yard par 4 #1 handicap, tough.  #6 straight uphill par 3, 150 yards, you better hit the green. #11, way downhill par 3, slanted green over water.  #14 tough par 4 tight, elevated green.  #15 brutal par 4 uphill, thin and blind approach only 325 but can be a round killer.  #16, 331 par 4, to a really fun, but tough approach shot to an elevated green in the trees.  And #17, par 3, 160, uphill all the way, steep! You can see that stretch on the back can be really challenging.

Ironwood is a really nice place to play, but bring your thinking cap, and use all your clubs.  This requires a golfers attention.

Scores

Wynn  -  84
Joe Red  -  86
Tex  -   96

Next week, Beef and I are solo, and we will play and review the very nice, Pine Hills in Hinckley for a rare afternoon round on Saturday.

Check out some of the other courses The Dewsweepers have played and reviewed recently.