Scioto Country Club

Scioto Country Club – Played June 2014

• Rankings: Golf Digest #52, Golf Magazine #65
• Location: 2196 Riverside Drive, Columbus, Ohio
• Year: 1916
• Original Architect: Donald Ross
• Additional Work By: Jack Nicklaus & Michael Hurzdan
• Course Access: Private
• Walking Rules: Carts & Caddies Available

Score Card Information:

• Blue: 6,960 yard, Par 72, 74.2 Rating/138 Slope
• White: 6,661 yards, Par 72, 72.3 Rating/136 Slope
• Ross: 6,402 yards, Par 72, 70.3 Rating/131 Slope
• Gold: 6,103 yards, Par 72, 69.5 Rating/130 Slope
• Silver: 5,508 yards, Par 73, 67.6 Rating/128 Slope
• Green: 5,149 yards, Par 73, 65.7 Rating/123 Slope

Scioto Country Club is located in the Top 100 hotbed of Columbus.  It has history oozing out of every corner of the property.  Opened in 1916 boasting a course designed by the legendary Donald Ross, it has remained among the most revered tracks in America.  It is one of only four courses to have hosted five different major golf championships (1926 US Open, 1931 Ryder Cup, 1950 PGA Championship, 1968 US Amateur, 1986 US Senior Open).  The ’26 Open was won by the great Bobby Jones.  It will again host a major with the 2016 US Senior Open coming to town.

Many may already know, but Scioto (pronounced Sigh-o-tuh) was the childhood home course of Jack Nicklaus.  It was here that he learned the game from the noteworthy instructor Jack Grout.  He would always return during his career for additional checkups on his game.

From hosting a tournament Bobby Jones won to being the childhood club of Jack Nicklaus, Scioto has such a long history.  I could feel it when I got into the clubhouse and looked at all the artifacts and toured the old school locker room.  The men’s grill had that same old school feel that I have read about at all the great courses.  It has an active membership with swimming and tennis available.  The club is in a beautiful, mature neighborhood.

My friend, Tim, one half of the great Twitter follow @CBusGolfers, hosted me.  We had a great time in our round with two of his buddies.  Our caddies were awesome, with mine being quite a player shooting 67 a few days before.  He also regularly caddies for Jason Day when he comes by the club.  Let’s get to the course tour.  Unfortunately, it started raining on the third hole and stayed with us for the rest of the round.  As a result, I didn’t get to take as many photos as I would have liked.  You can check out more on Scioto Country Club here.

Hole 1 – 400 yards – Par 4

The first tee shot is no easy drive.  The trees up the right and the bunkers on the left pinch the landing area.

The approach, seen below, plays to a slightly raised green surrounded by bunkers.  You need to be precise here!

Hole 2 – 434 yards – Par 4

We have a stout hole on the second.  The long par four plays into an uphill slope.  The rough here is really thick so getting the ball in the fairway is imperative.

The second shot plays to another raised green with sand on both sides.  The bunkers are deep and playing greenside shots to Ross greens can be difficult.

The green has a ridge running the width of the surface as you can see on this side of the flag.  Having a caddie to help with the reads was incredibly helpful.

The rain started pretty good at this point.  The course, however, was still phenomenal.  It had a great collection of holes with gently rolling fairways framed with penal rough.  The greens, it is Donald Ross, of course, had everything from subtle to serious undulations.  You definitely had to be cognizant of your speed and line to two-putt let alone one-putt.  I really liked the elevation changes on the approach shots.  The slopes keep players engaged and give them the challenge to gauge the correct distance.  The bunkering around the greens was wonderful.  They fit the greens perfectly and made for quite a challenge with their depth.

The course was a challenge from beginning to end.  It was even tougher since they had the US Open qualifier there the Monday before we played.  I had a great time playing the course with new friends.  Scioto is a welcoming club and it treated me no differently except when it came to pars!  I look forward to getting back to Columbus to play more golf!