Best golf courses: Ohio (North & Central)

Quite a few of Ohio's golf courses that have made our list are private golf clubs with impeccable amenities. The best public golf courses here include the Avalon Lakes course, a lovely tree-lined layout with challenging holes, the top-rated Virtues Golf Club, and the championship layout at Sleepy Hollow Golf Course. To make the most of your golfing trip, and to help in your planning, you can look up the location of the best courses in Ohio on our customised maps.

5-star: Fabulous – courses don’t get much better than this.
Visitors welcome
Cleveland / Akron
Dye, Pete

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Cleveland / Akron

Designer

Pete Dye

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Cleveland / Akron
Thompson, Stanley

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Cleveland / Akron

Designer

Stanley Thompson

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Cleveland / Akron
Salemi, Joe

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Cleveland / Akron

Designer

Joe Salemi
Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Cleveland / Akron
Strong, Herbert

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Cleveland / Akron

Designer

Herbert Strong (1922); modifications by Bruce Hepner (2016).

Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Cleveland / Akron
Flynn, William S.

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Cleveland / Akron

Designer

Current layout designed by William S. Flynn (1928).

Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Columbus (OH)
Weiskopf & Morrish

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Columbus (OH)

Designer

Tom Weiskopf & Jay Morrish

Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Cleveland / Akron
Jones, RT Sr & Tom Fazio

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Cleveland / Akron

Designer

South course: original design by Bert Way (1929); redesign by Robert Trent Jones Sr (1960).
North course: Robert Trent Jones Sr (1969).
West course: Tom Fazio (2001).

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Cleveland / Akron
Dye, Pete & Roy

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Cleveland / Akron

Designer

Pete Dye & brother Roy Dye designed the original Lake and River nines.
Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Columbus (OH)
Dye, Pete

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Columbus (OH)

Designer

Pete Dye

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Columbus (OH)
Ross, Donald

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Columbus (OH)

Designer

Original design by Donald Ross (1929), later revised by Jack Kidwell.
Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Toledo (OH)
Ross, Donald

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Toledo (OH)

Designer

Original design dates from 1903. Course remodelled by Donald Ross (1919); modifications by George & Tom Fazio (1979), Arthur Hills (1999) and Andrew Green (2018).

Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Cleveland / Akron
Alison, Charles Hugh

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Cleveland / Akron

Designer

Charles "Hugh" Alison, long-time design associate of Harry Colt.
4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Cleveland / Akron
Hurdzan/Fry

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Cleveland / Akron

Designer

Hurdzan/Fry Design (Dr Michael J. Hurdzan & Dana Fry).

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Cleveland / Akron
Ross, Donald

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Cleveland / Akron

Designer

Donald Ross
4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Toledo (OH)
Hills, Arthur

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Toledo (OH)

Designer

Arthur Hills
Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Columbus (OH)
Nicklaus & Muirhead

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Columbus (OH)

Designer

A Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course designed by Jack Nicklaus, with input from Desmond Muirhead and Pete Dye.

Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Columbus
MacKenzie, Alister

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Columbus

Designer

Original design by Dr Alister MacKenzie (1939); renovated by Jack Nicklaus (2005).
4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Cleveland / Akron
Huntley, Brian

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Cleveland / Akron

Designer

Brian Huntley
4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
(Closed in 2020)
Columbus (OH)
Hills & Forrest

Visitors?

(Closed in 2020)

Nearest city

Columbus (OH)

Designer

Arthur Hills & Steve Forrest

Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Columbus (OH)
Ross, Donald

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Columbus (OH)

Designer

Original design by Donald Ross (1916); updated by Dick Wilson (early 1960s) and renovation by Jack Nicklaus & Dr Michael J. Hurdzan (2008).

4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Cleveland / Akron
Thompson, Stanley

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Cleveland / Akron

Designer

Stanley Thompson
5-star: Fabulous – courses don’t get much better than this.
Visitors welcome
Columbus (OH)
Hills, Arthur

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Columbus (OH)

Designer

Arthur Hills
4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Cleveland / Akron
Ault, Ed

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Cleveland / Akron

Designer

Edmund B. "Ed" Ault

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Tournaments

Tournament of Champions: the PGA Tour’s calendar-year starts, as it has done since 1999, with this iconic event in Hawaii. The field is drawn from players who won a PGA Tour event in 2022, or were amongst the top 30 in last year’s FedEx Cup final standings (Jan 6-9).

Desert Swing: the European (DP World) Tour launches into 2023 with three events in its UAE “Desert Swing”. Up first is the Abu Dhabi Championship (Jan 19-22), followed by the Dubai Desert Classic (Jan 26-29) and the Ras Al Kaimah Championship (Feb 2-5).

Who's Who

Kathy Whitworth: the end of 2022 saw the passing of LPGA Tour legend Kathy Whitworth. Her 88 LPGA Tour victories is more than achieved by any other golfer on either the LPGA or PGA Tours. Amongst her victories were six major championship titles.

Barry Lane: the golfing world was also saddened by the passing of Barry Lane, one of the European Tour and European Senior Tours most popular players. Enjoying success on both Tours, Lane was know for his excellent ball-striking and amiable personality.

Marco Simone Golf & Country Club

Marco Simone Golf & Country Club: With a clubhouse that might befit a Roman Emperor, and a golf course to match, you can be sure of a memorable outing at Rome's most talked about golf facility.
Jim Fazio's original layout was much changed to create a modern Ryder Cup course ... now one of the Eternal City's (and Italy's) most revered.

Costa Cruise & Golf

Costa’s "Cruise & Golf" allows golfers and their families to combine a unique golfing experience with the relaxation and fun of a cruise on board Costa Smeralda. Golf enthusiasts are offered a choice from 23 top-quality golf clubs; their chosen courses are played during the ship’s port calls in Italy, France and Spain. While the golfers are driving the fairways, accompanying non-golfers are able to enjoy the amenities and activities on-board, or explore wonderful places on day excursions organised by Costa. Read more ...

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