Just a few minutes south of Akron and a few minutes north of Canton, sits Raintree Golf Club. This course is a yearly staple in our group, as it has always been well kept and is always fair. For $16 riding nine during the week, a good deal.
This year is no different as we played the back 9 a few weeks ago. From the back tees this 9 measures over 3500 yards. It is the real deal. Shoot par here and you are a legitimate scratch golfer, no questions asked.
10th hole – A short hole, but do not let the length fool you. You must hit to the right side of a narrow fairway, as the sharp dogleg left will block you out. Unless you hit 250+, it is hard to cut the corner. It can be done, but if you are not long a hit down the right side will leave you a short iron in anyway. Not worth the risk. I 3 putted for bogey, way to go.
11th – A 170 -ish yard par 3, this hole has a creek guarding it short and the green has a weird shape so it is easy to go left and miss the green as I did. Hit a good chip to 5 feet and made the par putt.
12th- A birdie chance here, a 360 or so yard par 4 with a big open fairway and if you bail out right the trees there are small. Missed the green and hit a decent chip to 5 feet but missed this par putt.
13th- A tough hole for anybody, this is a 460 yard par 4. Long but slightly downhill from the tee, a creek crosses about 80 or so yards from the green. If you don’t hit the tee ball long this will come into play for your second shot. Playing slightly downwind, I hit the fairway with a solid drive that went about 290. Had 166 yards in and hit a thin 7 iron to a front pin placement. Two putted from 35 feet. Happy with par here.
14th- Very tough hole here. A creek runs along the left side of the fairway and from the back tees is really in play. It could come into play on the second as well if you hit it left. At over 400 yards a solid fade would be nice here. I was slapping the trees the entire hole but a good chip and 1 putt still gave me a bogey. Ill take it after that mess.
15th- An interesting hole. At around 540 yards this par 5 has trees o.b. all along the left, but a little room to bail right. The green is small and narrow with many traps in front about 30 – 50 yards short of the green. So either layup or go for it. Hit a solid drive and had about 260 or so in. However, the 2nd shot plays very downhill, so I blasted a 3 wood to within 10 yards of the green. Hit a terrible chit and 2 putted for par. What a waste of two good shots.
16th- This par 3 was playing around 170 or so with the pin in the back. Trees kinda hug the left so my pull fade was kinda altered by the tee shot. Hit a very thin slicing 6 iron to the front of the green. Happy with a 2 putt from 60 feet. Another par, lets keep this streak going.
17th- Wide open par 4, playing around 430 yards to a big green. Cut across the ball hit a big slice only about 200 yards. Had to wait 5 minutes to hit approach and was getting very angry. It had been a long time since I saw golfers play that slow with no clue of how the game should be played and how to move along. Almost started reaching for a stick to poke my eyes out, then they cleared the green. Basically duffed the 3 wood 15 yards. Guess I should stay calm. Then I crushed a hybrid to 8 feet, but missed the par putt. Bogey, I deserve that.
18th- Goofy hole. Need to play this a few times to know what to do. Well over 500 yards from the back tees, there is a creek that dissects the fairway. You can go left or right, it really doesn’t matter. I would go left, making the layup much easier. Water runs the entire left side the entire hole and the fairway slopes left as well, essentially if you come in from the right you risk the layup getting wet. Water is in front of the green, but there is some room to play with. Got lucky with the drive, stayed dry, then hit an 8 iron to around 115 yards out. Bunker was guarding pin, so got afraid and hit approach wedge to 40 feet. 3 putted again for bogey and a 41.
Tough nine, but should have been in the 30’s.
Conclusion: Solid course. Fair course. Good deals during the week. From the back tees a great challenge.
Raintree Country Club
4350 Mayfair Rd
Uniontown, OH 44685
Phone: 330-699-3232
Website: http://www.raintreecc.com/
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