This week, The Dewseepers loaded up and took an early morning road trip to Ashtabula, and teed it up at Chapel Hills Golf Course.

(No Pics this week, raining had to put the electronics away)

Chapel Hills Golf Course Website

Now before you panic, the drive there is relatively easy.   From Akron, grab I-271 north and take it to I-90, and head east.   Even though it's not next door, it is and easy drive.  And it's right off the highway.   It's always good to play someplace you have never played before.  Although Joe Red had hit is there a couple of times, the rest of us had not.

It was a bit sad for us that it had rained a ton the night before and the course was newly wet.   Although they, like everyone else right now needs the rain with the drought conditions and all.  And for much of the front 9 it rained pretty consistently on us ranging from a light drizzle to break out the umbrellas.  So needless to say conditions were a bit tough.  But hey, so are we!

Chapel Hills reminds me a lot of Brunswick Hills here locally, as it is the story of two completely different 9's.  The front is short, quirky and has a bunch of dog-legs and nuances that you have to learn to play well.  The front is tight, with tons of tree lined and narrow fairways.  Toss in the fact that is was a bit wet with no roll and it made for a tough front 9.   No one really played very well on the front. Although Joe Red threw a birdie on number two, a real nice par 5 that is reachable in two with a good drive, which Joe hit.   The front 9 is short, but challenging, and good iron play off the tee is really a good idea.  You must keep the ball in front of you on the front, or it can add up quick. 

The back 9 is very different in virtually every regard than the front.  It is longer, more wide open and plays longer to par as it is par 37, as opposed  to 35 on the front.   There are 3 par 5's on the back  to help you score better to par as well.  On the back the rain stopped, and the sun even came out for a while, and we all played a bit better.  Because of the design, the back can handle the rain a bit better, and it was not as wet as the front.  All of our scores were lower on the back 9 except Red, who played a real nice front at 42.   Then the rain came back on number 17 and 18, but we charged through.

Chapel Hills also does have a ton of hills as you might expect, and that really is noticeable on the back 9.  The three par 5's are hilly on the back, with number 13, playing down and uphill..  Number 14, playing downhill and hard left, and the fabulous number 18 playing out of a tough driving shoot , then uphill all the way to the green about 525 yards away.   Great finishing hole.  All three 5's on the back were great holes.

Should be noted too that the rates to play there are very good, and the small and quaint clubhouse is very comfortable and nice.  Pleasant staff too and an overall good feeling from the locals that call this course home.  Decent golfers too should play the blue tees here, as we did, as this course is not hugely long.

We would love to get another crack at this course in better playing conditions sometime.   Plus, the front needs to be learned to be played well and confidently.  But as always we had fun, with plenty of laughs and cigars to go around.   And it's always fun to load up and take a little trip to see a different zip code, especially if there's golf a the end of the journey.

Scores

Joe Red  -  88
Wynn  -  88
Beef  -  89
Tex  -  100 ish