Barrington

The greater Cleveland, Ohio region is known for its broad collection of clubs representing the “Golden Age” of golf course architecture. The state’s golf icon, Jack Nicklaus, made the trip up north from his native Columbus to add the more modern Barrington Golf Club among that lot.

The greens at Barrington are a departure for the Golden Bear in that they are relatively flat; the course celebrates the subtlety of its breaks, and it enforces them with Stimp speeds that average in the 11 to 12 range. Of course, a green can be as flat as it wants if it has significant hazards surrounding it.

Such is the case at No. 13 and other holes at Barrington. In this instance, the peninsular green has water both front and back. The left only features a bunker...but the right has both. No. 15, a short par five (529 yards from the championship tees), only uses sand, but runs a series of bunkers out the fairway to greet the approacher. The closing hole doesn’t limit its hazards to the green: Players will have their eye on the grand clubhouse all the way along this 445-yard closer...but they should also keep an eye on the lake that follows the hole all the way down the right.