Westwood Country Club

Cleveland features entries from a host of Golden Age golf course architects and C.H. Alison is no exception, having contributed Westwood Country Club to the city’s fine collection. It is one of two original courses from the Colt associate in Ohio (the other being Kirtland, another acclaimed Cleveland club).

Like that aforementioned club, despite its proximity to Lake Erie, Westwood stakes much of its enjoyment in the area’s wooded, rolling hills rather than lakefront views. Those hills result in stretches of fairway broken up by the slope, and when Alison doesn’t have a drastic change in altitude to shake up the approach, he relies on centerline bunkers. No. 8, one of the longest par fours on the course, uses no less than three approaching-pot-sized hazards to influence your decisions.

The club’s signature hole, however, is No. 17. The par three, although only 145 yards from the farthest tees, is perched above a pond, with hills front and right that will guide the misguided down to the drink. Members will no doubt be pleased if you compare it with No. 13 at Hirono, one of the architect’s most celebrated holes.