Hawthorne Valley Golf Club

Hawthorne Valley is one of the prettiest and best kept courses in the Cleveland/Akron area. It has a good variety of holes with interesting fairways and approaches. It does not require vast length to play well. It is more of an accuracy course. Greens are good and interesting. Hard to read on some, but the condition is well kept. The whole course is well maintained and a joy to play.

This is the second time I play this course. I want to play here as much as possible before snow sets in. Many of the holes here are doglegged and very challenging (and fun). The course still retains elegance and luxury of the former private golf course. Also, unlike other stuck-up courses, they are not fussy about power carts entering the parking lot. Another sign of luxury and relaxation?

Hawthorn or Hawthorne? If Hawthorn, Hawthorne Valley probably means a valley of hawthorn (berry bearing shrubs), but if it's Hawthorne, I don't know what it means or where it's from. Hawthorne is the name of the author of The Scarlet Letter.

Only played 13 holes. Pace of play was atrocious. 2 four somes in front of us and a five some. Someone finally came out and asked why we were leaving. Told him. Bunkers very little or n sand , mud. Fairways were ok. Don't waste your money unless you are ready for a 5 hr round for 18 holes.

I heard that this course was originally private, and it became public only recently (5 years ago?). I think this (the fact it was once private) tells a lot about the course. In almost every aspect, it is simply excellent (luxurious?). (Well, the only problem is the old power carts, many of which don't quickly respond to acceleration.) The people working here are very polite, relaxed, and friendly unlike those authoritative attendants of the likes of Big Met and Manakiki. At Big Met and Manakiki, I was ordered to "consolidate" (i.e., abandon my cart and ride someone else's) as, I suspect, some kind of punishment for "offending" them. At Big Met, for instance, I drove my cart near the far-away parking lot (I didn't enter the lot, as the sign said it was forbidden) to pick up my heavy-duty golf bag. The attendant scolded me for that and (because of that, I suspect) made me "consolidate." About the same (I'll skip the details) occurred at Manakiki.

At Hawthorne Valley, they told me I was free to drive my cart into the parking lot to pick up my bag. As far as I saw, no one left cart in the lot.

In any case, Hawthorne Valley escaped my notice on Golfnow until last Monday. I live not far (20 minutes or so) from the course. Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, might have been alienating me from the course. I wonder why the area is called "Hawthorne Valley." Any relationship with Nathaniel Hawthorne?

After reading a few other not so spectacular reviews, I was a little unsure what to expect.....but I was very pleasantly surprised. This course is a fantastic layout and is truly a Donald Ross hidden gem. The course conditions were really quite good, although the carts are not the best. It would be a great course to walk with greens and tee boxes very close together. If this course could put a little bit of money into upgrading some of the amenities, it would be fantastic.
I will definitely be back to play this course when I'm in Cleveland.

This course is nice and challenging, but the pace of play was really slow once we made the turn. It could have been it was a Sunday. Our three some started at 9:30 and we quit at 2:30 on the 14 hole. Besides that, the course and staff are wonderful.

45 dollars for no sand in bunkers give me a break!

This is a very nice course for the price paid. Donald Ross design with tiny, sloping greens. The maintenance of the course was lacking a little bit but it is definitely worth a try.

This course is just plain fun. The greens were spectacular, held a shot and rolled true.

The bunkers are not in the best condition but the same can be said at most places I play.

I was happy to see they have water stations on the course now and highly visible 150 markers in the fairways.

Its not quite a country club experience but you cannot beat the value for the quality of course.

Beautiful course, love the layout and greens were perfect. But you cannot get too aggressive or you will struggle. Definitely will play again!! It was one of the best of 2017

This used to be a good quality private course. The upkeep has gone down since becoming public. The bunkers were not raked. The leaves were not blown. The carts are raggedy. It's a shame because the course has a really good layout and is a nice challenge from the tips.

Another perfect weather day, I'm so spoiled to be able to play golf on days like this. Leaves were a small issue but expected in the fall. The clubhouse has a ton of potential and it seems like they don't do much with it. The course was in typical fall condition, greens didn't look like they got aerified so go play it soon.
Layout was a little tricky at times to not be able to hit driver on multiple par 4 and even the par 5 7th. Very tricky to know where to go at times. GolfNow app helped but still a little unsure to trust yourself. Felt like I hit a lot of different shots which is great just wish it had a bit more length and width and not so tight. Some tough walks if you indeed choose to walk not because of length but hills would be tough.

I expected more from this golf course once management changed to the new owners. Unfortunately every marker on the Tee ( Blue, gold, white and sometimes red markers) we're all marked at the same position on the Teebox. Additionally there was not a ranger to start the pace of play off the number one and number 10 tees, created unnecessary bottlenecks on the course. Lastly many of the greens were not smooth due to aeration that was done on them without sufficient cleanup of the plugs. Therefore putting was unpredictable.