dangoepfert

The Big Met of the east side. Aside from teeing off 15 minutes late because they try and cram walk-ups in on a busy morning this was a decent round. Greens in great shape, rough and fairways OK. Pace was better than normal. After the first tee shenanigans, good day

They strategically placed their hot deal right behind a high school match. Played the front in 3 hours and 15 minutes. Rangers statement to us on 2 tee: “It’s going to be a long day.” What a way to start the round. Playing in over 6 hours is just not worth playing at all. GolfNow is great, but courses like this make it dangerous.

This course is one of those relatively easy courses that you won’t play well at. “Fore” echos through the metroparks constantly. Big Met is the most played course in Ohio, and they pull this off by jam packing the course, every time I’ve made the turn here on a weekend there’s 3 groups on 10 tee... 9 holers they send off the back regardless of whether or not there are groups trying to turn on 7, 8 and 9. Even if it wasn’t jam packed, the course layout just forces waiting. Oh and is there a worse way to start a round then watching guys on 2 pick up your ball in the middle of 1 fairway?... that happens, often. Avoid Big Met on weekends, afternoons, Holidays, and anytime Tiger Woods is playing well.

Ive played this course hundreds of times, I like the layout, and its a short drive from the my home and work. I have recently put my foot down, heres why:
1. Ranger/Starter: This older guy doing starter/ranger duties on weekdays (I told him its impossible to be both) has no idea what hes doing. When a starter is clueless, pace suffers.

2. If it rained in the last 48 hours you dont want to play here, 72 hours is ok but there will likely be dead fish on numerous fairways and you'll need 3-5 pairs of socks.

3. If you are paying anywhere near full price, youre getting ripped off. $25-$30 is a fair price to ride @Bent Tree. Northstar golf club is 2 minutes away, always more open then Bent Tree, and is normally around $40 to ride, do that if Bent Tree is charging their reficulous normal rates.

4. Traveling leagues: If you managed to snag a good deal, theres a good chance you'll show up to tour busses in the parking lots, tee off 10, and play in 5.5-6 hours, enjoy!

5. Practice: they have a range. But it runs parallel to 1 fairway, so have fun picking which ball on 1 fairway is yours since they evidently pick range balls once a day. Also they have a putting green next to 1 tee, usually more golfers than holes, and it rolls differently than all 18 greens, soooo yeah.

6. Fluffy, wet. Hard as rock. Ant/bee infested. 50/50 sand to weed ratio. These descriptors are all true of Bent Tree's sand traps and bunkers.

7. My favorite: yardage markers are wrong. After hitting the same club into the hazard on 5 tee for weeks, I did my own measuring, every single marker on the course is off by 5-20 yards, hilarious. Why even have them?

Having said all of this. I still like Bent Tree, I don 't know why. I guess I 'm just comfortable with the shennanigans at this point. But I will never book before getting there, golf now is there way of overbooking, if you show up and the lot is half full, run away!!