Thursday, May 03, 2001
Lord's Valley is God's country
New, scenic course covers 200 acres of rolling terrain
By John Erardi
The Cincinnati Enquirer
OWENSVILLE — Many people in different parts of the world feel they grew up in “God's country.”Sometimes, that seems a stretch. But not at Lord's Valley Golf Course, the Tristate's newest 18-hole course.
Lord's Valley is a choice piece of Clermont County land, northeast of Batavia, with considerable and numerous elevation changes, rolling terrain and beautiful trees.
“We fit the course to the land and moved very little dirt,” said developer Ron Moore. “It increased the miles of cart paths we needed and the pipe needed for irrigation. But we wanted to keep it as much like God created it as possible.”
The course is closed to the public on Sundays, and no alcohol is served there.
“The banks didn't like the fact we're closed on Sundays — it's a lucrative day for all public courses, all of which are open seven days a week — but we're going to use Sundays for charitable outings,” Moore said.
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ENQUIRER RANKS
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(4-point system, with 4 as excellent).
• Aesthetics: 3.5
• Challenge: 3.5
• Conditions: 2
• Overall: 3
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VITAL STATS
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• Yardage: Black tees - 6,803 yards; middle tees - 6,357 yards; forward tees - 5,281 yards.
• Par: 71.
• Cost: 18 holes - $25 with cart; 9 holes - $15 with cart.
• Note: Course closed to the public on Sundays.
• Cart-path policy: Ninety-degree rule.
• Directions from downtown Cincinnati: I-471/I-275 East/Rt. 50 East/left at Clermont-Northeastern High School/Course is a quarter-mile on right. Click here for MapFinder
• Address: 5466 Newtonsville-Hutchinson Rd.
• Phone: (513) 625-4400
• Tee times: 7 days in advance for Saturday; weekdays are open play.
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Lord's Valley doesn't yet have the polish of another new “country” course — such as Majestic Springs in Wilmington, which opened its back nine late last year — but the potential is there.
“We know we've got work to do,” Moore said. “But we're being considerate with our rates ($25 for 18 holes with cart). We know the course isn't ready for a higher rate.”
If golf is, as Mark Twain described it, “a good walk spoiled,” how much more enjoyable would the game be if the surroundings were part of the experience?
The surroundings at Lord's Valley are abundant. The course is spread over 200 acres; the typical 18-hole course is wedged into about 125.
The best thing about country courses is the dearth of housing around them. This is Moore's 17th development, but his first golf course.
“I usually take farms like this and make subdivisions, but when I flew this property in 1997, I could see that it had to be a golf course,” Moore said. “The glacier missed this area. The land isn't even flat enough to be a good farm for agriculture. It was a dairy farm.”
Lord's Valley is not a beginner's course.
You'll use every club in your bag, and some of those choices will come on the tee. You can't always just bang the ball. To score well, you have to lay up some.
It is not a gimmicky course except for No.18, a 321-yard, dogleg-left par-4 from the middle tees. It seems contrived — a 160-yard shot to the fairway, then another 160 yards to the green — but maybe golfers will grow to like it.
The par-5 15th is a bear. You must thread your second shot through a narrow opening. But Moore is going to open that up and pipe the creek and plant bentgrass down the slope so golfers don't lose their second shots, as they frequently do now.
Charlie and Jerry Gilkison, who began as pond and lake builders and then built golf courses as well as roads for Moore in his developments, did the course's grading and shaping. Greg Guynan, superintendent at O'Bannon Creek, is the architect. He also designed Circling Hills.
“At O'Bannon, I got a chance to design some bunkers and built some tees and put in some walls, and that's when I got interested in course architecture,” Guynan said. “When I first came out here and walked from where the house was — about where No.2 is now — and looked out at the two valleys, it took me about five minutes to realize, "This could be a great golf course.' There were three or four holes that just jumped out at you.”
A strength of Lord's Valley is its par-3s.
They are challenging, but the greens are sizable, giving even the hacker the feeling he can reach them. It's a philosophy architects should follow more frequently, especially on public courses. No.11 is an uphill par-3 that will be surrounded by sand.
There is room for another nine holes. Moore wants the next nine to be an executive course (mostly par-3s), and it may be lighted.
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Lord's Valley is God's country