Raymond Memorial’s Fourth Hole

I recently visited Raymond Memorial after not having played there for a couple years. I generally try to avoid Raymond in the prime golfing months as it gets a whole heck of a lot of play and the people playing there are not too current on their golf etiquette. Despite this, Raymond Memorial does have its charm. And if you visit it when it gets a bit cooler, many of the blue collar crowd will be noticeably absent.

Raymond is known for its huge greens, mammoth sand traps, meaty par 3′s, and surly employees. It is also known for its double greens. Back when it was built in 1952, Robert Trent Jones, the designer, constructed two tees and two greens for each par 3 on the course. The idea was to speed up play. If someone was really slowing you down, you could always pass them on the par 3′s by playing whichever green the others were not playing. It probably led to a lot of confusion and the practice was abandonned but Raymond has always maintained the extra greens/tees. Raymond was using the alternate par 3 for the fifth hole which I had never seen done before in my years of playing there.

Holes of note on the front side include the par 5, first hole. Its a fairly straightfoward par 5, and I remark on it because it can be an easy birdie to start your round with. Just note where the flag is and make sure to hit to the appropriate level on the green.

Fourth hole at Raymond Memorial Golf Course

The fourth hole is a par 4, 90 degree dogleg right. If you are daring, you can take it right over the trees. Aim farther right than you would think. I’ve often ended up past the original no. 5 tees on my drive because I didn’t aim far enough right. On this day, we played from the blues, and I took it way right over the trees and ended up just left of the right bunker in this picture. If I went further right, I would’ve ended up in the trap. It would take a gutsy and powerful drive to hit this green in one but it may be possible.

I always like the short par 5 number 6. It provides for another birdie opportunity as the green can be easily hit in two. No. 7 is a really long par 4. I finally birdied it two years ago, and I believe that that was my only remaining hole that I hadn’t birdied on the front nine. No. 9 is a dogleg left. You used to be able to take it over most of the trees and leave yourself a short shot to the green. Raymond has planted a lot of new trees which prevent this, and they have added a lot of trees all around the course in general.

Overall, Raymond is a good time – just avoid the crowds in the summer.

[where: 3860 Trabue Rd
Columbus, OH 43228]
614-645-3276

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