Par 4 365 yard first hole at Blue Ash Golf Course near Cincinnati
A cold and blustery day found us at Blue Ash Golf Course just north of Cincinnati, and it only got colder and windier as the day progressed. This was probably not the best day for golf but I sure didn’t drive down to Cincinnati to go bowling! Days like Saturday separate the boys from the men and the hackers from the golfers. Pictured above is the opener at Blue Ash. It’s a dog leg left par 4 with a stream dividing the fairway (just in front of the carts in the picture). Leave your driver in the bag and lay up to . . .
Approach into the first green
. . . this general area. You may have a slight downhill lie. Go ahead and take more club as a spacious green awaits you. A note on the conditions, Blue Ash was in exceptional shape for this early in the season. I can’t wait to go back in a month or two and see how the conditions improve. The greens were a little rough and slow (which was to be expected) but I could see that they were going to be something special in a month or so.
179 yard par 3 second hole at Blue Ash Golf Course
By the way, all distances are coming from the yellow tees here which play 6313 yards. This is a gorgeous little par 3. I can’t get over how much greener Cinci courses are then Columbus this time of year. Just go a couple hours south and the golfing dramatically changes. The flag was in the middle on this hole. Unfamiliarity with the course got me on this hole as beyond the flag is a deep depression in the green. So I ended up a good 40 feet away from the hole.
I didn’t get a pic of the par 4 374 yard third. It’s a slight dogleg right. Watch out for the bunker in front of the green.
Par 3 172 yard fourth hole at Blue Ash
What you don’t see is the bunker to the right front of the hole which grabbed my ball. There’s also a deep depression in the front right section of the green. Today the flag was in the back and slightly right. What’s interesting about Blue Ash is, on both nines, both par 3’s occur within the first four holes.
499 yard par 5 fifth hole at Blue Ash Golf Course
The fifth is a dogleg right par 5. I unintentionally cut the dogleg and, if not for my lie, would’ve had a shot at the green in 2. The wind obviously helped me on this one. I just got stuck in the rough and had to lay up to about 80 yards.
Second shot into five
Here’s my second into five, just beyond the bunkers that guard the corner. The rough also guards the corner as I opted to iron it out to 80 yards from the green. Laying up led to a birdie as I put the approach to within 8 feet and drained it for a tweeter!
398 yard par 4 sixth hole at Blue Ash Golf Course
Other than the first hole, all the doglegs have been to the right so far but the sixth gets us going to the left again. So swoop it to the left a tad and you may end up with an approach similar to . . .
Approach to six
I was just out of the picture to the left on the fairway here. With the pin to the right, I completely forgot about the water to the left and the flag looked awfully tempting here. Passed 150, things start to slope downhill. I was just on enough of a downhill slope to bother me and left my approach just short. This hole will keep me coming back for more. Put yourself in position A and blow your approach and you’ll leave the table hungry. I’ll be back Blue Ash, I’ll be back.
Uphill par 4 354 yard seventh at Blue Ash
Uphill holes don’t give you much of a photo, but here’s the seventh from the tee. We’re back to the slight dogleg right with a bunker at the corner. Get the right conditions and the bunker becomes . . .
Approach to seven
irrelevant as we are well past the bunker and again in position A. I put my approach just past the flag and in the fringe for a shot at bird but missed it just right. I’ll be back, Blue Ash; I’ll be back.
Reverse perspective on seven
505 yard par 5 eighth at Blue Ash
Here’s a beautiful hole! I wish I could’ve played it from the fairway or even downwind. Maybe next time. My buddy hit a beautiful drive here which may have been the best of the day. There’s a bunker well in front of the green that must wreak havoc with those pulling the three wood on the second shot.
Par 4, 349 yard ninth hole at Blue Ash
Watch out for the creek to the left and right of the fairway. You may wish to eschew driver unless you can bomb it over everything. The 20-30 mph wind prevented such bravado on this day.
The gorgeous par 5 511 yard tenth at Blue Ash
Isn’t this a beautiful hole. I’d like to see it in a couple more weeks. The wind helped keep my pulled tee shot in play as it blew it back to the right. My buddy couldn’t believe my luck on this course and asked me to check my pocket for a golf ball-sized hole. If you go for it in two, you’ll have a blind second shot in. Bunkers guard the green left and right.
168 yard par 3 11th at Blue Ash
This hole played directly into the wind. In fact, the wind shifted so much, we felt that we played almost every hole into the wind. I hit a three wood pretty solidly and the wind ballooned it up and it ended up in the back bunker. That should give you an idea on what we were dealing with that day.
376 yard par 3 12th at Blue Ash
Aim for the pink here and you can’t go wrong. This is what I did on this dogleg right par 4. My buddy walked me through the buttercut but got a little too much butter on the cut and it slipped O.B. Still the verbal presentation was flawless.
position A on the 12th at Blue Ash
Flag was a little to the right on this occasion but still this is where you want to be. The left to right and slightly hurting wind kept me just short of paydirt! I’ll be back!
151 yard par 3 13th at Blue Ash
Here’s another hole with a bunker that is dead center in front of the green.
352 yard par 4 14th at Blue Ash
I laid up here but, in looking at it now, perhaps I should’ve just tried to bomb one. The wind was probably against us dictating a more conservative tee shot. This would make a great sledding hill.
367 yard par 4 15th at Blue Ash
I lost my drive a bit to the right on this hole. Two bunkers guard the right side of the fairway.
356 yard par 4 16th at Blue Ash
334 yard par 4 17th at Blue Ash
Seventeen dictates a lay up to about 150. Water on the right creeps up to the green so don’t hang it out there.
Approach to 334 yard par 4 17th at Blue Ash
503 yard par 5 18th at Blue Ash
Eighteen has a waste bunker way to the left. A right to left wind and a bit of a hook resulted in me being in the middle of it. I decided to take 3 wood off the wasteland and tried to rip it over the trees back into the fairway. I was one branch short but still got over most of them and had a punch shot to the green. Putting on the eighteenth must be a real adventure when these greens get really slick.
Overall, I really enjoyed Blue Ash Golf Course. It has some beautiful and challenging holes. At $42 to ride, it was also a good deal.
513-686-1280
4040 Cooper Road
Blue Ash, OH 45241
www.blueash.com