Classic layout unscathed by name changes

Curiosity finally got Oldgolfdawg to check out East Golf Club on Friday and he came away impressed. If you've never played the course, do yourself a favor and check it out while winter rates are in effect. You won't be sorry.

As soon as you drive into the East Golf Club parking lot, you are stepping into the world of what was once was an exclusive private club. But somewhere along the way the dream to create a Gatsby-like experience for a limited number of members at Winding Hollow Golf Club hit a speed bump and never recovered, forcing the membership to close shop in 2007.

New ownership purchased the facility and spent several months revamping the course, which had been closed and not kept up. The property re-opened for business in late June of 2007. Today, some of the trimmings of its original design, the mostly abandoned tennis courts and swimming pool, are remnants of its lost glory. But the course itself, built in 1991 by Toledo-based architect Arthur Hills, remains a jewel. Last year the course went by the name of Tartan East Golf Club. This year it is calling itself East Golf Club.

By any name, the course creates a classic atmosphere that inspires one to want to play their very best. It's tree-lined fairways value accuracy off the tee and its large bent grass greens are fast and firm. While most of its tree-lined fairways frame shots, there are holes where water hazards dictate strategy. The seventh hole, a 345-yard par 4 from the middle tees, offers an escape from the confines of the trees. But a pond runs down nearly the entire length of the hole's right side. Add in some bunkers down the left, and it becomes one of the course's most penal tee shots. The fifth hole, a 155-yard par 3, has a large pond protecting the front of the green. The 135-yard par 3 13th hole plays over water to a narrow, steeply sloped green protected by mounds on the right.

One of the neatest shots on the course is the third shot on the finishing hole, a 495-yard par 5. A laid-up second shot leaves one with about an 8- or 7-iron into a narrow green that curls around a pond on the right. When the pin is in the back left of the green it becomes a real risk/reward proposition because you have to hit over more of the pond to get near it. No doubt, many a ball has met a watery grave on the 18th as curious eyes watching from the stately brick clubhouse porch saw the drama unfold. The setting on the 18th reminds me a little of the finishing hole a Caledonia Golf & Fish Club in Pawley's Island, S.C., but that's a story for another day.

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