Cincinnati, Ohio: A new golf destination for Michiganders

I’m always on the lookout for new golf destinations for my fellow Michiganders.

I take pity on us poor fools who live here. We love golf. We just can’t play it as often as we’d like.

Not all of us can afford lavish vacations down south to scratch our golf itch, either. That leaves roughly six months of suffering from one swing to the next (unless we have a great spring like this one).

For years, I’ve told friends who were desperate for golf, but didn’t have a ton of money to spend on a golf trip, to head to Indianapolis for an early spring getaway. The weather in Indiana is about 8-10 degrees warmer than home, the courses are in bloom faster and there’s no airline ticket or rental car costs. The spring rates add even more value to an already affordable golf destination.

The same theory applies to Cincinnati, Ohio. After touring golf courses around southern Ohio this past week, I plan to start recommending this place as an early spring or late fall getaway for friends, too. It’s even closer than Indianapolis and the beauty and the variety of the courses is even stronger. The Shaker Run Golf Club, arguably Cincinnati’s best public, is just 3 1/2 hours by car from where I live near Ann Arbor and less than four miles off the Interstate-75. Shaker Run, an Arthur Hills design, boasts maybe the best combination of the No. 9 and No. 18 holes in the Midwest. Both are demanding par 4s situated around a lake (see No. 18 above). Many of these top courses are bookable here.

Tyler Geswein, the assistant pro at Shaker Run, said he sees tons of Michigan residents come through this time of year.

“Shaker Run is always high on their list,” he said. “They say the same thing, ‘The golf around here is fantastic.’”

While you’re at it, drag the family along. Warren County is at the cross-roads of I-75 and I-71, so it is stocked with tourist activities, like King’s Island and the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. I stayed at a Drury Inn & Suites in Middletown just minutes from these attractions. It’s a great place for a long weekend, especially when the temperature in Michigan is starting to drop.