Pine Lakes Golf Club - Hubbard, OH

Recently I was introduced to Chris Carfangia (THP forum member 'carfangia'). Chris is a Silver Certified SPi SeeMore Puttting Instructor and Head PGA Professional at Pine Lakes Golf Club in Hubbard, OH.
A few of us have had the pleasure of meeting up with Chris and some of us were even fortunate enough to receive a lesson or two from him. Well we've all said enough good things about Chris to make him blush 1000 times over, so now let's switch gears to his golf course. In less than a month, about 25 THPer's will be arriving at this fantastic place for a THP get-together that will truly be one of a kind. Check that out here: http://bit.ly/1dRvD5J

Pine Lakes is located just off of I-80 in Hubbard, OH...a small town, with a lot to offer. It belongs to an unofficial stretch of great public courses along that route, that stems back into PA. All fantastic, all affordable...

The Club House at Pine Lakes has a very generous amount on indoor and outdoor seating and inside the Pro Shop, numerous brand name clubs, shoes, accessories and logo branded apparel are available for purchase.


From the site: (http://www.golfpinelakes.com/courses/)

Pine Lakes Golf Club established in 1926 is a privately owned 18 hole public golf course located in Hubbard, Ohio between Cleveland and Pittsburgh. This newly renovated scenic course is situated on 234 acres of rolling terrain providing golfers of all ages and abilities a challenging and enjoyable experience.
Pine Lakes has the only PGA approved practice facility in northeast Ohio and western Pennsylvania. Our practice facility is open year round and includes target greens, sand bunkers, bent grass tees, heated sheltered tees and lighting. In addition, Pine Lakes' PGA instructors offer private, semi-private and group lessons along with clinics and golf schools for all ages and skill levels.
We offer lodging at Julia's Bed and Breakfast, our four Diamond lodging facility, located on Pine Lakes Golf Club where, we offer Jacuzzi rooms with fireplaces, candle-lite dinner for two, massages and more. At our Mansion & Chalet we can accommodate from 8 to 32 with Chef services, pool tables, poker tables and much more.


First thing's first about Pine Lakes....as mentioned, it has an amazing PGA Approved practice facility that is open year-round with 20+ heated and lighted hitting stations.



2 sizable putting greens are also available for practice, one behind the Club House to warm up before teeing off (background), and one behind the practice facility for lessons, as well as general practice (foreground).



Next we step inside Chris's office, or more mildly put...personal fitting/training facility. As you can see, it's fully equipped with lots of training aids, Nike, Ping, and Cleveland fitting carts, a gorgeous TrackMan system...




And......SeeMores!!


Here's dcbrad and carfangia getting their 'OptiForce' on!





Before moving onto the course review, I feel obligated to mention that if you're within a decent driving distance from Pine Lakes, do yourself a favor and schedule a lesson with Chris. Whether it be a full lesson, or even a putting lesson/SeeMore fitting...the man is a wealth of knowledge and it will be well worth your trip. The guy loves to talk golf and everything else as well. Oh, and he loves THPer's! He's treated us very well...

Also, I must say...the scorecard at Pine Lakes is one of the nicest I've ever seen. It's a complete booklet, with layouts of each hole, yardages, shot advice, green width/depth/slope, and a personal Looper for stat tracking! It's quite impressive...



Course review will continue in next 2 posts....

When dcbrad and I set out for our epic adventure/bogus journey, we decided to play from the Silver tees. These tees are rated at 70.7/122, with a par of 72 at 6229 total yards. Having already played the front nine once, we were sort of familiar with how to play each hole, but everyone knows that each round of golf...is a brand new round of golf.

#1, #2, & #3:


#1 tee sets up right behind the Club House. This picture is from above the tee box, so you actually tee down below near the water. The last pine on the left can be daunting but just to the right of the bunker on the hill is a perfect aiming point.
Careful here, as a small creek splits #1 and #10 on the right and will easily attract your sliced tee ball.

The fairway here appears narrow, but a solid straight drive or baby draw will sit you perfectly in the fairway with 200 (give or take) left into this par 5. But laying up to the edge of the fairway or even the approach is strongly advised, as this green is miniature and sloped severely. 3 putting this green is easy.

#2 is a very straight-forward par 4. The tree on the left side of the fairway can make things difficult, but a straight drive will get you over the fairway hump, leaving you with 100-150yds into a wicked green, very similar to #1. Two-tiered and a dramatic slope. Make sure your approach shot is precise and also that you know how to putt, else you could end up with another 3-jack. Just like that....(no picture, sorry).

#3 is an odd par 3. The downhill elevation change is 1 to 2 clubs difference. You have to carry a small pond to the front right of the green and oh yeah, these huge pine trees! Depending on the pin and tee location, this could be a blind tee-shot. Check the wind and choose your club wisely. The green is a little larger than the previous two, and sloping towards the water.


Looking back up at the tee from the green on #3:


#4, #5, & #6:


#4 is a fairly shot par 4. Tee shot carries water just in front, but the fairway is wide open. A good rip will leave you with 100 and change into another small green, slightly elevated, that slopes towards you, but nothing severe. An easy birdie opportunity here, so take advantage.






#5 is another short and straight par 4 with plenty of driving room.


The green has a wicked false front and anything short may end up right back in your approach divot.


A front pin placement is death (oh hello there). Just make sure you hit the green and escape with a par here.


Onto #6, the 2nd par 3 on the front. Although slightly deceiving, it will play about 180-190yds, depending on the wind. Another small green here (are you beginning to notice the trend?), it's surrounded by 4 bunkers.


#7, #8, & #9:


Rounding out the front-side, #7 presents players with a very tight chute between trees for their tee shot. The hole elevates progressively, making both tee shot and approach semi-blind...




...which can be difficult, because the green is miniature and also slopes slightly away from you.


#8 is easily the hardest hole on the front, if not the course (oh look at that! it is! #1 hdcp). It requires a fairly precise tee shot because there's a tree in the middle of the fairway!! Strategically placed, but avoidable, the perfect play is to just miss it to the right...just don't find yourself behind it, or you'll definitely be looking at double-bogey or worse.


The approach shot is just as difficult into a two-tiered hourglass shaped green that slopes left-to-right, and fronted by cattails and swamp on the right-hand side. But hey, it's the biggest green on the course....you got this shot Pods!




Starting and ending with par 5's on the front side, #9 begs you to let 'er rip off the tee. But two bunkers on both sides of the fairway are easily reachable. Cutting the corners of each one is advisable, depending on your shot type but coming in from the right-hand side is the better play.


Make a confident decision for your 2nd shot here, as there is a "lay-up" bunker on the right side about 50 yards out, and two others on the front left side of the green, should you choose to poke one.


The green is one of the larger ones and accepts approach shots well. It slopes off the front and off the back, but the depth is long enough to almost guarantee a 2-putt from where your approach ends up.


Alright, time for a hot dog and a drink at the turn! Then we'll hit the back nine with authority!

The back nine at Pine Lakes has some stunning layouts and very challenging holes alike. I think you will enjoy it...

#10, #11, & #12:


Fresh off the the par 5 ninth, #10 is challenging par 5 as well, requiring 3 precise shots to get home in regulation. The fairway is wide enough to accept most tee shots, but parts of it are very undulating near the average landing area and water lines the left-hand side that splits back to #1.


Your approach shot needs to be a well-calculated layup, to either right in front of the creek/pond, or just on the other side onto the small split of fairway, leading up to the green. You'll then be left with about 100-50yds respectively...


...into a rather small green, that is sort of two-tiered and slopes back towards the water, which to mention guards the green, along with dual grass bunkers in front.


#11 sets up for a gorgeous tee shot, over a small pond and into 2 separate landing areas...


...a lower area for short ball hitters (dcbrad) and an upper area for real men (tyno). The lower landing area will make for a blind approach from about, let's say....ummm, 150yds....


...while the upper area, will give you a look at the green from above.


Either way, the green here is tiny and requires a pretty accurate approach. The good news is that it's fairly flat.


Although #12 is the easiest of the par 3's, as well as the easiest hole on the course according to the handicap, I strongly disagree. The tee shot is daunting...a good 175+ depending on the tee placement and requires an extremely accurate shot, into the smallest green on the course which is guarded by a bunker on the right and a tree overhanging the green on the left.


Oh and did I mention that the green is miniature?! Yes, that is a real-sized person on the green.


#13, #14, & #15:


I don't mean to sell the rest of the course short, but starting with #13 is where things really start to get beautiful (and dicey, if you're not careful). There's a lot of room off the tee here, but watch out for the creek along the left and more importantly, the large mound on the right hand side - it can completely take you out at having any good look at the green in regulation.


The approach is intimidating...going into a well elevated green that is sort of two-tiered, and sloping back to front.


You'll want to stay below the hole here, but that shouldn't be too difficult, as this is one of the largest greens on the course.


#14 begins another par 5 that requires some definite precision and accuracy, but the tee shot setup again...begs you to murder the ball, and you do have a bit of room to do so...So go ahead, let it rip son.


The 2nd shot will need a bit of thought, as you definitely have options from here...


...as there are sort of 3 landing areas to choose from. One would be very safe; at the bottom of the valley, just before the creek, which would put you about 100yds out, but with a completely blind shot into the green. Another is just across that creek; which would also leave you blind into the green, possibly on an uphill slope, possibly in the rough, and possibly in the pot bunker. So my advice is to go for the landing area above, about 50yds out from the green. Here's a shot looking back into the fairway:


The green is rather small, slopes right to left, and is guarded by a bunker dead center about half its' size. Any shot into this green is difficult.


#15 is flat out scary from the tee box. The landing area is narrow with woods on the left and swamp on the right. But split the middle and you could have a great look at birdie here.


The approach is rather straight-forward, but coming in from the left is preferable as a very large bunker lines the right hand side of the green.


But the green is fairly flat and should yield an easy 2 putt or less.


#16, #17, & #18:


Onto the home stretch...
#16 is Pine Lakes' signature hole and it is a sight to behold. Words don't do it much justice really...An amazing par 3 with a very large green, surrounded by a few intimidating bunkers...just pull your most trusted club and strike it pure here.


Side view:


Approach and green:


Looking back, green to tee:


#17 is a very short par 4 but narrow and really doesn't require driver off the tee.


The green slopes away from the approach shot and is guarded, almost hidden, by a big bunker. Any approach shot will be fine though, as this green is a big hourglass.


#18 finishes the round up with a lengthy, slightly uphill par 4. A good tee shot is paramount here as it's a tight fairway, and you may have to cut the corner, as this hole bends a bit right at the 175yd mark, to card a GIR.


The green is average sized and slopes front to back, so if you're able to get home in two here, par should be well within your reach.


Overall, Pine Lakes is challenging but score-able. Many of its' greens are very, very small and require some very accurate irons shots. Tee shots are also very important on many holes, as this is not a bomb-and-gauge type course. On the front nine, you will be able to get away with a few miscues here and there, but the back is a different story. Hopefully your game has warmed up by then, because the back nine will tear you apart if you're not careful.

Hope you enjoyed the review guys and gals.
Can't wait to get back here in a month and tee it up with a bunch of THPer's!

Already pumped buddy! Having enjoyed that building but not the course, I can't wait to see what we're up against in October.

Can't wait to see the course! That fitting studio looks amazing!

Back nine is just freaking gorgeous. Can't wait to see what you guys think!

Hurry up and upload some pics already!!

Can't wait to see this beauty. Thanks for making this thread

I'm not sure what I'm looking forward to most...putting faces to screen names and attending my first THP get together, or seeing first hand what this course has to offer.

Wow! Looks like it'll be a lot of fun on the 12th!

posts updated. review complete. please enjoy!

Dang. That looks beautiful Tyno. Well done.

It looks like there is a real priority for accuracy off the tee. I like that challenge, as I prefer to play courses that allow a bit of freedom off the tee.

Canadan said:

It looks like there is a real priority for accuracy off the tee. I like that challenge, as I prefer to play courses that allow a bit of freedom off the tee.

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I felt the same way. May be playing more 5 wood's off the tee than normal

Awesome review/preview tyno. Cannot wait to see it in person come October. Shall be a great challenge and amazing day.

Pine Lakes Golf Club - Hubbard, OH

Canadan said:

It looks like there is a real priority for accuracy off the tee. I like that challenge, as I prefer to play courses that allow a bit of freedom off the tee.

Click to expand...

Very much so on the back 9. If the driver is not on track by Hole 12. You may want to go 3W for the rest of the round. The greens are incrediblely small, they're fast, and they will punish you if you rush through your reads.

Thanks for the review & the pix! Can't wait to play it. Maybe someone can bring an iPad so we can refer back to this post during our round (ha ha!)

Pine Lakes Golf Club - Hubbard, OH

Awesome review!

I like the look of this course. Wife was born in Hubbard and still has family there. Putting this one on the play list when we make it up to visit.

Can't wait to suck it up here in front of 24 of you awesome people!!
Looks like fun though

Bumping this for the Cleveland outing guys on Oct. 12.

JLit said:

Awesome review!

I like the look of this course. Wife was born in Hubbard and still has family there. Putting this one on the play list when we make it up to visit.

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that is an excellent idea sir...
and let us know when you're there. never a bad idea to try to pencil in a round with fellow THPers.

Looks like this course is gonna embarrass me in front of all of you! Lol

Nice job on the review Tyno

tyno said:

that is an excellent idea sir...
and let us know when you're there. never a bad idea to try to pencil in a round with fellow THPers.

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That is a given!

granted, i didn't play this course prior to some of the renovations, but you can clearly see how much the improvements pay off for this course.

i hate for it to get thrown aside, just for the size of the greens...but i can assure you, that was easily my only qualm about this course, but because i'm used to bigger greens. i grew up playing smaller greens, and finally realized that it just requires you to hit better shots.

and we're just talking about size, because as far as upkeep goes, the greens match the rest of the course and it is very well taken care of.