Pinnacle Golf Club

Location: Grove City, OH
Architect: Lanny Watkins
Year: 2006

May 11, 2012

The original plan for the morning game before going to Scioto C.C. had been to play at Ohio State University’s Scarlet Course designed by Dr. Alister Mackenzie. Since we were playing Jack Nicklaus’ childhood course, Scioto, and his tournament course, Muirfield Village, we thought it might be fun to play his college course as well. Unfortunately, the Scarlet Course was closed for a tournament so we began to look at our other options. Among the list of places we had to choose from was Pinnacle Golf Club. I had never heard of Pinnacle Golf Club before but was intrigued by the fact that Lanny Watkins, a native of my home town, had designed the course so we decided to check it out.

The club opened in 2006 and has a 700 acre real estate development built around it. The course starts on the opposite side of the road from the clubhouse and the first three holes are distinctly different from the rest of the course. The opening holes, a par 4, par 5 and par 4, feel like they are built on re-purposed farmland have a little bit of the golf course built in a field vibe to them. Once we crossed back to the other side of the road for holes 4 through 18 things began to get a little more interesting. The photo below, taken from the 5th tee, is of the 4th green and the water hazard that runs along the left side of this hole. Unfortunately, I didn’t take very many pictures so the photos on this post are going to be very scarce.

 
 
 
The 5th hole is a par 3 that we played from 170 yards and requires a carry over a scrub area. The photo below was taken from the tee box. After a fairly soft start to the course this was a bit of a nerve wracking shot.

 
 
 
Below is a photo of the 9th green. Approach shots that come up short will likely find the rocky creek bed that fronts the green. There are numerous places on the course where this type of hazard will come into play.

 
 
 
The only hole that I photographed completely was the 14th which is a par 4 that we played from 312 yards. I do love a good short par 4 and this one was fun. The dogleg left is pretty severe and the longer the club played from the tee the more its necessary to shape the shot right to left. The photo below was taken from the tee.

 
 
 
the approach into the green here is going to be very short for most players. The green has some movement to it, but with a wedge or short iron in hand there is a good chance to stick it close.

 
 
 
I wish I had taken more photos of the course, but we were in carts and for some reason its harder for me to remember to snap photos when I’m riding in a cart. The course was really fun and made for an enjoyable game. As I mentioned above the first three holes start out a little ordinary, but once the course brings you back to the other side of the road there are a number of really fun and interesting holes. Pinnacle Golf Club was a great way to kick of my weekend in Columbus.