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Longaberger is the best public course to play
on a Columbus, Ohio golf vacation.
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Among public-access courses to play on a Columbus, Ohio golf vacation, nothing beats the Longaberger Golf Club in Nashport. Located an hour east of Columbus, Longaberger is a plush, upscale links set on 400 acres of rolling, rural countryside.
Few public courses in Ohio, or the United States for that matter, provide an experience as satisfying and challenging, and we wouldn't be surprised to learn that PGA Tour players who missed the cut in the Memorial Tournament this week have been playing there before hitting the road to their next event.
On Golf Odyssey's recent visit, we found that nature reigns supreme at this expansive, hilly, Arthur Hills layout, which alternates between meadows, woodlands and wetlands with nary a course-side home to be found.
We also applauded Longaberger for not commissioning an easy, resort-style course, even though it's part of many players' Ohio golf vacations. In other words, it's tough, but fair.
The fairways are generous, but golf balls that miss them often disappear into deep, thick rough, especially around the greens. Shots that wind up wide of the cart paths are often lost altogether. And since the terrain tilts, uneven lies are the norm. Still, you're never asked to
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The mother ship: Longaberger headquarters.
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hit blind tee shots or contend with excessive forced carries.
What you will likely have to contend with is the almost cult-like group of people who are drawn to the area because of a bizarre love affair with the Longaberger company's woven baskets, it's original business.
It's enough to make you feel like you've entered the Twilight Zone. In a hotel elevator, we heard people retelling stories of when they were "bitten by the Longaberger bug." And, the question we heard most often was, "How many baskets did you buy today?" When we took a self-guided tour of the basket-making center (hey, we sacrifice for our readers!) we accidentally offended a couple of basket buffs when we referred to the Longaberger emporia as "just shops."
A relaxing pursuit that gets in your blood and becomes your passion? We couldn't possibly relate to that.
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