Shaker Run Golf Course, site of the 2005 US Amateur Public Links, is located North of Cincinnati, Ohio in the small  town of Lebanon.

This Public Links Championship was heavily watched; Michelle Wie made it to the final four here before Clay Ogden beat her in a hotly contested match play match. Unfortunately for Michelle Wie, Clay went on to win the championship. Even before Michelle Wie arrived at Shaker Run, this golf course was kown as one of Ohio’s best public golf courses.

In its infancy (1979), Shaker Run was a private club and owned by the ARMCO Steel Company. Eventually ARMCO became AK steel, sold some assets off, the private golf club being one of them (1994). Great for us. Shaker Run actually boasts 27 holes now as there is a third nine designed by Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry in 1997.

If it is your first time here, skip the Meadows nine and play the original 18 holes, which was designed by Arthur Hills. Don’t get me wrong, the Meadows nine is playable but is devoid of any real character. Homes abound on the Meadows nine.  Hills’ creation is the Lakeside and Woodlands nines and is tranquil and serene. Pure golf, and no houses.  As you stand on the first tee, well really the tenth, (but for some reason they were switched around the day that we played here) you instantly think wide open links course. Not really, and well, not at all. This hole is a teaser. The eleventh hole tightens up considerably and you wonder how many trees your ball will seek out during the round. The fairways, save a few, are relatively wide, but errant shots too far offline will be punished here. Not severely, but punishment just the same. I thing that I liked the most about Shaker Run is that there are some great opportunites for birdies and quite a few risk reward shots. Numbers 9, 12, 14, 15, 18 leave you with a ton of options off the tee and for your second shot. Course conditions were pretty good for late April in Ohio, the greens were receptive to a variety of shots. About the only thing that was really disappointing was they don’t allow walking for some odd reason. Even if you paid the cart fee (which is included int he price) walking was not allowed. This course is walkable, there is a stretch of a few holes that runs along a ridge and ravine, but the course is very walkable and would be enjoyable for the walking golfer. Sorry Shaker, you lose some purist points here and that’s too bad. The 9th and 18th holes both play over water and beg you to bite off as much fairway as possible, but don’t be too greedy on these holes, the lake is full of golf balls here. Lets take a look at a few holes at Shaker Run.

Lakeside nine, #2, a short par three over the corner of the lake.

Woodlands #1, looks wide open, but this nine tightens up rather quickly.

One of the best holes on the course, Woodlands #3, with a good drive, you’ll be

just a short sand wedge away on this risk reward par 4. Great hole.

Woodlands #5 is a tough par 3, 190 from the blue tees, 203 from the black.

Not much room for error here. Walk off with a par and its like a birdie here.

You might be able to cut the corner with a lofted fairway wood or the brave

can hit driver with a fade. If so, it’s just a lob wedge into this green. If not

your score will suffer a lot.

Woodlands #8 opens back up, par 3 150 yards from the blue. Wind will

affect your ball on this short par three hole.

Shaker Run is a must play if in the Cincinnati area. It could, quite possibly

be the best golf course in the Southwestern Ohio area, public or private.

Shaker Run by the numbers:

Lakeside/Woodlands

Tees           Yardage       Rating/Slope

Black           6953              74.0/138

Blue             6415              71.2/132

White           5794              68.7/127

Red             5075               68.8/121