August 12, 2005
Rattlesnake Ridge Golf Club
Rattlesnake Ridge Golf Club is aptly named. You can easily get snake-bitten by the natural beauty that surrounds this wonderful golf mecca. In reality, this private golf club is most surely named for the quiet meandering creek whose shape looks exactly like a rattlesnake that is on the move. A very good freind of mine, Jim Toms, invited me to play as his guest. We had a fantastic time on the course yesterday morning and early afternoon.
Jim is the publisher of Suburban News Publications, a large group of weekly newspapers that blanket the entire greater Columbus, OH metro and suburban area. He was one of my first clients to buy my AsktheBuilder.com syndicated newspaper column and over the years has given me great advice and lots of much-needed support.
But back to golf. The Rattlesnake Ridge Golf Club course was in superb condition. The fairways and greens were like glowing emeralds and were as soft as a newborn's bottom. That was surprising in light of the moderate drought that is gripping this part of Ohio for that past couple of months.
Located northwest of the metro Columbus, OH area, Rattlesnake Ridge is very easy to get to. It is tucked away next to active farming acreage at the intersection of State Routes 605 and 37. You feel like you are deep in the countryside, when in fact you are just minutes from civilization.
Early in the game it looked like I was on track for my best round of golf ever. I started strong with a bogey on the first hole of the day missing the par putt by one inch. The ball stopped even with the center of the hole, but the sanded greens took the break out of the putt. I ended up with par on three holes, but blew up on six others. Ouch! I had two 7's, three 8's and one 9! With those horrible six holes mixed with my other hole totals, I ended with a 106.
Imagine if I could have shaved off just two strokes from each of the explosion holes! That would have given me a 94 for the day. All of you great golfers are rolling your eyeballs and laughing right now. For me any score in the 90s is huge as I have only been below three figure twice in my life.
The bottom line is I enjoyed my day at Rattlesnake Ridge Golf Club and hope that once again Jim will invite me back. It is a magnificent golf facility. If you live in the Columbus, OH area, you should seriously consider becoming a member.
