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AKRON, Ohio - "Work hard, play hard." It's an ethos golfers readily embrace.
A group of upper-middle-aged guys, satisfied with the day's golf and lubricated by alcohol, are pitching quarters toward the base of a wall in Firestone Country Club's men's locker room, tucked upstairs and away from the main clubhouse. The object of their game: toss your quarter closer to the base of the wall than your opponent, without the coin making contact with the wall. Best five out of nine, $50 per game.
The men are seated in plush, leather recliners in front of a line of big-screen TVs tuned to ESPN and Golf Channel. Behind them, almost close enough for them to reach their drinks without leaving their chair, is a well-stocked bar that is staffed 24/7. To most of the outside world, this is central Ohio. To them, it's hangout heaven.
This scene of carefree relaxation is completely at odds with what most people think of when they hear the words "Firestone Country Club." Followers of professional golf over the last half-century who have watched significant events there have a pretty clear picture of what Firestone is: a big-shouldered, super-serious bastion of competitive golf. Long holes, narrow fairways, deep rough, fast greens, high scores. Unless you're Tiger Woods, who won eight times there, or Hideki Matsuyama, whose course-record 61 at the fearsome South Course in 2017 is one of the best televised rounds in recent memory.
That picture is accurate, but incomplete, as anyone who arrives at Firestone to visit and play some golf quickly learns. And ever since the club opened up to non-members in 2019, word of its dual nature as a haven of good, honest meat-and-potatoes golf and one of America's best stay-and-play buddy-trip setups is gradually getting out.
Golf at Firestone Country Club
Firestone's three big courses comprise subtle variations on parkland golf. The campus itself was envisioned by Harvey Firestone as the centerpiece of a vast playground for employees of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company. The Firestone family owned the club until they sold it to ClubCorp, now called Invited, in 1981.
The South Course is the one you've likely seen on TV countless times. Originally laid out by Bert Way in 1929, it was overhauled by Robert Trent Jones Sr., the dean of midcentury-modern golf design, ahead of the 1960 PGA Championship, won by Jay Hebert. Two more PGAs followed, with Al Geiberger winning in 1966 and Jack Nicklaus capturing the 14th of his 18 total majors in 1975.
FIRESTONE COUNTRY CLUB (SOUTH)
— Tim Gavrich (@TimGavrich) May 22, 2023
Akron, Ohio
Bert Way, 1929/RTJ Sr., 1960
$300+
Course #578
It’s every bit as long and relentlessly difficult as you think, but it also has better terrain, better greens and a routing that makes much more sense from the ground than the air. pic.twitter.com/MIL2AgmJxz
In addition to those PGA Championships, the South Course has hosted top-flight professional golf in one form or another since 1954 - the PGA Tour until 2018 and the PGA Tour Champions Kaulig Companies Championship (previously the Senior Players Championship) since 2019. Laid out over the middle third of the club's property, all but two of its holes run north-south. This type of routing might appear monotonous, but some nice movement of the terrain adds more variety to the challenge of the course than might appear to be the case on television. The famous 667-yard, par-5 16th, for example, plays nearly 100 feet downhill.
Still, the South's reputation for difficulty is well-earned: the fairways are narrow and tilted and the rough is fearsome, not just along the landing areas but surrounding the smallish, surprisingly undulating greens. Like many championship courses, Firestone South will tell you exactly where your golf game is at, often with brutal frankness.
While everyone who visits Firestone appreciates the opportunity to tangle with the South, many club members and guests prefer the North Course, a 1969 Robert Trent Jones original laid out across East Warner Road from the main club complex. The 61-acre Firestone Reservoir is the North's defining feature, coming into play at the beginning and end of each nine. From the reservoir, the course loops uphill to some of the club's more dramatic property before heading back to the water. The par-4 14th is a dramatic dogleg left around a ravine to a small, hellaciously pitched green. At a club full of difficult holes, it might be Firestone's toughest, but also its most fun test.
Horseshoeing around the South Course, the Fazio Course is the mildest of Firestone's three 18s. Originally laid out by Geoffrey Cornish and Brian Silva in 1989 and called the West Course, it took on a new look in 2002 when Tom Fazio shaped more than 70 deep bunkers of varying amoeba shapes to guard its generous fairways and large, mildly-sloping greens. During the pandemic, the club took the opportunity to enhance the course's playability and cut down on maintenance costs by removing dozens of Fazio's sandy pits and reshaping the rest to be shallower and simpler in shape. Only 41 bunkers remain now, mostly adding visual texture. The real character of the Fazio Course is in its grassy contours, especially on the back nine, which climbs to the property's high point and looks out over most of the club - past its iconic water tower in a northeasterly direction. The long par-3 16th is Firestone's most scenic single hole.
At a time when multi-course facilities are pushing short courses, Firestone has something a little different: Raymond C. Firestone Golf Course, a 3,000-yard nine-holer that sits at the very northern end of the property and functions as a public course attached to a relatively new outpost of "golfertainment" venue BigShots Golf (think Topgolf, but more expansive, with better-quality golf balls). The "Firestone 9" is a fun spot for a late-afternoon emergency nine if playing 36 in a day doesn't appeal, or if you want to stretch a 36-hole day to 45. With an eclectic mix of holes - the steeply uphill short par-4 7th is my favorite - maintained to the same standard as the three other courses, it's a hoot.
Firestone Country Club: Lodging, dining and other notes
- The "stay" part of the experience is where Firestone really shines. The 29 guest rooms within the men's locker room are a cozy, convivial dorm-style setup that is perfect for a buddies trip. The rooms themselves - each named for a famous golfer - are little more than a comfy place to sleep. Guests shower in the large locker room shower stalls, with excellent water pressure. With big-screen TVs, card tables and the aforementioned bar, the locker room and greater clubhouse are where you want to spend your waking moments off the course. Those looking for more private lodgings can reserve one of 14 four- to six-bedroom villas onsite.
- Though it's an easy ride into Akron from the club, there are more reasons to hang out on campus than there are to leave during a stay, especially at mealtimes. La Vetta is the club's Italian-inspired steakhouse, suitable for paying off a big bet at the end of a trip, while the 1929 Grille serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.
- A grab-and-go snack bar sits just off the pro shop, and there's another one in the middle of the Fazio and South Courses that serves a San Francisco treat: the burger dog, reminiscent of the Olympic Club staple. That's because club GM Jay Walkinshaw grew up on the West Coast and resolved to export his favorite golf course snack to his new employer. South Course golfers pass the snack bar twice and are forgiven for taking down a burger dog at each stop.
- Saving room for dessert is a must at Firestone for one three-word reason: crunchy cream pie. The adaptable confection - served slightly differently at the different eateries - is a club staple and favorite of Ohioan Jack Nicklaus. Think vanilla pudding with the consistency of cannoli filling with crushed-up Heath Bar candy sprinkled throughout. The indulgence softens the blow of getting beaten up by the golf courses.
- As fun as the golf, lodging and food are, as with any great place - golf or not - the people make it better, and Firestone's got some great people. Aforementioned GM Jay Walkinshaw keeps a friendly, all-seeing eye on things, but the main character of the club is Fuzz, a self-described "Ohio hillbilly" who tends bar at The 55th Hole, perched at the top of the clubhouse overlooking the 9th and 18th greens on the South Course. His drink-pouring acumen is strong, but his greatest talent is dishing out abuse to anyone - member, guest or professional golfer - who dares cross the threshold of his bar. To be ribbed by Fuzz is to be truly welcomed by Firestone, and everyone is welcomes. If you get in his good graces, you'll find he's a first-rate storyteller, each and every one of them as hilarious as they are unprintable. There's nothing like playing fun golf courses, but encountering good folks like Fuzz is what makes exploring the golf world memorable and worthwhile.
To learn more, visit www.firestonecountryclub.com.
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