Windmill Lakes Golf Club

Windmill Lakes Golf Club sits in Ravenna, Ohio, 19 miles northeast of Akron and 40 minutes east of Firestone Country Club. The National Golf Course Owners Association named it the 2011 Ohio Golf Course of the Year, recognizing its quality conditioning and member-play atmosphere. The course is also the home of the Kent State University men's and women's golf teams, a program whose alumni include 2003 Open Championship winner Ben Curtis, who still plays occasional rounds at the course. Rolling-hills parkland terrain with more than 50 bunkers, six lakes, and large undulating greens that run fast and true. The routing deliberately favors strong iron play over power, only two par-5s in the 18-hole layout, with the rest of the yardage concentrated in several long par-4s that demand accurate driving. Peak green fee runs $45-75. Fits an Akron / Firestone trip as the 'college-program-trained conditioning at muni pricing' alternative to Firestone's premium resort rates.