Dayton Golf and Country Club

A serene 18-hole golfing and event destination

Dayton Golf & Country Club is one of my favorite golfing destinations. This course is kept up well, from the greens to the cart paths. It also happens to have the best hotdog I’ve ever gotten on a golf course from it’s full service restauatrant. While I’m not a member of any golf club, this is the one that I consider my home course, and I play it often.

There is a prctice putting green right beside the club house. A range is also available, but it is irons only. The carts are gas powered and were all in good condition.

Holes 2, 3, and 4 can feel a little repetitive after starting off with some excitement from hopping the pond to reach the green on 1, but hang on cause the pace starts picking back up again on 6 after you hit your first par 3 on 5. The back 9 offers a greater variety than the front 9, and I find it to be more enjoyable and more challenging. If you only have time for 9 holes, I recommend checking in with the proshop and see if they will let you start on the back 9. They can’t always accomodate that request, but it never hurts to ask.

Quick Stats

Par 72

Length XXXX

Hours

Cost

Holes

Hole 1

You start the course on a short par 5 for 474 yards, the shortest par 5 of the day. The fairway is open, with large, spaced out trees on the left and the right.The green is protected by water in front and on the right side. If you hit a monster driver from the tee box, and you can hit your irons straight, you can easily reach this green in 2 strokes starting your day off right with an eagle or birdie attempt. But, the safe thing to do would be the layup and hit a nice easy strike over the small pond to reach the green in 3. You don’t really want to try and go around the pond. The right side is boxed in by the creek, and what ground you do have is mostly cart path. If you go to the left side you’ll end up in hole 9’s fairway. The green is fairly flat and should not give you much trouble once you get there.

Hole 2

This 339 yard par 4 is a straightforward follow up to the previous hole’s water hazard. There is really nothing here to get in your way. The right side is lined with trees. The left side has a few trees as well, but no sandtraps or doglegs to be seen. Don’t let par get away from you on this one, it’s a great opportunity as one of the easiest holes on the course.

Hole 3

Another par 4, but 14 yards longer at 353. There is a stand of trees to the left and to the right of the hole about 50 and 100 yards in front of the green, respectively. I tend to find myself in either one of those stands depending on the day. But that’s not much of an issue if you find yourself there after your tee shot, theres plenty of room to hit through to the green. The only thing you really don’t want to do here is blow past the green on your next shot, as there’s only about 10 yards or so before you hit the trees, and then hole 9’s fairway. The green is also a bit elevated, so you run the risk of rolling off if you come in too hot. Try to land your shot on the front of the green for best results.

Hole 4

Par 4 again, 340 yards. This one is a little be tricky though due to the elevation changes. It’s hard to actually get a good look at the green from the tee box, and you might not see it good from your second shot either. Before you hit that second shot, you may want to take a moment to lay eyes on it to make sure it’s where you think it is. I have missed it more that once thinking I knew where I was hitting it, and I’ve played this course plenty. I hope you get the par, but don’t feel too bad about taking a bogey on this one, you wouldn’t be the first.

Hole 5

Our first par 3 of the day, 182 yards. Take advantage of it, there’s only 4 par 3’s on the course, and there are no obstacles on this hole. The green is large, and fairly flat. Take out your 180 yard club and go for it. A covered pavilion with restrooms is provided on the other side of the cartpath behind the green.

Hole 6

You’re going to have to work for this one some. Just under 500 yards at 495, this par 5 has some of the thicker rough on the course, a steep elevation change up the hill on the right, a pond if you go left, and the cart part is down the middle. If you hit too far up the hill on the right, you come to a fence and then a road, so that ball is gone. Even if you don’t hit it over the fence, you may not find it in the the thick grass on that hill. I’ve lost many a ball that I thought it saw right where it landed. What you really want to do on this hole is stay just left of the cart path. It doglegs right at about 300 yards. Don’t overshoot the green, or that’s another ball you’ll lose in the trees/fence/road. The green is sitting up pretty high, so it’ll be easy for it roll off to the other side. Take it easy, take your par (or your bogey, or your double bogey), and move on to the next one.

Hole 7

I know I said I lost some balls on 6, but I’ve REALLY lost some balls on this one. It seems so simple, just a 191 yard par 3. Except there’s a HUGE pond to the left of the green, and 191 yards is just enough length for you have to bring out a long iron/fairway wood/hybrid that you may not be hitting all that straight. This is a high risk/high reward hole for me. I really want to birdie it, but it’s not happening. It’s like that pond has a heightened gravitational pull, and my ball falls into its orbit, never to be seen again. My typical strategy is to aim between the green and the big tree to the right, bump and run down the hill near the flag (chipping can really dangerous from this position, now the pond is directly behind the green), and then single putt for par on a good day. That gives you enough margin in case you go a little left or right. Go for the hole if you must, but you’ve been warned.

Hole 8

381 yard par 4, severe dogleg left. Lot of people will try and cheat the corner with their driver and end up in the trees behind hole 3. Or they don’t get the draw they want from the driver, hit it completely straight, and end up with a ball over the fence and on that train tracks that you can’t get back. Its a doable shot, but it will still take you one more to get on the green, so it’s not really buying you anything. Best bet is to keep your driver in the bag (keep the ego in there too!!!), stay out of trouble, and take two ~190 yard shots while staying in the fairway. This green is casually deceptive. It seems straightfoward, but I’ve missed quite a few “straight-in” putts here. Take your time on this one; don’t play the approach safe, get on the green in 2, and then 3-putt. Finish the drill and the par is yours!

Hole 9

If you plan on getting some food from the Long Hollow Grill before starting the back 9, now is a good time to call in your order so it can be waiting on you. Longest par 4 of the day at 434 yards. Probably not that much narrower that some of the previous holes, but it sure feels like it. Trees to the left, trees and railroad to the right. One big tree in the fairway at about 350 yards on a line between you and the hole. You’ll be better off aiming to the right of clubhouse and playing this like it doglegs slightly right and forget about going at the flag. Lots of room to lose the ball across the fence, or land directly in front of the tree. I’ve done both plenty, and it being a long par 4 doesn’t give you lots of room for error. Big round green should present you with an easy 2-putt.