Country Club of Columbus (Private golf course)

2610 Cherokee Ave., Columbus
706-322-4441; www.ccofcolumbus.com

STAFF: Brian Stubbs is the PGA Golf Professional; Carol Edell is the General Manager.

PAR/YARDAGE: Country Club of Columbus plays to a par 71 with four sets of tees: Black (6515 yards); Blue (6131); White (5619) and Gold (4627).

COURSE RATING/SLOPE: 71.4/137 (Black); 70.1/133 (Blue); 67.4/125 (White); 66.6/120 (Gold).

ABOUT THE COURSE: One of the state’s true classic layouts, CC of Columbus is hosting the Georgia Amateur in July, part of the club’s celebration of its 100^th anniversary. Like a number of the courses that host the GSGA’s championship event, Country Club of Columbus is quite short by modern standards, but its recently renovated Donald Ross design, which features small greens requiring considerable precision with approach shots and a deft short game, will be more of a test than the modest yardage numbers. With only three par 5s, one of which should be reachable in two by every player in the field, and just two par 4s over 410 yards, CC of Columbus will not provide long hitters with much of an advantage. A key to success on the golf course is capitalizing on the holes that present opportunities for short approaches into the greens, with four par 4s under 350 and five others in the 380-410 range. Among the group of short 4s is a stretch of holes known to the membership as “Oh Man Corner,” a clever play on the slightly more famous trio of holes on Augusta National’s back nine.

At CC of Columbus, the three holes are 10, 11 and 12 and all are short par 4s averaging around 325 yards. The holes, which form a triangle that returns to the clubhouse, offer completely different challenges, with the one common denominator some rolling terrain, although it impacts the three holes in disparate ways. The picturesque, downhill second, with its absurdly tiny green and a rock-walled pond fronting it and trees and a boundary fence just behind, will produce all manners of scores for a hole that measures just 315 yards. Because of the small nature of the greens, which are quite subtle and frequently bordered by chipping areas, the short game will play a huge factor and could give the state’s top mid-am players a chance to challenge the college contingent that has won four of the last five years.