College Heights course features
skinny fairways and small greens

Rarely is there such a pressure to hit targets on a municipal golf course than there is at College Heights Country Club in Crete. The beauty of it is there are multiple ways to play some of the holes, meaning the second time around the nine-hole course could be as refreshing as the first.

Long John will inevitably find more trouble than Steady Eddie, and the golfer that sprays left and right will find little reprieve.

The key to College Heights is patience. The fairways won’t widen and the greens won’t flatten, but if you respect what the course allows, you’ll simply score better.

You’ll like this course because it presents different scenarios and opportunities on the tee boxes. If you don’t like it, maybe it's because there are too few holes for the really long hitter.

Totaling less than 3,000 yards, CHCC is really a great course for beginners and those who’ve lost - or never had - distance off the tee. But don’t avoid it just because you hit the driver well.

This is a course you’ll want to play to test your short-game. Tucked away south of Doane College, the course won’t draw passer-bys, but it’s well worth the find.

A closer look
The first hole is a prime example. There’s no room for a grip-it-and-rip-it attitude.

Every regular at CHCC can tell you of someone who drove over or around the trees guarding the green on this 310-yard hole, but they can also tell about hundreds of more that tried and couldn’t. Hit the middle of the fairway and you have no worse than 100 yards left to the pin.

No. 2 again requires accuracy, not length. The closer you get to the green, the bumpier the lies you’ll see in the fairway. With trees tight right and left, a fairway wood or long iron works fine.

The par 5 No. 4 is another target hole with the majority of the hard work coming after the tee shot. Unless you can play a fade (accidentally or purposely), another fairway wood or long iron works best off tee, then the same club down the fairway to set up an easier approach to a big green.

If you love strategy, it’s all over this course, especially No. 6.

The middle of the fairway isn’t necessarily best at the second par 5. First find fairway at the corner of the dogleg. Your second shot must handle a mature tree about 80 yards from the green, requiring you to lay up short to a side or trying to lift a long second shot over the top.

A second time through the course could mean a second way to play the hole, a facet I love about CHCC.

No. 7 is a deep-dropping par 3 with a humpback-shaped green, and No. 8 showcases a green reachable from the tree but enough trouble and slope away from the dance floor to deter most from trying.

It’s important not to misjudge No. 9. Again, the locals will tell you a long hitter can reach the green from the tee box, then snicker when you fail to clear protecting in front. Play the safe shot to a big target in a wide fairway, and par is looking really pretty.

You’ll like College Heights whether you hit the ball long or not. You’ll score well if you don’t have to prove your man-hood.