The poster child for the phrase “Appearances can be deceiving,” Grover Cleveland has the most unexpected history of any area public track. It lived the first 40 years or so of its life as the Country Club of Buffalo and, in 1912, hosted most of the world’s finest golfers at the United States Open Championship. The course was tweaked by Walter Travis for that event, then later by Donald Ross, before being sold to the city of Buffalo. It then hosted the 1926 USGA Public Links championship, making it the only course to host both events. When the Veteran’s Administration hospital was built in the mid-20th century, many holes that extended to Winspear Avenue were lost forever.<\/p>\n
1
\nEasy starting hole.\u00a0 Flat, wide fairway.\u00a0 Out of bounds over fence to left, 18th fairway to right.\u00a0 Minor bunkering to left in drive zone.\u00a0 Green has bunkers front left and right.<\/p>\n
2
\nLong, slightly downhill hole.\u00a0 Trees define fairway, but plenty of room to left and right.\u00a0 Some bunkering off center line.\u00a0 Green located in corner of course, with mounding left, right, and behind.<\/p>\n
3
\nSlightly elevated green without bunkers.\u00a0 Green itself is bisected by a ridge running front to back.\u00a0 Out of bounds over fence on left.<\/p>\n
4
\nLengthy hole similar to # 2.\u00a0 Cross bunker on left in drive zone forces drive out to right, also creating a dogleg.\u00a0 Flat green sits at level of fairway, with a slight bit of bunkering.<\/p>\n
5
\nOut of bounds to left over fence, stand of trees to right.\u00a0 Both hazards shrink drive zone.\u00a0 Wide mound runs in front of green, which can be driven if conditions are right.\u00a0 Green is large and flat.<\/p>\n
6
\nFull one-shot hole.\u00a0 Trees from # 5 now sit to right, although hole opens up beyond them.\u00a0 Green has two levels, front and back, yet lacks protection.<\/p>\n
7
\n2nd consecutive short hole runs south toward hospital.\u00a0 No hazards, yet green sits at 20 degree angle, sloping toward tee, creating havoc on side- and down-hill putts.<\/p>\n
8
\nPar five slides slightly uphill to the north.\u00a0 A good drive brings the green within range in two.\u00a0 Green protected somewhat by few trees remaining on course.\u00a0 Non-discreet bunkering behind flat green.<\/p>\n
9
\nDownhill drive must avoid stand of trees to right.\u00a0 Green sits at similar angle to that of # 7, yet is bigger and, consequently, has more roll.<\/p>\n
10
\nA hole for the daring.\u00a0 Drivable, with cross bunkers some thirty yards before the green a threat to a mis-hit.\u00a0 The green itself is an elephant’s burial ground, with an enormous mound in the middle repelling chips and putts.\u00a0 In spite of the length, par is a good score.<\/p>\n
11
\nSimilar to number ten, yet a bit longer and slightly uphill.\u00a0 This is the second of five “drive-and-wedge” par four holes on Grover’s back nine, which makes for low scores.\u00a0 A bit of bunkering around the green gives one pause, though.<\/p>\n
12
\nA heroic hole, running uphill from the tee, downhill to a vale, then uphill again to the green.\u00a0 If Grover were to improve one hole to create a “signature” hole, this would be the one.\u00a0 In fact, when the rains fall, a temporary water hazard comes into being on the left side of the valley.\u00a0 The green is nicely protected by bunkers, but is too flat to cause any real putting problems.<\/p>\n
13
\nA nice par three hole, this one is played slightly downhill to a green ringed by moderated mounding and bunkers.\u00a0 The green is not a tough one, but is large.<\/p>\n
14
\nA short par four with a green that is the cousin to number ten.\u00a0 No trouble until you reach the putting surface, then you play hockey on a green dome.\u00a0 Take your two putts and head for fifteen.<\/p>\n
15
\nAnother short par four with absolutely no protection for its green.\u00a0 If you’re going to gamble on one hole on the back side, let it be this one.\u00a0 Unless you’re behind the green, you have a decent shot at getting up and down for birdie.\u00a0 The green itself flows from back to front with a moderate angle of elevation.<\/p>\n
16
\nThis hole was changed from a par three to a par four in the mid-nineties.\u00a0 It’s still a tough three, easy four.\u00a0 There’s something about making it a par four, though, that makes three seem a bit easier.\u00a0 Fairly thick rough on the left makes stopping a recovery shot difficult, so miss to the left and short on this hole.<\/p>\n
17
\nOne terrific Redan-style par three.\u00a0 From an elevated tee, through a slight valley of rough and sand, to an elevated, three-tiered green set at an angle to a tee, this hole easily qualifies as one of the top ten best-designed par three holes in WNY.\u00a0 Keep the ball below the hole !<\/p>\n
18 The poster child for the phrase “Appearances can be deceiving,” Grover Cleveland has the most unexpected history of any area public track. It lived the first 40 years or so of its life as the Country Club of Buffalo and, in 1912, hosted most of the world’s finest golfers at the United States Open Championship. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mo-golf"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nThe home hole offers yet another chance for birdie, but only attempt to drive the green if you are Tiger-esque.\u00a0 The mounding around, bunker short, and elevation of the green impede a run-up drive to the green.\u00a0 Once there, it’s large, so keep your ball as close to the hole as possible on the approach.<\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"