Firestone South Course

The verdict

Firestone South is championship golf in its most honest, old-school form: long, tree-lined and relentless, with no hiding place for a loose shot. Bert Way laid out the original course, but the South as the world knows it was the work of Robert Trent Jones, who rebuilt it in 1960 to host that year's PGA Championship and in doing so created one of the toughest parkland tests in the country. The fairways run between corridors of mature trees, the greens are small and firm, and the closing holes have broken many a leader, none more so than the par-5 16th, The Monster, where water guards the second and a par feels like a birdie.

For the traveling golfer, Firestone South is a chance to walk the same ground as the game's greats on a course that has decided major championships and World Golf Championships alike. It hosted the PGA in 1960, 1966 and 1975, the NEC World Series of Golf for decades and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational through 2018, and although it remains a private club, it now opens to nonmembers through stay-and-play packages built around its 54 holes. It is the championship anchor of northeast Ohio, a course every serious golfer should play once.

The holes worth the trip

Firestone South defends par the way the great championship courses of its era do, with length, trees and precision rather than tricks. From the tee the course asks for both distance and position, because the corridors are tight and the small greens reward an approach from the correct angle. There is little width to bail out into, so accuracy under pressure is everything, and the par of 70 makes every birdie chance precious. It is a course that exposes the player who cannot keep the ball in play and rewards the one who can flight long irons into firm targets.

The signature is the 16th, the par 5 Arnold Palmer named The Monster after running up a high number there in 1960. A long three-shotter for most, it bends around a pond that swallows the over-ambitious second, and over the years it has decided as many tournaments as any single hole in the country. It is the heart of a brutal closing stretch, and standing on its tee with a card to protect is one of the great tests in American golf, the kind of hole the traveling golfer comes to Akron to play.

What makes Firestone South special is its championship authenticity, a course unchanged in spirit from the days it crowned PGA champions and World Golf Championship winners. It is a power player's parkland with no gimmickry, demanding driving and iron play in equal measure, and a humbling, rewarding day for any handicap. For the golfer building a northeast Ohio trip, it is the marquee round, a fine partner to the major championship history of Inverness to the west.

Where to stay nearby

The simplest base is Firestone itself, whose stay-and-play packages put villas and club rooms on the golf course grounds, with several holes in view, so the round and the bed are one booking. For a wider trip, Akron and nearby Cleveland add hotels and a busy airport, keeping the rest of northeast Ohio in easy reach.

Most golfers build Firestone into a championship tour of the region. Pair the South Course with the club's North and Fazio courses on the same package, then carry the trip west to the major championship pedigree of Inverness in Toledo, or south to the classical and modern landmarks around Columbus at Scioto and Muirfield Village.

Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts around Akron and northeast Ohio.