Bert Way

Akron, OH

Firestone Country Club's South Course is a private club in Akron, Ohio, built for Firestone Tire and Rubber Company employees. Bert Way designed the original course in 1929, and Robert Trent Jones Sr. reworked it in 1960 ahead of its rise as a regular PGA Tour stop. It plays through a parkland setting of mature trees, narrow fairways, and deep bunkering that rewards precise shotmaking over length off the tee. The South Course has hosted more than 70 professional tournaments, including three PGA Championships and 18 years of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, and it now hosts the PGA Tour Champions' Kaulig Companies Championship. Its par-5 16th, nicknamed The Monster by Arnold Palmer after a triple bogey there in the 1960 PGA Championship, remains one of the most recognized closing holes in the game. Tiger Woods closed out the 2000 WGC-NEC Invitational with an 8-iron approach on the 18th that has become one of his signature shots. Firestone is a private club, and the South Course is one of three 18-hole courses on the property along with the North Course and the Fazio Course. Access runs through club membership or a stay-and-play package at the resort; there is no public daily-fee access.

Akron, OH

The North Course at Firestone Country Club opened in 1969, forty years after the club itself was founded in Akron, Ohio. Robert Trent Jones Sr. designed it a decade after reworking the club's original South Course, and it has long served as the club's second 18. The layout winds around the Firestone Reservoir, with water in play on more than half the holes. Tree-lined doglegs and well-placed bunkers put a premium on positioning off the tee, and the greens are large and fast. From the back tees the course plays 7,125 yards at par 72. Firestone Country Club is a private club owned by Invited (formerly ClubCorp). Play is limited to members, their guests and stay-and-play packages.

Chardon, OH

Chardon Lakes Golf Course is a public 18-hole facility in Chardon, Ohio, with a par of 71. The original nine holes were designed by Bert Way in 1931, and an additional nine were added in 1963 by architects Don Tincher and Carroll Bazler. Chardon Lakes winds through 120 acres of mature trees, ambling creeks, and multiple ponds. The layout features 43 sand traps and large, sloped greens that are known for their speed. Water comes into play on eleven different holes, demanding accuracy from the tee and on approach shots to avoid the natural hazards.