In 1922, Granville industrialist John Sutphin Jones reached a development agreement with the village to build the Granville Inn and a companion golf course. Jones retained Donald Ross in 1924 to lay out the 18 holes across Jones’s hillside property, with construction following promptly and public opening in 1925 as the Granville Golf Course. Contemporary and later institutional accounts consistently attribute the plan and build to Ross in those years, with no documented return visit by Ross for subsequent alterations.
Financial strains many decades later led to land conveyances for housing along the ridge above town. Multiple secondary sources report that three holes were removed from Ross’s hillside sequence and replaced by a trio of substitute holes routed through the housing corridor; these replacements are generally identified with today’s mid-back stretch near holes 15–17. Denison University accepted the course as a gift in October 2014, kept it public, and in early 2015 renamed it Denison Golf Club at Granville. A conservation easement recorded shortly before the transfer protects the property from further development. Beginning in 2020, Hanse Golf Course Design prepared a master plan for restoration of Ross features and has remained engaged in ongoing work; the university’s golf program subsequently announced construction of a new, large practice green at the home course to support its varsity teams.
Documentation gaps. Precise dates and drawings for the mid-to-late-20th-century re-routing (which original hole numbers were lost and the exact year of alteration) are not publicly available in accessible archives; confirmation would require club minutes, any surviving Ross plan set, and deed/plat records for the hillside parcels.
Unique Design Characteristics
Even with the loss of three holes, most of the round still expresses Ross’s 1924 intentions on this ground:
Stream-side openings (Nos. 2–3). Clear Run is a real presence early. The second demands a long, accurate tee shot between out-of-bounds and the creek before climbing to an undulating green; at the third, Clear Run again guards the preferred angle. These are classic Ross placement holes where width is present but the best side is dearly bought.
Raised, exacting greens (Nos. 5, 8, 13). The fifth turns left to an elevated target bracketed by fairway bunkers; the eighth is a long two-shotter to a “raised green,” the bunkering pinching the running approach; and the thirteenth’s short yardage is offset by a “highly elevated” putting surface that demands precise, controlled spin. These complexes typify Granville’s defense: modest green size, interior tilt, and surrounds that shed indifferent approaches.
Long three-shotters with canted entries (Nos. 10 & 12). The tenth encourages a full tee shot and then an approach calculated for green elevation; the twelfth funnels play through fairway bunkers to a green that falls right-to-left. Both reward disciplined placement rather than raw power.
The finish (No. 18). The signature eighteenth launches from an elevated tee more than 100 feet above the fairway, a thrilling vista over town and the earlier holes. The tee shot must fit between flanking bunkers to open up a short-iron into a subtly contoured green—dramatic scenery married to strategic detail.
Clearest surviving Ross holes. Based on club materials and independent course descriptions, the holes least implicated in later re-routing—and therefore the clearest standard-bearers of Ross’s work—are concentrated on the front nine (2, 5, 8–9) and the early-mid back nine (10–13) plus the eighteenth. By contrast, today’s 15–17 are commonly cited as non-Ross replacements; any analysis of Ross features on those holes should be treated cautiously until primary documentation is reviewed.
Historical Significance
Within Ross’s prolific 1920s output, Granville stands out as a public-facing commission tied directly to a hospitality venture (the Granville Inn) rather than a private club—comparable to other resort-adjacent assignments where Ross exploited bold native topography to create a dramatic finish. The course has long been cited in regional assessments as one of the Midwest’s better public tests, an evaluation rooted less in length than in its green sites and land movement.
The course has hosted numerous collegiate and district competitions through the decades. In recent seasons it has been a qualifying venue for Columbus District Golf Association championships; local historical recollections also suggest that prominent professionals (including Gene Sarazen) appeared at Granville during qualifying rounds tied to major championships hosted elsewhere in Ohio. That claim is intriguing but not yet corroborated by newspaper archives; it should be treated as oral history pending verification.
Contemporary commentary by respected critics underscores Granville’s promise: even as later re-routing diminished the hillside sequence above town, the remaining Ross holes retain enough interest that a sensitive restoration could elevate the course’s standing among Ohio’s public Ross designs. The decision by Denison to engage Hanse Golf Course Design—an office noted for historically grounded restorations—signals an institutional intent to pursue that potential.
Current Condition / Integrity
Routing & greens. The majority of Ross’s original routing appears intact, but at least three holes were replaced by modern corridors through housing near the back-nine ridge—most often linked with today’s 15–17. The rest of the round retains Ross’s short-to-medium par fours, strategic long fours, and two par fives that use elevation change rather than water as the primary defense. Green pads on many of the remaining Ross holes are raised or canted and play firm; the course presents numerous side-hill stances and uphill approaches typical of the site’s natural folds.
Bunkers. Club materials describe 63 bunkers across the course. Their placement—often pinching the preferred lay-up or entry—still reads as Ross’s hand on holes such as 8, 9, 10 and 12. The exact historical styling (flash height, edges, sand lines) has inevitably evolved; a master plan gives the club a framework to standardize shapes and restore scale consistent with period imagery if such references are located.
Trees & vistas. Encroaching tree lines reduce some of Ross’s original width, especially where corridor housing constrains mowing lines near the non-Ross stretch. Conversely, the view from 18 remains a defining experience; Denison’s athletics site quantifies the tee’s drop at roughly 125 feet.
Recent/ongoing work. Hanse Golf Course Design lists Denison University Golf Course as a 2020-onward master planning and restoration engagement. The university’s golf program announced construction of a large Hanse-designed practice green at the home course, indicating incremental facility investment ahead of broader course work. As of this writing, publicly available records do not document wholesale implementation of the master plan; confirming scope and phasing will require direct club or university project updates.
Sources & Notes
Denison Golf Club – “Course Information” page (par 71; 6,559 yards; 1924 design/1925 opening; facilities; scorecard images).
Denison University campus map entry for the Golf Club (built 1924; Ross commissioned; opened 1925).
Denison University news release, Oct. 14, 2014 (“Board of Trustees Accepts Gift of Granville Golf Course” – course remains public; background).
The Denisonian (student newspaper), Nov. 3, 2014 (course transfer; 2013 easement preventing further development).
Hanse Golf Course Design – “Restoration Projects” (lists “Denison University Golf Course – Golf Course Master Plan – Ross; Course Restoration – 2020, Ongoing”).
Denison Athletics facilities page (course overview; par/yards; note on the 18th tee’s ~125-ft elevation).
Denison Golf Club – “Course Tour” (hole-by-hole yardages and descriptions used to identify raised greens, bunkering, creek influence, and the finishing hole).
Top100GolfCourses.com – Denison at Granville profile, quoting Tom Doak on earlier re-routing for real-estate and loss of hillside holes (secondary source used cautiously).
Midwest Golfing Magazine (Nov. 20, 2024) – article noting sale of land and replacement of three original Ross holes with housing-corridor holes (secondary; details require primary confirmation).
Granville Historical Society newsletter (1999), “The Early Days of the Granville Golf Course” – local recollections of original back-nine sequence and quality of holes 14–18; anecdote on Sarazen qualifying (treated as oral history pending verification).
Denison Golf (X/Twitter) post: construction of a Gil Hanse-designed ~10,000 sq ft practice green for varsity programs (evidence of ongoing facility investment).
Columbus District Golf Association (July 22, 2025) – qualifier results hosted at Denison GC (recent competitive use).
Granville Inn – background on John Sutphin Jones’s role and the 1922 development pact leading to Ross’s commission (context on origins).
Donald Ross Society – course list confirming Denison/Granville as a Ross original; Foundation note referencing a grant in support of a Denison restoration project.
Uncertainties:
Which current holes are non-Ross replacements and the exact year(s) the substitutions occurred. Multiple secondary sources attribute the non-Ross stretch to roughly today’s 15–17, tied to a real-estate transaction; precise documentation (original Ross plan, club minutes, and county plat/deed records) is needed to fix dates and hole identities
.
Extent of master plan implementation. Hanse GCD lists Denison as an ongoing engagement and the university has publicized construction of a practice green, but no public record details the phasing or completion of course-wide restoration; direct project documents would clarify scope and timeline.