Not Far From the Pro Football Hall of Fame Is a Must-Play Legendary Golf Hotspot

The spotlight is on the NFL Hall of Fame every August in Canton, Ohio, but football-loving golf fans should fold in a trip to Akron and Firestone CC.

In the normally serene countryside of central Ohio, about 700,000 people converge upon Stark County every August to honor the achievements of America’s football favorites. If you’re going, also consider paying a visit to the long-storied Firestone Country Club, where so many PGA Tour stars made their own hall-of-fame style history.

But first, the football.

Ten times the population of Canton comes in for enshrinement week at the NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame, fondly referred to as the "Disney of Ohio." Now a true destination after many years of careful planning to mold it into a tourist hotspot, there’s something for everyone.

One may wonder why and how Canton was ever was named the location for building the NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame? Three reasons:

1. The NFL was founded there on Sept. 17, 1920
2. The Canton Bulldogs professional football team successfully repeated as champions in 1922 and 1923
3. The community itself raised over $400,000 ($2.7 million in today's dollars) to build the Hall

Yes, money talks. The HOF opened on Sept. 7, 1963, with 17 inaugural players and executives who helped make professional football a reality including the legendary Jim Thorpe, decathlon and pentathlon champion in the 1912 Olympics. He later became president of the league in 1920. After this year’s induction, there will be 363 members.

Football is undoubtedly the main highlight, but other sports and entertainment venues are right up there within the Village. While the Forever Lawn Sports Outdoors facility has been popular, the 100,000-square-foot Center for Performance will become one of America’s largest fabric dome structures after opening during Hall of Fame enshrinement week. Both a football-themed hotel and waterpark are scheduled to open in 2024.

Planning your visit to the HOF Museum and all other activities is easy by visiting profootballhof.com/visit. Admission prices range from free (kids under 6) to $10 walk-up specials for older kids, seniors and college students. Regular adult admission is $43.

Had enough of the gridiron? Head over to Akron, about 25 minutes and 23 miles northwest and let’s talk golf.

The famous Firestone water tower / Courtesy Firestone CC

You’ll know you’re approaching Firestone Country Club as the 125-foot water tower comes into view. The original clubhouse burned down in 1958 and to make sure it never happened again, this iconic fire-quenching landmark was added.

The club dates to 1929, when Harvey Firestone commissioned the land as a recreational park for his Firestone Tire and Rubber Company employees. The South golf course, fashioned by Bert Way, was designed first and has held over 80 PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions events. Known for sneaky-tight fairways, prodigious length (in earlier days for the pros), fast greens and its pastoral appearance, there’s still some bite in what was once a 6,620-yard layout. Robert Trent Jones added 600 yards in 1960, then a 2007 renovation bumped it to 7,400. More forward tees range from 6,800 down to 5,200 yards.

Courtesy Firestone CC

Most of the trouble is short of the green complexes, so remember "if you are wrong, be long!" The par-5 16th was the downfall of Arnold Palmer’s 1960 PGA Championship bid. He triple-bogeyed the 625-yard hole, later dubbing it "The Monster," which eventually became the nickname for the entire course. To me, it’s "The Miracle": when I first played there in 1978, my third shot was headed for the large pond fronting the right and front side of the green. Somehow, the ball hit a submerged drainage grate and bounced up onto the green. Two putts and par.

Oddly enough, it wasn’t the pond that caused Arnie’s Waterloo: the drive caught a bunker and his fairway wood from it found thick rough, about 100 yards short of the green. After hacking the ball into a drainage ditch he incurred a penalty stroke, and then hit a mediocre pitch. Three putts later, the dreaded snowman. Today this hole measures 667 yards, making it one of the longest at a regular PGA tournament site. Care to know a secret? Course superintendent Brian Mabie lasered the hole at 666 yards, an infamous numeral. Consulting Head Professional Don Padgett II—who later retired from Pinehurst—decided there could be no "Devil Monster," and "who would fuss over one more yard?"

Other golf legends have made their bones here in almost 70 years of professional Tour events, including Ohio’s own favorite son Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Tom Watson, Craig Stadler, Dan Pohl, Curtis Strange and others. Tiger Woods won eight tournaments in 15 years at Firestone, including the 2000 WGC-NEC Invitational where he feather-dropped his approach shot about a foot from the 18th hole in near-darkness.

The 18th green at Firestone CC, where Tiger Woods memorably dropped one close in near-darkness in 2000 / Courtesy Tom Lang

The North course is considered the more scenic—yet difficult—of the two. Rumor has it that tour players would rather avoid the North due to its toughness and the massive amounts of water from Reservoir Lake, ponds and streams threatening over half the holes. Jones apparently scared them away with his masterful routing designed in 1969, which includes two potentially catastrophic peninsula par-3s: the 201-yard 11th and the 218-yard 17th. Factoring in all the water, total yardages from various tees are strong, at 7,125, 6,741, 6,388 and a very lengthy 5,589 from the forward tees. For most golfers, moving up one set of tees will likely yield a more visually enjoyable and playable round.

The newest and friendliest West, or Fazio course, was built in 1989, redesigned by Tom Fazio in 2021 and boasts open fairways as well as massive green complexes that are fun to negotiate. The front nine winds around the South course and while former "Kalahari" bunkers were downsized during the recent renovation, they still present enough challenge to demand accuracy. Tee choices range from 5,125 up to 6,904 yards.

And guess what? You can play here even though Firestone is private. Invited, the club management firm formerly known as ClubCorp, now owns Firestone as well as dozens of other golf facilities and dining clubs throughout the world and offers privileges for golfer visits. Stay and Play packages are recommended, with superb dining options and excellent lodging available—along with spectacular views—at the on-course luxury Villas or the nostalgic Clubhouse Club rooms named and decorated for top Tour golfers. The "55th Hole" lounge—since a mere "19th" wouldn’t reflect enough holes—is a great place to catch some adult beverages after a superb day of golf.

Pro Football Hall of Famers come out for the HOF Golf Classic every September at Firestone.   / Courtesy Pro Football Hall of Fame

Also at the north end, Firestone maintains a public 9-hole course that mimics its big brothers with top conditions and landscaping. An old driving range is now BigShots, similar to TopGolf with its offerings of TrackMan and simulators.

And above all, don’t forget to order some Crunchy Cream Pie.

For more information, visit firestonecountryclub.com. And if you're in town on Monday, Sept. 11, the Paul Krause HOF Golf Classic is about the only time you can see and interact with 20 NFL Hall of Famers in one place, all while they're trying to play good golf at Firestone.