Willow Run Golf Course

Pataskala sits in Licking County, roughly 20 miles east of Columbus, where central Ohio's rolling farmland gives way to the kind of open, gently contoured terrain that has historically made the state a natural canvas for everyday public golf. This is working-class golf country in the best sense — close enough to a major metro to draw a steady crowd, yet grounded in the quieter rhythms of small-town Ohio.

A par-71 layout signals something worth paying attention to before you even reach the first tee. The departure from a standard par 72 typically means a designer made a deliberate choice — a shorter or more demanding two-shotter somewhere on the card, or a routing that favors precision over raw power. At Willow Run, that single-stroke difference quietly shapes how you approach your round and keep score.

The name itself hints at the property's character — low ground, water in play, the kind of Ohio landscape where willows follow creek lines and the land stays soft. Expect a course that rewards course management over brute length, and feels rooted in its surroundings rather than imposed upon them.