Pros:
NOTE: this is a full re-write. I wrote the first of the Osage Grove reviews in 2012 when the course opened. I was proud of having helped toss off debris from the original fairways, and was excited to tell the world what I thought this course could become. The design was great, and with six more years of effort by the volunteers (Hi, Chain Gang!) it has become more than I imagined.
You may be ten miles out east of the outerbelt, but Osage Grove is absolutely one of Cincinnati's current "Big Four", and a must visit if you have time when you're in the region. You know that's high praise when you look at Idlewild, Lincoln Ridge & Mt. Airy.
The course has a large gravel parking lot, a good sized shelter in view of the greens of the longest hole in Ohio, and an astonishing Sycamore tree shading the northern corner of the small fishing pond. The park currently has a porta potty, but they just raised the funding for a permanent restroom. You can warm up on the distance-marked driving range and practice basket on your way to your choice of blue or red tees. The near future will see 36 baskets permanently on the course, with the intention being to always have a basket at the longest position, and an alternative basket to play that will be rotated amongst the two and sometimes three other sleeves - on every hole.
Due to the fact that the streams here run fast and furious in our occasional rainy seasons, the volunteers out here have built astonishing bridges and stairways, cleared paths, extended and improved fairways, and tried, with a great deal of success, to tame what was originally termed 'Thornageddon' if you strayed off the main lines. Donations and fundraising have produced large, level, and tinted concrete tees for every hole, the new signage, and great catching baskets.
The holes themselves present fair and fun lines of flight into wooded lanes and guarded greens, and variety galore. Rather than trying to describe them all, I'll highlight: You'll encounter ravine-crossing fairways (particularly on 4, 9 & 10) with strategic trees having been retained, forcing you to bring your best game. The intentionally balanced design (left-bending and right-bending holes) is epitomized by the scenic 12th hole, which has a large, trapezoidal (short) tee and two definitive fairways.
Be aware that the hills (mounds) on 16 create an optical illusion, making the basket positions seem closer than they really are! You might think that's the 'big finish', but there are two more unique holes to go: 17 goes back across the gully, through towering trees, with a wonderful view of where you -hope - to land your disc for a deuce (or beyond the bend to the trickier, blind, long pin position), and the #18 finale arcs tightly right, downhill through the woods, and has basket positions just before the creek/ravine, or way up the hill beyond, to a tricky pedestal heightened position on your return to the parking lot.
Cons:
The volunteers and the local club (GCFDA) have addressed all of the safety challenges I worried about in my original review, as well as the signage. There are still available thorns and maybe even poison ivy still out there, but you have to really get off the fairways now to run into it. If anything might be a con, it might be that hole 6 is in a flood plain when the stream (river) rises. Some folks might lament the fact that even the longer holes require technical finesse, and don't let the monster arms just heave. I say, go enjoy LONG 16.
Oh- they did recently re-number the two holes between 13 & 16 to accommodate flow for players throwing the blue tees. They will loop around to the right after 13, play the next two holes in a counter-clockwise loop, and go out to long 16. Red (short) tee throwers are best served by going left after 13, playing (new) 15, then 14, on the way to 16. But they'll have to remember to record it correctly in the scorebook if they do.
Other Thoughts:
Feel free to contribute a donation so the Chain Gang can keep working their magic, buy gas for the (volunteer) upkeep, etc. Great things have been happening out in Goshen now for six years, and they've built one of Ohio's best courses!