Sawmill Creek Golf Club is a public, daily-fee golf course on the shore of Lake Erie in Huron, Ohio, about forty-five minutes from both Cleveland and Toledo. It is the North Coast’s best-known layout for a good reason: it was designed by Tom Fazio and opened in 1974, when it was only the fourth course Fazio had ever built on his own. Half a century later it is still one of just three Fazio designs in the state of Ohio, and it remains open to the public every season.
This page is an independent, factual profile — what the course is, how it is routed, and what makes it worth the drive. It is not the club’s booking site; you reserve tee times directly with the course (see below).
The two nines
Sawmill Creek is really two experiences stitched into eighteen holes. The front, often called the “Creek Nine,” plays through mature hardwoods with a traditional, sheltered northern feel — tree-lined corridors, the namesake creek in play, and greens tucked into the terrain. The back, the “Lake Nine,” opens up dramatically toward the water. Several holes run along the edge of Sheldon Marsh State Nature Preserve and Lake Erie, and the exposure to wind and water gives that stretch a coastal, almost Carolinas-like character that surprises first-timers.
The scorecard at a glance
Sawmill Creek is a par 71 that measures roughly 6,700 yards from the back tees and around 5,000 from the forward tees — a set of numbers that make it playable for most golfers while still asking good questions of the better player. A quick reference to the layout:
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Holes / Par | 18 holes, par 71 |
| Yardage (back) | ~6,702 yards |
| Yardage (forward) | ~5,074 yards |
| Architect | Tom Fazio (opened 1974) |
| Longest hole | No. 12 — par 5, ~568 yards |
| Shortest hole | No. 5 — par 3, ~158 yards |
| No. 1 handicap | No. 4 — par 4, ~425 yards |
| Setting | Lake Erie shoreline, bordered by Sheldon’s Marsh and Sawmill Creek |
Yardages and hole details are drawn from public course listings and can vary year to year with tee placements and maintenance. Confirm the current scorecard with the course before you play.
Holes worth knowing
The par-5 12th is the card’s longest hole and a true three-shotter into a typical afternoon breeze — patience beats bravado. The little par-3 5th is the shortest hole but rarely the easiest, because a short iron over trouble in swirling lakeside air is a deceptively fine line. And the par-4 4th, the course’s number-one handicap hole, is the one that most often decides a good round from a frustrating one. If you want a strategy primer before you tee off, our lakeside playing tips cover exactly these situations.
What kind of golf it is
Fazio’s hallmarks are all here: elevated tees that frame each hole, free-form bunkers that are as much visual cue as hazard, elevated greens, and water used for effect as often as for defense. The turf rolls with the glacial land rather than fighting it, so lies are natural and stances are rarely dead flat. It is a course that flatters a thoughtful player and quietly punishes a careless one — the more you understand how Fazio builds a hole, the more you will enjoy it.
Playing the course
Sawmill Creek is open to the public on a daily-fee basis and is part of the surrounding Sawmill Creek Resort, so a round pairs naturally with a lakeside stay, a meal, and the rest of the region — see our golf travel guide. Tee times, rates, players cards and memberships are handled solely by the official course; book directly through the course’s own website and reservation system rather than any third party claiming to represent it.
This is an independent visitor’s guide. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by Sawmill Creek Golf Club, Sawmill Creek Resort, or their owners. Tee times, rates, and memberships are handled only by the official course.