General's Ridge Golf Course

This round was 6 hours. There were players who left the course very upset about the pace of place. Groups in front of us were very slow. Each hole was at least a 5-10 minute wait.

Very challenging course. tight fairways. rough is extremely deep and almost unplayable. greens are also a challenge to read and very sloped. however, course was in good condition and played a 3 hour round..

Overall it was difficult but had a fun. Cart path is dangerous, got to be careful, should be repaired.

the greens are perfect; smooth and fast; best greens in the area even at this time of the season (late winter). fairways and and tee boxes are poor as it has always been. i play preferred lies in this course to make it enjoyable for me. i would suggest changing turf to mix zoysia at least, which gives a good playing surface throughout the whole year; saves on watering too!

Wow! Hard but wicked fun! It is true "target golf" where you must be strategic about where you place your shots to advance. On almost every hole, I found myself having to think through risks and rewards more thoroughly than most other courses I play. Very intellectually challenging! A couple of suggestions for those contemplating playing it: Hitting it straight is far more important than hitting it long. As others have written, once off the fairway, the ball is lost so use a club that is reliably straight instead of pulling out a club for the distance. Another is to use the contours of the land. Many of the fairways are sloped l to r or r to l. I found success hitting towards the slopes, then letting it feed down to (generally) flatter land. Lots of elevation changes! Finally, on almost every approach shot, there is a more safe choice that might not be obvious at first, and a higher risk choice--spend a minute thinking it through. Last suggestion: commit to playing it twice (but not in the same day!). This was my second round at GR and I was much more effective having learned some about the course from round 1 a couple of years ago.

The course will test your putting and greens reading skills like few courses in No VA! None are flat; some are severely sloped which really challenged me to be much more creative in "feeling" putts and much more strategic about where to leave "misses". Note that when I played, course was very dry so greens were very, very fast!! And, as a previous comment mentioned, it is better to approach putts from below the hole!

I agree with previous comments about the deterioration of the cart paths, the slopes of the fairways (I left the cart on the path and humped up and down the hills), etc. To me, those don't matter nearly as much as the thrill of the difficulty of thinking through how to, and trying to execute, approach shots and putts, particularly on the back nine. Yes, tee boxes were generally chewed up and sandy but I was able to find firm footing on every one.

If you want manicured perfection and an easy round, this is not the place. If you want the thrill of really testing your game against course contours not normally found at this price, it is well worth playing. If you are up for a challenge, General's Ridge is a blast!

Regular on the course- lucky it was a good rate and a beautiful day. Had to stop after 13 as pace of play and # of lost balls because of the leaves made it a disappointing golf outing.

This course would be such a pleasure to play if it was maintained properly. Tee boxes , fairways and greens were all unsatisfactory. Layout was intriguing.

One of the most challenging and beautiful scenic courses ever played. If anyone posts a negative review, it's most likely because they played badly.

Truly one of the most difficult courses I've played within the DC metro area and I've played many...

It's an interesting and challenging mountain course with lots of slopes and blind shots. Green is really fast and hard to read. Fairways and cart paths are in bad shape. Management company really should spend some money on maintenance.

Played at 7am on a Sunday am. We were the second group out. Pace of play was about 4:15 which is fine considering some of the drives between holes. Course has a really challenging layout that borders on gimmicky. Most holes have a blind shot especially if you don't know where to be. Those of us who played mid-irons out of the tee box were rewarded, which is strange. This is a hard, decently maintained muni that is a great value.

While visiting for a wedding in Fairfax my friend and I decided to play a round at Generals Ridge. It was 99 and humid out which left us as pretty much the only people on the course. Being that we are beginners, this was probably best for both us and other players as we struggled on several holes.

The staff we encountered were very friendly. He made an error charging us too little and just smiled apologized and told us to have fun.

Took 5 hours to play. Where not many playing but a number of holes are very difficult (long carries, blind shots, very tight fairways - especially back 9) and much ball hunting by groups in front of us. Also we were a foursome and we had to allow several twosomes to play through which cost us time. Course in very good shape but very slow greens. The signiture hole, 16, is a near impossible par 4 hole. Likely would not play again.

The course is pretty challenging, does have a few blind shots or sharp doglegs, but for the money, it was fun to play with a couple of high handicap friends. Would not travel far to play this course, however, if you are in the area, need to play some golf and don't want to spend a lot, this is not a bad choice. Just realize, as soon as you see the cost for a round, you should understand the quality.

Course was in good shape. Unfortunately there was a tournament earlier in the day, so when I arrived no carts were available. I had to wait approximately 45 minutes. Once on the course play was slow, due to the groups ahead of me, whom also had waited an hour.

I have only played generals ridge twice, but both outings made for a great time. The two opening holes on this course give you zero indication of the true evil that is the next 16 holes. The fairways are narrow and every hole is unlike another which makes placement shots very interesting. The layout of the course was carved through a forest and you can really tell that a lot of the natural terrain was well preserved. Something that really surprised me the first time out was how hilly the course is. Westfields golf club can't be more than a mile due north and It is much much flatter. The guy in the pro shop was fantastic and the starter was as well. Can't give it 5 stars because the greens are slow and slanted & the carts are painfully slow and seem to be from 1994.

It is a beautiful course with great views. Must be able to hit the ball straight or you'll spend a lot of time in the woods.

To start this course is awesome. I have never played a course with such elevation changes. Tee shots are hit into some tight windows which often required hitting less than driver on a lot of the holes. I have never teed up on a par 5 with a 5 iron but then again I have never played a par 5 with such a narrow fairway before either!!

A lot of tee shots require less than driver to play up short of the trouble, yet also clear many of the forced carries.

This course is very visually intimidating and novice golfers will hate life on this course and will probably need a dozen golf balls even from a forward tee box.

Walking this course isn't even an option as the terrain is very steep and there are really long distances between most of the holes.

Great course and a good test of golf though and I will play it again very soon.

I called the pro shop to see if they could move our tee time and staff was rude. They were not able to accommodate our request so I told them I could not make it and cancelled tee time. 3 weeks later the course billed me $188 for a "no show" fee. I will never play there again and would not recommend to anybody. Absolutely horrible place with horrible service.

Great..great...great
I was wonderful course.

To be fair, I guess it depends on the day and time -- but I would have thought midday on a Wednesday would have been pretty safe. I was wrong. I was sitting and waiting at every hole for 10-15 minutes. Not coming back.