Ross2325019

love this course... its a beautiful, great course. great scenery, water, hills, views, this course has it all. real nice track, and not easy either. might be the nicest course around, its definitely up there.

call in your food ! everything, even hot dogs are cooked to order.

i enjoyed my sunday at black rock, even though most of the rocks there are grey. a bit of a bad start, but ended up being a good time. first they wont let u take the carts into the parking lot for some reason, so i had to lug my bag to the "driving range " which the normal maybe 5 person tee spaces were closed, so we had to hit from a rough non mowed area in front, which was very slanted. there was no marshal or starter, so it took a while to find the driving range, or the 1st tee. but after we got going, it was smooth sailing. greens were good, many blind tee shots, but i feel good that if i go back i can play well.

booked a 3:30ish tee time. course was fairly empty. ive always heard duran was nice, but i never had a chance to play it. everyone was right, easily the best conditions, and best kept golf course ive played in the area. greens were rolling nicely, a couple mud spot due to the rain, but other than that it was in great shape. got the round in less then 4 hours.

oh i forgot, big mosquito issues at dusk. big issues

played needwood on tuesday after work. tee time was 515, the weather was so good i had to play. starter had us tee off on the back, which was fine, the back is a little harder, so i knocked those out first, and was ready to be aggressive on the front. due to the weather and probably some over booking, the first 9 holes took us 2 and half hours, and we were just a 2some. lucky for us the front was wide open when we made the turn. we blew threw the first 7 holes, before it got pretty dark, the last 2 holes we pretty much played in the dark. but we finshed and no one complained or rolled there eyes. i had a great round and a good time. course isnt worth $85 on sunday morning, but definitely worth $30 on a weekday afternoon

i played little bennett friday at 5. great course, very challenging, especially for a first timer, after your second, third times playing it, its a lot more "fair" after you know the lay of the land. everything went just fine, except a walk up threesome jumped in front of my foursome on the first tee, and at that time there was no starter to sort them out. but after that we played incident free. played about 15 holes before leaving. great course, great shape, with a very very nice range.

usually i expect a long wait at laytonsville, a course that is normally very crowded. my tee time was 1:36, and we tee'd off at 1:30, which is nice to tee off early, but i timed my warmup so 1:30 -1:36 i could putt. the starter rushed me to tee off, so i wasn't able to hit 1 practice putt. there was only hot dogs being offered, for $5.25 !?!? with no other food available. Other than that and the almost healed airieated greens, it was a nice day. great weather, good pace of play.

this was the second time i have played this course, the first time i did not fair that well. it is a tough course your first go around. the second time i knew what i was in for. a very nice course, on a big property, great views, and a nice layout. water, hills, blind tee shots, make for an exciting round, make sure your tee shots are in play.
the only beef i had with the course was on that particular monday, the weather was perfect for golf, but it was cart path only. when i ask the guy at the pro shop why, he said every monday they treat the fairways. which i suppose is an acceptable answer, but when i carry 3 clubs to my ball, drop 2, hit the ball and then pick up my clubs, they were covered in slippery goup, which i did not like. oh yeah, the waterfall was also turned off, which was a disappointment. other than that, great course, great views, good staff, and a good time.

poolesville is a nice course. its longer than most montgomery county courses. it has some tough holes and some easier ones, i had a good time, pace of play was good. its usually one of the least busy montgomery county courses. the only real beef i had, is that it was 60s, sunny, and clear, but for some reason it was cart path only, which i hate.

arrived at 1215 for my 1244 tee time. i go to check in with the starter, and surprise surprise they are running 20 minutes behind, which is pretty normal. Obviously they overbooked and/or let walk ups play. So now we are running late, and have to deal with a log jammed course, with about a 5-10 minute wait on each hole- and a 10-15 wait on par 3's. When my foursome arrived at hole 2, the was a group on the tee, a group waiting and then us, and before you knew it, the group behind us was also waiting.
Pace of play was off the charts slow, the 4th person in our group left after the 3rd hole.
The course is very short, driver isn not a good option, on most holes, i believe i only hit my driver 5 times during the round.
Also if you know redgate, you know that hole number 4, and hole 16, are probably the worst par 5's ive ever played, ever. horrible, on either hole you cant hit driver, you have to hit around 180-200 yards off the tee, then hit a 180-200 layup, just so you can have a wegde to a blind green. On 16 if you hit your ball to the right at ANY point, tee ball, layup, or approach, its dead, and the tee box were pure dirt. they need to change that hole somehow.
my tee time was 1244, i got to my car in the parking lot at 605.
and.... it was my birthday.

i like montgomery village, especially for less than $20, because its not very busy, the 3 par 5s, 3 par 3s, format on the front 9, and because its much longer then the other courses in the area. i hope this course will stay open for awhile longer, ive heard some rumors that it will be townhouses and a shopping center in the future.

the staff was great, very friendly, and professional. i expected the course to be a poor representation of major championship golf courses, but actually its was very thought out and pretty well done. the greens were not the crazy slopes that i have seen on tv, and needed a little maintance, but less severe slopes makes it more playable for everyone. it was the day after it rained, so it was cart path only, which i hated, because the huge gps on the cart were almost useless if you can't drive close to your ball. the back nine, is defintly tougher and much longer, maybe 300-400 yards longer. the round took almost 5 hours, due to the weather, cart path only and it was pretty busy for a wednesday. all in all i could've had a better time, if it wasn't windy, and cart path only, with that being said, i took a bunch of great pictures, had a good time, and was very impressed by the layout and the history the course provided. a good expierance and i will defintly try to play there again, with better conditions

a little bit of a drive for me, about 50 minutes, but worth it. the course has decent length at times. but some holes have an easy approach with a tough green, others have a more difficult approach but a flatter green. all and all, a decent track, at a very reasonable rate. good staff.

tuesday morning tee time. starter greeted us with carts in the parking lot, which doesnt happen too often, that was nice, and had us off within 10 minutes, which was also nice, because we were trying to beat the heat. course was in very good shape, my only gripe with the course/staff was that there was a lot of maintence going on during my round, lots of grass cutting, bunker prepping, things that in my opinion should have been done before 10am. One maintence worker in particular refused to look up or stop working during my round, which resulted in him almost getting hit my a 180 yard 3 iron. other than that, i had a very good time, and will be returning.

i played northwest on tuesday, i played from the tees in front of the tips, but on this particular day, it didnt make much difference, they were almost just as far. i think the shortest par 3 was 179 yards. greens were nice and firm. the course was playing flat out tough, and i was very challenged.

the course was in very good condition, greens were smoking fast, and the fairways were solid, allowing tee balls to roll out a good ways. but it was sunday, and my group and every other group on the course were crammed in like sardins. everyone who owned golf clubs was there, i saw jeans, tee shirts, two-somes with 1 set of clubs. you expect a big crowd on sunday, but not like that, i witnessed another golfer drive over to my ball, from a different hole and smack it, without even looking at the ball for an identifing mark. i was disappointed at the rate of play and the ignorance of the other golfs

saturday at 1pm. place was packed, as expected. it was a little slow, but not too slow. the course was in good condition. The
most challenging part of the course for me, was the thick rough, which not only was hard to get thru, was also hard to find your ball because the ball would sit down so easily.

good course for the money. cheap, not very busy, beautiful scenery. course isnt long, but still is challenging, especially if you have never played it. the greens are small, elevated and undulated. the bunkers are not good, but everytime i go there, it looks like the course itself is progressing. i did have a bad expierance there once, where an employee claiming to be the managers brother gave me a very hard time with the cost of play, i was told one thing and he tried to charge me another.

saturday at patuxent greens was a very slow journey. the quailty of players i was surrounded by was on the inexpieranced side, and with no marshall anywhere in sight resulted in incredibly slow play. 5+ hour round, not to mention there is an obvious drainage problem, the whole course was wet, and had an off putting odor. the course itself was not too bad, a shorter, tighter track, with water everywhere. the course potential was obvious, but the drainage needs to be addressed.