anditsasnaphook

Herndon is a pretty solid course for a lower price than anywhere else in the area. I’d highly recommend it.

1757 is overall average in my opinion. The problem is with 14 holes with water in play it slows down pace, and as a result leads to a lot of lost balls and a slow round. I’ve played worse but this still isn’t a place I’d recommend for someone looking for a round of golf. Their practice facility is top notch though. I’ve also heard rumors 1757 is going private.

Reston National is one of the two courses I live closest to, but I usually only play it once or twice a year. From what I remembered the pace was always terrible and condition hadn’t been great for a couple years. They recently switched to ten minute tee-time intervals and that made the round flow much better than it had in the past. I played in 3 hours and 45 minutes, with an early morning tee time on a Sunday. I was pleasantly surprised! The condition on the other hand was disappointing. I’ve been playing here for five years and it seems to get worse every year. Granted, it’s early in the season and such but I really hope they can get it back to what it was condition-wise.

For this late in the season the conditions were great, and it was an awesome time.

I try to enjoy every golf course I play, but I found it hard to today. To start off everyone at the Course was nice, I had no issues with anything external. The course conditions were decent for this time of year, not the best but could’ve been a lot worse. The layout was likely my least favorite I’ve played. There were forced layups off of the tee on far too many holes, fairways that were weirdly small, and fairways that were split so a perfect long drive down the middle would end up in the rough. Just not great in my opinion. I also played really poorly just as a disclaimer. The pace of play was bad as well. When we made the turn and got to the tenth tee, there were two groups ahead of us waiting. Overall it was a nice experience, but I’m not going to go back. It just wasn’t for me.

Pleasant Valley was a lot of fun, and I’d definitely recommend it to a friend. The pace of play was average overall, the front went super fast and the back was super slow. The conditions weren’t great, there were many tee boxes that were just straight up dirt and sand, but otherwise it was alright. I loved the layout, it was challenging and enjoyable at the same time. The bunker placement was good, and you can tell they really worked to make those better. Overall I had a lot of fun, I’ll definitely be back next spring sometime when the condition is back to normal!

I was really looking forward to playing Old Hickory, I heard it was a nice course that was a good layout. I also know the Raspberry Courses are very well-kept usually. The routing is wacky, but the holes are well-designed. The bunkering was very good, and the course was sufficiently challenging. My only issue was the condition. Now I understand that the rain we've had has been killer, but it hadn't rained in 5 days but more than a few bunkers were still flooded. The fairways had more than their fair share of dirt exposed, not burnt out grass but dirt. The greens had a similar problem, and were completely chopped up. I couldn't read putts and the speed was incredibly inconsistent. I really expected more from the Raspberry Trail; it just did not meet my expectations condition-wise. I've played multiple Municipal courses in better shape even with the crazy weather we've had. I'm hoping to get out here again in springtime so the condition is better, but I don't plan on playing for a while.

This course isn't bad. It's got some great holes, but the West 9 is about 400 yards less than the South 9, so that is a bit different. The Pace of Play was really good, but I had an early morning tee time so that also may have been part of it. The fairways were in great shape, but most bunkers were a free drop outside according to the starter, and the greens had tons of ball marks. I got a great deal to play it with my dad, but I would've been disappointed if I had to pay full price in the early morning. I really liked the design, and if the greens and bunkers were better I think it would be one of the best in the area.

I love this course. I've never been sure why but this course just speaks to me to an extent. It's beautiful, the starters I've had here have all been awesome guys who've talked a lot with me and we've always gotten along. The bunkering is really pretty, and they are challenging but fair. This course is more strategic compared to a couple other of the higher-end courses in the area. I played when there had been a scramble earlier in the day and the course conditions were still great. I love this course and its a great experience. Go play it!

Herndon Centennial is my home course, I've been playing it for years but I figured now was as good a time as any for a review. I think its a great course if you want to score. Not too long and nothing too insane. There's a handful of really nice designed holes. My only gripe about the course is that 8-13 tend to drag as they are all par 4's and only 9/10 are really of a different mold compared to 8,11,12,&13. The Par 3's are short but not insanely straight forward, the Par 5's are short but I don't like to go for them in 2 shots unless i hit the perfect drive. The staff is really nice, the value is really good if you are a town of Herndon resident (make sure you mention that you are with a driver's license) but average otherwise. They recently switched the "restaurant" in the club house and its a bit pricey. Definitely better than your average Municipal Course.

So many negative things have been written about the Castle Course at St. Andrews. Everyone says the course and the greens are just too hard. First off they're right, I've never played a course that difficult, but the greens weren't awful by any means. I had a few circus putts but they were cool. To put in perspective how hard it is, I had two pars and I am a 9 handicap. My round was filled with bogeys. However I have zero regrets. This course was one of the most beautiful I'd ever played. Having played the Old Course twice the day before, I knew I couldn't have the same expectations, but this course was just gorgeous. I really enjoyed a few holes. The 17th is an all-world Par 3 (which I luckily got one of my two Pars on). I think the bottom line for this course has to be not comparing it to the Old Course or Kingsbarns and just appreciating it for what it is. The best thing I've heard about the Castle was "leave the scorecard in the bag and take out the camera."

1757 is quite the design. I really like the course layout, not many public tracks have water in play on 14 of 18 holes. However if they really want to make this a top notch course they need to maintain it better. The drainage is not great, so the fairways feel saturated when it had rained earlier in the week. Also I played the day after a really bad wind storm (trees were down and power lines were wrecked) and the wind threw my ball into the water four times on the first two holes. It was a struggle but it got better from there. The Pace of Play kills me here. When you have casual golfers hitting into the water constantly and taking twenty shots per hole, the pace is really slow. 1757 is meant to be a difficult course, but they need to stress playing from the right tees or make a few holes easier for the casual golfer to increase pace. I like this course, it tests your accuracy unlike any public course in Northern VA. I recommend it but i have my own reservations.

I liked Algonkian, it was a solid course that got the job done. However, I played on a perfect day in February (a bunch of people were out it was a great day for golf) and I had never seen any course in worse shape. It started off on the first hole, the pin was in the fairway. They didn't even mow the fairways that day, you couldn't putt on it. Not only was this the case but we were not even made aware of it by the starter or pro shop. Then onto the second we waited for ten minutes to tee off as the starter was sending people off with no rhyme or reason. The course was in awful shape, we played three holes in an hour and fifteen minutes, and then we didn't want to play anymore. so we left Until I hear Algonkian is turning things around I don't plan on visiting again.

For Students this course is tough to beat. Not expensive, great membership deals, definitely worth it. Also the Willie Park Jr. designed holes are pretty cool considering he designed courses like Sunningdale. Definitely a fun round, but don't expect an incredible course if you're used to immaculate conditions. If you're an alum or a good golfer in State College this probably isn't the course for you.