sagray3

Nice rolling farmland course, evergreens and bushes, some waste and OB but not obtrusive. Fast greens, low rough near the greens, tabletop greens...you will certainly be challenged in the short game. Intermediate length with no real carries off the tee.

This is definitely a good, decent interesting course without a lot of verticality or tough drives to mess it up.

This is 3 different 9 hole courses in a square layout bordered on two sides by houses that you pass by on the road to the course. I played two of the 9's for 18 holes. Got a great golfnow hotdeal for $12 for the day with a cart. I could not complain about this deal. The 9's are relatively short but still challenging, good draws and fades off the tee, good elevation changes, not much waste or OB, some blind shots maybe the only "problem", but the greens, fairways and rough were in good shape...maybe the rough was a little long (I lost balls in the rough) but still overall the course was pretty good. And the clubhouse is really nice. Good bar in the clubhouse, nice little dining area, nothing shabby here.

A very sweet deal only marred by the fact that I had to spend so much time hunting balls in the long rough.

Outstanding is the road-noise from Rte 40 passing by the course, also the local roads, it's a decent course, good layout, good verticality with some tricks and junk, but there is a *lot* of road-noise on parts of the course.

Some houses certainly as it's a neighborhood course but not overwhelmingly so, and it has a very nice clubhouse with a full sportsbar. I would say that this is a very nice neighborhood course ruined by all the road-noise. Also the signage is basically "not there", on some holes they had paper sheets with the hole number.

This is a neighborhood course with little housing presence, long, quite a tough course in spots, long, lots of verticality and very-deep rough, long, ball-eating rough near the greens. The greens are decent speed and slope, nothing outrageous, but you really have to be careful with the rough and the drop-offs on the sides of the fairway and behind the green. It's quite a meandering course, a good ride through the woods. But I don't think that you'll be disappointed by the layout. It is very, very good for a neighborhood course and has a clubhouse to match. It may not be the absolute best public neighborhood course in the DC area, but it's right up there.

The main thing about it is that it looks like a normal-sized course with normal proportions but it plays very big with lots and lots of verticality, carries and waste.

By the way, no real views of the Potomac :)

the only thing that really disappointed me about this course was the number of drunk guys sitting on the deck of the clubhouse by the 18th green

Basically it's too flat, very, very flat and relies on waste, water and tight tee-shots through chutes to really toughen things up. Though it does have a real variety in that regard...plenty of fairly-open tee-shots that will allow the golfer to get "happy" on the tee and spray balls when trying to crush their tee-shots.

But the course is in good shape (though just about all the grass is crabgrass) and it has a nice country-style clubhouse, hot grille, dining area and pro-shop (but no showers) with friendly greens and traps full of dirt but decent cart-paths and tee-boxes if that really matters to you. Definitely gives you that "country-club" look and feel to go with the $55/round prices unless you score a hot deal. No reason to be ashamed to bring friends or family here to play.

Almost two different courses, really.

The front side is wooded and fairly tight with abundant waste in play, very challenging tee-shots and approaches on most of the holes...the back is much more wide open with a lot less waste and much easier approaches, though overall a little longer than the front. Both are good sides with good elevation and challenging shots but the front is both harder and suffers from the road-noise and cars driving by the course on the road that leads to the course. The back is really nice and quiet, picturesque, somewhat laid-back, a nice course in and of itself. I would guess that many people come here and just play the back 9 twice. If I had to pick 9 holes to play in the DC area, the back 9 here would be at or near the top of my list. The front I would take friends with let's say "an overinflated view of their golf skills". It's definitely humbling.

No sand, only dirt in the bunkers, and not much in the way of housing on the course.

Decent clubhouse with a good deck for watching play from the shade, definitely a nice place for a round of golf.

It's simply a shame that this course is not well-maintained.
The layout is very good, a good solid challenge without getting ridiculous, and a good compromise in length. It is a good neighborhood course with a significant housing-presence but still a good layout and some nice lake views. It just be a great course if it was better-maintained. As it is I can only shake my head. Wasps have taken over half the greens and the fairways are just dry, patchy, with crabgrass in places where the fairway should be. It's just borderline-ragged.

It's almost like the owners have decided to let it go to waste and see who will try to buy it and start it up again. But this is a course that really needs to be played more often and make more money if that is what is keeping it from getting the maintenance that it deserves.

Good clubhouse, nice deck under a shade good for sitting out and watching people butcher the 9th hole :) a bit expensive if you wander away from the canned beers.

This is a big open-air course up near Have de Grace in the PA farmlands along Rte1. Most of the course is big-sky with good verticality, wide fairways some rough and a lot of waste, a lot of OB off behind the waste. Also it has a lot of wind for a golf-course. The big thing on this course is just to keep the ball out of the waste for 18 holes...try to do that while you're out playing under the blazing sun with the wind and road-noise and greenskeepers running around. Otherwise it's a decent course, a good challenge with some nice holes, not a lot of houses on the course. Certainly earns its 141 rating.

This is not a bad course...not a good course either. It's about average for a course with some good holes and some average holes. But the course has two big problems. First it has greenskeeper-fouling in a major way. Second the "clubhouse" is just lame. weak. Pathetic. It's little more than a dingy trailer on the side of the cart-shack. Yes it has a small kitchenette where you can buy beer and food but that's the only really serviceable part of the "clubhouse". The rest of it I'd just shut down one weekend and fix it up. Even a coat of paint would do wonders for it, but it would still be small and the bathrooms would still be a disgrace. This is two levels below the worst clubhouse that I've ever seen at a golf-course, I know that there are gas-stations out in the boonies that have better bathrooms and "dining areas" than they have here. It's really just pathetic how bad it is but they have these two sweet old ladies working in there and they are very nice.

Golf? Oh otherwise beyond that it's a decent course, nothing I'd drive much out of my way to play but at least it's plenty long enough and challenging enough, up on a mountain prarie with some trees, more on some holes and less on others, fairly tight waste around the greens and fairways but still fairly wide fairways and approachable greens, with some decent verticality and a good mountain breeze on many holes. A few holes back deep in the woods and some holes near a line of houses. Nothing in bad shape, just nothing outstanding, certainly a serviceable, decent round of golf. You're not going to be shorted on the quality of golf here for what they charge. If anything you're just going to want to get in, play your round and get out. This is not a place to spend time before or after your round.

Overall I would say it is a cut above average in terms of the course, with very-good amenities. Nothing too challenging, and for a decent golfer, really just challenging enough to be interesting and make for a decent round.

This is a decent course in an upscale neighborhood but the course is rather mundane except for a few holes (certainly #12 stands out) and there are a lot of houses practically on the course and road-noise from cars driving right by this course. #16 green you play a par3 with cars driving right behind the green. It is a large, long course with some good carries (esp #1 from the back tees) and some challenging holes, but overall the course is in at best average condition and is only moderately interesting. It's not bad but it's just not great. Just too wide and too flat and the greens are a mess (though still decent to putt on) and overall the course is no real challenge. It does have decent "air" and it's in a decent neighborhood with a nice clubhouse, it's not some backwoods course back in the middle of the woods somewhere. It's a decent course to play on occasion and respectable for that part of DC (certainly there are worse courses near Ashburn, like Brambleton), a place you could respectably take friends or clients to play, but in the overall sense it's just slightly above average.

It's actually pretty good for what it is.
It's basically a driving-range with a putt-putt and 9 par3 holes.

The good thing about it is that you can hit to any hole from anywhere where there aren't any people playing...and if you walk behind the driving range there will be a lot of balls back there so no problem finding balls to hit.

it also has a nice challenging green behind the lake and an elevated green and a green tucked back in the far corner, these are perfectly valid approach-shots and this place is a great value to just come out and practice.

I picked up at least 50 range-balls behind the driving range and played them for a few hours until I literally wore myself out hitting balls

Outstanding thing about this course is that you just don't have much room off the fairway, it's very easy to lose balls on this course if you don't hit straight.

Otherwise a good, challenging but not overwhelming layout, nice carries, some ponds, uphill greens, good stuff. Greens in excellent condition, nice clubhouse, a very nice course but a little expensive. Still at $85 it's a good deal compared to other courses at the same price-point.

fair # of houses and some road-noise here and there

Basically a fairly long but mellow woods course.
6800-7200 yds from the back tees, 121 slope.

Mostly flat and straight. The front 9 is a junior-golf version of the back 9, and the back9 is a decent 9 hole course. It does get a little tricky in that it has a fair number of blind shots on the par5s and you need to stay near the center of the fairway if you're going to hit long balls to where you can't see them coming down and stopping. Or the balls will go into the woods...into the leaves...and you will have no idea where and they'll disappear in two dimensions. Something that you'll learn real quick just by spinning a couple of long irons. Off the tee, from the back tees there are enough holes with long forced carries over waste to be a challenge...again the key is to pick the short side of the waste and keep the ball in play as much as possible. This often means sacrificing distance to the green in order to keep the ball in play, but the course is not long enough to really hurt much in this regard. Most of the holes are reachable in regulation even from the back tees as long as the ball stays in the fairway.

Probably #2 and #16 are outstanding challenges, maybe the back is slightly above-average in terms of difficulty, but basically this is a "drive and shoot" woods course. An easy-enough round for most players. It does not have much in the way of views to recommend it but at least there are almost no houses on the course.

131 slope 6500 yd course.

Not a course for the faint of heart. Basically the standard variety neighborhood woods course but with a LOT of tough shots. Lots of obstructions, narrow fairways, lots of verticality, normal-sized greens with a lot of drop-off and waste around the greens. This is a ball-breaker of a course. With lots of houses

But a great clubhouse and good food, nice patio, a good place to sit down and have a drink and food after the round. Just...bring your scramble game cause you're going to need it.

The course is 121 slope 6500 yds from the back tees and plays it, very straightforward. The front side is not much more than a warm-up for the back, but the back is not too hard. It does present a challenge but doesn't get too tough at all. I think the front was a little boring and repetitive but the back was ok. Some verticality and tabletop greens at least in the back, with waste a factor in most of the holes...the one thing is that there are a lot of holes on this course that are clear duplicates of holes on other area courses. A couple of holes from Lake Presidential, one from Blue Ridge Shadows, Forest Woods, Maryland National...the back side plays like a "DC area" version of Renditions. I think there isn't a whole lot to say about this course, it is certainly easier than a lot of courses that I've played in the area, but it does have a fair amount of waste that can play with your head off the tee, and the fairways are not all *that* wide that you won't have trouble hitting them in the wind. It's quite a different challenge in the wind than when the air is calm. But still, a bit too easy of a course to really be much trouble. It's the same length as Goose Creek but not nearly so convoluted, and tucked in between Twin Lakes and Generals' Ridge it immediately gets compared to them. It simply is nowhere near as tough as either one not to mention as scenic and varied as Twin Lakes. It is almost too repetitive and almost too much of a pushover. But if that is what you're looking for, then it's a good course. It has nice facilities and certainly is a good place to take a beginning to average golfer and let them spread their wings.

This is an ok course, woods-style, I'd characterize it as a bit long (playing from the back tees) but still fairly easy. Big trees, regular blind shots but no crazy doglegs or fairways except #16 which is undoubtedly a challenging hole...the main thing is to just keep the ball near the middle of the fairway and out of the rough near the greens. The only really tough hole on the front is the 280yd par #3. Front side is really just a decent 9 hole walk in the park, very flat, wide-open greens, not much in the way of waste or forced carries. The back 9 amps it up and is a good challenge. It still never really gets hard but it does give the player a chance to bite off more than they can chew and hit into trouble. It is still a fairly benign course. Course seems to be an ok round but still a bit over-priced, overblown for what it gives, nothing really scenic about it...but virtually no houses and a guaranteed peaceful round.

Nice amenities, good clubhouse, definitely an upscale place.

a split-score...B- without the planes, C with them, and I think that's slightly generous.

...a lot of planes on the back side of the course in the mid afternoon.

Otherwise a fairly benign course. No carries. Wide gentle fairways on most of the holes, mostly straight holes altogether, not much waste or sand. A really just kind of "vanilla" course. Just almost too easy on the front nine but tightening-up nicely on the back. Still never really gets "hard". The greens were on the borderline of sucking because the grass was too long and shaggy.

I really have a hard time believing that this is a 130 slope course. Even slightly off my game I was still flirting with 90 from the back tees and ended with a 93. Easily my lowest score this year. Blue Ridge Shadows is a 134 course, this course is nowhere near as hard as Blue Ridge Shadows.

It is an ok round ignoring the planes, and I liked the last 5 holes or so but otherwise it was a fairly boring, easy course. But in decent shape, with a gentle layout, and as such really a beginner to intermediate course. Sorry, Maryland National is about a half-hour up I-70 and is just much better, same with Whiskey Creek maybe 10 miles to the southeast. Both priced about the same. I could not recommend those courses to beginners, certainly I would recommend Clustered Spires instead.

And then there are the planes.

The course is advertised as 6800 yards from tthe back tees, 142 slope. On just about every hole there is a big difference in distance from the gold tees (which would be blue on some courses) to the black (back) tees. Short of playing the black tees the course really isn't long enough to be much of challenge. All the par 3s come down from 200ish to 150ish. Nothing is over 500 yards. Off the gold tees the fairway on #1 becomes a chip-shot, #2 the lake becomes driveable. The 250 yard carry on #14 is gone, #16 becomes simple vs a challenge...#18 is just a decent par 5. It makes a big difference to play from the forward tees and even from the back tees it isn't that hard. Probably the course comes down from 142 to 120 or so. The big problem is that hitting long irons into these greens is not a good way to go through life. But in general the course is rather benign. It's a decent-looking course in decent condition ignoring the clear lack of player repair. Nothing to knock your socks off...and the neighborhood is very noisy, but all in all a decent course. Just decent. And probably busy and slow. Nice facilities but the drive to the course is annoying. Overall I'd say that the course is overwhelmed by its surroundings and relative to other courses in the area is fairly benign and average to play. But it does look good relative to a lot of area courses, it has a very mature, well-kept look to it and a restrained layout that is just barely interesting enough for a decent round.

This is an interesting course, but first of all it is just north of Front Royal on Rte 522. Second it is laid out over the top of a small hill just next to Rte 522 with a big hotel towering over the course. Third it has a LOT of verticality. If you can get past all that it will be a fun round. It has a 600+ yd par 5 (from the back tees) and a lot of long tee-shots besides that...it's just a hard course with some interesting tee-shots, I won't spoil the fun. Get it while it's cheap.