tedliu

Maryland National is a great course and I love playing there. However, it is not a single-player friendly course. I have no problem to pair with other people, but their online reservation does not allow single to book. If you call, they basically ask you to call the day you want to play or walk on even the tee times are wide open. I have to drive an hour to get there, so I end up booking tee time at Little Bennett or P B Dye a week in advance. GlofNow and TeeOff actually provide an alternative for single-player to play at Maryland National and that is why I played there on Halloween, Sunday October31. The temperature was only high 50, but feels like low 50 because it was extremely windy. I was glad I had an extra layer. The real problem is the pace of play. I have to wait very long time for each shot in a windy condition. That is no fun.

I am a frequent player in Maryland National. Probably it is one of the most picturesque public golf courses in DMV area. It’s late April, the course condition gets much better and the green is not as sandy as 10 days ago. I was paired with threesomes who don’t speak much English. They are not beginners but their pace was extremely slow. They took mulligans on every tee box. They bet, drank, shouted, and had a lot of fun by themselves, but they had no consideration for others. I found it very stressful to have open holes ahead and people waiting behind. I was stuck.

It was a nice day. The wind was much calmer than the weather man expected. So the course was pretty busy even it was in the middle of week. Maryland National used to have a perfect condition when I played. However, the putting greens are all very sandy recently.

This was my first time playing in this course. I drove past the golf course without paying attention to the sign. The lady at the pro shop was very helpful when I called. The starter is super friendly. I agree with most of reviews that this course gives you the best value and scores.

The following normally do not happen at the same time:
1. Four hours to finish 18 holes on Sunday
2. The starter greeted me with a firm handshake
3. $40.49 to play top golf course with great layout and conditions
4. A cute beverage-cart girl
5. 78 degree in mid October
Only thing missing is a good scorecard

I had a weird experience playing at P B Dye on 9/29 Friday. First of all, the range ball is no longer included in the green fee. I was paired with 3 other players as a foursome. The guy whom I rode the golf cart with played slowly. After 8th, we were told by a marshal that we were 17 minutes behind. We picked up the pace a little bit at 9th, but were told to skip 11th par 3 (signature hole) and make up that hole after 18th. At 13th, 2 guys in my group lost patience and went ahead to play by themselves. The foursome behind us were not a fast group either. I did not see them at the back 9 at all. When we made up 11th, there was a long wait. A couple of slow player can ruin many people's rounds. I am not sure how marshal can fix that.

I played on Saturday as a single and had to wait almost every single shot, starting from the 1st hole. The twosome in front of me offered me twice to let me play through. I did not take the offer because every group was waiting as far as I could see.

Yesterday (4/23) is my second time in the month playing at Maryland National. The course condition definitely is better than Musket Ridge where I played a week ago. I love Maryland National's layout and every hole is very interesting. However, it was a busy day at Maryland National and it took 5 hours and 10 minutes to finish 18 holes. We basically had to wait for every single shot. There are several short holes starting from the 9th, so that made the wait even more painful.

P B Dye is my number 1 choice in DMV when the price is right. The weather was perfect yesterday when I played and the pace was pretty good - 4 hours and 10 minutes. Only complain that I have is green condition.