Chris6835365

Good option if you want to spend less than 30 bucks on a hot deal in the area. But you get what you pay for here. Be prepared to roll the ball in the fairway a lot to get to some grass to hit off.
Don't recommend walking unless you enjoy very long walks through the woods to get to your next tee box. Layout is strange in that sense, having you crisscross the property to get to your next hole, but relatively easy in terms of the holes themselves; some narrow, challenging tee shots, but that's about it. The green surfaces that weren't pitted from ball marks rolled really well with good speed and were easily the best part of this course...but hitting from the weeds and what is basically a closely mown backyard when you are in the middle of the fairway at 140 out is not by any means ideal. This is one of those courses that look great from the parking lot and you think you almost stole 18 holes, but once you are down the fairway a bit you realize why it costs what it does. Fairly priced for the conditions.
Don't expect the mowing staff to stop working because you are playing either. As other reviewers have said, course is tired and carts are past their prime for sure.

Pohick Bay is a very interesting golf course in terms of layout and challenge. 50 dollars with a cart seems to be a reasonable charge for this area of the country, but not exactly a great deal either for the condition of the course. If it was pristine, I would expect to pay 75 for the round. That said, I would play here again under the current conditions below at around $40-45 and not be disappointed.

It appears to me that it has been a tough summer for the area courses without the resources to adjust to the conditions. If you play here in the next 30 days from my review, expect fairways to be of mixed grass and conditions, greens to be mostly nice, roll well (although a touch slow), but pockmarked from the increasingly terrible offense of not repairing ball marks (shame on you, all of the groups that preceded me for the week), this could be mitigated by changing cup locations more frequently - as this appeared to be only a weekly occurrence here based on the conditions of the cup (but maybe the patronage is just rough on the course). The areas surrounding the greens need considerable work - a lot of bare areas and thin covering can be found immediately adjacent to many greens, and again, lots of mixed grass types or invasive grasses being allowed to take over in some areas. The chipping and putting greens are not bad at all, offering plenty of room to work on your short game. The driving range was once a beauty, offering shade and a reasonable amount of stations, however the hitting mats saw their last days of usefulness about 2 years ago, and while I may have missed it, didn't see any turf hitting areas.
The staff and starters were fantastic, friendly and very helpful.
I played midday on a Thursday and the course was relatively empty. I would expect on a weekend this course to be busy, and a bit slow because the layout and blind tee shots makes it difficult to determine when it is safe to play on.
Final Tip - use a GPS app to see the hole from the tee box - and if you can't see the rough from the tee, assume it slopes away from the center of the fairway.

The Gauntlet is a fun golf course if you like Dye designs and being forced to hit different shots all day. Despite my review below of the conditions - I honestly had a good time overall thanks to the combination of layout and not being busy in the slightest. The only issue I had was that they still charge you for a round of golf based on the fact of its proximity to the NCR and it being a Dye design. The overall conditioning of the course (except for the green surfaces which were pretty good) was lacking. We played on a Saturday in the middle of the day and the course was basically empty. Management either needs to lower the cost to get more people on the course again or bring it back to its level when it opened. Start with the driving range - which looks like an afterthought and a place where they just use found and lost golf balls to fill the hopper. From previous reviews, it looks like it is coming back - but it truthfully has a good ways to go, a golf course is more than just tees and greens. The green surrounds are very tired and in need of TLC. For a guy like me who relies heavily on short game skill to make good scores, it is challenging when the area immediately around a green is bare or not taken care of. I just need to get better I guess. Fairways were a mixed bag based on the location on the course and how much overall shade they received during the day - some were thin and damp, some were lush carpets. I would certainly go back, but maybe in the fall after the brutal summer temps have stopped creating havoc for the superintendent.

This was my first course in the area after leaving the southeast and lots of play on the RTJ Trail. The course layout, while not as challenging as the RTJ courses, is just as fun. The tee's were in decent shape, as were the fairways and the majority of the rough - although the fairways seem to still be recovering from significant damage in the last couple years and are either a little thin, or have been replaced with a mixed grass in some areas - not a big deal though as there was always a good lie within a foot or two of where I ended up. If you stay out of the bunkers, you won't notice how terrible they are - if you go in, do yourself a favor and just drop from behind them. The greens were easily the most well manicured areas of the property. They rolled fantastic and had perfect speed for the size and undulations of the greens. Be prepared for spike and ball marks though, the course superintendent can't be responsible for all the hacks that come out and have no clue how to walk or use a divot tool. I would play this course again, but only at the 40 dollar special rate (call ahead, sometimes they offer 40 dollar tee times with a bucket of balls and a water too).

This is a great golf course. Picked it up on a Hot Deal which just added to the value. I was told that it used to be a country club that went under and was bought by the BR parks department to operate - You can tell that it was once a true gem, kept at the highest standards. It is still an awesome golf course with really good conditions. Lots of options off the tee and hitting into greens in the risk v. reward department, a fair amount of water that sneaks into play (use an app to see what danger lies out there). It has a good routing through a nice neighborhood that only gets cramped in a small section of the course where 4-5 holes play near each other. The only thing I thought was "off" with the course was the amount/type of sand that is used in the bunkers - have played in a lot of places, but this is the first course where I stepped in a bunker and immediately sank 8-10 inches into the sand (note for next time - don't come up short on a front pin tucked behind a bunker). While I didn't use it, the practice area of this course looked top notch with both putting and pitching/chipping greens and an expansive range.

This was a really fun course and in great condition. If you can play here on a hot deal, you won't be disappointed. Worth the money at under $60 (including tax) to me. This course offers an active duty military rate that is not posted anywhere, but only for the active duty service member (they need to update this policy to include immediate family members and/or offer a FM and Veterans rate IMO). So call if you are AD. Back to the golf - great course - very challenging off the tee on quite a few holes given the amount of water. Hitting driver not necessary/advised on about 80% of the holes unless you play from the tips (wish I was that good). Greens were fantastic with great pace and challenging hole locations on some holes.