Washington Golf Alert

Field Notes: Brambleton

Brambleton in Ashburn, Va., is part of the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority, whose two other courses are Algonkian in Sterling and the hilly Pohick Bay down in Lorton. Brambleton is a more interesting version of Algonkian (reviewed here). That means it's fairly level, but not nearly so much as Algonkian and with some long gradual marches uphill that will cut your carry and roll. It's also much more varied and has one of my favorite golf-course features: A scandalously easy first hole that does everything it can to launch golfers quickly on their merry way. Although last week, I scored a 7. Not so merry.

It's the closest thing I have to a home course, so let me reel this off the top of head: 1 is an easy straight par 4; No. 2 is a par 4 that doglegs slightly to the right with what amounts to a forced carry; 3 is a technically modest medium par 3; No. 4 a gentle dogleg par 4; No. 5 a short, quirky right-angle par 4 dogleg that rewards local knowledge and exact placement; No. 6 an open dogleft to the left that usually tempts even slightly long hitters to go straight over water; No. 7 the dreaded evil long and narrow par 5, with a rock-fringed creek preventing long runups; No. 8 another simple par 3; and 9 an open par 5. And so, on the front nine, you have probably experienced more variety than you will all day at Algonkian. Brambleton mixes it up on the back as well. Like Algonkian, its staff is almost always friendly and helpful, if sometimes harried by marauding golfers.

The photo shows No. 12, a short par 3 protected only by a pond in front of the green. It's the easiest hole on the back, at least according to the scorecard, but water has magical power to deflect balls all over the place. The photo doesn't show you the tee shot, which is direct, clear and slightly elevated; my cheap, go-for-the-melodrama photograph is from the cart path as you're walking down to the green.

You'll see a little more development around some of the holes, compared to Algonkian which is better sheltered by its park. The hundreds of McMansions you'll be driving by on your way there--and I do mean hundreds--have replaced what used to be a forest. But you can't see much of that from the course--the most jarring visual is a school to the left of the fourth hole, maybe two drivers away. They've cleared land to the left of the 7th, and eventually that may be depressing but for now it's helped dry the fairway, notorious for years as a wet one.

Speaking of wet, when I played there most recently it was difficult to judge the current quality of the turf, since we'd just emerged from a five-day deluge. But some of the fairways were more beat up than I'm used to this time of year; the 11th in particular needs work, regardless of local weather disasters. The greens were beautiful. Superficially they're among the easiest greens in the region, but the architect must have adopted some deceiving visual cues because they can break when they're not supposed to, and vice-versa.

My last outing was not a bad one, after my ignominious first hole. The back nine especially was almost perfect scrambling bogey golf, and bogey all around puts you right at 90. Soon, my friends, soon. Scorecard from FairwayFiles.com

Field Notes: Prince William

Prince William Golf Course in Nokesville, Va. is one of the cheapest 18-hole regulation golf courses around here for a reason, but if you're not too finicky there's some fine golf to be had.

Cheap in Greater Washington means $44 for 18 holes with a cart on the weekend.

Some people will find Prince William a bit short (6,016 yards from the whites, 6,367 from the back), even for a par 70/72. But the true cliche is that looks can be deceiving. Even from the back tees the flat, straight and open par-4 first is only 330 yards. But it has a tiny sloped green with tricky sidehill putts if you find it and bunkers strangling the right and left if you don't.

Bad news first: Conditioning on the fairways. It's just too uneven, at least as of this date, as it has been for years. Some of them are fine, others not so much, maybe the worst case being the first third of the par 4 15th. The fairway rolls up and down a couple times, which is fine, but a straight short- or medium-length drive ends up on hardpan. One or two other fairways have a similar problem--only in sections, but that doesn't help you when you've done your job and the golf course lets you down.

They're working on it, though, having laid in some irrigation. We'll see.

There are also two greens canted to the point of being unfair when their speed isn't closely attended to by the groundskeeper--the par 3 4th and the par four 16th. The latter is actually one of my favorite holes and at least where I'm landing, has one of the best fairways, a gentle right curve with lost-ball oblivion to the right and a relatively small green, like many at this old-style course. When Prince William lets these greens go too fast, however, you'll be steaming along with Payne Stewart as a ball hit directly uphill loses momemtum and rolls back. For awhile.

And yet I go there often. As you might guess, the atmosphere is more relaxed here, the staff friendly (at least to me--maybe you have issues), the holes varied. This is a much more well-rounded golf experience than say Algonkian, which is in better shape but kind of the poster child for a monotonous front nine. In Nokesville, outside Manassas, the holes are wedged between Vint Hill Road, some small number of houses,  and sometimes other holes, but this is not a claustrophobic place to play. One of the more interesting challenges is the par 4 third, which requires a straight shot for a good angle to the green off to the right over a pond. Short and to the right puts a tree in your way. Pull left and you can see the green but on a downhill lie. Another example: Prince William gulls you into a false sense of security with short par 3s on the front, then asks you to play 208 yards from the whites on the par 3-11th. With a gully in front of the green. Some may be better off laying up here--but how many of us will lay up on a par 3? Other than Billy Casper?

My outing last week was better than most, despite fleeing the approaching thunderstorm monsoons on the last couple of holes (the photo now accompanying this post is looking across the 17th's green from an unlikely angle). It's amazing how much fun you can have if you just land on a few damn greens.

Score taken from my data at FairwayFiles.com

Field Notes: Bristow Manor

Bristow Manor in Bristow, Va. is kind of an inland links course, unusual for this area and not a bad place to warm up for some of those Outer Banks tracks some of you may be planning for. But forget about warming up; it's a terrific layout in its own right and a welcome change from the typical Washington area facility.

The photo is all wrong. It's looking from the sixth hole back to the 5th green, but most of the time you're not going to feel like holes are running into each other (and these two are separated enough so that isn't a factor even here). It doesn't convey the dominant atmosphere, which is rolling open links with some moguls thrown in to terrify you a bit more. But it's kind of a pretty picture, so there you go. At least it shows what kind of shape it was in when I played it June 20, which is to say excellent. Fast but fair greens--devilish greens quite often, with many fascinating options for torture available to the groundskeeper. The zoysia fairways were superb, some of the best I've played around here (later in the year I'm sure they'll show more abuse). I guess zoysia is unusual around here, but I love it. Up close and healthy, I swear it almost looks like astroturf. It has a nice cruncy snap on a full swing, and does quite well, it you don't get freaked out by its serious brown color, during the many winter months when Washingtonians can play.

Below the fold I have a shot of the finishing half of the 18th, taken from a hill up on the 10th. The 18th is a par four and the toughest on the back. The second shot threatens water on the left and lost-ball oblivion on the right. It's a fair test at the end of the round, and a fine example of golf sadism.

Water appears on a number of holes, and I'm counting at least seven divided fairways (front landing zones and then forced- or semi-forced carries over creeks or rough). But this is not a crazy-difficult course; from the wimpy "middle" tees I played, the slope is 126 and total yardage is a mere 6313. Championship tees rate 133 at 7102 yards). Regardless of all the numbers, I find this a much less grueling course than, for example, Forest Greens in Triangle, Va. which has a lower slope from middling tees but has so many sharp elevation changes you'll be looking for an elevator. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

And cheers to the designer, who decided the first hole should be an easy, short par 4, the least challenging hole on the front nine. Get those damn golfers on their way in a quick happy mood.

Photo of the 18th below; click on "continued."

Field Notes: Broad Run

Lots of golfers I know have pretty dim views of nine-hole golf courses. But it depends on the course. They're not all par-3s, they're not all mid-tracks like Paint Branch over in College Park, Md. and by the way those are great places to practice and have fun. Meanwhile Broad Run in Bristow, Va., is a serious 9-hole golf course with some beautiful scenery and a slope of 135 from the back tees.

I used to have this place practically to myself when it first opened, since all you can see from the highway is the driving range, a short-game practice field with bunkers and a miniature golf course. No more. Perhaps because of its role in golf instruction--there's a resident pro on-site--Broad Run seems to attract more than its share of beginners but despite conventional wisdom this does not reduce the pace of play. In my experience it does produce some of the more pock-marked fairways around here, especially later in the season, because if anyone's telling some of these golfers to replace their divots they sure aren't listening.

No matter. Broad Run is varied and a worthy test. Yes, there are two short par 4-s, But they're not gimmes. The 322-yard first is a bit narrow for your fresh wailing drive and pinches with a mound from the left, right around your landing zone (I said your landing zone. Mine is safely behind yours). The third hole is 323 yards, but over a pond that requires a carry of about 156 yards at the left and 196 yards at the far, slicing right, at least according to my Sky Caddie.  All the rest are no-excuse holes.

The photo isn't the most scenic I could offer, but I'm trying to show the length and pressure of the par-5 second, 537 yards from the back with a narrow fairway that slopes gently from right to left in the landing zone. The photo, looking back toward the distant tee, doesn't do justice to the green, which is elevated and protected by bunkers on the right. Two holes have dramatically elevated tees--the 422-yard par-4 5th, and the 548-yard par-5 seventh. Throw in one 226-yard par 3 and you've got plenty of golf course on your hands. That par-4 5th is rated the toughest, with a gulch towards the last section of the fairway that'll force many of you to consider an ignominious layup.

If you're in the area, have your clubs in the trunk and a little time on your hands, you can take advantage of another Broad Run advantage: Just zip into the parking lot and peek onto the first tee. You'll know right away if there's much of a traffic jam. Personally I find it pretty hard to resist if there isn't.

Field Notes: Ospreys

You might not think a 5,567-yard course  would be challenging. You would be wrong. Now if your golf buddies want to wail away with a driver every single darn hole, this is not the course for them--unless they're very long and exceptionally straight. On the same swing.

The Ospreys Golf Club at Belmont Bay, Woodbridge, requires a lot of thought. It's often tight, there are several daunting forced carries, and divided fairways prevent you from blithely aiming straight and just waiting for your ball to stop rolling. It includes the most demoralizing short par-3 I've ever witnessed, a 100-plus-yard jaunt over a gaping ravine to an elevated green. Here are options you should not choose: Left, right, short or far. Except for a several-yard bailout left, everything else will result in impenetrable brush or the Occoquan river.

The Occoquan reveals itself in glimpses on several holes; the photo looks down on second half of the spectacular par 5 10th. Much of The Ospreys is beautiful, though the 10th is the most dramatic. And although this golf course like many others here is being encircled by new housing, I don't feel it damaged the atmosphere very much. Golfers who have played there for years may feel different. For example, one of the par 3s on the front nine does feel a bit like playing in someone's back yard. But that's the exception. The area immediately around the course is now quite pricey--these are beautiful, expensive homes and much of the time you'll be out of their sightlines anyway.

The staff was exceptionally friendly the day I played, perhaps out of respect for what I was about to face: A forced carry on the first tee of a golf course without a driving range. Adding to the trial  were the flies. I was cheerfully told by a young man on my way out that they only hatch and agitate golfers during certain times of the year. This time naturally. If the starter tells you the flies are out, by all that is holy in golf take his advice and either use your own anti-bug spray or buy what's available in the pro shop. The course will be otherwise unplayable on the several holes where they're present. Marshes will do that sometimes.

My best ball striking was on that beautiful, terrifying 10th (photo). The first half or more of the fairway is on a plateau, and for mortals your second will be a blind shot. I nailed both, and the sloping 100-foot drop to the green left me just 50 yards short of it. Five shots later and you have a good feel for my short game. The next hole is a par 3 that takes you right back up the hill--I pushed my tee ball into bush and had to play my provisional--but most of the course's elevations are far more gentle.

Play Ospreys, inquire about Off, and grab a yardage guide--essential equipment for a chess-match of a course like this.

Score captured from FairwayFiles.com.

Field Notes: Algonkian

We were turned away from Algonkian early Saturday morning after a heavy soaking overnight. The greens are too wet. Whatever, and off we ran to Herndon Centennial. But Algonkian is a regular stop on my local circuit, and well worth your visit if you're not impatient with flat courses.

That's the rap against it--too flat, too monotonous. It's more true for the front, and even there you have a couple of doglegs to make life interesting, especially the par-5 6th. From the whites it's 225 yards into the treeline turning left, or 247 from the blues. How do I know that? Algonkian has a super yardage guide that'll navigate you around the course quite nicely even if you're not all gadgeted-up like me. Once you turn the corner, you eventually face a broad sloped green with all kinds of evil pin placements, guarded by two bunkers along most of the front--I know them well--and the dark forest behind it.

But yes, you may wonder whether they're holding some of these holes in reserve for runway construction. The back is more varied, with modest elevation changes, and water hazards crossing the fairways on 11, 13 and 15.  The 406/424-yard (whites/blues) par 4 15th is one example--you need a good straight drive or a very confident second swing to erase fears of a narrow pond running at a sharp angle from 30 to 90 yards before the elevated green.

Algonkian is a bit longer than many courses I play (6720 from the whites), and it shows up on the par 3s-199, 178, 146 and 203 yards. Two of those are a stretch for me for par-freakin'-threes, but as often happens in golf, hitting long without effort turns out to be a good thing. And that first par 3, the 5th, is just as the yardage book describes it--You must reach the putting surface from the tee, carrying the moist, soft area fronting the green, or you will come up short.

The photo looks at the Par 9 green from an angle even I haven't seen during play--from the parking lot. It's not the most descriptive photo but at least suggests the parkland surrounding this course. Considering how built-up the DC suburbs have become, Algonkian will increasingly benefit in comparison to some other tracks where housing developments are marching around the remaining vistas.  Unlike its cousin, Brambleton, all you see from Algonkian is parkland and other holes.

Some years ago, the staff at Algonkian was so rude that a friend and I vowed never to play there again. Events conspired to bring me back, and somebody must have cleaned house because the attitude of everyone from the starters to marshals to the front desk generally ranges from proper to outright friendly. My friend has since passed on, and I said a prayer asking his forgiveness for breaking the pledge. I think he'd approve, and now I remember him every time I walk up that fairway where a ranger once berated us after we told him we'd try to pick up our pace. Don't try! he barked. Do! Sure bud, we'll take that from Yoda, but not from you. And now we don't have to.

Field Notes: Virginia Oaks

Virginia Oaks in Gainesville, Va., is an upper-middle course in Greater Washington terms--a cut above the Brambletons and Algonkians of the world, even though it snakes through a high-end housing development, but not up to the crazed heights of a Renditions or Raspberry Falls. In sections it's exceptionally hilly, and most recreational golfers will want to ride even when carts are not required (weekends before 2 p.m.). Don't be fooled by the first hole, a par 4 whose pan is mainly level and looks a bit cramped, snaking just enough around the left to obscure a clear view of the green from the tee. Yes, there are some blind shots throughout the 18 holes, but not to an extreme degree (and I hate blind shots). Virginia Oaks has some beautiful vistas including glimpses of Lake Manassas and the gazillionaire's Robert Trent Jones course. Some of the fairways are rippled with moguls and the greens are varied, devilish, and completely fair. The course was in terrific shape the day I played except for some irrigation or drainage work on the last third of the 18th fairway. Naturally this was the only hole where I managed par. A fairway hit, a green in regulation, two putts---who knew.

The photo does not convey the full terror of the par-5 10th, which starts with a blind shot over a dramatic sloping, curving fairway--I snapped it with the tee well behind me, recovering from the shock of having found my ball exactly where I aimed it. The "S" formed by this hole snakes uphill to the left toward the green. It's a roller-coaster ride, but it's also the kind of hole that makes a lot more sense the second time you play it.

My round made more sense the second nine that I played--and as I said above, I finally found a par. I use FairwayFiles.com for the stats.

Field Notes: Falls Road

I don't usually play two days in a row, but a friend ordered me out with her husband, and I'm not one to let people down.

This is the time to golf the mid-Atlantic, folks. The weather isn't oppressive, we've had enough rain to keep everything green, and the public courses haven't been beaten to death by, well, us.

Falls Road in Potomac, Maryland has completed renovations that took a few years and had temporarily created some bizarre makeshift holes. No more. Now the only flaw to my eye is the strange par-3 9, an odd way to finish the front and one of the course's least interesting holes. It's 127 from the blues (black/blue/silver/green, and who the heck thought that up). Don't judge the rest of Falls Road based on that hole--maybe they're trying to cheer people up with an easy score before they make the turn.

The course is hilly, though by no means to the local extreme of places like Forest Greens in Triangle, Va. or Little Bennett in Clarksburg, Md. Plenty of variety including tees where you can wail away with your driver and others where you shouldn't. The photo is taken from the middle of the 10th's fairway. Yes, as you're making your way around you can often see plenty of other holes, but they rarely impinge on each other and a normal public golfer won't feel crowded.

As documented at FairwayFiles.com, not a terrible day for yours truly with a 102. Avert your eyes from the closing three.

Field Notes: Herndon Centennial

The last time I played this course, a couple years ago, was a depressing end-of-day: Cold dark weather, end of the season so the course was beat up, and I'm pretty sure my score was dreadful.

This morning I'm positve my score was dreadful--a 112--but by the end of the round, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the course was clearly in terrific shape. That's the 12th green at left. Actual sand in many of the bunkers (yes, that can be a problem in area courses, even what I'd call upper-middle ones). Fairways and greens in good shape. Herndon is a very walkable course, except for cris-crossing a highway a few times--the pedestrian bridge is lovely but it's a long trek and this is where a foursome in carts is going to overtake you.

Herndon is a bit short from the whites at 5800, but there's good variety and narrow enough fairways often enough to give your average recreational golfer second thoughts on the tee. Gentle elevation changes add more interest. If I were to change one thing about it, it'd be the first hole. Namely I wouldn't make it the first hole, a narrow par 4 with the toughest handicap--not so great either for your score or for getting everyone quickly on their way.

Documented evidence of my disasters taken from my data at FairwayFiles.com.