So, this thread seems the most relevant for now. I played Maryland National today, first Arthur Hills original design I have played. Its difficult to really put into words what I think of this course. Holes 1 through 5 are good to the point that I thought the course had some real potential. Well, exclusive of the routing being all over the place. Then you have to drive forever to get to #6 and once you get there, you see a really terrible looking hole. 6 is a drop shot par 3, over the wetlands/ESA to a green that is completely devoid of any character. The course picks up a little bit, with 7, a good par 5. 8 and 9 are OK holes, nothing special, but nothing bad.
Then you step (after driving over half the distance back up the hole to get to the tee) to the 10th tee. Ummm...how to put this...the hole sucks. 5 iron-PW is how I played it from the back tees. It would not be possible to play much more than a 3 iron off the tee. For a hole to be 335ish yards and have no possibility of reaching the green, over flat land, is just odd to me. At least give guys the chance to take the risk. But in this case, the reward is almost nil compared to the risk. Too short, too long, left or right and you are dead in a hazard. 11 is a fair hole.
12 would be a good, long par 3, 255 yards from the back tee, however, somewhere along the line it was decided to install a drain basin about 10 yards short of the green and in a 4-5 foot deep depression. Basically your ball must land on the green (with a hybrid or longer, mind you) in order to get on the surface. This hole could be good with about 2 dump truck loads of soil brought in and the basin grassed over, allow a run-up shot to reach the green. As is, you either hit in a 5-6 foot wide area to roll the ball on or you wind up in the basin right or in a collection area left.
13 is another good par 5. Then 14, a mirror image of the 6th, more or less, and it sucks just as bad. 15 is a really good short par 5.
16 is in a category of its own. Mike Cirba said something to the effect of it is one of the worst holes on the planet. Those were my exact thoughts while standing on the tee. Its a hole meant to have options, that has no options. The 'fairway' to the right, over the creek is about 10 yards wide, with the creek running the entire length to the right and 'lost ball area' to the right. And the green is bad. Yes, if I had to name the 18 worst holes I've ever played, this would make the list for sure; as would at least one of the par 3's and possibly either 10 or 18.
17 is another drop-shot par 3, almost identical to 7 and 14. You know, I don't always hold it against a course to have similar par 3's, Golden Horseshoe (Gold) has them like that. Only difference is, the similar par 3's are Horseshoe actually play different lengths and with somewhat different strategies. These three at Maryland National play roughly the same yardage, look almost identical, and require basically the same shot.
And the 18th, coming hole. Wedged in between the first fairway and the ESA, the fairway is basically too narrow for the length of the hole as played and the fairway runs out into the junk at about 310 yards. So, let me get this right, on the Home hole, you build a hole that is pretty much without playing options and then, in spite of the fact you have a large piece of land basically right below the clubhouse porch which would make for a much better greensite, you choose to wedge the green between the wetlands/ESA on the right and a manufactured bunker on the left? Terrible, Terrible finishing hole.
So, a little summary. Not a bad course overall, it played nicely firm and fast. The par 5's are all very good, all of them having multiple playing options and fairly interesting greens. The par 3's are very weak overall; #3 is a good hole (some have said it is a Redan, I didn't notice while playing, but looking now, I guess thats the case) 12 would be good with the changes I mentioned (which would less than $2500 IMO, just dig the sod that exists in the area and get 3 loads of sand/soil at most) and, well, the other 3 holes are identical and suck identically. As for the par 4's, the ones on the highlands (1, 4, 5, 11) are all pretty good, 8 and 9 (the 'open lowland' holes) are somewhat indifferent and the 'wooded lowland' holes (10, 16, 18) are horrible. This course starts off very fast and finishes like a Top Fuel Dragster with a blown piston.