Baltimore/DC Area????

[RE Blanks]

Anyone familiar with the area?  Baltimore CC looks good, but what else should be seen in the area?  Chevy Chase, Columbia?  How about CC of Maryland (Stong 1925).  Thanks

[Brian_Gracely]

Elkridge (Raynor/Silva) is said to be excellent.  On the public side, Bulle Rocke and Beechtree are not far from Baltimore.  

[Bill Gayne]

Chevy Chase and Columbia are both D.C. courses about an hour south of Baltimore depending on traffic. I would highly recommend Columbia if playing in DC.

[Cory Lewis]

In Baltimore Area your priority list should be:

1. BCC
2. Elkridge
3. Beechtree
4. Bulle Rock
5. Caves Valley
6. Hillendale
7. Woodholme
8. Greystone
9. Hunt Valley
10. Hayfields

That should get you started.

[Jim Franklin]

Cory's list is good, but I would put Elkridge at #8. The restoration is good, but those other venues are better. Holes #6 & 7 still bring that course down.

[david h. carroll]

Jimmy--you are smokin crack if you put Hillendale above Elkridge...

Other Baltimore notables forgotten from this list would be Mount Pleasant, Naval Academy, Gibson Island and Annapolis Roads.

[Paul Carey]

Before I comment what are you looking for?  Are you in town and looking for a place to play?  Or are you moving here and looking for a club to join? Some of these clubs are easier to get on than others.  Also where will you be?  Bulle Rock and Beechtree are at least 90 minutes north of Columbia and Chevy Chase...it is a pretty large area. The reponses so far have been primarilly Baltimore focused.

Here is a thread started by Craig Disher on a regional magazine ranking of the best courses.  It includes a lot in Virginia and is (as with most rankings) a good basis for argument.

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forums2/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=14876;start=msg253587#msg253587

[Scott_Burroughs]

Since the DC area was mentioned in the title, other candidates include Congressional, Burning Tree, Four Streams, Whiskey Creek, RTJ, and some decent CCFADs in NoVA.  Don't know much about Bethesda CC, a 4-time host of the LPGA Championship from 1990-1993.

Near Baltimore, Pine Ridge is a decent and cheap public course.

[Craig Disher]

RE,
Cory's list covers the area accutately, but I don't know why he didn't include USNA.

If you have the time and are interested in classic architecture, you should take a look at Annapolis GC (Annapolis Roads). The conditions are always terrible but the bones of Banks' design are still there. Gibson Island also merits a look but it's in a private community and you have to get access through a resident. Some of Macdonald's best holes have been lost but the site is extraordinary.

[Steve Mann]

what about green spring valley hunt club?

[John Moore II]

Since I tend to like bringing back old threads rather than making new ones when this is all ready here...

I can see here what there is to offer in the area that is good. I will be there from July 2 until roughly July 10, perhaps leaving before then, not sure. Then I will be back Sept 1 and stay until Sept 15.

Is there anyone on here from around Baltimore or DC who would like to get together for a game?

Contact me off the board if you do, I will certainly have my clubs with me when I go up there.

Couple of courses that I hope to play, won't mention which ones.

[John Moore II]

Not to double post, but to ask a few questions:

At $125, is Bulle Rock worth it? Or could two (or three) courses nearly as good be had for that same $125 in the area (within 1 hour of the city)?

On the public side, which options are the best?

Thanks

[Jonathan Cummings]

JM - use the search function.  There must be 100+ threads about golf in the Balt/DC area.  It's been talked to death.  JC

[John_Conley]

On the public side, which options are the best?

Thanks

JC steered me to an awesome municipal.  It was very inexpensive.  Go play that one.  Beechtree, which I enjoyed, is NLE.

[Martin Toal]

On a trip to Baltimore a few years ago, I played Bulle Rock, which was lovely, and, at the suggestion of a colleague, Renditions.

http://www.roundscapes.com/renditions/tour.php

The latter consumed 5 hours of my life that I will never get back.

[Mike Cirba]

John K. Moore,

If you get the opportunity, especially looking at $125 for Bulle Rock, go play the Mount Pleasant muni, which has better architecture at a fraction of the price.

Bulle Rock is everything Pete Dye did better somewhere else, with boulders.

[Andy Troeger]

For one I actually liked Bulle Rock, but I tend to like Pete Dye. Its not his best, but even at $125 you could do a heck of a lot worse. I admittedly don't know about its competition on the public side. Baltimore CC is definitely ahead of Congressional IMO.

[Mike Cirba]

Andy,

I like Pete Dye, and I like Bulle Rock a fair amount.  It's probably a Doak Scale 6.

Certainly if someone has never played any of Pete's courses it's worth a visit.

I just found it very reiterative of holes of his I'd seen done better, previously, at places like Blackwolf Run.

[John Moore II]

Andy,

I like Pete Dye, and I like Bulle Rock a fair amount.  It's probably a Doak Scale 6.

Certainly if someone has never played any of Pete's courses it's worth a visit.

I just found it very reiterative of holes of his I'd seen done better, previously, at places like Blackwolf Run.

Outstanding information. Maybe I'll steer away, but I may not, depends how I feel on any given day.

[Mike Cirba]

Thanks John, and glad to be of help.

And, depending on the day of the week, Mount Pleasant may be an overcrowded, slow round.

But, I found the architecture surprisingly good, and I know Kye Goalby is a big fan of the place, as well.

[Andy Troeger]

Andy,

I like Pete Dye, and I like Bulle Rock a fair amount.  It's probably a Doak Scale 6.

Certainly if someone has never played any of Pete's courses it's worth a visit.

I just found it very reiterative of holes of his I'd seen done better, previously, at places like Blackwolf Run.

I can't disagree with this--but I have Blackwolf Run in my top ten so a slightly weaker iteration of similar themes does still do pretty well in my book. I can't disagree with a 6.

[John Moore II]

Thanks John, and glad to be of help.

And, depending on the day of the week, Mount Pleasant may be an overcrowded, slow round.

But, I found the architecture surprisingly good, and I know Kye Goalby is a big fan of the place, as well.

Where does Mt. Pleasant fall on the 1-10 scale?

If Bulle Rock is a 6, are there any public 7's around that area in your opinion?

Where does Baltimore CC Five Farms fall on the scale?