what are the best courses in maryland and virginia

[James Brown]

Curious to see if there are revisions to this list now.  Royal New Kent has gone through a hiatus and may be back up and running soon.  Perry Cabin is in the mix.  Congressional has removed trees.  TPC Potomac has renovated.  Greenbrier has hosted a tour event. 


What would be your ranking now?

[Duncan Cheslett]

No love on here for Hunters Oak?

A genuine Scottish style links course in Queenstown MD.

27  18  9 holes of "rolling fairway hills and masterful topographic illusions".


It's the only course in Maryland I've ever heard of. (I've barely heard of Maryland other than in relation to cookies and chicken!)


http://www.ianscott-taylor.com/hoak.html

 

[Chris_Blakely]

No love on here for Hunters Oak?

A genuine Scottish style links course in Queenstown MD.

27  18  9 holes of "rolling fairway hills and masterful topographic illusions".


It's the only course in Maryland I've ever heard of. (I've barely heard of Maryland other than in relation to cookies and chicken!)


http://www.ianscott-taylor.com/hoak.html

 

Most likely because it is in very very poor condition.  When I played last summer it was all crabgrass in fairways and rough.  Most of the greens had numerous dead spots.


I doubt it’s better if open this year. . .

[Tommy Williamsen]

No love on here for Hunters Oak?

A genuine Scottish style links course in Queenstown MD.

27  18  9 holes of "rolling fairway hills and masterful topographic illusions".


It's the only course in Maryland I've ever heard of. (I've barely heard of Maryland other than in relation to cookies and chicken!)


http://www.ianscott-taylor.com/hoak.html

 

The Hunter's Oak story is a sad one. When it first opened it was way too narrow and the rough was punishing. They softened iut up a bit and cut some grass and it became a ball. There were a few holes that were head scratchers but it was a fun layout with a big Biarritz green. The clubhouse was a big old manor house and things looked bright. Nine more holes were added but then the floor fell out from under them. It closed for a while, tried to reopen and now has only nine holes. It makes me sad because the Eastern Shore of MD could use some good golf. Two other courses have closed including one that had been a private club for fifty years.

[Bernie Bell]

Maryland:

Best crabcake - private:  Congressional
Best crabcake - public:  Bulle Rock

Overlooked - private:  Chester River Yacht & CC.  Original 9 are super quirky.
Overlooked - public: Ocean City - Newport Bay.  Mystery how this course flies so far under the radar.

Anyone played the re-done Perry Cabin or Queenstown River?

Virginia is larger in area and population than Ireland and Scotland.  In DC area, I think there have been significant changes since the start of this thread to Army-Navy, Westwood, Trump DC, Belle Haven and Washington Golf.  I don't think Wash Golf has re-opened yet.  The fountain and helipad at #18 at Trump DC have to be seen to be believed.  Fountain so loud you'd have to yell to concede a putt.

[JBovay]

My favorite course in the two states is Ballyhack, but I have not played any of the other private clubs.
Royal New Kent deserves no better than its Doak 5, especially with the housing development and the unwalkable routing over flat ground.
U of Maryland was surprisingly fun to play, but has even more potential, as one poster from 10 years ago noted.

[david h. carroll]

it's been awhile since i posted here, but being a Maryland resident, golfer, curmudgeon....i'm happy to be back, and ironically, after my son who's working in a bagroom this summer at a cool gem in B'more asked me my thoughts about Maryland rankings today vis a vis my/his home club and his workplace, he recalled that i had that challenging job as a "panelist" for GD (when he was all of five years old) and that Jim Franklin, aka Mr. Hurricane, and I usually agreed on things because of our discerning eye(s).  Alas, with kids' lacrosse practices, tournaments, WORK, and the like, I ended my "panelist" honor. 


So, here's what i texted my boy today when asked about Maryland golf rankings----and remember, Beechtree is NLE and would've probably been #2 in State for me:


BCC East---should be top 100 US if not top50.  It is unreal, strong, huge, maybe best topography in the state for golf and fun while challenging.  Never gets the respect b/c no panelists come to see it.
Congressional Blue--look, i think it's big, but boring.  Championship golf, history and bones go a long way..its a shame no one (Fazio or the members) recognized this and brought it back to its Ross ways
ColumbiaCC--my favorite golf course in Maryland.  Fun, fun, fun and the members reflect the golf course!
Four Streams--wow!  it's different in this part of Maryland as you move to the west....unbelievably, it can be even hotter, drier, more humid, super windy, weird, contradicting, etc. and this golf course reflects all of it....it is Maryland in miniature!  Completely unheralded, steve smyers created a cool playground
Caves Valley--we all complain about what someone else would do with a piece of land if the chosen archie wasnt Tom Fazio.  Let's be honest though, Fazio has been called back over the years to fix his work at Caves, and it is a much better golf course than it was at its inception. It is a great setting and now the golf course is better...
Glen Riddle Man O' War--Weiman golf course. Tons of classic design integrated into flat flat flat piece of land and there's movement, rises, false fronts, shared fairway bunkering, biarritz!  It's usually pretty firm, fast and another really great setting amongst horse barns.
Elkridge--Seth Raynor original that RTJ screwed up but at least didnt re-route.  The routing over only 100 acres could be one of the best I've ever seen.  Silva came in, did a good job but didnt go BIG like Raynor original.  I'm kind of a sucker for it and Raynor in general.
Country Club of Maryland--a really underrated Herbert Strong.  It is a blast and if it were in DC on a 150 acre property boundary, it would be more highly regarded.  Truly fun to play on any day and the green restorations, tree removal, etc. has been very well done.
Ocean City Golf Club--they have 36, but whichever the one Lester George did is really good...great angles, options, etc.  i've played a number of resto's and his own designs, and wow, he's talented.
Burning Tree--location, location location.  It's a ton of fun and a great piece of property but Arthur Hills....
Mountain Branch---some wonderful classic features.  McDonald Golf and Joel Weiman did a strong job.


Oh, and Navy might have some of the best bones around.....it will be exciting to see what transpires for a Flynn.  Oops, and Woodholme---another Herb Strong, amazing routing, great green complexes...tons of fun.  Unsung hero--Piney Branch, always fun to play, solid options, great conditions.


And let me be clear, I was never a stickler for conditioning, ever. Also by no means was i ever able to see everything, but I kinda knew where to go and what was relevant for the panelist conversation.  I'm sure ive missed something.  No big deal.








Don't get me started on the less than positive reviews...

[BHoover]

In the two years since we have lived in Maryland, I have played a lot of golf but only a few courses. But the ones that stand out are:


Baltimore CC East — clearly the best course I have played in Maryland and one of the best I have ever played


Country Club of Maryland — a Herbert Strong design in Towson with really fun, interesting green complexes and my soon-to-be home course (literally 5 minutes from my house)


Bulle Rock — a Pete Dye design in Havre de Grace; it would be a tough walk but the property is very good

[Conley Hurst]

As a W&L golf team alumnus, I've played lots of good and bad golf in central Virginia. My standout courses are Ballyhack, Farmington CC in Charlottesville, and Homestead Cascades, with the Cascades being my favorite.


On top of my personal memories attached to the place, I find Cascades to be one of the most distinctive courses I've ever seen with a plethora of seriously fun holes and a relaxed, naturalistic ambiance.


Luckily, the new management at the Homestead resort is working to restore the course to its former glory. I've played it probably a dozen times since 2013, and the presentation of the course had improved each time.


I played there most recently this past May, and they are well along on an aggressive tree removal program. This afternoon I might have time to post some photos, but the highlights of the recent work include clearing out the stream between holes 9-11 and clearing thick trees between holes 6 and 7. If the work continues, I think Cascades will regain its rightful place as the best mountain course in America.

[Conley Hurst]

Here are a few pictures from the Cascades over the years (and also my first attempt posting photos, so bear with me):

These first photos (all from May 2019) attempt to capture the old school vibe of the place and the sheer beauty of the property. Rare is the American resort course that maintains such a tranquil, golf-centric environment. Most of the bells and whistles of the nearby Greenbrier are happily missing at the Cascades:





Note the new back tee in the foreground. This adds 20+ yards to the first hole, turning it from a gentle handshake into a fairly stern opener:




Below is the 5th hole, a true three-shot, rough and tumble par 5. Note the widening of the fairway lines. The 7th, 9th, 12th, and 16th fairways were also noticeably wider than when I last played the course in 2017:




The 10th and 11th holes have evolved most considerably since I first played the Cascades in 2013. Below is a photo of the 11th from 2015:




From 2017 (You can see the 10th fairway off to the right. Note the boulders that have been uncovered):




And from 2019:







In addition to the cleaning of most all of the brush along the creek, notice the thinning of the brush on the hillside to the left of the 11th green toward the 12th tee. Also, note the restoration of the rocky creek to the right. For years, that creek (which bisects the 10th) had been covered over. Over the past winter, they have uncovered it, only adding to the boldness of what Arnold Palmer called one of his favorite par fours.

Compared to these photos, the images of the 11th in Ran's 2009 profile of the Cascades are almost unrecognizable!

Luckily, they are only getting started. My caddy said that more trees will be coming down, native grasses and wildflowers will be introduced to the out of play areas, and the original 14th green may be restored.

I wish they could remove every inch of cart path, as distracting as they are from the natural beauty of the property. As a hilly resort course, however, I doubt that will ever happen. All in all, things are moving in the right direction. The Cascades is as good as it as been in decades. And it's only getting better!

[Greg Smith]

In Maryland everybody loves Baltimore CC East -- and rightly so.  I have not played it, yet I am certain it's the best in the state by a large margin.


My favorite course is actually Herbert Strong's (1925) CC of Maryland though.  It's small, fun, manages to be elegant without being pretentious, has nice microdetails, and the basic piece of land is great.  The course doesn't scream at you, yet you come away still interested on the 18th green.  A good example of a tasteful renovation.


Congressional depresses me.  This golf course could be fantastic -- but it only manages to be very good.  Unlike CC of Maryland, the whole is somewhat less than the sum of its parts.  The place has been tinkered with too much.  This is a golf course where each architect that has come along over the years has made things just a little bit worse (even Donald Ross!).  The most interesting features remaining are those of Devereux Emmet, the original ODG -- and those are on the Gold Course.


Still, Congressional is not so far gone that there's no hope.  I'll be interested to see if something productive is done when they host a Ryder Cup maybe six/seven years from now.  To me the biggest conundrum is the nasty par-3 10th, which to me just doesn't fit in with the rest of the architecture.  I'd vote for canning that hole and making the green site a huge spectator area for the 18th.  They could return to using the par 4-1/2 11th as the 10th hole, a much better choice.  There's plenty of space on that back nine to insert a more subtle new par-3.  Getting rid of the present 10th would also enable better spectator flow in that area, if you're thinking about large events.


Closer to my home in Western Maryland, I'd cast a vote for Fountain Head CC in Hagerstown, which is a nice little 1924 Ross which hasn't been messed with much.  It's the only "unadulterated" Ross left in Maryland.  Can't contend with high-end work like BCC, but it would be a wonderful place to play every day.  Tees right next to greens, little room for expansion (still about 6200 yards), many if not most original details still present.  Thinking about the "Girl Next Door" thread, Fountain Head is just that for me.

[Tim Gavrich]

Conley--


The Cascades is looking terrific! Glad they're letting the course breathe some. Are you aware of any plans for the 15th? That was a later addition by RTJ, right?

[Conley Hurst]

Conley--


The Cascades is looking terrific! Glad they're letting the course breathe some. Are you aware of any plans for the 15th? That was a later addition by RTJ, right?

Tim,


As I understand it, the original 14th green was some 30 yards short right of the current 14th green which was built (I assume) by RTJ. The 15th tee was originally located roughly where the current 14th green but was moved to its current location to make room for the new 14th. If the plans to restore the original 14th move forward (not sure how likely that actually is), then the idea is also to restore the original 15th tee location which would make it a MUCH less awkward hole.


In their current state, the 14th and 15th are probably the weakest holes on the course, IMO.