There are a lot of courses in the
Washington, DC,
metro area, but only a few top the leaderboard. They include a fabulous new course (opened July 1, 2003)
designed by a former lead architect for Gary Player who is now on his own and two courses by Arthur Hills
and Tom Fazio whose wonderfully challenging and aesthetic work graces a northern
Virginia
private club that is open to membership inquiries. Read on, and make your next stay in Washington a capital one.
Heritage Hunt Golf and Country Club
Heritage Hunt Golf and Country Club,
a gated golf and country club community located just off I-66 in
Gainesville, VA,
is marketed as an Active Adult community. Residents (home buyers) must be 55 or older. The club
offers various categories of membership to both residents and non-residents alike. While many homes
have already been built and purchased, the overall development plan calls for additional separate family
homes and condo units on the golf course that you may want to look into. U.S. Home, a division of
Lennar Corp., is the development company while the golf operation is managed by Western
Golf Properties, which also manages
Stonewall Golf Club nearby.
The percussion is heard 75 miles away, near
Greensboro
midway between
Atlanta and
Augusta.
Here, off I-20 in the state's central farm belt, is Reynolds Plantation, a 7,000-acre lakeside residential
and resort community that is zooming to the top of golfers' travel lists.
The course was designed by famed architect Arthur Hills, whose portfolio includes
Blue Mash and
Waverly Woods in
Maryland,
and the
River Course
at Lowes Island near
Leesburg.
Hills' signature trademark of mounds is stamped on this layout which features a string
of three holes on the back nine called Arthur's Alley that are as challenging as they
are scenic. The best of these is number 14, a stunning hole lined all the way on the left
by a ridge of thick woods. The tee shot must carry an upland marsh, the fairway bends
noticeably to the right and is dissected by a creek.
Bent grass maintained to exacting standards assures you of excellent playing conditions.
Practice facilities include a fine short game area. Heritage has two clubhouses, one of
which serves a splendid fitness center and an indoor and outdoor pool. The main clubhouse,
designed in southern ante-bellum style and including a second-floor verandah has in
addition to the golf shop, a first-rate restaurant featuring a great Sunday brunch, a
340-capacity banquet room, and card and pool rooms.
Heritage invites you to visit its property and explore its home sites and golf memberships.
Whiskey Creek Golf Club
One of the most scenic and best maintained daily fee golf courses in the metro area is
Whiskey Creek.
Located about 8 miles east of I-270 and 10 miles from
Frederick,
Whiskey Creek was designed with PGA pro Ernie Else serving as consultant.
The course sits on what was formerly a wheat and barley farm where whiskey
was once distilled back in the days when German immigrants settled here.
A ruins of an old farmhouse sits in the middle of the 18th fairway some
275 yards from the tee box.
Situated in the Maryland Piedmont, the land rises and falls, sometimes dramatically,
creating excellent vistas of the surrounding countryside and featuring rock
outcroppings. The contours of the site also made it possible to create some
holes with sharp elevation changes. For example, the 404-yard 5th fall
about 100 feet from tee box to fairway, while a slightly shorter drop marks
the dramatic 14th hole which includes a lake lining the left side of the fairway.
The most dramatic hole is the 425-yard 12th, which starts from an elevated
tee. The drive must carry a deep ravine to a rising fairway which dips sharply
down to another ravine which must be carried to reach the green. It is one of
the most beautiful and treacherous holes in the DC area.
Whiskey Creek is among the top upscale daily fee courses that is definitely
worth a visit. While it is testy, it is very fair, with wide fairways. The par 3's
are excellent, topped by the stunning 11th, a 200-yarder over an upland
marsh to a green guarded by a long bunker on the right with woods further right.
The clubhouse is cozy and is designed in a ski chalet style with nice
restaurant and other golf amenities. Outings are welcome.
Little Bennett Golf Course
Little Bennett
is one of half a dozen courses of the Montgomery County
(Maryland)
Department of Parks and Planning. It is located in
Clarksburg, MD,
not far off exit 22 on I-270 in Little Bennett Regional Park. It is a few
miles south as the crow flies from Whiskey Creek.
Designed by Michael Hurdzan, who is fast becoming a widely recognized
name in the golf architecture field, the course is one of the hilliest in the
metro area. It is also one of the best maintained courses.
The course sprawls over hill and down dale, through trees, over and
around ravines and up steep slopes. Some holes are lined with trees,
others are quite open. No two holes are alike on this visually interesting
site. Holes of note include the short par-3 6th which drops some 100 feet
over a ravine to a two-tiered severely contoured and sloping green. The
425-yard 9th requires a very long second shot over another steep ravine
to a well bunkered green. One of the most dramatic holes if the 570-yard
10th requiring a drive over yet another ravine to a fairway that slopes
continuously upward to the green. Usually played into the wind, this hole is
unreachable in two for all but the mightiest hitters.
Little Bennett's fees are among the most competitive in the area. The
clubhouse is spacious and inviting with a snack bar and golf shop. The
service is very friendly and informal. Outings are invited.
Old Hickory Golf Club
The centerpiece of the new community of River Falls in Prince William County
at Old Hickory Golf Club
is this breathtaking layout designed by Tim Freeland. Formerly the lead architect for
Gary Player, who designed
Raspberry Falls in
Leesburg, VA.,
Freeland is now on his own, and Old Hickory is his first signature course.
Opened July 1, 2003, and located just off Prince William Parkway in Lake Ridge,
VA, the semi-private golf club is particularly convenient to the I-95 corridor and golfers
living in Prince William and adjacent counties. It is the only daily fee course in the county.
Old Hickory is a stunning design, featuring holes with dramatic elevation changes in a
thickly wooded setting. The generally wide fairways are framed thoughtfully by large
bunkers and mounds or high banks. The fairways pitch and roll to photogenic
green complexes with hardwood backdrops.
The course makes you think. On more than a few holes, success depends on
what side of the fairway you place your tee shot. Some holes, including the
par 5 3rd, featuring two large fairway bunkers that split the fairway just in front
of the green, present interesting risk-reward decisions. Yet, for all its mental
challenge, the course is fair. Relatively little earth was moved to create a course
that lays out naturally, and beautifully, on the land. Featuring some of the best,
most visually exciting par 3's you will ever play, Old Hickory has greatness
stamped all over it.
Managed by the same group that manages Raspberry Falls, Old Hickory
promises to be one of the best maintained, best serviced courses in the
metro area. It features bent grass throughout including state-of-the-art A-4
bent on the greens.
Unlike most golf course communities, the development plan at Old Hickory
was driven by the golf operation. Freeland had wide latitude to route a course
exactly as he envisioned it. The developers include some of the top names
in the industry and the plan calls for a restricted number of luxurious brick
homes on fewer than half the holes. For the most part, the homes will have
generous set backs from the areas of play.
The clubhouse is scheduled to open in the late fall of 2003 while the practice
range and instruction are now available. Old Hickory is a regional headquarters
of the PGA's new Link Up 2 Golf Program, which is designed to introduce
new golfers to all aspects of the game. The program includes lessons in the
golf swing, on-course clinics, and instruction in dress and etiquette. The
program's regional director is club Director of Golf Steve Clark. The program
is open to anyone interested in starting golf.
Old Hickory is also distinguished by a 19th hole - a par 3 "match breaker."
Lowes Island Club
Lowes Island is bounded on the west by the Potomac River and is separated
from the mainland by a small tributary of Sugarland Run. The tributary winds
through the valley and empties into the river in Potomac Falls, Va. Deer, fox,
heron and other wildlife roam here in abundance. It's a lovely secluded and
serene spot.
Its also here where two of the top golf course designers in the world-Arthur
Hills and Tom Fazio - created two delightful golf courses. Thanks to these two
gems, the Lowes Island Club is arguably the finest two-golf-course private club
in the area, with the possible exception of
Congressional.
The River Course,
designed by Hills, is the newer of the two and is largely a treeless, windswept
links style layout with water on most holes, some of which run directly along
the river. Though the land is flat, Hills has created a masterpiece that is
enhanced by some of the finest turf conditions of any local club. The equally well
conditioned Fazio-designed
Island Course
is slightly more traditional, with more elevation changes and a few holes that
are carved through woods in the upland region of the property. Both courses
have hosted major local tournaments.
The large Cape Cod-style clubhouse sits on a bluff overlooking the dramatic
first hole of the Island Course and includes a gourmet restaurant with indoor
and outdoor patio seating. The club also has a large outdoor swimming pool
and tennis courts within easy walking distance of the clubhouse. As you walk
the plush carpeting and observe the grill and woodwork inside the clubhouse,
you get an unmistakable sense of luxury and pride.
The club, which is owned by Chevy Chase Bank, currently has some 700
members and is aiming for about 900. Lowes Island Club is very much a
family oriented club with active programs in tennis, swimming and golf for
members of all ages. Noteworthy to the diplomatic community, half of the
initiation fee is refunded upon a member's resignation from the
club. 
