Review: Westminster National Golf Club (Part 1)

I really thought May was going to be different. The weather's been so bad so often this year, but for a few weeks there, it was incredibly nice. But of course, it couldn't last. I'm not entirely sure how much rain we've gotten in the past couple weeks here, but it has to be well over 10 inches. So yeah, it hasn't exactly been great golf weather, but somehow, I found time to play a new golf course.

Westminster National is, and stay with me here, located in Westminster, Maryland. Shocking, right? If you'll recall last month's review, I said many times that Little Bennett was a very hilly golf course. Well, we've got more of the same this month.

Funnily enough, both Westminster National and Little Bennett start with par 5s. Not only that, they both lead off with the longest hole on the golf course. The tee shots are even fairly similar, playing down and up to a plateau. The opener here is still reachable at 530 yards, especially with the second half of the hole playing downhill. All in all, a pleasant way to start your round.

The first fairway disappears over the hill.

Hit a good drive, and the green is reachable.

The first green.

The second hole is not pleasant in any way, shape, or form. I hope you got a good warm-up on the first hole, because you're probably gonna need it here. This is a 200 yard par 3, with water left, a massive slope right, and a tiny green in between. There are quite a few ways to get a golfer's attention, and throwing the toughest hole on the course (I don't care what the scorecard handicap says) at everyone so soon in the round is a great way to do that. A bogey can (and from my experience, did) win this hole easily.

If you squint, you can see the second green surrounded by a whole bunch of trouble.

The third hole is a little deceiving. From the pictures I took, you'd come to the conclusion that this was a flat hole. But we were using an alternate tee, there's another off to the right, 50 feet above the fairway. This is a very short par 4 at only 315 yards, and I imagine some people go for it, but this is a hole that calls for accuracy more than length. There's a big slope right, jungle left, and that green is not large. A lay-up and a wedge is the better play on this hole.

The third from the lower tee.

The third green is not a big target.

You get a better sense from this angle of the slope the green is perched on.

The fourth hole is a 350 yard par 4, but it plays a bit longer. It was into the wind when I played it, and drives are not going to get much roll going up that hill. The second shot is to a semiblind green. Not the most interesting hole in the world.

The fourth hole, up on top of the hill the third played next to.

The shot into the third is semiblind.

The fifth hole is another 200 yard par 3, playing slightly uphill, overall. It says a lot about the difficulty of the second hole when this isn't the toughest par 3 on the golf course. Clearly, you don't want to be short, as you'll be left with a very fun pitch from an extremely steep uphill lie. There's actually a big tier cutting through the green, something you can't really see from the tee.

The fifth is slightly more inviting than the second. Slightly.

The sixth hole is a short, drivable par 4, and unlike most of the course, this hole is lined with trees. This little corner of Westminster National is pretty heavily forested. If you can hit a big, sweeping draw around the trees, the green is accessible. I cannot do that, so I did the prudent thing and laid up with a long iron. Do that, and it's a fairly simple drive-and-pitch par 4.

The sixth hole bends off to the left.

The sixth green (I forgot to take a picture from the fairway).

The seventh hole a short par 5 at 486 yards, but that really doesn't tell the full story. Not even close. This is one of the most unusual holes I've ever seen, and just like at the second hole, I was really not expecting it. The fact that it doglegs right 90 degrees about 240 yards from the tee is notable, but not even close to the full story. The second shot, if you're going for the green, plunges down a massive slope into a valley with a stream at the bottom. The green is cut out of the hillside on the far side of the valley, elevated a fair distance from the fairway below. Well, I say cut out of the hillside, but it's almost more like a cliff. I'm not sure I've ever seen a hole built over such dramatic and abrupt landforms. To note, this is the same valley the fifth hole plays over, and is mostly maintained as a native area. Here? Nope, play right on through it. I'm not sure this is a good hole, but it is an incredibly memorable one. The pictures I took really don't do it justice.

The seventh tee shot is more than a little confusing.

You really don't quite get the sense of how dramatic these hills are from the pictures.

The seventh green, halfway up the mountain.

The eighth hole is a short par 3, under 150, playing down the hill to a small green. Not too much strategy here, other than "try to hit the green." I am glad that the landscape is still quite dramatic though. To follow up the last hole with something boring would be a terrible disappointment.

The eighth green.

The ninth hole is a very short par 5 at only 464 yards. Really, the main strategy here is "don't go left." There's a native area running along much of the left side, and then a pond takes over for the last hundred yards or so. If you're smart and mildly competent, it shouldn't be any problem to reach the green in two. Now, I think the second shot may be partly blind, but I'm not sure, since I am not mildly competent and spent the entire hole actually back on the first hole, which runs parallel to this one. Oops.

Quality image of the ninth here.

Another helpful and informative image. That's the eighteenth green to the left, the ninth is middle right.

The ninth green.

That's it for the front nine, next week we'll see the back.