Review: Musket Ridge Golf Club (Part 2)

It's time to take a look at the back nine of Musket Ridge, go here to see the front nine

The tenth hole is 540 yards, making it the second par 5 in a row. This one plays downhill over a rolling fairway in a little valley. There's a bunker right as well, but otherwise it's pretty open driving hole. If you're not going for the green in two, you'll probably want to lay up to 100 yards or a bit further back, since the fairway is narrowed by a massive bunker past that point. The green is protected by sand on three sides, but it is fairly flat.

The tenth hole.

Approaching the tenth hole.

The tenth green.

The eleventh hole is definitely an interesting proposition. There is technically a fairway on this short par 4, but it's extremely narrow at first and only gets narrower as it threads between six pot bunkers. We're talking 10 or 15 yards wide, which is not really adequate for anything. You can lay back where the fairway is at least hittable, but then you're leaving yourself with over 150 yards on a hole that's only 360 yards. If you can hit a driver over the three left fairway bunkers, I would recommend that. It will give you just a little wedge into the green, which has three more bunkers around it. I don't think I'd call it a good hole, but it's at least memorable, and that's better than nothing.

The eleventh hole.

Approaching the eleventh green.

The eleventh green.

The twelfth hole is the final par 5 at Musket Ridge, and the third in four holes. It's a double dogleg, bending left quite severely around a forest, so much so that you really can't use a driver if you can hit it more than 250 yards. Maybe even less, since 250 will land you in the bunkers just past the fairway. An aggressive draw/hook around the trees can let you hit the green in two; I got a 3 wood to about 150 yards. If you're not so aggressive, the green is pretty much out of reach, since it's small, heavily sloped and elevated, and fronted by bunkers. Lay-ups aren't easy either; while the fairway is wide, there are big bunkers on both sides. Usually the double dogleg par 5s aren't my favorite, but at least this one is pretty short and there's opportunity for aggressive play. That I'm okay with.

The twelfth hole.

Approaching the twelfth green.

The twelfth green.

The thirteenth hole is another exciting installment in my semi-recurring series: "Uh oh, we ran out of room in the routing, time to place a par 3 in an awkward location." The green is barely more than 50 yards from the previous green, but the tee is almost 200 yards away, close to where drives on 12 would end up. And perhaps not surprisingly, this isn't a very exciting hole. The green is flat and on the smaller side, and there are three bunkers around it. It's pretty generic.

The thirteenth hole.

 

The thirteenth green.

The fourteenth hole is about 400 yards and plays slightly uphill around a fairway bunker left. It can be carried with even a mediocre driver, so I'd recommend that rather than trying to go around it with a fairway wood or long iron. The second shot is up to a green flanked by bunkers. It's not the most exciting hole in the world.

The fourteenth hole.

Approaching the fourteenth green.

The fourteenth green.

The fifteenth hole is a shortish par 4, and a narrow one at that. The fairway is threaded between a hillside left and dense forest right, and it narrows to a tiny ribbon past 250 yards from the tee. You really don't want to use a driver on this hole, it's not made for it. The second shot will be a wedge or short iron up to an elevated green with a single small bunker front right. You can bail out left, there is some fairway over there if you don't want to risk going right down into the forest.

The fifteenth hole.

Approaching the fifteenth green.

The fifteenth green.

The sixteenth hole is by far the most interesting hole at Musket Ridge, no offense to everything else. But this is something else. At 413 yards, it's not particularly long, but it manages to have plenty of challenge regardless. The hole swings right around dense forest, and it does so quickly. Driver isn't really a good idea unless you can hit a big slice, which is admittedly not a problem for many people. The fairway is canted severely from left to right, which makes the second shot very tough. The green is not large and there's more forest long and right. With the stance you've got on the second shot, which encourages slices, it's a very tough short or mid iron you'll have left. At least the green itself isn't particularly undulating.

The sixteenth hole.

Looking down at the sixteenth green from the eighteenth tee. I'm not entirely sure how I managed to get my drive to this point, but I did.

Approaching the sixteenth green.

The sixteenth green.

As it turns out, the seventeenth hole is as poorly routed as the thirteenth, meaning both par 3s on the back nine are kind of stuck in wherever they can go. In this case, the eighteenth tee is right next to the seventeenth tee and the green is 200 yards away. The seventeenth is at least a decent hole. It's the same length as the thirteenth, but it plays uphill to a green significantly tilted from back to front that has bunkers on both sides. Those bunkers are fairly deep as well.

The seventeenth hole.

The eighteenth hole is a pleasantly straightforward mid-length par 4 that gives the golfer an excellent chance to finish with a birdie. There's a bunker left of the fairway, but since there's a ton of room right, there's no good reason to go left unless you're a massive idiot (note: I'm a massive idiot). Going right also gives you the best angle into the green. The second shot is a wedge or short iron to a green that slopes from back right to front left.

The eighteenth hole.

Approaching the eighteenth green.

The eighteenth green.

So, is Musket Ridge better than Maryland National? Uh, yes, and it's not even close. If I had 10 rounds to play at those two courses, I'd pick Musket Ridge all 10 times. But being better than the golf equivalent of being packed into an overly crowded bus at rush hour isn't exactly a high bar to clear. Maryland National is one of the worst courses I've ever played. Is Musket Ridge worth playing if you're in the Frederick area? If you only have time for one course, no, I don't think so. P.B. Dye is quite clearly better and more interesting. However, of the courses I have played within 20 minutes of Frederick (and there are still holes in that list), this is the second best.

I don't think Musket Ridge is going to win any design awards, though the sixteenth was kind of fun. But it does provide 18 holes of pleasant, moderately challenging golf, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with a course doing that. It matched my expectations of a Joe Lee golf course. There were no pretensions here, no delusions of championship golf, and that was a good thing. The price was a little high for what you get; I paid $70 on what was admittedly sort of a holiday (the Monday after Independence Day, which I had off). With the cart, it's not quite so steep, but still, I wouldn't pay any more than that. The unfortunate truth is that Maryland golf is overpriced no matter where you go.