Ranking the Golf Courses I Reviewed in 2022

The new year begins in just a few days, and so, as has been my tradition, it's time to rank all the golf courses I've reviewed in 2022. I played a lot of local courses this year, filling in some gaps. As such, I can't say this is the most compelling roster of courses I've ever played, but it does get good at the bottom. The winner this year is as good as anything I've seen. Anyway, let's get to it.

17. Monterey Country Club

The surprisingly difficult first hole at Monterey.

The third hole.

It's tough for golf to get more basic than it does at Monterey. Designed way back in the late 1890s, it hasn't changed much, if at all, in the 125 years of its history. In a way, it's a look back in time; there was a time that golf really did look like this. And people still do play the course. But that doesn't make Monterey good. It's one step above open field with some flags shoved in the ground. It's enough to scratch that golfing itch, and the first and ninth in particular command a certain respect, but I can't in good faith place any course lower than it on this list.

The seventh hole.

The ninth green.

Find my review here.

16. East Potomac Golf Links

The fourth hole at East Potomac.

The fifth hole.

The seventh hole.

In a few years hopefully East Potomac will be restored to its former glory as a compelling and strategic design along the Potomac River. This was apparently quite a golf course in its day. However, the renovation project for the D.C municipal courses hasn't started yet, and so East Potomac is nothing more than a dead-flat golf course virtually devoid of interest. The years were not kind to this course. There's not much more to say about East Potomac in its current form, but with Tom Doak lined up to restore/renovate East Potomac, if I come back in a few years, I'm guessing I'll have a few more thoughts to share.

The tenth hole.

The fourteenth hole.

The seventeenth hole.

Find my review here.

15. Quail Valley Golf Course

The third green at Quail Valley.

The fourth green.

The eighth green.

Quail Valley is a golf course that exists. That sounds bad, and I won't come out and tell you that it's some super fascinating place. It isn't. It's about as generic as golf gets. But sometimes that's enough. If someone asked me to play here with them, I'd do so. It's not a bad course, and reasonably priced. It's just a shame the rest of the course isn't like the eighteenth, that green almost reaches interesting. 

Also, don't mix this up with Quail Hollow. This isn't the host of a significant PGA Tour event and the 2017 PGA Championship. Although, what is a valley but a bigger, grander hollow? That clearly makes Quail Valley the superior option.

The eleventh hole, routed through a farm.

The thirteenth hole.

The fifteenth green.

The seventeenth green.

Find my review here and here.

14. Rattlewood Golf Course

The second green at Rattlewood.

The fifth green.

The seventh green, with the eighth beyond.

The ninth hole.

Rattlewood is also a golf course that exists. I put this above Quail Valley because it's laid out over more interesting land, so it has that benefit. But otherwise Rattlewood is pretty standard fare, if apparently the easiest golf course in the known universe, if me and my brother's scores are to be believed. Also much like Quail Valley, Rattlewood is reasonably priced, and I have no problems with it. Go there if you want to flatter your ego.

The eleventh hole.

The fifteenth hole.

The sixteenth hole.

Find my review here and here.

13. Musket Ridge Golf Club

The first hole at Musket Ridge.

The second green.

The fourth hole.

The eighth hole, with the ninth beyond.

One would imagine a golf course with as much elevation change as Musket Ridge could manage to be fairly interesting. One would be wrong in that assumption. Oh sure, it's ever so slightly better than Rattlewood or Quail Valley, but that's not a high bar to clear. Obviously, the rugged terrain adds something to the round, but in general, the course itself is extremely generic. The only hole that's even remotely memorable is the sixteenth, a par 4 that doglegs sharply around dense forest and plays to a severely canted fairway. Otherwise, Musket Ridge just sort of exists. At least it's better than Maryland National, Musket Ridge's next-door neighbor.

The tenth hole.

The eleventh hole.

The fifteenth hole.

The sixteenth hole.

The eighteenth hole.

Find my review here and here.

12. The Edison Club

The third hole at the Edison Club

The fifth hole.

The seventh hole.

The eighth hole.

The twelfth hole.

The thirteenth hole.

On paper, The Edison Club is promising: 27 holes designed by Devereux Emmet sounds like a lot of fun. Sadly, there's really not much left of Emmet's work when compared with his better courses, at least not as far as I can tell. The restoration movement hasn't come to The Edison club. There are a few mildly interesting holes, like the eighth, fifteenth, twenty-fourth, and twenty-sixth, but for the most part Edison doesn't present anything spectacular or noteworthy. It's a pleasant private club in a suburban environment. Ask someone who doesn't know golf to picture a stereotypical golf course and they'd conjure up something that looks just like Edison.

The fifteenth hole.

The seventeenth hole.

The nineteenth hole. 

The twenty-third hole.

The twenty-fourth hole.

The twenty-fifth hole.

Find my review here, here, and here.

11. Inness

The first green at Inness. If anything, the greens only get crazier from here.

The second hole.

The third (left) and sixth (right) share a green.

The fourth hole.

The fifth hole.

This is going to be my controversial take this year, considering how much hype the architects of Inness have gotten and are getting for their other work. Yet Inness has gone under the radar, despite being less than 2 hours from New York City. There's a reason for that: Inness does a lot very wrong. The eighth is dull and can really only be played one way (with a mid iron off the tee), the fourth and ninth are way too narrow off of the tee, and the seventh is quite simply the worst hole I've ever played. And yet, despite all that, the wild style and strategy the other holes display keep it from being a bad course. When Inness has space, it's inventive and imaginative. The problem comes when the fairways narrow in the wetland areas. You can't keep that wildness without giving width and space, it just doesn't work. So, Inness comes off as wildly imbalanced. It's also way too expensive for what you get. There's enough good stuff to elevate Inness to being an above-average course, but thanks to all the downsides, it can't get any higher than this.

The sixth hole.

The seventh green. This hole is 440 yards. Look how small an area you have to stop a long iron. It's literally impossible. And getting up and down is only slightly not impossible.

The eighth hole.

The ninth green from in front.

The second (left) and ninth (right) share an absolutely gigantic double green.

Find my review here.

10. Pocono Manor Golf Course

The three-fourths Punchbowl third at Pocono Manor.

The fifth hole.

The tiny seventh hole.

There was an upside and a downside to playing Pocono Manor during the height of Pennsylvania's fall foliage season. The upside is obvious. The downside is also quite obvious. I'll grant, my friends are not the finest golfers, but I am 100% certain I've never seen a foursome lose so many golf balls. Millions of leaves, narrow fairways flanked by dense forest, it's a recipe for an expensive round. And yet, Pocono Manor is a lot of fun. Quirky is a great word for it. The third, seventh, and sixteenth in particular present challenges you'd be hard pressed to find anywhere else. Plus it's got 10 holes designed by William Flynn, and those holes manage to be good despite a century of benign neglect. It's too expensive for what you get and it's far from a must-play, but I enjoyed my round here, and at the end of the day you can't ask for much more than that.

The tenth hole.

The eleventh hole.

The sixteenth hole.

The eighteenth hole.

Find my review here.

9. Shaker Ridge Country Club

The first hole at Shaker Ridge.

The fifth hole.

The seventh hole.

The ninth hole.

Shaker Ridge is not the most exciting or revolutionary golf course in the world, but I think it does enough to be at least above average. I debated switching this one and Pocono Manor, and while Pocono Manor definitely has the quirk advantage, Shaker Ridge beats it out in most other ways. There are some interesting holes and greens, and I like the course's two short par 4s (the ninth and fourteenth). Plus, being a private course, the conditions here are excellent. You may get a little tired of the elevated greens; Shaker Ridge has a lot of them, but other than that I have no issues with the course and I'd play there again if given the chance. That said, there are multiple courses in the Albany area I'd pick over Shaker Ridge. It's not that good a course.

The eleventh green.

The twelfth green, with the thirteenth beyond.

The fourteenth hole.

The sixteenth hole.

Find my review here and here.

8. University of Maryland Golf Course

The first hole at UMGC.

The third hole.

The seventh green.

The eighth hole.

There's quite a lot to like about the University of Maryland Golf Course. It's laid out over good land, it's pleasantly isolated from the suburbs around it, and considering how close it is to D.C. it's really not bad price wise. From tee to green, I quite liked it, and the environment is genuinely park like. However, UMGC has one fatal flaw: the greens are incredibly dull. The course was renovated in the late 2000s, and part of that work, while probably not the explicit goal, was to remove any character the greens initially had. They're flat and lifeless, with very little to speak of in terms of break or undulation. They're mostly just there. And that's unfortunate; UMGC could be a much better course if they spice up the greens. I still think it's an above-average course, but it's still a bit of a let-down.

The tenth green.

The thirteenth hole.

The sixteenth hole.

The eighteenth hole.

Find my review here and here.

7. Whiskey Creek Golf Course

The first hole at Whiskey Creek. They don't waste time showing off their old farmhouse.

The fourth hole.

The fifth hole.

The eight hole.

Value for money does not figure into my yearly rankings. This benefits Whiskey Creek quite a lot. It's certainly a better-than-average golf course, probably the second best within 30 minutes of Frederick, Maryland. It's got a fair amount of interest to it, conditions are generally very good, and the eighteenth hole with its ruined farmhouse is certainly a talking piece. If this course cost $50-$60 to play, I wouldn't have any issue with it. But it costs twice that, and that is way too much for what Whiskey Creek offers. Frederick County is awash in overpriced country-clubs-for-a-day which are way too expensive for what they offer, and while you're certainly better off spending your money here than Maryland National, I'm not exactly in a rush to drop another $100 to play Whiskey Creek either.

The eleventh hole.

The twelfth hole.

The fourteenth hole.

The eighteenth hole.

Find my review here and here.

6. Manchester Country Club

The second hole at Manchester Country Club. I hope you like mountains.

The third hole.

The fifth hole.

The seventh hole. It's not all mountain backdrops at Manchester.

The eighth hole. Okay, it's mostly mountain backdrops.

The ninth hole.

As you can probably assume from the abundance of photos I've included of Manchester Country Club, one of the primary things the course has going for it is the scenery. Located just a few miles from Equinox, which I reviewed in 2021, it's got the same Vermont mountain backdrop, and I got to play the course at the height of the fall foliage season. So yeah, to say it looks good is a bit of a given. And unlike Pocono Manor, this is a private golf course and can manage the millions of leaves. Oh, yeah, there's a golf course here. And for the front nine, it's pretty good. Definitely feels like a classic Golden Age course, which this isn't. The back nine runs up the hillside, however, and you can feel the lack of space. The tenth and eighteenth in particular are way too narrow. Still, I generally enjoyed the golf at Manchester, it's a decent course and roughly equal in quality to Equinox.

The tenth hole.

The eleventh hole.

The fifteenth hole.

It's not often that an uphill hole steals the show as the best postcard. But I think the sixteenth pulls it off.

The sixteenth green.

The eighteenth hole: A good view but boy, is that fairway too narrow.

Find my review here and here.

5. The Preserve at Eisenhower

The second hole at Eisenhower.

The third hole.

The fifth hole.

The eighth hole.

It was a bold vote of confidence in the terrain at Eisenhower to take out every single bunker during their recent renovation. It was a decision that's come out as a mixed bag, I'd say. Eisenhower could be better. There's some issues with narrowness, especially on the back nine. The terrain, while decent, lacks the sort of compelling undulation on the scale that makes links golf so compelling. The elevation changes are broad and sweeping, with few of the bumps and hollows that really would have made this a fun course. In that regard, the renovation was disappointingly conservative. They really should have gone all out with it. And a few bunkers would have helped. This all translates to a golf course that's solid throughout but doesn't ever wow you. It's good, but I can't help feeling that Eisenhower is a bit of a missed opportunity to really show off what a bunkerless course can do.

The tenth hole.

The eleventh hole.

The thirteenth hole.

The fourteenth hole.

The seventeenth hole.

Find my review here and here.

4. Sagamore Golf Course

The first hole at Sagamore presents you with quite a view.

The third hole.

The sixth hole.

The seventh hole.

It's a Donald Ross course in the Adirondacks. Of course it's going to be good. The view on the first hole alone is enough to make this a course worth seeing. But, it could be better. The front nine here is very solid, especially in the middle of the nine when the routing goes through a meadow and the course opens up. The back nine is a bit of a different story. While the design quality doesn't dip, there are just so many trees so close to the fairways, it becomes a challenge to swing freely. The fifteenth in particular suffers from being too narrow; it would be a really fun hole if driver was a legitimate option. A tree-clearing program would do Sagamore a lot of good. The vista on the first tee is impressive, but that's the only one you get, which is unexpected to say the least. There must be an opportunity for more if enough trees were cleared in the right places. Also, watch out for the price tag: Sagamore costs $150 to play normally. That's too much money for what the course offers. 

The eleventh hole.

The thirteenth hole.

The fifteenth hole.

The eighteenth hole.

Find my review here and here.

3. Deerfield Golf Club

The first hole at Deerfield.

The fourth hole.

The fifth hole.

The sixth green.

The seventh green.

Speaking of golf courses with tree problems, give me a chainsaw and a week alone with Deerfield, and I'll move it up to the No. 2 spot on this list. Seriously. This is a really good golf course held back by gratuitous trees. Even with the trees, there's a lot to like about Deerfield. Even though it's in one of the flattest states in the country, this course has incredible terrain. It's dramatic and generally utilized very well. It's got some quirk, it has fairly interesting greens, it's a public course and fairly cheap. It has everything it needs, but so much of that fantastic land is covered up by trees. It's no coincidence that the best hole on the course (the seventeenth) plays over open land. But holes like the first, fifth, sixth, tenth, and fifteenth (I could go on) don't play to their full potential because there's just no space. You need room to breathe for proper strategic golf, and so often Deerfield doesn't provide enough. I do really like Deerfield, but I could like it more, and I wish I did.

The tenth hole.

The eleventh hole.

The fifteenth hole.

The seventeenth green.

Find my review here and here.

2. Jeffersonville Golf Club

The first hole at Jeffersonville.

The fourth hole.

The fifth green.

The eighth hole.

When I played George Wright, I thought I'd completed the set of Northeastern Donald Ross municipal golf courses. Turns out, I missed one. In a couple years, Jeffersonville may not be the best muni in the Philadelphia area (here's hoping Cobbs Creek turns out), but that won't stop it from being an extremely good golf course. And unlike Keney Park and George Wright, this course doesn't have the benefit of excellent terrain or the benefit of isolation. What Jeffersonville does have is strategy and style, and plenty of it. Unlike a lot of Donald Ross courses, Jeffersonville starts off with a tough opening par 4 (and a long one), which is one of its best and most memorable holes. Where the terrain is lacking, there are bunkers to provide strategic interest. It also finishes with a bang, as the eighteenth is a very difficult par 5 with an extremely tough green. And while it lacks dramatic vistas, Jeffersonville looks and plays extremely well. Not a lot of trees, the classic golden fescue, this is a course that's maintained very well. 

I had the opportunity to play the course twice in 2022, and my opinion only grew during that second playthrough; I think this course edges out Shennecossett, though George Wright still sits atop the list of Donald Ross munies. I strongly recommend playing here in the fall; the conditions were ideal as the course was running firm and fast. It's not quite No. 1 this year, but Jeffersonville is absolutely a course you should check out if you're in Philadelphia.

The twelfth hole.

The thirteenth hole.

The eighteenth green, complete with nigh-impossible hole location. 

Find my review here and here.

1. Country Club of Troy

The first hole at the CC of Troy. It's an interesting view to start the round.

The subtly challenging first green.

The second hole.

The fifth hole.

The sixth green.

The ninth hole.

I almost feel a little bad, putting the Country Club of Troy at No. 1 this year. I've never had a private course take the top spot. But I can't have it any other way. Jeffersonville is strong, but CC of Troy is simply on another level. And the crazy thing is, I didn't even see the course at its best. Albany spent much of 2021 underwater, and while it was pleasant for my round, the course simply had no speed to it. None of that ideal firm and fast conditions here, though naturally it was in excellent condition. This is a private course after all.

It didn't need play at its best though. CC of Troy hooked from the very opening tee shot, with a brief view of fairway interrupted by a giant hillside. This is a golf course with a sense of humor. It throws things at you, and when you ask "how am I supposed to deal with that?" it shrugs and says "Don't know, figure it out." 

It's not perfect. There are some suspect trees on the fifth and seventh, the tenth is awkward, and the seventeenth is boring, especially considering its placement in the round (and the fact that the course's best hole immediately precedes it). But Troy more than balances out those faults with moments of absolute brilliance (the first, the fourth, the thirteenth, and the sixteenth) and a big dose of quirk (also the first, the ninth, the eleventh and its comically tiny green). It has this charming X factor to it that I can't quite explain, but it really makes a difference. Plus, and this doesn't affect my view here, it's surprisingly affordable for a private course of this quality. A nice bonus to what is already an excellent golf course and easily the best course I reviewed in 2022.

The eleventh hole.

The thirteenth green.

The fifteenth hole.

The sixteenth hole.

The eighteenth hole.

Find my review here and here.