Review: Waverly Woods Golf Club (Part 2)

It's time to check out the back nine at Waverly Woods, go here to see the front.

The tenth hole is a fairly short par 4 at just 350 yards. Not quite drivable, but you won't have a long second shot in, especially considering the lack of trouble on the tee shot. Just don't hit a big slice behind a group of trees and you'll be fine. The green is long and fairly narrow, with a bunker front left. You're better off approaching the green from the left side of the fairway. Also, be wary of a false front in the green. I hit what I thought was a decent chip just to have it run 20 feet off the front of the green. 

The tenth hole.

The tenth green. There's a false front just before the flag.

The eleventh hole is the shortest of Waverly Woods' par 5s at 510 yards. However, it's not exactly a reachable hole. The hole bends left, and the tree line gets quite close to the fairway on the left side. If you don't get far enough or stray too far left, overhanging trees will block you out. Either you'll have to hit a big sweeping hook or lay up. There's a fairway bunker about 75 yards short that's very well placed to catch lay-ups. The green is also not too inviting; it's small and elevated, with bunkers left and a steep dropoff into forest just behind.

The eleventh hole. Yes, that is a large pillar of smoke not too far in the distance. No, I have no idea what was on fire, though it presumably got taken care of pretty quickly.

Approaching the eleventh green.

The eleventh green.

The twelfth hole is 370 yards and features everyone's favorite golf strategy: the forced lay-up on the tee shot. As the fairway runs out and drops precipitously down to a small stream about 225-250 yards out, you'll need to use a long iron or fairway wood off the tee, preferably the iron to ensure you leave yourself a flat stance. That will leave a wedge or short iron over the valley to a green carved into the hillside. The green is bunkerless and quite shallow. This is just not an interesting hole. Lay up, hit shot into green, very little thought required.

The twelfth hole.

Approaching the twelfth green.

The twelfth green.

The thirteenth hole is a 220-yard par 3 that does at least play a bit downhill. The strategy here can be summed up quite simply: Don't miss left. Missing right is fine, as the slope will bring the ball back down to the green. Missing left is a recipe for losing your golf ball down in the forest. At the very least, you'll have a tough uphill pitch over a bunker to a shallow green.

The thirteenth hole.

The thirteenth green.

The fourteenth hole is 460 yards, and when it plays straight into a fairly strong breeze, like it did for my round, it's basically a par 5. The fairway is theoretically wide open, but with a line of houses right and forest and high grass left, the urge to tighten up and hit a bad drive is very strong. So strong, in fact, that neither my brother or I could resist. That bunker 20 yards short of the green is more in play than you might think. The green is medium sized, with a small, deep bunker left.

The fourteenth hole.

Approaching the fourteenth green.

The fourteenth green.

The fifteenth hole is the final par 3 at Waverly Woods. It's 190 yards and plays over roughly level ground. The green is fairly large but quite undulating, and there are four bunkers scattered around. This is a fairly solid if unspectacular hole.

The fifteenth hole.

The sixteenth hole is a long par 4 at 455 yards, but as it's pretty well enclosed in trees the wind affects this hole much less than the fourteenth. It also shares a fairway with the seventeenth, which is kind of neat. There's not much in the way of hazards on the tee shot, so long as you don't hook it. The green is best approached from the right side, however, if you stray too far right some very tall pines could potentially block you out. The green is angled right to left and tucked behind a bunker.

The sixteenth hole.

Approaching the sixteenth green.

The sixteenth green.

The seventeenth hole is 445 yards and I feel like it's a lot more interesting from that far back instead of the tees we played from (they were moved up very far here, making the hole something like 350 yards). If you play the hole like it's supposed to, you'll need to hit a draw to fight the strong left-to-right sideslope of the fairway. Stray right and you'll end up in trees. You shouldn't need to use less than driver unless you're quite long. A good tee shot will leave you a steeply downhill second shot over a marsh to the green, which has a bunker right.

The seventeenth hole.

Approaching the seventeenth green.

The seventeenth green.

The eighteenth hole is a 525-yard par 5 and finally, finally, Waverly Woods gives us a par 5 that's a solid birdie opportunity. So long as you can get through the wide gate of trees, you'll have a long iron or fairway wood left to the green, which is free of significant obstacles. Well, there's four small bunkers scattered around, but beyond that, it's a reasonably tempting target. The green is medium sized, and while it's mostly reasonable, the back-left hole location we got was pretty silly. The hole was perched on the precipice of a run-off over the back of the green, so any shot or even putt hit mildly too hard would just run way past. I was just over the green in two, and for that hole location, long was honestly the correct miss, which is not something that happens often. A little weird, but I did get my birdie at the very least.

The eighteenth hole.

Approaching the eighteenth green.

The eighteenth green.

At the very least, I did like Waverly Woods more than Maryland National. Not exactly an accomplishment to be proud of, but hey, it managed the job. But does that make it a good course? Ehhhh, not really. It's fine, I suppose, but I'd place it solidly in the average tier. It does some things well, but it does other things very not well. The greens have slope to them, but they're never the fun sort of abrupt sloping; it's always gradual and visually dull. The playing corridors aren't narrow, but there always seemed to be forest or tall grass exactly in the wrong spots. My brother and I lost a lot of golf balls over the course of our round.

Then there's the routing. On paper, it's fine. The course doesn't lack for space like Maryland National and there's no silly backtracking or holes awkwardly shoehorned into corners they don't belong. The problem is that it's just so linear. There are only three moments when you can see another hole from the hole you're playing. Around the clubhouse, you can see 1, 10, and 18; you can see the fourth from the third; and you can see 16 and 17 from each other. That's it. Two of those moments are just the next/previous hole, and of course you can see multiple holes when you're near the clubhouse. Those holes have to be near each other. Beyond those few moments, it's only ever the hole you're playing. Some people like that feeling. I'm not really one of them. I like feeling connected to the rest of the course, but Waverly Woods decidedly does not give the golfer that feeling. 

The price to play isn't cheap, but it also isn't anything crazy. $70 for a Saturday afternoon in central Maryland is about the same as other courses in the area. I wouldn't pay it again, but it's not an argument against the course. Conditions are fine as well. Overall, it's not a terrible course and I certainly had things to talk about, but I didn't particularly enjoy the place and I don't see myself going back for another round.