Review: Bristow Manor Golf Club (Part 1)

I did not have high hopes for Bristow Manor Golf Club, located just south of Manassas, Virginia. In fact, I was kind of hoping for the opposite. As I've mentioned before, it's not just good golf courses that give me stuff to talk about. Bad golf courses exist, and sometimes you need to experience the bad to appreciate the good. And if you look at Bristow Manor on Google Maps, you'll likely notice something rather silly and absurd about it. I won't spoil it quite yet, but it was enough to make me want to visit. Hey, the D.C. metropolitan area is a wasteland of cookie-cutter, high-priced "country club for a day" golf courses, if you can stick out, you're doing something right. Even if it's wrong.

Now, before I start into the review itself, I just want acknowledge Bristow Manor's course ranger. Never before have I seen a ranger so concerned with pace of play, and he even offered us a discount on our next round because things were a bit slow. Except they really weren't, we finished in just under 4 hours. Which I suppose isn't blazing speed, but we've certainly played much slower rounds. If we had literally any desire to play the course again, we would have taken the discount, but, you know, it's a long drive and the course is really not very good. But points to the overall golfing experience, I suppose. Gary was a very nice employee, and I think that's worth mentioning. 

The first hole is a classic mild opener. At 370 yards, it's not particularly long, and the fairway is plenty wide, with just one fairway bunker on the left side that's easily driven over. The hole's slightly uphill, but even so, you should definitely have just a wedge into the green. It's on the second shot that we get our first glimpse of Bristow Manor's signature move: This course is allergic to continuous fairways. Why end the fairway 15 yards short and prevent anyone from hitting a run-up shot? Why are there a bunch of small mounds between the green and end of the fairway? These are excellent questions, and I don't have any answers. The green itself is pretty small, with a mild left-to-right slope and a single bunker back left.

The first hole.

Approaching the first green.

The first green.

The second hole is 440 yards, but once again the fairway's pretty wide, so there's no reason not to use driver. Just don't hit a hook and you'll be fine. There's also not much strategy on this hole beyond hitting the fairway, as the green is narrow and orientated straight on, with bunkers on each side. And of course, there's no fairway within 50 yards of the green. I guess there's a tiny little ditch cutting across the hole about 50 yards shot, but come on. A little bit of fairway around the green would be nice. At least this green is a bit more interesting than the first, with a decent amount of back-to-front slope.

The second hole.

Approaching the second green.

The second green.

The third hole is a shortish par 3, playing 170 yards over a pond. The green is medium sized and quite triangular, with a single bunker back right likely capturing its fair share of bailed-out tee shots. Naturally, the water is the big thing on this hole, and there's a lot of room left to miss safely. No need to have a dicey bunker shot back at the water.

The third hole.

The fourth hole is technically the longest hole at Bristow Manor, playing just over 560 yards, just edging out the sixth and twelfth. This hole also features a split fairway, but this time, there's actually a reason for the split. A creek cuts across the hole about 250 yards out, which means you can't use driver unless you can carry it nearly 300 yards. That's not really a fun play on a long par 5, having to use a wood or long iron. There's almost no thought or strategy here. However, the second is more interesting, as there's a pond lurking right of the fairway (a blind pond at that, which is always fun), starting about 150 yards from the green. If you want the best third shot, you'll have to squeeze between the water and the tree line left. The green is here is an interesting one, likely the most interesting one on the course. The back left quarter is significantly higher than the rest of the green, with every other part falling away from this back shelf. Putts from above the hole can get pretty fast. There's also two fairly large bunkers defending it, so you definitely want as short a third as possible. The second half of this hole is good; it's just a shame there's so little to do on the tee shot.

The fourth hole.

Approaching the fourth green.

The fourth green.

The fifth hole is one of just three holes at Bristow Manor which features a fully contiguous fairway that connects to its green. Like I said, this course loves odd fairway breaks. Unfortunately, that's about all this hole, a mid-length par 4, has to offer in the interest department. Two greenside bunkers right suggest a tee shot down the left side, but there's no trouble down the left, so there's no reason at all to go right. The fairway has some moderate undulation to it, so a flat stance isn't guaranteed, but beyond that, there's not much to think about here.  

The fifth hole.

Approaching the fifth green.

The fifth green.

Do you remember the fourth hole, and how not interesting the tee shot was? Well, I hope you enjoyed that, because we're doing it again here. Literally. Okay, the stream is maybe 20 yards further out here, so you can more safely use a 3 wood. Also, there's a bunker out right if you happen to slice the drive, which is a bit unnecessary. You've already hit a bad shot and are extra far away, no need to add insult to injury. Also like the fourth, there's a pond in play in the lay-up zone, though it's left this time. Also, you want to approach this green from the right, so there's literally no reason to challenge the pond, as the right side of the fairway is undefended. At least the green's well bunkered and has some interesting undulation to it. 

The sixth hole.

Approaching the sixth green.

The sixth green.

The seventh hole is, according to the Bristow Manor website, the course's signature hole and a top ten toughest hole in northern Virginia. That's, uh, certainly one way to describe this hole. Let's describe it another way. The hole, nearly 470 yards according to the scorecard, is shoved against the corner of the property and doglegs hard right about 250 yards out. Were one to play to the dogleg, you'd have over 200 yards left to the green. Fortunately for you, that dogleg can be cut. Unfortunately, there's a pond that has to be carried, making this a risky endeavor. Now, this is all fine, but the problem comes in when you consider what's in between you and the direct line to the green. You can see it in the picture below: the eighth green is just sitting there, completely unprotected. I have to believe people on that green occasionally get hit by overzealous golfers trying to cut the corner and slicing. It's just a very poor routing decision. 

Anyway, if you've successfully cut the dogleg, you'll have a wedge or short iron left for the second, which is a lot more appealing than the long iron you'd have left if you play conservatively. The green is sloped fairly significantly from back to front and protected by three bunkers. Again, not something you want to be coming at from 200 yards out, but much less threatening from 150. 

I don't want to say this hole's bad, because it does quite a bit right. The pieces are there, but the routing lets the side down. It's just not a good idea to have the ideal line take you nearly directly over the heads of another group of golfers. You just know people can't resist a gamble, and you also know that a golfer's ability to hit a shot rarely matches their ability.

The seventh hole.

Approaching the seventh green.

The seventh green.

The eighth hole is a nearly 240-yard par 3, which is difficult enough, but with a small, slightly elevated green protected closely by three bunkers, this is most decidedly not a hole most people will be birdieing. It's a tough par too. The green in regulation percentage has to be pretty low on this hole. At the very least, there's no water in play (okay, technically there is, but I'm not counting the stream 60 yards short), so if you make a double bogey, it's because you took that many shots.

The eighth hole.

The ninth hole is a mid-length par 4 that doglegs hard left around a group of trees and pond. Obviously, you'll be better off aggressively draw a drive around the tree tine. The fairway does narrow the further you go and eventually ends at a bunker, but that's past where pretty much anyone could reach. Even using a 3 wood off of the tee, the second shot will be a wedge to a medium-sized green protected by two bunkers. 

The ninth hole.

Approaching the ninth green.

The ninth green.

That's it for this week, next week we'll take a look at the back nine.