Review: Forest Park Golf Course (Part 1)

This is not the first time I've talked about Forest Park, one of Baltimore's municipal golf courses. Back in 2021, I wrote about an interesting National Geographic story about a rare type of rock being discovered in Maryland. One of the locations where this rock could be found was Forest Park. Back then, I'd never played it, but now I have.

Forest Park is likely most notable as the center of Baltimore's Black golfer community, a role it's filled for more than 50 years. Which is very cool, but is there anything worthwhile in terms of design? Mt. Pleasant, the other Baltimore muni I've played, was quite good, so we'll see if Forest Park can compete in that regard.

The first hole is, aside from a rather large tree just left of the tee, about as basic as a golf hole can get. There is no elevation change, no bunkers, and the green is basically just a flat oval. It's really just a 410-yard par 4. Just don't hook it off the tee and you'll be fine.

The first hole.

The first green.

The second hole is 335 yards and is a bit more interesting than the first simply because there's a little bit of elevation change and the green is actually protected by a pair of bunkers. A tee shot down the left is favored, especially if you want to use driver. (And since there are no fairway bunkers or other hazards in play, why not use driver?) 

The second hole.

The second green.

The third hole is 200 yards and plays slightly uphill to a small green with a decent amount of back-to-front slope and a bunker front right. It's not a terrible hole, though the green speeds are very slow at Forest Park, which does remove a significant portion of the challenge. You really don't have anything to fear from being above the hole.

The third hole.

The third green.

The fourth hole is another par 3, this one 225 yards. It does play downhill, which does mitigate some of the length. The green here is quite large and a single bunker protects the front left portion. The green is highest in the middle and falls away slightly toward the left and right sides. A running shot will do well here; unfortunately, the prodigious rains Maryland received in May (I played here in early June) really nullified any chance of that happening.

The fourth hole.

The fourth green.

The fifth hole is 420 yards and uphill the entire way, making it the longest par 4 at Forest Park in every sense of the word. The tee shot is quite straightforward, though there is O.B. lurking left of the fairway. It's not exactly close, but it is there. The tee shot is a short or mid iron up to a small narrow green with a significant back-to-front slope. There are two bunkers and a former bunker protecting it, making the second shot much more difficult than anything the golfer has seen so far.

The fifth hole.

Approaching the fifth green.

The fifth green.

The sixth hole is 350 yards and doglegs right around a cluster of pines that sits directly between the green and tee. You can't really hit driver without running out of fairway unless you hit a big fade, and while there's a lot of space left, you need to reach a crest in the fairway about 225-250 yards out in order to get a view of the green. The green itself is quite well defended, with one bunker left, two right, and a big dropoff behind. Honestly, really not a bad hole at all.

The sixth hole.

The sixth green.

The seventh hole is 330 yards but plays pretty significantly uphill to a blind fairway. It's a pretty easy drive, but the fairway does slope from right to left. This slope makes the second shot more challenging, as the green is quite small and also sloped from right to left, with a pair of small bunkers protecting the left side. It's definitely best approached from the right, so that means hitting a fade down the right side on the tee shot is the best play.

The seventh hole. I swear it's up there.

The seventh green.

The eighth hole is a potentially drivable par 4, playing just 280 yards. It's downhill too, though a cluster of three pine trees directly between the green and tee, just like on the sixth, does make the green a slightly less tempting target. Only slightly though; that green is just too alluring to pass up, at least for me. If you're smart, you can play a long iron out right, then have a pretty simple pitch to a green sloped from back left to front right. There's a large bunker left of the green and three small ones around the back right.

The eighth hole.

The eighth green.

The ninth hole is the first par 5 at Forest Park, playing 500 yards as it bends right the entire way. The big tree right of the fairway isn't a big concern unless you're a short hitter, but it is a pretty major obstacle. The green is reachable in two for long hitters, but most will look to lay up, and for that, you're best off favoring the left side, flirting with a long fairway bunker about 75 yards out. It does make the hole play a bit longer, but it does give you a better angle into the green, which is angled from left to right and has a bunker front right.

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.