Ranking the Golf Courses I Reviewed In 2019

It's officially 2020, and what better way to wean off that New Year's hangover than with a big round-up of all the golf courses I reviewed in 2019!

I'll say this about 2019, the golf was occasionally awful, but at least the weather was mildly cooperative. Actually, for a little while in the fall it was downright dry. So it was never a struggle to get a year's worth of review material in, which was very nice. I was also able to get quite a variety of environments this time around, ranging from the marshes of southern Maryland to the boreal forests of the Adirondacks. Anyway, let's get to the list!

13. Cumberland Golf Club

This is about as dynamic as Cumberland gets.

I called it all the way back when I reviewed the course back in January. It would be tough for a course to be worse than Cumberland, and nothing else I played was up to the challenge. Not even close. It's flat, it's boring, and it's not worth your time or money.

The eighteenth is the one mildly interesting hole at Cumberland. It isn't worth the effort.

Find my review of Cumberland here and here.

12. The Woods - Mountain View

One of the more intimidating tee shots you'll ever face.

Sometimes a piece of land just isn't suited for golf. There is such a thing as too rugged, and I think the Mountain View course at the Woods crosses it. The course is completely unwalkable, holes are separated from each other by what often seems like miles, and to make matters worse, houses line almost every hole. The other things I could forgive, but when I play a golf course in the middle of nowhere, I want it to feel like it's in the middle of nowhere. Instead, it just felt like a mediocre housing course.

One of the few pictures I took where there were no houses in frame.

Find my review of the Woods here and here.

11. Range End

The fourth at Range End, quite possibly my least favorite hole of all time.

We go from ridiculously mountainous to nearly dead flat. Range End isn't a bad course, per se, but it is pretty boring. It's packed into a small property, so that means numerous parallel holes, and to top it off, the vast majority of the land is pancake flat. A talented architect could create some interest with cleverly placed bunkers or subtle earthwork, but Range End possesses neither of these attributes. This is about as generic as golf gets.

The twelfth at Range End, the one hole on the course with significant elevation change.

Find my review of Range End here and here.

10. Stamford Valley

The seventh hole is the best one at Stamford Valley.

The only 9 hole course I reviewed in 2019, Stamford Valley has some excellent scenery and a generally interesting set of greens going for it. The stretch from 6 to 8 is honestly pretty compelling golf. The rest of the course is fairly lackluster, if occasionally quirky. And $16 for 9 holes is a bit steep. It's better than most of the other 9 hole courses I've played, but I wouldn't take it over too many 18 hole courses.

There's quite a lot to take in on the eighth tee.

Find my review of Stamford Valley here.

9. Hickory Heights

The fifth green at Hickory Heights.

My experience at Hickory Heights can be summed up in two words: unexpected rain. More than a year on and I'm still annoyed about that. Anyway, the golf course is pretty basic, but it traverses some rolling terrain, which provides some reasonable interest. It's not quite as quirky as Westminster National, but it's not bad.

The sixteenth hole.

Find my review of Hickory Heights here and here.

8. Brigantine Golf Links

The third hole at Brigantine.

This definitely isn't a bad golf course, but it's completely flat and literally every hole is surrounded by houses. As a result, things start to look a little repetitive, especially in April when all the grass is brown. That said, there's some real strategic interest here despite the weaknesses, and the sixteenth is definitely on the short list for most entertaining green I've ever seen. It's worth seeing Brigantine just for that.

The ninth green, overlooking the ocean. Also note the tiny flags.

Have fun if you end up above the hole.

Find my review of Brigantine here and here.

7. Fore Sisters

The third hole at Fore Sisters. Sometimes the round feels more like a hike than golf.

The ninth hole.

Remember what I said about the Woods? How a golf course in the middle of nowhere should feel like it? Well, Fore Sisters does exactly that. It feels wild. There are no houses in view, just forest and mountains. The course is rugged, but it's not completely unwalkable (I wouldn't recommend it, but you can do it). Is it the most compelling course in the world? No, but the setting alone elevates it, and there's some definite quirk around. Plus how many courses have 700 yard holes?

Now that's a hole.

Looking back down the fourteenth. Yes, the 700 yard hole is uphill.

The sixteenth hole.

Find my review of Fore Sisters here and here.

6. Kingsbury National Golf Club

One of Kingsbury National's unique features is a double green, occupied by the first and eighth holes.

The approach on the ninth.

Kingsbury National is a perfectly nice golf course. A few decent holes,  a few parallel holes, nothing spectacular but nothing bad. A typical modern golf course, I'd call it. However, Kingsbury National has an ace in the hole. I'm not sure if it always plays so firm and fast, but it did when I was there, and that made it way more fun than it had any right too be. In softer conditions, this may drop a spot or two.

Golden hour can make any hole look great.

Find my review of Kingsbury National here and here.

5. Swan Point

The second at Swan Point is a rude awakening, but a good-looking one.

The Potomac River behind the sixth green.

Swan Point is not the sort of golf course I'd expect to enjoy. Lots of trees, lots of water, not particularly wide, it sounds pretty awful, to be honest. And yet, I did enjoy playing Swan Point. It's a beautiful spot, and there are some fun holes on the back nine. They're a little too tough for the beginner, I think, but as a sort of not completely terrible golfer, I appreciate the challenge now and again. The thrill of blasting a drive over the marshes to an unseen fairway is something I won't soon forget. Just bring a few extra golf balls.

The tenth hole, with the eleventh in the background.

Trouble surrounds the eleventh green.

The thirteenth concludes quite a scenic three-hole stretch.

Find my review of Swan Point here and here.

4. Glenn Dale Golf Club

The tough approach to the second.

The punchbowl-like sixth green.

The ninth hole requires two mighty blows.

Ah, Glenn Dale, a golf course gone too soon. That's right, we've got a dead course on the list, so unlike the other courses on this list, you'll just have to take my word that this course was pretty fun. Not earth shattering, but there were 18 solid holes with a decent set of greens, and it was a nice little slice of nature in suburban Washington, D.C that you could play for a very reasonable price. The golf world needs more Glenn Dales, not fewer.

The fifteenth hole.

The uphill approach to the last green.

Find my review of Glenn Dale here and here.

3. Orchard Creek Golf Club

Heading down to the first green.

The eighth green, sitting over Bozen Kill

The weather may have been disgustingly hot and I may have blown 7 shots in 4 holes to my brother who was suffering a fair amount of heat exhaustion, but that didn't stop me from appreciating a wonderfully minimalist modern golf course. There was plenty of strategy around, and playing corridors were almost always very wide open. The greens were fun, and the course was very walkable, not to mention affordable. Just bring lots of water with you if it's hot.

The fourteenth is only 270 yards, but it's got many possibilities.

The fifteenth is a 250 yard brute.

Find my review of Orchard Creek here and here.

2. Lake Placid Club - Links

The second hole at Lake Placid, with some impressive mountains in the background.

The sixth green, long, undulating, and dangerous.

The Links course at Lake Placid is, of course, not a real links. It wasn't even particularly firm and fast. But what it does have is a resolutely old-school style. Granted, I haven't seen a whole lot of golf courses (just shy of 100), but I have never seen bunkering like the Links course had. Long, thin ribbons of sand, stretching for dozens and dozens of yards. The course has apparently undergone a recent restoration, and I would just like to commend whoever was responsible for actually restoring the features of the course to the way they would have looked when Lake Placid was built over a century ago. The Links is a tough course, long and often punishing. But it's never overly penal, if you're careful, you can work your way around just fine. Plus there's the little matter of the scenery. The pictures don't do it justice.

The eleventh hole.

It's tough to beat Lake Placid on a July evening.

Find my review of Lake Placid here and here.

1. Copake Country Club

The second green at Copake presents quite a challenge.

I thought the difference between Shennecossett and Keney Park last year was small. Both are excellent golf courses, but I was always a bigger fan of Shennecossett. This year, the difference between Lake Placid and Copake was so small that I initially favored Lake Placid over Copake. Lake Placid is such a beautiful course, of course it was best. How could it not be?

The sixth, one of three sub-300 yard par 4s at Copake.

This isn't just a beauty contest though, and while Lake Placid has plenty of style and substance to go with the scenery, I think Copake is a more compelling golf course. The greens at Lake Placid were often not the most interesting in the world, while Copake presented quite possibly the most compelling set of greens I've ever played. Copake is not a course that can be bludgeoned into submission, it's all about the second shot and the short game there. As such, it varies immensely from Lake Placid, which can be a bit of a brute tee to green.

The eleventh green.

The thirteenth hole, down in a valley.

Let's put it like this: If you gave me one round and a choice between Lake Placid and Copake, I'd go with Lake Placid. But if you gave me ten rounds, I'd probably split it seven/three in favor of Copake. Lake Placid is an excellent getaway course with plenty of charm, but Copake, in my opinion, is just more fun. I would rather play Copake every day than Lake Placid, and that's why I'm putting it at the top for 2019.

It may not be the Adirondacks, but Lake Copake isn't a bad substitute.

Find my review of Copake here and here.

Well, that's 2019 done and dusted. It's been an adventure. I've got a backlog of courses all the way to April this time around, so once again, expect reviews once a month in 2020. Stay tuned!

Review: Copake Country Club (Part 2)

It's time to check out the back nine at Copake Country Club, go here if you haven't seen the front.

When you get to the tenth hole, you may feel a mild case of deja vu. The tenth is pretty much the same length as the first hole, is dead straight to the first hole, goes down then back up in a similar manner to the first hole, and also runs parallel to the first hole. But there are enough differences between the two so that it doesn't feel like you're playing exactly the same hole. For one thing, this is the most heavily bunkered hole at Copake, with two bunkers on the left side of the fairway and five in the general vicinity of the green. The green is small and very well guarded, but it is more receptive than some of the others on the course. It almost feels strange to have a green sloped so much from back to front.

The tenth hole. Like I said, it looks pretty similar to the first hole.

The tenth green.

The eleventh hole is slightly shorter than the previous hole at 350 yards, but since it's uphill the whole way, it plays a little longer. There are no bunkers, so as long as you don't slice one off into the trees right, the approach should be pretty open. But there is a false front on this elevated green, and there's not a whole lot of green to start off with. So you'll need a very precise wedge to give yourself a decent birdie chance.

The eleventh hole.

The uphill approach on 11.

The eleventh green.

The twelfth hole is definitely one of the most memorable par 3s I've ever played. You'll notice that, much like the second, this hole features a pair of bunkers about 20 yards short of the green. By this point, you'll have realized that those are not just for show. Also like the second, the green falls away. In addition, you'll notice that the green seems to be perched on the edge of a cliff. Long is very bad here. And so, the best course of action is to try and land a shot just over those crossbunkers and run the tee shot onto the green. And if you do get on in regulation, you'd better hope you're close, because there's plenty of contour and break within the green, so two putting is not a guarantee. This is a tough 170 yard hole, and there's no water anywhere. Other courses should take notes.

The twelfth hole is somewhat reminiscent of the second.

Another green that slopes away from the tee.

The thirteenth hole is the third and final sub-300 yard par 4 that Copake has to offer. This hole plays significantly downhill, which makes going for the green all the more tempting. There are no bunkers either, and the green is one of the tamest on the course. However, a stream does encroach from the right, narrowing the hole the closer you get to the green. Not enough to make the green inaccessible from the tee, but enough to give you pause. This is still a good birdie opportunity though.

The thirteenth hole.

The thirteenth possesses one of the few flat fairways at Copake.

The thirteenth green.

The fourteenth hole is just as much uphill as the previous one was downhill. Seriously, it goes straight up, making the hole play a lot more than the 370 on the scorecard suggests. The tee shot is pretty straightforward, but the green is best approached from the left. No front to back tilt on this green, this is back to front, and significantly so. The green is very shallow too, so once again, you'll need to be precise with your wedge or short iron.

The fourteenth hole.

Approaching the fourteenth green.

The fourteenth green presents a shallow target.

We've had downhill, we've had uphill, and now, the fifteenth presents the golfer with the relatively rare sidehill hole. Hopefully you're comfortable with having the ball above your feet (or below, if you're a lefty), because once you've hit your tee shot, that will be your reality until you reach the green. The fifteenth is a short (486 yards) par 5, and as such is definitely reachable in two. If you can hit a fade, your drive may stay in the fairway, if not, it'll probably run off into the rough. If you're going for the green in two, your best bet is to aim a bit right of the green and let the ball release down. The green is small and slopes along with the hill.

Good luck finding a level stance on the fifteenth hole.

You'll probably be hitting a draw into the fifteenth green.

The fifteenth green.

The sixteenth hole is the longest par 4 on the back nine at 390 yards. It plays slightly uphill, and the left side of the fairway is sloped, meaning that a low fade will take the slope and run for quite a while. The hole is bunkerless, but there is a false front on the shallow green, and shots missed short right will face a very tricky recovery.

The sixteenth hole.

Leaving the second shot short will leave a tough chip.

The sixteenth green.

The seventeenth hole is a semiblind par 3, playing 190 yards. The green is sloped from left to right, which means a fade hit to the left side will funnel down toward the hole. There's a bunker front right and two small ones left. This hole is relatively tame, though, compared with the other par 3s Copake has to offer. Not bad, just not quite as interesting.

The seventeenth hole.

The seventeenth green.

The eighteenth hole is definitely an interesting proposition. It's just under 500 yards, but it's an adventure. While the fifteenth was banked right to left, this hole is sloped left to right. Drives have to thread between a group of fairway bunkers left, a native area past that, and a cluster of trees right. If you hit a fade, you have to be careful, as a shot that drifts too far right will be blocked out. If you pulled that off, you're in for a fun second shot. My suggestion is to land your long iron or fairway wood on the left edge of the fairway, about 20 yards short of the green. My brother landed one there, and it literally bounced onto the left edge of the green and curled its way most of the way around. There is some severe tilt there, which is only appropriate for Copake's finishing hole.

Oddly enough, the eighteenth green sits several hundred yards away from the clubhouse, which gives you plenty of time to reflect on how you manage to snatch a 90 out of the jaws of a more reasonable 82. Trust me on that.

The eighteenth hole.

Approaching the eighteenth green.

The eighteenth green.

I'm not sure I have enough good things to say about Copake Country Club. It is an incredibly fun golf course at an incredibly reasonable price. Conditions were absolutely perfect; golf balls would release and roll on both fairways and greens. In many cases, a run-up shot was absolutely the best play. But even if Copake had been playing soft, it would still be a very good and interesting golf course. Clearly, it's not the most demanding course; after all, Copake is only 6,200 yards from the back tees. There's one par 4 over 400 yards, one par 5 over 500, and three par 4s under 300 yards. It doesn't emphasize the driver, but the approach and short game. If you're not good around the greens, you will struggle at Copake. I know, because that's exactly what happened to me. On the front nine, I hit six greens in regulation with one birdie, but I walked off with a 44 because I made a quadruple, triple, and double bogey on the holes where I missed the green.

The length of the course, or lack thereof, really is to Copake's benefit in this case. Yes, the green complexes are difficult, and it is very easy to let a poor approach spiral into a disaster. But you're not approaching the greens with mid irons, you're approaching them with wedges. You always feel like you should be in control, that you should be able to score. And when you can't, it feels like it's your fault. One of my brothers managed to make four birdies in a row (6-9), so clearly Copake will allow scoring. You just have to earn those birdies.

I haven't gotten to the best part of this course: the value. Okay, on a Saturday or Sunday morning, it's $49, which is good but not great. Don't play then. At any other time, the most you'll pay is $30. Now, I've played Shennecossett and Keney Park, two golf courses that are well known for being excellent value for money. In my opinion, Copake is just as good a golf course as either of them, and you can play it for even cheaper. So how come it's not better known? For one thing, it's really not close to anything. Keney Park is in Hartford, and while Shennecossett isn't in a big city, it's just off of Interstate 95, plus it's got ocean views. Copake is very much in the middle of nowhere. Also working against Copake is the relative obscurity of its original architect. If this was a Donald Ross or Alister Mackenzie, people would be eating it up. But only real golf enthusiasts know Devereux Emmet. And so Copake Country Club slips under the radar. Which is too bad, on the one hand, but on the other, it means Copake stays a very low-key, under-the-radar sort of place, which I'm sure suits the regulars just fine. But if you do read this and you happen to find yourself in the vicinity, Copake is a great place to play, and I'd strongly recommend going to see it.