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: Hickory Heights Golf Club (Part 2)

It's time to see the back nine at Hickory Heights, go here if you haven't seen the front.

The tenth hole starts things off on a tough note, which is unusual, considering the tenth is a par 5. At 550 yards, it's slightly shorter than the second, but while that hole was a slugfest, this hole demands precision. The tee shot is awkward, with the fairway wedged between O.B. left and a line of trees right. A driver hit well could easily end up either out of bounds or stymied behind trees. A high fade matches the shape of the dogleg, but be aware there's a steep dropoff right where that tee shot would end up. In wet conditions, you'll definitely have a hanging downhill lie. And that's a very bad thing if you want to be at all aggressive on the second shot. The green is theoretically reachable in two, but you'd have to hoist a shot over trees to get to it. In all likelihood, you'll be laying up to about a 100 yards, leaving a wedge to a small green guarded by a bunker front left and a small bunker behind.

The tee shot on 10 doesn't give away too much.

You'll almost certainly be laying up.

The tenth green.

The eleventh hole is a short par 3, but it definitely plays longer than the 145 yards it says on the scorecard. That's because the hole goes straight up a mountain. Not only that, but the hole is very narrow, with only a narrow corridor through a dense forest to work with. All things considered, I'm surprised the green was as healthy as it was, since most greens surrounded by trees like this one tend to not get enough sunlight. Anyway, other than the obvious, this hole isn't particularly interesting, just eye-catching. Also, it stopped raining at this point, which was nice.

The eleventh hole, with the green at the top of a mountain.

Looking back down the eleventh hole.

The twelfth hole is the longest par 4 at Hickory Heights, but it's definitely not a very interesting 420 yards. The hole is basically flat and there are no fairway bunkers. Just get your tee shot in the fairway, and that's about it. The green is guarded by three bunkers.

The twelfth hole could really use some elevation change.

Approaching the twelfth green.

Looking back down the twelfth hole.

The thirteenth hole is the final par 5 at Hickory Heights and, at 485 yards, is by far the shortest. It's also incredibly easy; once again, there's no trouble off the tee. The two greenside bunkers suggest a drive down the right side, but other than that, this hole is wide open. This is a great birdie or even eagle opportunity.

The thirteenth hole.

It's better to approach the green from the right.

Those bushes are doing a very good job of obscuring the thirteenth green.

The fourteenth hole is a short 320 yard par 4, and a welcome return to more interesting terrain. Seriously, a varied topography can lend even the most basic and rudimentary golf course some reasonable strategic interest. Here, the golfer can choose to lay well back, leaving a longer second shot but from flatter ground, or blast away into the valley, leaving a partially blind shot from a severely up or downhill lie. The hole is most certainly birdieable, but it's not brainless, and that's better than the last couple holes.

The fourteenth hole features more interesting topography.

The uphill approach to 14.

The fourteenth green.

The fifteenth hole is also a short par 4, virtually the same length as the previous one. But it clearly plays a lot differently. The drive is kind of an awkward one through a narrow gap in the trees to a fairway that snaps to the left. There's really no need to go for a driver here, just get the ball in play. The second shot is a fairly simple pitch to a small green.

The drive on 15 is through a narrow chute of trees.

The fifteenth green.

The sixteenth hole is the final short par 4 in this little triplet. It's fairly impressive that all three holes manage to play significantly differently, especially considering that this is a fairly rudimentary golf course. When you stand on the tee, you are presented with... not much of anything. There's a field that drops down toward the little stream you just played across on the last hole. If you're smart, you'll lay up at the top of the hill, giving yourself a level stance to approach the green, which is small and tucked down at the bottom of the narrow valley, fronted by the stream. I was not smart. Let me tell you, it's awkward playing a three-quarter wedge when the ball is a foot above your feet.

You don't get much of the sixteenth hole while standing on the tee.

The sixteenth green.

The seventeenth hole is a medium-length par 3 with a tee tucked away up at the top of a hill. Other than the steeply downhill tee shot, this is a pretty straightforward hole. The green is small and flat, and there's a bunker short left. Nothing to write home about.

The seventeenth hole.

The seventeenth green.

The eighteenth hole is anything but straightforward. In fact, it's not often that I'm this perplexed standing on a tee. I wasn't thinking up some crazy strategy, I was just wondering where the hole was. You really can't see much of it from all the way up on the back tee. A little sliver of fairway straight ahead, then a line of trees with the tenth hole behind it. The hole plummets downhill then quickly turns left alongside a narrow stream. You can use whatever club you like on the tee and bite off as much of the dogleg as you choose. The hole is 375 yards, but if you're particularly bold I don't see any reason you couldn't go for the green. I don't know how long that distance is, but I bet it isn't long. The straight line from tee to green definitely isn't 375 yards. Anyway, the second shot is much less interesting, although the further left on the fairway you are, the flatter your stance will be. That's balanced out by a bunker short-left. All in all, the eighteenth is a fairly unique hole. Is it good? I wouldn't go that far, but it is pretty memorable.

This is the view from the eighteenth tee. Yeah, I was confused too.

The slightly more normal approach to 18.

Looking back town the eighteenth.

When I got to Hickory Heights, I was hoping for something similar to Westminster National. That is, I was hoping for a golf course that wasn't necessarily spectacular from an architecture perspective, but a golf course filled with quirk and put a smile on my face. Well, considering the weather, not a whole lot of smiles were had, but I'm not going to blame the course for that. Overall, I'd say that Westminster National is the more goofy, offbeat course. The terrain is rougher, and Hickory Heights has no answer to the seventh hole at Westminster, which is a hole I don't think I'll ever forget.

That said, Hickory Heights certainly has its merits as a fun and cheap round of golf. The terrain is used fairly well, and only a few holes are devoid of any strategic interest. I wouldn't rush to go back, but I wouldn't say no if I'm ever in Hanover any time soon.

And with that, we've reached the end of the 2018 golf course backlog. I don't imagine the April review will be any place earth-shattering, but depending on the weather in the next couple weeks, it may be more interesting than you'd think. We'll see.