Review: Bristow Manor Golf Club (Part 2)

It's time to take a look at Bristow Manor's back nine, go here to see the front.

The tenth hole is a mid-length par 4 that doglegs significantly from left to right around a series of bunkers the hole essentially shares with the eighteenth. You can choose to carry as many or as few of these bunkers on the tee shot as you'd like, potentially shortening the hole significantly in the process. Just don't hit a slice and accidentally turn this big dogleg-right into a dogleg left like I did. I mean, I suppose it worked for me in the end, but I wouldn't recommend it. Anyway, the second shot is slightly uphill over a wild series of mounds to a green significantly sloped from back to front. Seriously, I have no idea why the mounds are there, because they don't come into play on either the drive or second shot. They're just sort of there. Oh well, missed opportunity.

The tenth hole.

Approaching the tenth green. You can see some, but not all, of the series of mounds in front of the green.

The tenth green.

The eleventh hole is 200 yards and plays over a pair of large bunkers, with another bunker off to the right. The green is fairly undulating, but there's not much to this hole beyond the impossibility of running a ball onto the green. It's not a challenge to a low-handicap golfer, hitting this green, but for true short-hitters, it's impossible. As my brother and I waited on this tee, we watched the group in front of us tee off; in that group, a woman used driver off of the front tee and literally landed the golf ball in the tiny space between the bunkers and green. It still rolled over the back, and it wasn't close. For people like this, hitting this green in regulation is impossible, and I'm not a fan of that. 

The eleventh hole.

The twelfth hole is 560 yards and plays gently uphill to a wide fairway. Well, wide playing corridor, since the fairway peters out about 250 yards out for no reason whatsoever. Seriously, it's just slightly bumpy rough, and it's like that for about 100 yards. I genuinely don't understand. Anyway, the second shot is also pretty much just a case of hitting as far as you can. The green, at least, is interesting, having some reasonable undulation and being surrounded by four bunkers. This hole more than many showcases the pure and simple fact that rough on its own is not an interesting hazard.

The twelfth hole.

Approaching the twelfth green.

The twelfth green.

The thirteenth hole is a straightforward mid-length par 4 playing along the same line of trees as the previous hole. There's a bunker in play right, but a solid drive can clear that, giving you much more space to work with. I wouldn't recommend the right side, as there's a cluster of small trees about 20-30 yards short right of the green that I imagine are supposed to interfere with approach shots from the right. They're not very tall though, so they don't really come in to play and are mostly just sort of there. The green has a ridge coming in from the left through the middle, and there's also bunkers on each side.

The thirteenth hole.

Approaching the thirteenth green.

The thirteenth green.

The fourteenth hole is a mid-length par 3 of 190 yards. There's two bunkers left of the green, which slopes from back to front, particularly in the front portion of the green. You can miss this green right and short and be fine. Not much to this hole.

The fourteenth hole.

The fourteenth green.

The fifteenth hole is 395 yards and plays straight away over essentially level terrain. The fairway here is offset slightly to the right, with a large fairway bunker placed close to the direct line between tee and green. A pond and a native area lurk right of the fairway, so in my opinion, it's almost best to ignore the fairway and just play straight at the green. The fairway bunker is easily cleared from the tee with a solid driver, and there's a lot of space left in case you hook it. Either way, the second shot will be over rough and a second large bunker (with a second bunker right and a third long) to a shallow green.

The fifteenth hole.

Approaching the fifteenth green.

The fifteenth green.

The sixteenth hole is Bristow Manor's final par 5, and once again, a lay-up off the tee is necessary. That's fine once, but three out of four? No. That's ridiculous. Anyway, you want to hit a gentle fade on this one or hug the tree line right, as the hole bends right after it crosses a marshy area alongside a pond. Even though this hole is shorter than the other three par 5s at 525 yards, it's still not really reachable in two. So, when you're laying up, you have two choices: Either stay well back of a fairway bunker about 75 yards short of the green, or hit into a narrow portion of fairway squeezed between the bunker right and native area left. There are two more bunkers short right of the green, which is medium sized and fairly undulating.

The sixteenth hole.

Approaching the sixteenth green.

The sixteenth green.

The seventeenth hole is just under 390 yards, and this fairway is quite possibly the silliest one yet. There's no reason at all for it to stop 260 yards out, but it does, leaving over 100 yards of literally nothing between the end of the fairway and the green. Unless you're obsessing over fairways hit on the stats, there's no reason not to ignore the end of the fairway and hit driver. The playing corridor is plenty wide. A good driver will leave just a wedge into the green, which has some undulation to it and is protected by a bunker left.

The seventeenth hole.

The seventeenth green.

The eighteenth hole fulfills the modern golf course stereotype: Finishing with a long par 4 with water on one side. While the fairway is very wide, it ends about 260-270 yards out, and this time, there's actually tall grass and bunkers encroaching in – along with water left – meaning you can't just hit driver. A lay-up is necessary here, favoring the right side. That leaves a slightly longer shot, but you won't have to go over the water as much on the second. The green is fairly large but perched precariously over the pond, with a bunker right further complicating matters. It's not an absolutely killer hole, since it's not tremendously long (430 yards), but you have to accept you'll be hitting a mid or even long iron second shot. Play it carefully, and you'll be fine. 

The eighteenth hole.

Approaching the eighteenth green.

The eighteenth green.

After the round, I asked my younger brother what he thought of the course (as I always do), and he said something I hadn't thought about that stuck with me. Bristow Manor is not lacking in interesting features. It could be a good golf course. But it isn't. And that's because the courses doesn't get anything out of the landscape. At best, the water and terrain is just sort of there; at worst, the course actively fights the landscape. The two par 5s on the front are particularly noteworthy in this regard. The creek cutting across the fairways of those holes could have been used very effectively if the holes had been laid out diagonally to the stream. Or even if the designer had put the fairway on one side and just had the green on the other. Having the stream cut across the fairway at driver distance, preventing anyone from clearing them, is quite literally the worst thing you could do with it. There's no challenge or thought beyond "don't go too far, and don't chunk the next shot into the water." And it's not like the other holes on the front use the stream any better. Every hole from 4 to 9 crosses the creek, and yet never once is it actually a hazard.

The weird mounding in front of the tenth green is another example. Obviously, those mounds weren't natural, which actually makes the problem worse. The designer went to the trouble of making those mounds, and then decided to not make the golfer use them. Sure, some people end up in those mounds, but only if you play the hole badly. If you play the hole as its intended, you'd never have to deal with them, and that's just so weird to me. Of course, there's also the weird non-contiguous fairways, but honestly that's barely even a factor in my overall opinion of the course, more just a weird quirk. 

In terms of value, the round cost $60 on a Friday afternoon, which is more than it should be, but at the same time it's fairly in line with other courses in the broad D.C. metropolitan area. Conditions were decent if not spectacular. But Bristow Manor is just not a good golf course. Average, at best. Lots of missed opportunities. And in the end, I'm not about to drive 75 minutes to play a $60 average golf course again.

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.