Special to The Washington Post
The Washington area's elite publics are as playable and pretty as those in any major city. In addition, they offer an excellent, diverse mix of old and new, close-in and far-out locations, and classic and modern styles. The biggest problem: Too many of them are simply swamped too much of the time.
We've picked our Top 20 courses, all of which are open to the public, using an admittedly subjective list of criteria heavily weighted toward playability, convenience, value for the money and overall quality of experience.
1. Reston National Golf Course
11875 Sunrise Valley Dr.
Reston
703/620-9333
Par: 71
Yards: 6,871
Slope: 126
Walking: Anytime
Tee times: Call 24 hours in advance
Green fees: $$
Reston National seems to have been air-dropped smack in the midst of hectic Northern Virginia, yet it is amazingly pretty and serene. Legendary area course architect Ed Ault made the best of the tight-knit surroundings, serving up fairways lined with skyscraping trees and open, rewarding greens. Reston has dramatically upgraded its service and facilities in the past 18 months, securing its position as Washington's best public course. Tremendous demand keeps the place extremely busy, but it's well worth the time and trouble to play.
2. Enterprise Golf Course
2802 Enterprise Rd.
Mitchellville
301/249-2040
Par: 72
Yards: 6,586
Slope: 128
Walking: Sometimes
Tee times: No advance reservations
Green fees: $
Enterprise is often called the Augusta National of the Washington area because its azaleas and other flowering plants light it up with color throughout the spring. A mature beauty set gently among towering trees, the course occupies the former estate of Capt. Newton H. White, the first commanding officer of the fabled USS Enterprise aircraft carrier. A big plus is its location—convenient to the Beltway and near USAir Arena. A big minus is that it doesn't take advance tee times, causing some serious traffic jams during peak periods.
3. Bristow Manor Golf Club
11507 Valley View Dr.
Bristow, Va.
703/368-3558
Par: 72
Yards: 6,770
Slope: 128
Walking: Sometimes
Tee times: Call in advance
Green fees: $$
Bristow Manor, which opened in 1993, is flat-out one of the best new courses to open in recent years, and it now feels almost completely grown-up. Course designer Ken Killian created a real killer from the back tees, but the course is much more fun from the middle tees as it rambles around several lakes and creeks to large, open greens. Best of all, it's always in excellent condition.
4. Virginia Oaks Golf Club
Route 29
Gainesville, Va.
703/551-2103
Par: 72
Yards: 6,928
Slope: 133
Walking: Sometimes
Tee times: Call in advance
Green fees: $$
Virginia Oaks, which opened in 1995 as the centerpiece of a large housing development, shares the shores of Lake Manassas with the world-renowned—and ultra-private—Robert Trent Jones Golf Club. But it is definitely a worthy neighbor: Course architect P.B. Dye routed several holes through the woods and right along the lakeshore, and threw in some tiered greens to up the ante just a little bit more. The par-3 ninth hole, a 150-yarder with an island green surrounded by boulders, is the most dramatic hole on this always enjoyable course.
5. Little Bennett Golf Course
25900 Prescott Rd.
Clarksburg
301/601-9209
Par: 72
Yards: 6,682
Slope: 133
Walking: Anytime
Tee times: Call six days in advance
Green fees: $
Little Bennett excels in everything except self-promotion. As a result, the 18-month-old facility remains wonderfully undiscovered by the general golfing public. Course architect Michael Hurdzan, known for creating layouts as ecologically impressive as they are challenging, conjured up a real winner here. Set on an old dairy farm, the course is criss-crossed by streams and accented by wildflower fields. Several holes play across environmentally protected areas, and there is a 120-foot altitude change from the course's highest point to its lowest. One controversial aspect is that many of the holes require blind shots, but on some of those shots you're using picturesque Sugarloaf Mountain as your marker.
6. University of Maryland Golf Course
University Boulevard and Adelphi Road
College Park
301/403-4299
Par: 71
Yards: 6,654
Slope: 120
Walking: Sometimes
Tee times: Call six days in advance
Green fees: $
By far the best public course inside the Beltway, the Terrapins' home track is widely known as the former hangout of PGA Tour pro Fred Funk, the school's old golf coach. The George Cobb design's collection of long, thin par 4s is among the best in the area, and the course plays around towering trees and a huge lake. Like Enterprise, it's one of the area's true mature beauties.
7. Redgate Golf Course
14500 Avery Rd.
Rockville
301/309-3055
Par: 71
Yards: 6,432
Slope Rating: 131
Walking: Anytime
Tee times: Call Monday for weekends
Green fees: $
Redgate deserves top marks for greens that are almost always in excellent condition despite taking a constant beating. Though only middling in length, Redgate's skinny fairways track up and down over some of the hilliest landscape in the near-in Maryland suburbs.
8. Pohick Bay Regional Golf Course
10301 Gunston Rd.
Lorton
703/339-8585
Par: 72
Yards: 6,405
Slope Rating: 131
Walking: Anytime
Tee times: Call ahead for weekends
Green fees: $
Pohick Bay gets far less credit than it deserves considering the challenge it offers and its relatively low green fees. Though short by championship standards, Pohick is definitely a course for thrill-seekers. Its grouping of par 3s is as daunting as any area public course, and its par 4s and par 5s are dominated by extremely hilly and thin fairways that slope down toward tree-filled roughs. Many of the greens feel as sharply sloped as the fairways.
9. Penderbrook Golf Club
3700 Golf Trail Lane
Fairfax
703/385-3700
Par: 71
Yards: 6,152
Slope: 130
Walking: Anytime
Tee times: Call three days in advance
Green fees: $$
Though overshadowed by nearby Reston National, Penderbrook can hold its head high as one of the best, and most convenient, public courses in Northern Virginia. What it lacks in length, Penderbrook more than makes up for in difficulty. Like Reston, it is very pretty and almost always in good shape.
10. Algonkian Regional Park Golf Course
47001 Fairway Dr.
Sterling
703/450-4655
Par: 72
Yards: 7,015
Slope: 125
Walking: Anytime
Tee times: Call Tuesday for weekend
Green fees: $
Algonkian's layout isn't the area's most clever, but it is one of the more demanding—especially on the back side. Because it is so long and wooded, it calls for plenty of the kind of fairway-wood and long-iron shots that trouble most medium- to high-handicappers.
11. Northwest Park Golf Course
15701 Layhill Rd.
Wheaton
301/598-6100
Par: 72
Yards: 7,185
Slope: 122
Walking: Anytime
Tee times: Call six days in advance
Green fees: $
For a heavily trafficked public course, Northwest Park is almost always in good shape. At more than 7,100 yards from the back tees, it—like Algonkian—is best suited for big hitters and players with good long games. Northwest Park also features a nine-hole, par-34 course.
12. Herndon Centennial Golf Club
909 Ferndale Ave.
Herndon
703/471-5769
Par: 71
Yards: 6,445
Slope: 116
Walking: Anytime
Tee times: Call 24 hours in advance
Green fees: $$
When you check out the collection of short par 4s on the scorecard, your first thought is that Glenn Dale is going to be a pushover. But it seldom is, thanks to the cleverly placed doglegs, woods and water. The well-kept course places a real premium on short-iron play, and the greens are usually fast. Glenn Dale is a recent winner of the National Golf Foundation's Public Golf Achievement Award for promoting and enhancing the enjoyment of golf.
13. Glen Dale Country Club
11501 Prospect Hill Rd.
Glenn Dale
301/464-0904
Par: 70
Yards: 6,282
Slope: 115
Walking: Sometimes
Tee times: Call in advance
Green fees: $$
When you check out the collection of short par 4s on the scorecard, your first thought is that Glenn Dale is going to be a pushover. But it seldom is, thanks to the cleverly placed doglegs, woods and water. The well-kept course places a real premium on short-iron play, and the greens are usually fast. Glenn Dale is a recent winner of the National Golf Foundation's Public Golf Achievement Award for promoting and enhancing the enjoyment of golf.
14. Brambleton Golf Course
42180 Ryan Rd.
Ashburn, Va.
703/327-3403
Par: 72
Yards: 6,436
Slope: 121
Walking: Anytime
Tee times: Call in advance for weekends
Green fees: $$
Entering its second full season, this Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority facility is developing into quite a nice little place to play. The course is solid, if unspectacular, with flat, tree-framed fairways roomy enough to provide a margin for error. It's no cakewalk, though: The par-3 12th hole, for instance, requires a tee shot over a pond onto a small green.
15. Twin Lakes Golf Course
6100 Clifton Rd.
Clifton, Va.
703/631-9099
Par: 73
Yards: 7,010
Slope: 121
Walking: Anytime
Tee times: Call in advance
Green fees: $
Some of the holes are long and tough, but a paucity of hazards means that Twin Lakes often forgives you for your mistakes. At its best, it's one of the area's prettier municipals.
16. Needwood Golf Course
6724 Needwood Rd.
Derwood
301/948-1075
Par: 70
Yards: 6,254
Slope: 113
Walking: Anytime
Tee times: Call for weekends
Green fees: $
You'll seldom need your fairway woods at Needwood, for the course is very short. Some moderate hills make it interesting, though, and it ends nicely. Needwood also has a nine-hole, par-29 course that is good for beginners.
17. Marlborough Country Club
4750 John Rogers Blvd.
Upper Marlboro
301/952-1350
Par: 71
Yards: 6,119
Slope: 127
Walking: Sometimes
Tee times: Call one week in advance
Green fees: $$
Trees and homes line many of Marlborough's narrow, crooked fairways. The relatively high slope rating seems incongruous with the course's short overall length, but provides a hint that a ton of hazards and obstacles—many of them liquid—lie between the first tee and the 18th green. Several of the greens are elevated, adding character to a course that is one of the best in central Prince George's County.
18. Patuxent Greens Country Club
14415 Greenview Dr.
Laurel
301/776-5533
Par: 71
Yards: 6,482
Slope: 126
Walking: Sometimes
Tee times: Call five days in advance
Green fees: $$
Accuracy, more than distance, is the key here, as water comes into play on many of the holes.
19. Lake Arbor Golf Club
1401 Golf Course Dr.
Mitchellville
301/336-7771
Often overlooked but very convenient—just off the Beltway and near USAir Arena in Enterprise's neighborhood—Lake Arbor is the focal point of one of Prince George's County's biggest (and still growing) real estate developments. It's a fun course to play, with a couple of good water holes to keep you from getting complacent.
20. Twin Shields Golf Course
2425 Roarty Rd.
Dunkirk
410/257-7800
Par: 70
Yards: 6,321
Slope: 118
Walking: Sometimes
Tee times: Call three days in advance
Green fees: $$
Tucked between Upper Marlboro and Lower Marlboro southwest of Washington, Twin Shields is one of the rare above-average public courses not yet discovered by the big-city hordes. The course is very short, but its layout is quite amenable.
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