Off the Fringe, “Golf’s best short read.” The award winning newsletter, sent twice monthly, that provides an unconventional perspective on the golf world.
Golfer Bob
Crownsville
2010-09-03
$26 (cart included), played on Thursday, September 2008 at 8am
I drove for an hour and played here 9-2-10 for $30 with an Internet coupon.
I had not played the course for 4 or 5 years, but had good memories of it, all of which were shattered by this most recent visit.
First, the good stuff: the layout is excellent. Very good design taking full advantage of the rolling terrain, mature trees and the available water in the layout. Greens are generally large with some contour, but not tricked up. Bunkers are reasonable in number and placement. No houses anywhere in sight, and no two holes look alike, a good thing in my book.
Now the bad stuff: Conditions were terrible, the staff was only slightly better and the pace of play for a weekday morning was just awful. When we checked in, the starter let us go early to get ahead of a large group, but warned us of a slow threesome two groups ahead of us. However, he assured us that the staff would keep them moving...wrong on that one, as we never saw a ranger at any time during the round. Next, the conditions: the first tee box was barren: nothing there but about 250 shattered tees, with no grass to speak of, and it was typical of the next 17. Fairways were in reasonable shape, except there were some large very wet spots, and in one case, on hole #3, a sizable area just short and right of the green that was literally a mini-swamp, with grass 2 feet high, and mucky, soggy ground, with no hazard stake, and no "casual water" designation. Kind of an odd feature, eh? Greens were marginal, putted slow and somewhat bumpy, and several had large barren patches. Bunkers were in decent shape. Overall, course looked unkempt.
Upon completing the round, I complained to the pro shop about the pace of play, and was met with complete disinterest. Snack bar staff was nice. I expected a lot better from Eisenhower...I do NOT recommend.
$26 (cart included), played on Thursday, September 2008 at 8am
I drove for an hour and played here 9-2-10 for $30 with an Internet coupon.
I had not played the course for 4 or 5 years, but had good memories of it, all of which were shattered by this most recent visit.
First, the good stuff: the layout is excellent. Very good design taking full advantage of the rolling terrain, mature trees and the available water in the layout. Greens are generally large with some contour, but not tricked up. Bunkers are reasonable in number and placement. No houses anywhere in sight, and no two holes look alike, a good thing in my book.
Now the bad stuff: Conditions were terrible, the staff was only slightly better and the pace of play for a weekday morning was just awful. When we checked in, the starter let us go early to get ahead of a large group, but warned us of a slow threesome two groups ahead of us. However, he assured us that the staff would keep them moving...wrong on that one, as we never saw a ranger at any time during the round. Next, the conditions: the first tee box was barren: nothing there but about 250 shattered tees, with no grass to speak of, and it was typical of the next 17. Fairways were in reasonable shape, except there were some large very wet spots, and in one case, on hole #3, a sizable area just short and right of the green that was literally a mini-swamp, with grass 2 feet high, and mucky, soggy ground, with no hazard stake, and no "casual water" designation. Kind of an odd feature, eh? Greens were marginal, putted slow and somewhat bumpy, and several had large barren patches. Bunkers were in decent shape. Overall, course looked unkempt.
Upon completing the round, I complained to the pro shop about the pace of play, and was met with complete disinterest. Snack bar staff was nice. I expected a lot better from Eisenhower...I do NOT recommend.