My name is John Satre and I’m an avid golfer.  I was a member of Springfield Golf & CC from 1996-2010 and played on the “B” team and held a home handicap of 8 (Index 6.8). 

I’m now 64 and don’t carry a handicap but shoot in the mid 80s on average so you all can do the math.

On Waggle my nickname will be Quick Draw. The nickname Quick Draw comes from the fact that I get over the ball and hit it.  The longer you are over the ball the more indecision comes about… plus you speed up play. 

Now that the introduction is out of the way, let’s get to my rounds this weekend at Pohick Bay Golf Course.

I play this course often and always have a good time here. The starters and clubhouse staff are always friendly. And I really enjoy the layout.

Here’s what stood out to me this weekend…

Green Conditions

Just aerated/sandy and in my opinion are bad and will take a full season to recover to a smooth service (7 out of 18 need a lot of help).

Note: You must hit a putt firm and strong for it to hold the line and go in.   

On Saturday I hit 9 greens in regulation and under normal firm greens I would have made at least 3 birdies, but they bounced and moved left or right and I had none …………good golfers suck on these greens, but higher handicappers excel (IMHO). 

Tee Boxes/Fairways

In this regard it’s all good and the course is good condition.

So don’t let the greens keep you from playing here (I didn’t played Pohick again Sunday) but I just wanted you to know what to expect.

Not much more to offer Ladies and gentlemen other that I can truly say this: “I love the game of golf, and I haven’t seen a golf course I never loved.”

Yours Truly, 
Quick Draw (front left in picture)

This is another course that I had not played in quite some time – perhaps more than 7 years and as with most of  my prior experiences in returning to long lost courses, the conditions seemed to have improved.  We got out on a weekday at 11:30 and finished in 4 1/2 hours – it would have been quicker but we had a couple of lengthy searches for lost balls – which, as you know, is normal when you have a very exciting competition going on – as we did on this day!    Those lost balls take on even greater meaning and there is a bigger urgency to find them on the last few holes.  You KNOW what I mean as you golfers out there know how important it is to win those golf bets no matter what the size of the bet!

Since my last time at Little Bennett, I’ve learned that they switched the nines and you start off with a long par 5 which seemed to me to be a lot more than 535 from the whites!  Maybe it was the rolling hills or maybe it was just uphill but whatever the reason, I hit a good drive and decent 4 iron and was still 190 out to an uphill green!  It’s a good starter hole and open enough that you have some room to miss and still perhaps make a par to start your round.

One very noticeable thing about his course was the elevation changes especially on the par 3’s.  On at least 2 of them, signs indicating that this hole plays 2 clubs less, choose your club wisely should be heeded.  Don’t let this get into your head (like I did) and try to “baby it”.  Just make  your normal swing with whatever club you do choose and a par, or maybe even a birdie awaits!

As I mentioned earlier, the conditions of this course were really nice.  A couple of tee boxes and greens were a little beat up and several greens have those giant fans to keep the air circulating but I was impressed by the overall conditions.  The greens were sneaky fast but rolled pretty true.  The try-to-putt-uphill theory should be utilized on this course whenever possible.  I would call this course “hilly” with many elevation changes and I think would be difficult to walk because of those hills – but it was certainly fun to play.

The after-round beverages in their nicely apportioned clubhouse were cold and this course is relatively inexpensive for the product.  In other words, if you get a chance to play Little Bennett – your wallet won’t be lightened too much – unless you lose one of those aforementioned golf bets!  

Little Bennett Golf Course | Clarksburg, MD | website

It had been a while since I played there but I remembered the course as being pretty well maintained, challenging and fun to play.  This trip was no different and upon arriving, I remembered that I was impressed by the large practice green and hitting area immediately adjacent to the clubhouse.

Well what is the big deal?  Well 36 holes of wonderful golf with many challenges.  After the round, you will probably remember the par 5 #8 hole on the North course.  Let me know if you par that one as it requires 3 good shots to be putting for birdie.  A forced carry drive to a semi-blind landing spot then another fairly long shot over another waste area to a pretty narrow fairway and then a mid-long iron to the green will get you a birdie putt.  Miss on any of those shots and plan on a double bogey or worse!  (like yours truly!)

I would have to say the only downside – and this is minor – was the slow speed of the carts.  The first couple times I played several years ago, I actually thought I had a slow golf cart but apparently the governors are set on all of them to be a bit slower – which in the scheme of things, is NOT a big deal and it actually allows you a bit of time to enjoy the views so I certainly can’t complain about that but just wanted to let you know.

There are several other scoring holes to make up for the tough ones and overall this course was a blast to play.  Of course, often times, your playing partners make it fun along with that friendly wager for a beverage or several at the conclusion of the round.  Speaking of which, their very comfortable and what seemed to me to be a very cool (as in temperature) 19th hole is an absolutely great place to discuss the round over a beverage.  I know you know what I mean!  Play Compass Pointe when you get a chance, tell them Lefty said it’s pointing True North!

Compass Pointe Golf Courses | Pasadena, MD | compasspointegolf.com

For those of you die hard golfers who play scramble golf tournaments, you know it’s not “real golf” but what the heck, it’s a good reason to be outside and contributing to a charitable cause!  As I mentioned, I had not played this track in quite some time and am pleased to report that some serious improvements have been made.

The course conditions have been upgraded and are certainly much better than years gone by with the fairways and greens being in excellent shape.  The course itself offers a nice layout with a variety of scoring holes and challenging get-your-par holes too.

I recall one of the more challenging holes being the par 5 #2 which requires a long straight tee shot over a water hazard into a landing area that looks smaller than it is and has a severe up slope rough area if you hit it too far through the fairway.   Navigate your drive and you’re faced with another long iron/fairway wood shot over another hazard just to get you to a 100-150 approach.  The green is no picnic either so a par on this hole is a good score!

As I told my playing partners on this day, I was impressed with the conditions of Fairway Hills.  Their efforts to upgrade the course conditions have certainly been working and I will definitely get out to play it again on my own – i.e. “real golf” :-).  Tell’em Lefty from Wagggle gave Fairway Hills a thumbs up.  Hit’em straight!

Fairways Hills Golf Club | Columbia, MD | fairwayhillsgolfclub.com

For the past several years, we’ve had an annual event of N vs S (North vs. South) where we take the best players from Maryland and pit them against the best players from Pennsylvania to establish the dominance in the field of golf for the upcoming year.  If you are a person who’s gone on golf trips with your buddies before, I’m sure you know the drill.

Unfortunately, we have NEVER been able to determine the best players in Maryland or Pennsylvania so it’s always been  the same foursome which includes yours truly and three other cronies who get together for a yearly contest.  Again, golfers you know what the play is here – a year of trash talking until the next “event”!  In any case, we’ve enjoyed Champion Lakes at least two times in the past and decided to give it another go this year.

From the moment we arrived to the time we left, we were treated with a feeling that every person at Champion Lakes was in total appreciation that we were there at their golf course.  These folks from just outside of Pittsburgh (just north of Ligonier PA) are truly glad to embody Dick Groat’s saying, “we’re sure glad to have you guys here with us”.  If he said it once, he said it a hundred times and he really means it!  What a gentleman he is!

So who is Dick Groat you are asking?  Well he was a Pittsburgh Pirate shortstop in the 50’s and early 60’s earning National League MVP honors in 1960!  While he was traded and did play for some other teams, he is a Pirate to us!  He was also an all American at Duke University as a basketball player.  Now he’s just an all around great host at a wonderful getaway golf course!  To be sitting down with this man, a former great Major League MVP and talking baseball at his establishment is something to behold – and we certainly did just that!  I don’t think that any of today’s players would take the time or have the absolutely wonderful human nature to do what he does and make every person he talks to feel right at home.

So what about this place called Champion Lakes?   After checking in, we parked our vehicles in the large clubhouse parking lot, loaded our luggage and clubs into our transportation for the next two days – a golf cart – and away we went to the Fairway house.  The Fairway House is a wonderful place to stay and is a house just behind the 16th tee box.  This is a  mighty convenient and great way to spend a couple of days golfing while not having to worry about driving anywhere!

We played 2 rounds the first day and managed to get into the clubhouse unscathed in the early evening.  After several hours of talking about the golf and other various problem solving discussions with Mr. Groat and company, we got in our golf carts and headed to the aforementioned Fairway house (which is only a long par 5 away) to crash and get ready for an early morning round the next day.  We had mentioned to the gals working that we only would like coffee in the morning before our rounds and they assured us it would be made by 6:30am (which was before our tee time).

We were a bit disappointed when we headed out to play w/o any coffee at the clubhouse but then again, did I mention the wonderful hospitality these folks ALL demonstrated?  We were getting ready to tee off on #5 when we noticed one of the gals from the prior night coming at us in a golf cart.  She asked, “are you the group staying in the Fairway House?”  We acknowledged that we were.  She said while pulling out a bag with coffee supplies, “I’ve brought you coffee”, and proceeded to hand us 4 (no charge) coffees!  Like I said, they were hospitable!

The golf course itself, for the most part, has a “seems-easy” feel about it.  Some of the holes are wide open and you can spray the ball and still have a play to the green.  However, more holes are not quite as open and have tree lined fairways or chutes to hit your drive out of which require accuracy with your big sticks.  In my opinion, the course rating of 70.1 and slope rating of 126 are a bit low as I think it’s more difficult than that – however, my scores were consistent with what I normally would shoot, so perhaps it was just the coffee?  

The greens are “sneaky fast” and in fact a few that we played just moments after they had been cut were a bit unfair.  You know the type where you can’t stop the ball if putting downhill above the hole and sometimes even if putting from the below the hole you get a re-putt opportunity!  For the most part, they were fast but fair and rolled great so really there were no problems there, unless you putt as bad as me!

The fairways and rough while not pristine and resort like, were certainly playable and with our preferred lie rule we managed to get around the course OK.  The many traps on this course were certainly a nuisance, but then again, you are not supposed to hit into them as often as we did.

A couple of holes to remember when you get up there are #2 which is an open tee shot but requires precision on your 2nd shot into a narrow tree lined alley.  Like Mr. Groat says, perhaps 3 good 7 irons is the right play on this hole.   Another one is #10 leaving the clubhouse.  A long par 4 requires a big drive which had better be down the middle or you will have an inclined lie, followed by a 200 yard approach to a green which has slopes on both sides.  The green is tricky as well so a par on this hole is a good score!

The next hole, #11 is a tricky par 3 and requires the proper club selection while considering the wind.  Although it’s only about 150 yards or so, don’t be short or you’re wet!  Long, left, and right are not really “bail out” spots either so make sure you hit the green!  Have fun on the putt as well and make sure to play enough break!  The closing hole #18 was – at least to me – a very difficult par 5.  A slanted fairway awaits your tee shot from a chute of trees.  Misses right are lost balls while misses left will leave you with an inclined lie out of the rough.  Unless you hit a really good drive, your second shot will be a blind lay up that you don’t want to hit too far or you’re in the pond which crosses the fairway.  It also needs to be left enough and far enough (ie. close to the pond) to give you a look at the green which is blocked out on the right side by large trees.  Then your approach is a 150+ yard shot over the pond to an elevated green which is protected by large bunkers.  I don’t recall ever getting a par on this hole although I did miss a 6 footer on my last round for what would have been my first one!  Rats!

So who won this annual battle of N vs S, you are asking?  I’m pleased to say that the South played golf’s version of Mohammed Ali’s Rope-A-Dope.  We “allowed” the North to slap us around for nearly every round until the Big Press on #18 for the match!  A couple of safe bogeys from team South claimed the Championship and bragging rights for a year, but I’m sure the North would disagree with that conclusion.  Too bad – I write the articles so what I say goes!  

The post round festivities occur (from what I’m told) nearly every night with Mr. Groat in attendance.  Weekends are more active as can be expected but we will certainly remember our fun night on a Wednesday with the great Mr. Groat and the nice folks at Champion Lakes.  They offer a variety of Stay ‘n Play specials check it out for yourself at their website http://www.pagolf.com/ .  Rent out the fairway house like we did and see for yourself!  Tell Mr. Groat that Lefty from Waggle.com sent you.  I can almost guarantee you he’ll respond with, “I am sure glad to have you up here”, and what’s even better, he really means it!

I did learn from my conversation with the Assistant Pro that the sand traps are all being redone and improved to to make this course even better, which means my guess from the prior post was correct.  Gee, it’s nice to be right once in a while!  I did notice a couple of them again in the preliminary stages of adding drainage and other improvements – but this time, I was smart enough to miss them which resulted in a lower score than last time.

I’m telling you, pick a day and get out to play Musket Ridge Golf course.  You’ll be glad you did!

Musket Ridge did NOT disappoint.  I had not played it in several  years and from what I recalled, it was pretty open and “player friendly”.  While the appearance of “openness” still exists, the rough is, well rough, and grown up a bit so you should not hit it there or be prepared to deal with it.  I did manage to “test the rough” a few too many times to score well but hey, that’s golf!

The course itself was in superb shape.  The greens rolled fast and true.  They held shots well and although quick, they weren’t terribly quick – if you know what I mean!  One need for improvement was a few (and certainly not all) of the sand traps seemed to be missing a lot of sand and were hard packed…maybe the recent rainstorms had something to do with it but we’ll chalk it up to ongoing repairs.  Besides, aren’t you supposed to miss the traps?  I managed to get into a couple  of those traps and didn’t play so well getting out of them…alas, live and learn!  One thing I noticed and recalled from the last time I played there were the absolutely beautiful views everywhere.  The blue sky with several puffy white clouds only added to the beauty of this track on this day!

A couple of holes that I remember being extra fun to play are #9, an uphill par 5 which is a three shot hole and requires accuracy on your 1st two shots in order to have an uphill short iron approach and the following #10, downhill shorter par 5 which is reachable in 2 if you play it smart and avoid the left side bunker city – which I didn’t!  Another is #17, an uphill par 3 that normally requires a long iron to a fairly large green and I recall was always a challenging hole for me.

We had a wonderful day of golf as the pace of play was pretty good for a Saturday.  No real holdups and we noticed lots of ladies out playing.  Perhaps they were practicing for the upcoming Symetra Tour in Maryland.  What is the Symetra Tour?  Well it’s the official developmental tour of the LPGA and enters its 32nd competitive season in 2012.

The inaugural “Challenge at Musket Ridge” tournament, part of the LPGA’s Symetra Tour, will take place August 20-26, 2012. This event marks the only current women’s professional golf tournament in Maryland.  See details about the event, ways to get involved and more on the Challenge at Musket Ridge site.

Between now and then, go out and give Musket Ridge a play.  Tell them Lefty from Waggle.com sent you!  Make sure you have a nice cold beverage in their very comfortable bar facility after your round.  I know we surely enjoyed our day there and I believe you will too!

The remainder of the golf course features a variety of holes – some very challenging and some scoring holes (meaning not-so-challenging <NSC>).  But as everybody knows, those NSC holes are normally the ones you’ll give away a stroke or two and be disgusted about it later.

I always look forward to the challenging 0ver the water par 3s on the back nine.  On this day, Bogeyman and I managed to fleece the pigeon by purposely (well at least that’s what we’re claiming now) hitting our tee shot into the water and then teaming up to beat the pigeon after he doubled the bet.  Hence the term, “fleecing”!

Oh yeah, how was the course?  Well I’m happy to report that the heavy rains from the prior night did nothing to harm the course.  We had cart path only but the course was in outstanding shape.   Fairways were nearly perfect and the rough was, well rough – as it should be!  Don’t hit it there!  I know, easier said than done but even though it was kind of high, you could actually play balls out of it.  The greens were quick but fair and the tee boxes were also in very good shape.  No problems or concerns about this course – kudos to the Superintendent!

On this day, the pigeon agreed to pick up lunch and beverage after the round (see “fleecing” above) in Blue Mash’s large and comfortable bar/restaurant area.  We solved many of the world’s problems after the round (you all know that drill) and resolved to come back to Blue Mash again very soon!  You should too as it’s in great shape!

Blue Mash Golf Course | Laytonsville, MD | bluemash.com

OK – so I am still golfing from time to time…been too busy with other stuff to get to play as much as I’d like.  Sound familiar?  Some buddies talked me into a weekday round at Timbers and having not played in quite a while, I had no clue what to expect.

The course was in very good shape.  The greens had almost fully recovered from the recent Spring aeration and the fairways and tee boxes were in very good shape as well.  This course always seems to get me on a few holes and today was no exception – although I could certainly write it up to rustiness!  (Has ANYONE out there ever used that one before?  ha ha..)

I did get my swing down by the back nine and closed with 3 “easy” pars – you know the ones you missed a 10′ birdie putt and leave yourself an easy tap-in – on what I consider 3 pretty tough holes at Timbers, especially the long uphill par 4 #18.  Make sure you select the right club and hit your approach to the right part (as in front or back) of this very large green or expect a three putt which you will be lamenting about in the clubhouse while enjoying a cold one!

I look forward to my next round at Timbers – an extremely nice and fun-to-play Howard County course!

The Timbers at Troy | Elkridge, MD | timbersgolf.com

Pulling into the service road and just looking at the course from afar, it appeared to be in great shape. I noticed a tee box that looked like a fairway and immediately thought, I don’t remember it being THIS nice!

We fumbled around a bit and managed to get to the starter and 1st tee where we were given the “normal” instructions for the Oaks Course… i.e.  keep the ball down the right side as everything fades left; it’s a difficult course; 90 degree cart rule; no driving on the greens today, etc.  We, of course, inquired about the course record and even after that the starter and staffers continued to be extremely helpful and informative – more so than other courses.

In any event, we got off on time with our friend Gary and a guy that obviously just hit the lottery (because he got to play w/ Waggle!) Bob Z. Right away, I noticed a couple of things, (1) the conditions were much nicer than what I remembered from last time and (2) the Oaks Course was not as wide open as I remember. (I obviously must have played the Lakes course last time.)

We played the white tees measuring a little over 6300 for a par 71 course which was just about the right length for us semi-hackers. Greens held shots well and for a County golf course, it was well maintained and all conditions were pretty darn good.  Some of the fairways had recently been aerated but unless you looked closely, it was not noticeable, and it certainly did not affect play!

The only negative, and this is probably a tribute this fine facility, is the length of play and how busy the golf course was. On a Wednesday late morning they were completely full and the pace of play – at least on the front nine – was slightly longer than we would desire at about 2 3/4 hours, however several “friendly-type” marshals rode by frequently to keep everybody happy.  I will say we got around the back nine in normal time with no waiting so perhaps only the front was busy?

The previously mentioned Bob Z, who we learned is a regular player at Twin Lakes and certainly enjoyed the company of Waggle (at least that’s our opinion!), was given an opportunity to provide comments about his round of golf.  He then

offered several comments about this course…”It’s a fine municipal County course (I said that earlier), which offers a challenging layout. The Oaks course is significantly more difficult than the Lakes course but both courses are fun to play. The course was redone several years ago, I play here frequently, it’s pretty busy but for the money you can’t go wrong, etc. etc…” At this point, we had to stop him from talking (or maybe Bogeyman’s pencil broke) but needless to say Bob Z certainly enjoys Twin Lakes golf and the Waggle men did too!

You can get a nice discount at Twin Lakes by using the Waggle Golf Pass. Get yours today at www.wagglegolfpass.com.  After the round, make sure to visit the Lakes Grill for the “after round” discussion and beverage!  It was quite comfortable!

Twin Lakes Golf Course – Clifton, VA – fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/golf/twinlakes