Courses/Clubs Near Frederick, MD?

[FlyingLaw1]

Hi Everyone!

 

I'm finally in the stage of my life where I'm likely having to relocate from the midwest. Right now I'm interviewing with a company that would place me in Frederick, Maryland and I know basically nothing about golf in the area. I did some brief searching on here and other places and didn't really find much in the immediate area so I'm wondering if I should be looking to live closer into DC?

 

I'm looking for nicer public courses and at least a nice place to practice (good range, etc). In a couple years or so (maybe sooner) I'd also like to look into joining a club that isn't crazy expensive.

 

I know my original post is somewhat vague--mostly as I'm in the very early stages of trying to decide where I'd want to live--so If anyone has any follow up questions I'll be happy to answer!!

 

Thank you all in advance!

[cristphoto]

There are lots of good golf courses in the Frederick area.

 

Worthington Manor (US Open qualifier course)

Musket Ridge

Maryland National

Whiskey Creek

Clustered Spires

 

About 1/2 hour away are several more excellent courses.

[eagle1997]

Good stuff Cristphoto. I'd add PB Dye GC to that list. They've got an excellent weekday afternoon rate. As for practice facilities, Musket, Worthington and Little Bennett have very good grass ranges. MD National has a decent short game area and practice green. Musket's practice green is bigger and better.

 

To the OP- housing is significantly less expensive in Frederick. The closer you get to DC, the more that goes up. By a lot.

 

Good luck with your move! Lots of Wrxers play together in the general area too (MD, DC, VA).

[DrOldSchool]

I'm a Frederick native, and can attest that there is a lot of great golf close by that didn't exist 20-25 years ago. My ranking of the public's around the county are like this:

 

Tier 1:

Whiskey Creek (Awesome Els design near Urbana where there has been a ton of new development in town - not by the course)

Links at Gettysburg (Some holes are tricked up, love it or leave it course. I love it. Not in Frederick Co but close enough)

Musket Ridge (Very fun course and great scenic layout west of Frederick)

Worthington Manor (Hosts a lot of qualifiers for USGA events, also in Urbana)

Maryland National (Something always leaves me wanting more about this place. It's still good, but I'd rather go to the others above given a choice. It's next to Musket Ridge)

 

Tier 2:

PB Dye (Tons of blind shots and inconsiderate hacks. Take a batting helmet if it's busy. South of Urbana)

Challedon (Course was good when there were no houses on it. Not the same now. Always inconsistent conditions. Near Mt. Airy)

Clustered Spires (everyone but me likes this place. It always was and still is an overpriced muni, even as it matured)

Richland (Good layout but went bankrupt a couple years back so check on conditions. Near Middletown)

 

Tier 3:

Glade Valley (Matured well, but nothing special, except it's usually cheap between Walkersville and Woodsboro)

Little Bennett (County muni has some decent holes South of Urbana)

Rattlewood (Another county muni near Mt. Airy. Nothing special about it either, other than a Hoodie & The Blowfish video was filmed there)

West Winds (Was private until the 1990s. Many holes ruined when houses added. 13 is the dumbest hole in the county. Near New Market)

Maple Run (The front 9 is ok. But the back 9 is a joke. It's a dog track really near Thurmont).

Frederick Golf Club (It's a farm field)

Hope Valley (It's an old camp turned into an executive course in the woods)

 

 

Expanding out from the county it's a short drive to the good courses in the DC area, and some good value courses going into Western MD, Northern VA, and south-central PA. There is also the private option of Holly Hills just off I-70 between New Market and Frederick. All the courses have practice facilities of various value, and there is a couple old school mat driving ranges around town.

 

In terms of cost of living, things are cheaper relatively speaking than going into the DC area/Montgomery Co. Urbana is a rapidly growing area about 10-15 min south of Frederick. When I went to elementary school there in the late 80s, it was a park, a fire station, the school, a 7-11, and a weird restaurant/OTB parlor with 10-15 houses in between. Now it's got all kinds of housing options, groceries, and a bunch of food options. night and day difference, none of it more than 10 years old. Frederick has expanded and developed a lot too, and the downtown has made a nice comeback.

[snoilr1]

The closer you get to DC the more expensive everything is. And there are very limited number of 18 hole public courses inside, or even close to the Beltway. You'll end up driving to Frederick to play if you move closer.

 

AAlso, Be prepared that cost of golf will probably be considerably higher than what you're used to anywhere within an hour of DC, unless you're moving from Chicago.

[FlyingLaw1]

Thanks everyone! Just got home from the interview--seemed to have gone well but we will see.

 

I tried to explore the area a little bit but just didn't have enough time to do much. Nice little town with a really cool downtown area! Frederick seems quite a bit different from what we are used to in the midwest (not in a bad way). However, the only course I was able to visit was Holly Hills. It seemed nice enough but is private so probably won't be able to afford that for a bit.

 

The rest of the courses seem great! My google search of "golf courses near Frederick" didn't even come close to coming up with what you guys did. I had a look at several of the websites and these certainly look like what I was looking for. Most of them look to be 20 minutes or less from the heart of Frederick which is nice. The prices certainly are more than what I am used to. I can walk 18 at my muni (which is one of the top public courses in Missouri) for 25 dollars. Not going to happen in MD--something I'll have to get used to. Do they even allow you to walk there?

[snoilr1]

I live on the VA side of the Potomac, so I don't play the MD courses as often. Most of the municipal courses here allow walking, at least at during the week. I'm not aware of any daily fee courses that allow walking, or if they do, they include the cart in the price, whether or not you use it.

[hark114]

I just played down there in the may and the courses were excellent. I really liked whiskey creek.

[totes570]

Worthington Manor will let you walk even on weekends. I can't speak directly to all the courses mentioned but my guess is most allow walking during the week, weekends are probably split. Depending on when you play, most of the top tier courses have good twilight rates and are empty during weekday evenings so you can get your play in without forking over $100+ on weekends.

 

I agree with DrOldSchool in terms of the tiers of courses, they are all in great shape this time of year.

 

Good luck with the job.

[DrOldSchool]

I walked the bottom tier on my list (and Holly Hills since it was my HS home course) a lot growing up. That was the 1990s though. Going back to visit I've seen walkers on Glade, West Winds, Maple, and Clustered. But never any of the big boys - doesn't mean it doesn't happen or they don't allow it though, I just don't remember seeing it.

 

To get back to the price point, you can find decent online deals at most (but not all) of the courses via the usual websites. Probably won't be $25 in season for the ones I listed in Tier 1, but it won't be $100 either, which some of them approach/pass at full freight. You can get the bottom tier for less than $25 online in season though.

[dugly2ugly]

As you can probably tell by other responses already, Frederick is great for golf. It has probably the best concentration of quality courses in the entire DC region.

 

As I understand it, the bureaucratic mess that is Montgomery County has driven all of the developers to nearby Frederick - it's as close as they can get to the population density and money in Montgomery County.

[ex0dus]

Whiskey Creek is rated as one of the top courses in the state. Very nice course. I have played there a few times and haven't seen anyone walk. Not sure if it is allowed.

 

Worthington Manor is also highly rated and walkable. Tricky, undulating greens.

 

Clustered Spires is a bit easier, and walkable.

 

I would agree that Frederick has the best public courses in the DC Metro area.

[atteberry23]

I saw musket ridge on here, it was a great course. I haven't played Maryland National but would really like too.

 

If you go to Northern VA, Old Hickory is a fun course to play.