Hey Johnny - I play at CCMD (actually live on the “Ridge 9” at Hunt Valley, but don’t belong anymore)…if you ever want to get out, let me know. Still thinking of joining? Best club in the area for my money.
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The best course to close in Maryland over the last few (15?) years or so was Beechtree. Outstanding layout and super fun - I think it even cracked the top 100 in Golf Digest…Alas, it went the way of McMansions…Chestnut Ridge was a fun track - also houses now…
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I did get to play the Bay Club, enjoyed it and one of the only courses I could think of with Zoysia grass. The ball practically sits on a tee in the fairways. An “island green” 17 (surrounded by bunkers) was kinda cool. Icarito’d hard on deer run, -2 thru 9, then the double-train started rolling.
I joined CCMD at the beginning of August. I’m definitely enjoying it so far.
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Oh, nice. Glad it’s going well. My name is Brian Whipple. Hopefully we can get in a round in the coming year…
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I want to second the best course to close was Beechtree. Great public course, wish we could see it on Strapped
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New to the Refuge. Buddy and myself just getting back into golf big time. Baltimore County-Hunt Valley, Sparks, Owings Mills. Any suggestions for 30 somethings in terms of clubs to join?
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Piney Branch in Hampstead/Upperco is probably the best valued private club around that area. Could be a slight bias because I joined there this year and used to work there, but check it out as well as Hayfields, Eagles Nest, Country Club of MD, and of course Baltimore Country Club and a few others, depending on your price point. Hunt Valley CC has been struggling I’ve heard. Take this with a grain of sand though- I haven’t played too many of the private clubs around
Youve got at least 4 Refugees here from CCOM. I love the course and the group of guys. Plus my wife and kids love the food and events.
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Beachtree and it ain’t close. A Doak design you could play for $70 that was one of his personal favorites he ever designed? I still weep.
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I was a member at Hunt Valley for two years and am now a member at Eagles Nest. Both are a little more affordable than CCMD (which I’d love to join because it’s five mins from my house, but it’s a healthy buy in). Hunt Valley is desperate for members, especially young ones. It has about 15 good holes. 9 and 18 aren’t among them, which is frustrating. Sometimes I wish I’d stayed but Eagles (which is part of Club Corp) is just so much friendlier and attentive. Hunt Valley was just clueless about so much stuff. But if you want to have a place to play, it’s affordable.
I was a HV member for two years (now at CC of MD, which is great as it’s 5 minutes from my house). Your comment about HV being clueless certainly rings true, particularly the operation of the pool. We did enjoy the kids events during the winter, and those events were usually run well. But the pool events were usually hopelessly disorganized.
There is a nice group of weekend golfers who organize a friendly, yet competitive pot game, which I enjoyed. As for the course, it could be quite good considering the land on which it sits. There are a few holes that shouldn’t be holes because of drainage issues (5 and 14). I was ambivalent about 9 and 18 — maybe not great finishing holes, but I didn’t think they were poor holes. As a walker, I did not like the walk up 18 green to the clubhouse.
I think they are running some cheap deals right now. But as a corporate-owned operation, they are more focused on recruiting new members than retaining existing ones.
I played Eagles Nest once and enjoyed it. The club seemed better run than HV. But I certainly have not had any regrets since joining my current club. Not having a pool is the only drawback, but we fortunately have other options.
If it were just me, I’d have sucked it up and joined CCMD and been happy as a clam. But I couldn’t justify it as my kids love the pool and my significant other (who golfs a bunch now) can also use Eagle’s event space for work events for free. The ClubCorp deal that allows me to play for free at courses when I travel is also pretty cool. But literally every time I drive past CCMD or Eldridge I wish I was a member at either.
The walk up 9 or 18 at HV annoyed me as well as I loved walking. I actually think both those holes, with different greens, would be good holes. But there is so little pinable green on 9 and hitting a 4-iron or hybrid into 18 at the end of a round was just annoying. I don’t mind a course that finishes with a Par 3 (shoutout Passa) but it’s also not one I want to play every round on. The drainage on 14 is what led to me getting fed up enough to leave. It was mud for months. And it never seemed like there was a plan to fix it. Water would sit on that fairway for days until the grass was dead.
In the end what annoyed me most just not having any way to make tee times on line. Sometimes there would be outings (say, every Monday) but there was no way to tell. Eagles has a great mobile app. It’s super easy to see if the course is busy and if I want to pop in for a nine that I know will take 80 mins instead of 2.5 hours. There are a lot of shots I miss hitting at HV, but my lady feels so much more comfortable playing with me at Eagles. Every time I showed up to play at HV, they treated me like they were doing me a favor.
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I have not played Elkridge, but whenever I drive past the course it looks like a really fun, quirky course. I know there are a few non-Raynor holes, but the land does look really good for golf. I do get the sense, despite not being a Baltimore native, that Elkridge is quite the blue blood club. Regardless, I really do want to play there.
The summer of 2018, with its rain and oppressive heat, were very tough on HV. This past year was better. But the 5th and 14th fairways still suffered significantly.
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What are people’s thoughts on Turf Valley. I’ve had an opportunity or 2 to play there but all have fallen through I live within 10 minutes of the place and just haven’t gotten to play there yet, seems a bit of a shame or am I not missing anything?
All the talk about HV makes me want to play there again. Lots of fond memories (I used to play there with my uncle every year in the spring for an outing starting from about age 14) and it was one of the first well-conditioned courses I played repeatedly. The terrain certainly gave that course character and I remember some cool holes. I can’t imagine walking the old Blue 9 though!
Speaking of- I’d like to hear what members though of that 9… some quirky holes for sure. I heard they made it into a disc golf course- not sure if that part is open to the public or not. Disc golf is a whole different conversation though… wonder if there are any threads on the Refuge for disc golf? And there goes my productivity for the day
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I’m sure it’s poor etiquette to post twice in a row, but after looking through other threads, I thought this topic fit best here:
What gives with Maryland and even the mid-atlantic region getting shafted on pro events in 2020? I don’t attend many events, but I was hoping to catch something this upcoming year on the KFC Tour, Champs Tour, LPGA… something. The closest thing I think is a senior event in Richmond and I think the US Open at Winged Foot is the next closest thing to Baltimore. I did see that the US Women’s Amateur is at Woodmont this year, so that’s cool and I’ll be hitting that up.
But with two densely populated metro areas and lots of golfers, why does it seem like a PGA tour event hasn’t been able to stick around for more than 5 years or so? Confession: I really know very little about how the tour chooses venues, how money and sponsors work, etc. All I know I’ve learned from listening to the NLU Podcasts. This post is really just to vent that nothing is coming through this year.
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Every event, even the Korn Ferry Tour events, needs a sponsor to put up money to make it happen. My guess is, the companies that used to do it like Constellation Energy just don’t think it’s worth it, that their “charitable contributions” (tax write offs) are better used elsewhere. As populated as the area is, its major employers are hospitals (not going to sponsor golf), the federal government (not sponsoring golf), Black and Decker (could sponsor golf, but historically have show zero interest), Foodservices Inc (zero interest in golf).
It’s just not home to the kind of companies/employers that are interested in propping up the golf world.
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An eye-opening response there, I appreciate the explanation KVV. I guess I’ve never considered/understood the correlation with the tournament location and sponsors. I would have just thought any sponsor would want to sponsor any event anywhere. Probably why I didn’t go into marketing.
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Love playing TV in the fall.
I miss the holes they sold away, but it’s still a good 36 hole facility.
Make sure not to play right after it’s rained as it does tend to take a while to drain.