Course Review -- Hobbit's Glen Golf Club, Columbia, MD

note: been a busy couple weeks, so somewhat behind on posting. Apologies for that...
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Course: Hobbit's Glen Golf Club
Location: 11130 Willowbottom Dr., Columbia, MD
Yardages: 5434 (r)/6162 (g)/6687 (w) /7078 (b)
Website: http://www.columbiagolf.net/


In the first (of hopefully many) course review I present Hobbit's Glen Golf Club in Columbia, Md. Hobbits Glen is owned by the Columbia Association (CA), and is a semi-private course open to CA members and their guests. Not being a CA member, this is the only the second time I have played at the course. I volunteer with the Special Olympics of Howard County golf program, and Hobbit's Glen is one of the courses that host the program. (Periodically following our golf lessons the kind folks at Hobbit's Glen allow coaches to play a few holes before dark, and thus I’ve only played the first few on the front.)

The course is considered one of the best, if not the best, in Howard County, and has been voted Best Golf Club in Howard County by Columbia Magazine’s Howard County Readers’ Poll for the last eight years. The course has also hosted the State Farm Senior Classic on three occasions earlier this decade. I would be curious if the course has made any efforts lately to acquire any other tournaments at the PGA, LPGA, or Champions Tour level, and may just inquire about that....so stay tuned.

One of my favorite aspects of Hobbit's Glen is their practice facilities. In addition to a nice driving range, they feature a large practice green as well as a large chipping and pitching area, complete with bunker and fairway which can accommodate practice shots up to nearly 100-yards. The driving range features a large turf hitting area, however, every time I have visited the range the turf area was closed and golfers were limited to traditional artificial mats. The practice green has a very large surface area, and features both holed-out cups as well as some pins without cups, providing numerous targets across the green. Additionally, the holes are well placed, affording the player an opportunity to hit a putt from literally all angles and slopes. I did not have the opportunity to visit the short-game area this time around, but from a distance it appeared to be in good shape and a excellent venue for an intense short-game practice session.

In terms of length, Hobbit's Glen is not extremely long, through by no means is it a short course. The course plays to over 6600 yards from the white tees (over 7000 for blues), and features two par fours of 420+ yards. There are no “short” par 5’s, but a couple are reachable for long hitters with two good shots. The course is very fair, in that there are several tight holes, along with several others which are more wide-open. One of the nicer features of Hobbit's Glen is the scorecard, available here, which includes a detailed yardage book typically found only at more exclusive clubs. The course features a bar and grill, The Coho Grill, which serves typical bar food. I did not eat anything there, so cannot speak for it, but from what I have heard from others, it is above average for golf course food.

One word of advice, as is similar with many courses in the Baltimore/Washington metro area, the course is not friendly to walkers. There are several spots on the course where there is a considerable walk between the green and the next tee, sometimes to the point where if a foursome in carts were playing behind you, they would probably be able to catch you while you were making the trek to the next tee.

One other word of caution is that the club experienced difficulty in greening their fairways this season. Please see (undated) quote below for more detail, but basically several fairways have large dead spots, and in the outing I played in recently, free drops were given if your ball landed in one of these dead spots.

I would like to provide an update on the progress and condition of the fairways at Hobbit's Glen. As you have seen, there are a number of areas, mainly in wet and shaded areas, where the Bermuda grass is not doing well yet this season. It is, however, improving from day to day. This week we started an aggressive program of sprigging, sodding or seeding areas that require our attention. This process will be essentially complete by the end of this week. Previous sprigging experience tells us that we will be mowing these areas within two weeks or so. Many fairways are in relatively good shape at this point. Holes one, four, six, nine, and seventeen are good examples. Other fairways are in good condition with the exception of some isolated areas. In total, about 1.5 acres of turf were affected by the weather conditions. The pre-emergent that was applied in April has slowed the recovery process. The fairways will fully recover over the next month, but you will see an improvement each time you come out to play.

This spring has been unusually difficult for the Bermuda grass, but great conditions are soon to come. I have spoken to other superintendents growing Bermuda grass in this area, and they are seeing similar winter damage. We all believe it occurred in the early spring with the drastic swing in temperatures and cloudy conditions. Last year we had just a few areas that needed attention. The fairways at Hobbit's Glen pose several challenges regardless of the turf type. Shade and drainage are the two most difficult to deal with, but we have a comprehensive, ongoing plan to address these issues. Addressing these issues will minimize winter kill events in the future. We are dedicated to improving the conditions.

The fees are somewhat complicated depending on your particular situation, so instead of posting them here, I will instead provide the link to the fees.

All in all, a highly recommended course...3.5 stars out of five on the Palm scale. With regard to this, and any other course I review, I’d be glad to answer any other questions you might have.

The Golf Handicap Experience

I think I am going to post updates as I proceed through acquiring my first official USGA handicap. I played high school golf from 1999-2003, and during that period I had a scoring average (as published in the local paper) but never kept an official handicap. In the years since high school I rarely played more than five rounds per summer, but have made an effort this year to play significantly more, and figure now is a good of time as any to register my handicap.

I have joined the golf league through my work, and that will do the majority of the legwork behind my handicap. The league has roughly eight events left on the schedule, one of which I believe is a two-man event, so that obviously won't count. I also plan to add in my casual rounds as they come along, with the first possibly coming this weekend.

My wife and I are traveling to Pittsburgh to celebrate a friend's 30th birthday, and the husband of the friend and I have an 0845 tee time at a course near Pittsburgh. If the weather holds, which I am seriously doubting it will, I plan to have that serve as my first official round. If not, my first event as a member of the work league is on Monday, so that will count as well.

It seems like it should be an interesting process, as it is much more than just how many over par one usually shoots, so I am curious to see what the magic number will be after the five required rounds.

Remebering Payne Stewart

The year 2009 marks the tenth anniversary of Payne Stewart's magical win at Pinehurst No. 2, but unfortunately also marks the anniversary of his tragic death in October of that year. Payne was one of the greatest personalities on the tour, appeared to be loved by all, and is most certainly missed. There has been an influx of stories recalling Payne's legacy and updates on his family, and they are all touching to read. I found an ESPN story to be very moving, and well-written at the same time.

Although he has been gone for a decade, his legacy certainly lives on, and just this month his alma mater, Southern Methodist University, broke ground on the Payne Stewart Golf Learning Center. Payne's son Aaron will begin his sophomore season at SMU this fall, and his daughter Chelsea is a charity coordinator for the Tour Championship in Atlanta. It is a tribute to Payne that his children both have chosen to have golf remain in their lives, when it would be easy to want to block out golf because of the many memories it must bring back.

A quick Google search for Payne's name reveals an excellent video produced by the PGA Tour about the Payne Stewart Award, given to the tour player who best exemplifies the morals and qualities that Payne exerted throughout this life. In the video, the following quote is presented, and I think is an excellent way to remember Payne.

But in the end it's still a game of golf, and at the end of the day if you can't shake the hand of your opponents and still be friends, then you've missed the point.

Top Ten in Maryland?

In case any locals are browsing, here is the top-ten public courses in Maryland, published by golf.com in Sept. 2008. I can only claim to have played on course on the list, Maryland National, and was very impressed with the course. I think it would be an admirable goal to try and play the rest by year's end... edit: looks like course #3 on the list is closed as they appear to building residences on the course instead.

1. Bulle Rock, Havre de Grace
2. Links at Lighthouse Sound, Bishopville
3. Beechtree, Aberdeen
4. River Marsh, Cambridge
5. Atlantic Golf at Queenstown Harbor (River), Queenstown
6. Maryland National, Middletown
7. Rum Pointe, Berlin
8. Whiskey Creek, Urbana
9. Rocky Gap, Flintstone
10. Musket Ridge, Myersville

Golf in the Olympics?

One of the stories I think will gain quite a bit of attention over the coming weeks will be the proposal to bring golf back to the Olympics. Graham Dunbar of USA Today wrote a brief article today about the idea, and it is thought provoking. I think that it is an excellent idea, however, I think that concessions must be made in order for the event to draw the elite status that it should.

Golf has grown substantially over the last decade in terms of its international presence, one perfect example being the World Golf Championships. Since their inception back in 1999, these tournaments have brought the world's best together to play on golf's best courses. I would suggest that during Olympic years, these championships be limited in number, as the format in the proposed Olympic events matches that of three of the WGC events:

"The IGF proposal calls for 72-hole stroke play tournaments for men and women, with 60 players in each field. Three-hole playoffs will decide the medal places. The world's top 15 players will gain automatic entry with remaining places filled by the highest-ranked players whose countries don't already have two players in the field."

Again, I think the WGC events have been successful, but the Olympic events would be that much more unique if it were one of the few truly international competitions of the year.

Anyone else with thoughts?

Blog Topics

Here are a few things I plan to write about...

• Course Reviews -- mostly limited to Maryland/DC courses, and probably a couple in NE Ohio where I grew up.
  
• New Golf Gadgets -- the industry continually develops new toys aimed to make life easier on the golf course. Many of which I am skeptical of, but others may be useful. Such hands-on reivews will be subject to budgetary constraints...but who knows, maybe we get a few readers and companies start sending me stuff...
• TV Coverage Reviews -- not rehashing the golf shot-by-shot, rather looking at the way in which it was covered. I unfortunately don't get to watch all four rounds each week, so these will be sporadic at best.
• PGA Tour Insider -- again, not shot-by-shot, but hope to look at the inside of the tour happenings, and maybe not just limited to the PGA. As time permits will look at LPGA, Senior, and Nationwide tours.
• Book Reviews -- many a journalist has written about the game, going to look at some of the better works, past and present.

I am also a believer that there are many out there with more time/dedication than I have to put into this blog, so I will try to highlight the best of these blogs as time permits. I know this is a popular feature on many other blogs, so I will try my best not to reinvent the wheel.

Introduction

I find that my obsession with golf is not unique among bloggers, and by no means do I plan to stack up next to the greats. That said, I think there is quality in numbers, and thus will do my best to find golden nuggets on the web to be shared with all who are willing.

I do not plan to post weekly recaps of tournaments, as that is heavily covered in both mainstream reporting and the blog world. I will post my opinions regarding tournaments on occasion, but there is much more to golf than the weekly happenings of the pro tours.

I make no promises as to how often and what specific content will be posted, and welcome any and all suggestions.