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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.
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