Welcome to Playing Through, a new monthly series at WTOP.com where morning drive editor Mike Jakaitis — nickname Jake — and digital sports editor Noah Frank (that’s me) play and review local golf courses in the WTOP listening area.
Our requirements for the courses are simple. Each must be within an hour’s drive of our Northwest D.C. studio (without traffic, per Google Maps) and must be open to a member of the public to make tee times.
When presenting the courses, we tried to take everything into account from the different perspectives that we bring. Mike is more of a casual golfer — he usually only plays occasionally, he likes to ride a cart, he’s never broken 100. I’m a more avid player — I try to get out at least once a week when I can, I almost always walk, and I was once a 10 handicap, though I’m a bit worse than that now.
The idea behind the series is to get people out of their routines. Sure, it’s nice to have a home course that you’re familiar with, maybe even one you belong to. But such a big part of golf is playing different layouts, challenging yourself with new courses. Often, even when you might have heard of good course from a friend or co-worker, you end up just heading back to your old run, out of comfort, habit, or fear of spending your hard-earned cash on what ends up being an underwhelming experience.
That’s what we’re here for. We’ll give you our dual perspectives on the course as a whole, from quality and challenge of play down to the practice facilities and even the food. We’ll also give you a visual layout from hole-to-hole, to give you better sense of the overall landscape and types of challenges to expect. Check back each month as we add another course to the list, and let us know if we should check out your home course next.
August 2016: Langston Golf Course, Washington D.C.
September 2016: Poolesville Golf Course, Poolesville, Md.
October 2016: 1757 Golf Club, Dulles, Va.
November 2016: Glenn Dale Golf Club, Glenn Dale, Md.
December 2016: OFF
January 2017: Raspberry Falls Golf & Hunt Club, Leesburg, Va.
February 2017: Laurel Hill Golf Club, Lorton, Va.
March 2017: Jefferson District Golf Course, Falls Church, Va.
April 2017: OFF
May 2017: East Potomac Golf Course, Washington, D.C.
Special Edition: Senior PGA Championship at Trump National Golf Club, Sterling, Va.
Memorial Day Weekend 2017: The Delmarva beaches, with Bobby Vermillion
June 2017: Fairways and Freeways at Potomac Shores Golf Club, Dumfries, Va.
July 2017: Senior Players Championship at Caves Valley Golf Club, Owings Mills, Md.
August 2017: Needwood Golf Course, Derwood, Md.
September 2017: University of Maryland Golf Course, College Park, Md.
October 2017: Reston National Golf Course, Reston, Va.
November 2017: OFF
December 2017: Blue Mash Golf Course, Laytonsville, Md.
January 2018: Topgolf Loudoun, Ashburn, Va.
February 2018: OFF
March 2018: Pinecrest Golf Course with D.C. United’s Steve Birnbaum, Alexandria, Va.
April 2018: OFF
May 2018: Burke Lake Golf Course, Fairfax Station, Va.
June 2018: Quicken Loans National at TPC Potomac
July 2018: The Club at Creighton Farms with Jack Nicklaus, Aldie, Va.
