The new-look Congressional Blue, which jumped again into our Top 100 Courses in the U.S. rating this yr.
JAMES LEWIS
As a part of GOLF’s course ranking course of for 2022-23, our fleet of 100-plus professional panelists recognized the best golf courses in Maryland. Browse the hyperlinks under to take a look at all of our course rankings, or scroll all the way down to see the best courses in Maryland.
GOLF’s different course rankings: Top 100 Courses in the World | Top 100 Courses in the U.S. | Top 100 Courses You Can Play | Top 100 Value Courses in the U.S. | America’s Best Municipal Courses | The 100 Best Short Courses in the World
SYMBOL GUIDE
1 = Top 100 Course in the U.S.
P = Public/Resort Course
V = Top 100 Value Course in the U.S.
M = Top 30 Municipal Course in the U.S.
Ed. observe: Some courses had been omitted from our rankings as a result of they didn’t obtain sufficient votes.
The best golf courses in Maryland (2022/2023)
1. Congressional — Blue (Bethesda) [1]
Great issues had been all the time meant for this course, given its location simply exterior our nation’s capital. But after 100 years of existence, too many architects had had a hand in its evolution, and this Devereux Emmet design misplaced its Golden Age ethos. What to do? The membership pivoted to Andrew Green and gave him carte blanche to wholly reimagine the course and unify it below one hand. Green delivered with the revamped design now trying prefer it has been there for greater than a century. The alternating asks are glorious and each facet of your sport is examined. Take the stretch of seven through 9: the uphill par-3 seventh requires a carry over the course’s deepest greenside bunker; the eighth is a teaser of a brief par-4 with par amply defended on the angled inexperienced; and the ninth is a 600-plus yard rollercoaster that follows the heaving land again to the majestic clubhouse. Pete Wendt is among the nation’s best greenkeepers and his layering of native grasses throughout the rollicking panorama lends the course a luxurious texture that had lengthy been absent. With timber eliminated and the wind blowing by way of, the times of a delicate course — just like the one Rory McIlroy encountered when he received the 2011 U.S. Open right here — are a distant reminiscence on the “new old” Congressional.
2. Baltimore — East/Five Farms (Baltimore)
Five Farms lays on an incredible piece of rolling land. Tillinghast used the land effectively with a routing that takes benefit of the various pure inexperienced websites ensuing in assorted, fascinating and difficult greens that are the crown jewels of the course. Five Farms additionally options arguably two of Tillinghast’s best par-5s, the barn gap sixth and the nice hazard 14th. The course restoration expanded the greens and fairways, permitting for extra gap areas ensuing in extra angles and choices throughout the course. If you rating an invitation, drop every little thing and go.
3. Burning Tree (Bethesda)
4. Caves Valley (Owings Mills)
5. Chevy Chase (Chevy Chase)
How we rank our courses
For GOLF’s course rankings lists, every panelist is supplied an inventory of tons of of courses and “buckets,” or groupings. If they consider the course to be among the many best in its class (World, U.S. Value, and so forth.), they examine the corresponding field to put it in a particular bucket. Panelists are additionally free to write down in courses they felt ought to have been included on the poll. Points had been assigned to every bucket; to reach at a median rating for every course, we divide its combination rating by the variety of votes. From these level tallies, the courses are then ranked accordingly.
The key to the method is the expertise and experience of our panel. Hailing from 15 nations and all of the worldwide golf meccas, every of our 115 handpicked panelists has a eager eye for structure, each regionally and globally. Many of our panelists have performed greater than 1,000 courses in 20-plus nations.
Because we don’t prescribe a set methodology to evaluate courses as different ranks do, nobody opinion carries the day — our rank is a democracy. Some panelists consider that enjoyment is the last word aim, and thus prioritize design attributes equivalent to width and enjoying angles, whereas frowning on upon having to always hunt for balls in thick tough. Other panelists worth problem and the calls for of hitting each membership in the bag. Still others contemplate a course’s environment and total setting of paramount significance, thereby emphasizing the setting and naturalness of the course. In the tip, permitting raters to freely categorical their tastes is what produces the specified eclecticism in our Top 100 lists.
Panelist integrity is important. Voters with any ties or associations to eligible courses should flag such conflicts. Panelists additionally know to not let the standard of their play affect their poll — identical for a luxe expertise or clubhouse. While opulence could make for a extra a memorable outing, it’s not what GOLF’s course lists are about. Our focus is on design and structure. We research the course, not the trimmings round it.
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