Course review: Penderbrook Golf Club

Conditions » 2

Layout » 3

Facilities » 2

Value » 3

Description » The 30-year-old course, at the bustling intersection of Routes 66 and 50, meanders through housing, taking some unusual twists and turns. Penderbrook is short but challenging and requires accuracy, especially on approach shots. It’s hard to find a course with a rating as low as 70 and a slope as high as 132.

Reason to play » Convenient location, interesting layout, with a good variety of holes. Nice setting for the clubhouse. Balcony overlooks a lake, putting green.

The downside » Pick your spots when to play this poorly managed course. A weekend round last summer was delayed 45 minutes because of closely packed tee times, then took more than six hours to complete. While weekends can be disastrous, weekday rounds can go quickly. Other gripes: lack of distance markers at tee boxes, no range, poorly maintained bunkers, lots of goose droppings.

Toughest hole
No. 10, Par 3, 220 Yards
Intimidating tee shot over water. All carry to a green with bunkers in front and behind. However, green is ample and downhill, so play one less club. This is the third straight hole that plays over the same man-made lake and can turn a promising round into a disaster.

Good hole
No. 15, Par 4, 435 Yards
No. 14, a 486-yard par 5, and No. 15 run parallel and are secluded from the rest of the course. Both are strong holes. No. 14 can be reached in two shots, but the green is pinched by vegetation on the left. No. 15 is the longest par 4 at Penderbrook.

Best hole
No. 17, Par 5, 500 Yards
After two unreachable par 5s on the front nine, there are two tantalizing par 5s on the back. A big drive that clears the high point of the fairway will get some downhill roll, setting up a downhill shot to the narrowest green on the course.   

Historic perspective » Penderbrook replaced an old local favorite, Pinecrest II, an interesting 9-hole course with an ample driving range on land now occupied by Fair Oaks Mall. Across Route 50, Penderbrook opened the same year as the mall (1980).

Designs » Penderbrook is the work of Ed Ault, perhaps the most prolific designer of golf courses in the D.C. area.

Signature hole
No. 12  » Par 4 » 315 Yards
The most cursed hole on the course is a 90-degree dogleg left. It requires two short but accurate iron shots, the first to a small, sloped fairway and the second to a shallow green that slopes away on all four sides and is protected by water. Challenging hole but not as severe as its previous incarnation, which required a 200-yard approach to a green across the water and was backed by townhomes.