As you walk along the Georgetown Branch section of the Capital Crescent Trail, you can catch a glimpse of the second tee at Columbia Country Club, a par four named “Valley Brook.” The posh name brings to mind Augusta National, home of the Masters, which features holes such as “Flowering Crab Apple” and “Carolina Cherry.”
But the similarities between the courses don’t stop there, according to Columbia member George Vary.
The 16th hole at the prestigious club is a par three over water, with a green that runs away from the golfer. Flowering trees sit behind the hole. The story, Vary says, is that Bobby Jones modeled the famous 12th hole at Augusta (“Golden Bell”) after playing the 16th at Columbia during the 1921 U.S. Open.
“That’s what’s told,” Vary says cryptically.
The course has come a long way since its founding more than 100 years ago, when the course was, quite literally, a cow pasture, and ropes surrounded the putting greens to keep animals from straying onto the turf.Nine men came together in 1898 to organize the Columbia Golf Club on the east side of what’s now Georgia Avenue. But soon after, the club moved to a site farther north — and farther away from the din of D.C. — where a vacant field was converted to a crude nine-hole course.
Now, the course spans a swath of Chevy Chase from Jones Bridge Road to East-West Highway, with the Georgetown Branch of the Capital Crescent Trail — and the potential future path of the Purple Line — splitting it in two.
Members say the course has held up remarkably well, even as new fitness regimens and technology allow modern players to hit the ball unheard-of lengths, and that it still presents a formidable challenge to amateurs and professionals alike.
“I think Columbia is a classic golf course that doesn’t have the length of today’s modern golf courses,” said Marty West, a nine-time Maryland Amateur winner. “If you can play Columbia well, you can take your game … anywhere.”
Just three players broke par during the 36-hole U.S. Junior Amateur that Columbia hosted in 2003 on the 6,575-yard, par 70 track.
“The golf course held its own against those young studs who hit it out of sight,” West said.
Vary said the U.S. Golf Association came back after the junior amateur to add more bunkers a few years ago, which has made it that much better.
“It’s in excellent condition,” he said. “The course is in wonderful shape this year.”
