In between Maryland snowstorms, with only a few courses open in Maryland, I was able to get in a round at the River Marsh Golf Club at the Hyatt Regency Resort in Cambridge. The course was in good condition, though not great, primarily driven by soggy fairways from the recent snow melt followed by rain, and the greens still suffering from the effects of aeration. The clubhouse, adjacent to the main resort building, normally houses the pro shop and the Eagle’s Nest Bar and Grille, but was under renovation. The course is in a naturally beautiful area with woods, marshes, creeks and rivers. The fairways are on the generous side but the Bermuda grass goes brown/tan during the winter and isn’t quite as visually stunning or as cushy/springy as during the summer. There is also a links-style, wind swept feel to the course even though it’s surrounded by trees. The architect has strategically placed 65 rather large, four to five-foot-deep bunkers along the fairways and around the greens, which are best to be avoided. As typical this time of year, the sand was compacted and firm, as I found during my thankfully only visit to one. Combined with the water, environmental marsh areas and some out-of-bounds areas there is plenty of trouble to be found.
Ratings:
- Natural beauty: 4.5 Townhomes are being built along some of the holes which will likely detract from it
- Grooming: 4.5 Well-maintained though the grass isn’t growing so they’re not mowing and the greens were still suffering from aeration
- Conditions: 4.0 A little swampy but it is February in Maryland and most other courses were closed
- Generosity: 5.0 Twelve-minute tee times, wide fairways and large greens
- Lost ball danger: 4.0 Lost three but could have lost more
- Value: 5.0 Winter rate is much lower than the summer rate. A beautiful course at a beautiful price.
The course has a two-week tee-time booking window, and the fees reflect “dynamically pricing,” which makes it difficult to determine from the website what range of prices one might expect to pay throughout the year. On this occasion, when the parking lot was pretty empty and golfing in Maryland isn’t in great demand, I made the reservation the night before and paid $48.24 per person, including a pristine cart with a detailed GPS display. Based upon the course, I believe that to be a great price. The course should be commended for spacing starting times 12 minutes apart, a generous amount of time for most courses and we were never delayed by the group in front or pushed by the group behind us, finishing in under 3.5 hours. The GPS displays are invaluable if you’re not familiar with the course and seem to better highlight trouble areas than my Voice Caddie T11. Unfortunately for me, the entire course was “cart path only” due to the soggy conditions so the cart never seemed to be close to my ball when I was standing over the ball and had doubt in my mind. I was also videotaping a course for the first time, so I didn’t pay enough attention to the GPS display or my watch when I needed to, costing me several strokes.
Their website doesn’t have a detailed layout of the course so pre-planning for those not familiar with the course is difficult. It has a series of beautiful videos with flyovers of holes 1, 2, 3, 9, 10, 17 and 18 but they are a montage of views that don’t give you a good feel for the hole or the ability to measure distances but are definitely worth watching just for the sheer beauty. The site also has a Pro Tips page which briefly discusses each hole. They made a lot more sense to me after I’d played the course but seemed better suited to a better golfer than I. If you’re planning to play there for the first time, it may be helpful to visit my River Marsh Golf Club Pre-planning post, which provides an overview of each hole and the video.
We played the par 71 course from the white tees, making the total yardage 5,845 with a course rating of 69.1 and a slope rating of 125. I ended up with a score of 99, which I thought was awful, but given the difficulty of the course it turned out that my score would have been considered one of my better scores if used for determining my handicap, currently about 18.9. For senior men that hit their drivers 200 yards or more and their 5 iron 155 yards or more, I believe the white tee box will be appropriate but challenging. Shorter hitters should consider moving up to the green or red tee boxes. The green tees are a mix of the white and red tees. The longest forced carry is about 160 yards from the white tee on the par 3 17th hole. The shorter tee boxes are on the other side of Shoal Creek with no forced carry, and the other forced carries throughout the course are much more manageable. Knowing your carry distance and total distance for each club is also useful for this course.
My score was composed of one birdie, only two pars, four bogeys, eight double bogeys and three triple bogeys. Three lost balls due to water hazards/environmental marshes and one out of bounds, combined with seven three-putts hurt. I’d like to blame the lack of familiarity with the course for two of the lost balls, though paying more attention to the GPS in the cart might have convinced me to “play smarter.” I’d also like to blame my seven three-putts on the aerated greens but that didn’t seem to bother my playing partners. Maybe I need to practice more…
Here’s my video of the course.
Here’s my River Marsh pre-planning post with hole imagery.