Phil and I went and played at the Walden Country Club in Crofton. For me, that’s the tenth round of the year at seven different courses. We played from the gold tees with 5,176 yards and a course rating and slope of 65.2 and 115, just slightly harder than the gold tees at our “home” course. Bowie. Our final scores, 101 for me and 100 for Phil would suggest that the course is harder than that. The main difference it that Walden has a lot more places to get into trouble than Bowie does. Only a few holes have any significant trouble. If you hit it straight, even if it’s not long, you should be fine at Walden.
I also struggled with the putter, with the yips coming back. If you’re afraid they might be contagious, you might not want to watch the video. As you’d expect with those scores, there weren’t any birdies and only six pars between the two of us. For me, there were 4 pars, 6 bogeys, 3 double bogeys, 4 triple bogeys and one 6x bogey (an 11 on a par 5 – what’s that called?).
It’s the first day to hit the 70s in Maryland in 2026 and Barry, Rich and I made it out to Blue Heron Golf Course in Stevensville for a quick round, playing from the white tees. Sadly, the more interesting back nine was closed due to green aeration and over-seeding and they had covered the greens with plastic sheeting. It isn’t expected to re-open until around April 12th, so if you’re heading that way just know that you’ll have to play the front twice to get in 18 holes. As the front nine is composed of 5 par 3s and 4 par 4s, playing the front nine twice will make it a par 62. As previously reported, the round was $20, a great deal, and they don’t take tee times – so just show up. It also cost me two golf balls in water hazards.
I started the round strong, shooting par, birdie, par on the first three holes. I hit 3-wood and pitching wedge then two-putted the 319-yard par 4 first hole for par. I overshot the green on the 320-yard dogleg left par 4 after hitting 4-wood and 6-iron, then chipped in for a birdie – the only birdie the three of us had today. On the 187-yard par 3 third, I hit a 4-wood to the short-right of the green, chipped up close and one-putted for a par. The next three holes were not nearly as good, shooting bogey, bogey and double bogey. I hit a three-quarter pitching wedge just over the green on the 105-yard par 3, chipped close but missed the short putt, ending up with a bogey. On the 287-yard par 4 dogleg left fifth hole, hitting over water twice, I pushed a 4-wood way right, forcing a short chip back into the fairway, then hit the green with a pitching wedge and followed up with a two-putt for a bogey. The 142-yard par 3 sixth hole, with the peninsula green, has been my Waterloo the last couple of rounds here. I hit a 6-iron into the water on the right, chipped from the drop area and two-putted for my first (spoiler alert) double-bogey. I finished the front nine with bogey, bogey and par. I topped a 6-iron on the 162-yard par 3 seventh hole, followed by a three-quarter pitching wedge and two putts for a bogey. The 160-yard par 3 eighth hole was almost a mirror image of the seventh, with a topped 5-iron that stopped just short of the creek, then a half pitching wedge up the hill and two putts for bogey. On the 243-yard par 4 ninth hole, I hit a 3-wood then chipped a 7-iron from under a tree onto the green and two-putted for par. I felt pretty good about a five over 36 on the “front.” The back nine was not as kind.
Since we played the front nine twice, I won’t include hole details for the “back nine.” It started off well enough with bogey, par and par. On the first hole, I hit my best drive of the day for 229 yards with a 3-wood, leaving a short chip. A root caused a mishit second shot, followed by a half lob wedge over the sand trap and a missed short putt then a tap-in for bogey. On the second, I hit a 3-wood then 8-iron onto the green and two putted for par. I hit a 4-wood to within about two feet of the hole on the third and missed the birdie putt to leave with a par. The wheels came off on the next three holes with a bogey, double bogey and triple bogey. The 105-yard par 3 fourth hole played pretty much like it did on the front nine with a three-quarter pitching wedge just off the back of the green, followed by a chip and two putts for bogey. On the fifth hole, crossing water twice, I topped a 4-wood into the first water crossing, followed by a drop and a 4-wood to short right of the green, then a chip and two putts for the double bogey. On the par 3 peninsula sixth hole, I pushed a 7-iron way right, had to chip back to the front of the green, followed by another chip and my only three-putt of the day. The final three holes were slightly better with bogey, bogey and double bogey. On the seventh hole, I hit a 6-iron to the right of the green, chipped close and missed the short putt to score a bogey. On the next hole, I hit a 5-iron to the back right of the green then chipped on and two-putted for another bogey. The final hole saw me push a 4-wood way right then hit a tree on my second shot which landed behind me in the fairway for the fifth hole. I punched a 7-iron under the trees and almost made it to the green, chipped on and two-putted for a double bogey and a 42 on the par 31. Finished the 18 with a 16 over 78. My first time in the 70s at Blue Heron.
Barry and Rich played well but both lost balls too. Further details of this rounds story are theirs to tell. No video was taken so that we could better enjoy the weather. Clayt
Weather: 5.0 (Sunny and 68-72 degrees with a slight breeze)
Course Conditions: 3.0 (Back nine closed and greens and fairways haven’t actively started growing yet – greens were better than in the fall)
Speed of Play: 4.5 (Course was busier than usual since all groups were only playing nine of the eighteen holes – but it kept moving)
Golf Ball Danger Ranking: 2.5 (Lowered slightly with only two balls lost this round (see the Danger Ranking page)
Clayt’s scorecard for Blue Heron
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