Bill, Rick and I ventured into Baltimore to play Clifton Park. The land was once owned by Johns Hopkins and his “summer house” mansion still graces the park adjacent to the golf clubhouse. A couple of sources indicate the course was opened in either 1915 or 1920. At least five other courses were previously built in the Baltimore area, all private and exclusive, but this course remains the oldest course in Maryland the public can play. On the journey to play every course in Maryland (that will let me on), this is the 13th course.
In some ways this is the most interesting course I’ve played so far. You can tell it has history and that the course was primarily built by pick and shovel and not by moving around tons and tons of dirt. The course follows the natural contours of the land and has small tee boxes, sand bunkers and greens. The fairways and greens are in good shape. There are no water hazards but several places where you can lose a ball and plenty of mature trees to knock your ball down if you get too close. The cart paths – not sure if they were added later but I’m thinking it’s likely – are only near the tee boxes and greens, probably to minimize wear and tear and to get you going in the right direction. And then there’s the mansion anchoring the center of the course and an old cemetary on the right side of the 14th hole.
For me, this course is a “must play” if you’re interested in playing only the “important” courses in Maryland.
My round from the gold tees (5364 yards) went well mostly because I successfully hit a series of “miracle” recovery shots that landed on the green after hitting a problematic drive. Watch the video to see how many trees I hit over. My score of 85 on a par 71 was better than what you’d expect from my drives. The course was less forgiving to Rick, scoring a 52 on the front before he had to leave. Bill opted to enjoy life and forego any scoring.
By the numbers. I didn’t lose any balls – almost always a good sign. I only hit the fairway in regulation three times but hit the green seven times. I only had a single one-putt, 13 two-putts and (sadly) four three-putts. No birdies, six pars, 10 bogeys and two double bogeys. In my own unofficial handicap calculations, this score brought it down to a 17.6.
The nine-hole course at Carroll Park is scheduled to be our 14th course. We’ll probably play it twice that day. I’ll post the scorecard and video when it’s done. In the meantime, here the card and video for Clifton Park. Highly recommend you go there and play.
