Zagat Reviews Golf, Too! And Does it Well

Lake Presidential Scores in the Noteworthy Newcomer Category

The popular Zagat Survey has released it’s 6th editiion of America’s Top Golf Courses. This year’s edition has a central theme, the economy’s affect on golf.  According to Tim Zagat, CEO of Zagat Survey, “Most golf enthusiasts aren’t abandoning their games, they’re just looking for better deals and packages that maximize value.”

The survey is based upon the experiences of 6,054 avid golfers (random number, but whatever) who played an average of 8.8 rounds per month. The survey covers 1,149 of the top public, semi-private and resort layouts, as well as urban driving ranges and the leading private courses. 

The opinions are what makes the book so cool.  Here is the review of a local favorite, Raspberry Falls Golf and Hunt Club.

Situated just an hour from DC, this Gary Player design is “top-fight in all respects, ” But you may want to “bring your passport, as the pot bunkers will remind you of Scotland: (some have sod walls so deep that you will need a ladder to get out.” The raspberry farmland yields “great vistas” especially from the 3rd tee, and an “antebellum clubhouse” “beautiful practice facility” and new golf academy  help make this “fairly expensive” track “worth a splurge now and then.”

I really like the way that the book wraps reviewer’s comments to form each course’s section. Obviously, the comments are set off in quotations, so you can clearly follow when the golfers are speaking and when the book fills in the blanks. One, clearly holds more weight than the other. 

And check this out! Ratings and reviews can be found not only in the Zagat guide book, but also ZAGAT TO GO for your Blackberry and the new iPhone application, GOLF BY ZAGAT, which allows users to store their favorite courses, handicaps and scores, and is GPS-Enabled to help golfers find the closest place to tee off. 

As far as the their annual awards go, Bethpage Black in Long Island, NY (host of this year’s US Open) won top-rated course. This year’s Top Newcomer is Chambers Bay in Washington State. Pebble Beach once again ranks as the guide’s most popular course.

Here are some of our local Middle Atlantic courses awarded in each specific category.  

Budget: ($50 and under)
Canaan Valley- Davis, WV
Draper Valey- Pulaski, VA

Bunkering:
Sand Barrens- Atlantic City, NJ
Shore Gate- Atlantic City, NJ

Conditioning:
Baywood Greens- Rehoboth Beach, DE
Bulle Rock- Havre de Grace, MD
Golden Horseshoe Gold- Williamsburg, VA
Greenbrier Old White- White Sulpher Springs, WV
Homestead Cascades- Hot Springs, VA
Lansdowne Resort Norman- Leesburg, VA
Nemacolin Woodlands Mystic Rock- Pittsburgh PA
Primland Resort- Meadows of Dan, VA
Raspberry Falls- Leesburg, VA
Stonewall- Leesburg, VA

Easiest (Courses with lowest slope rating from the back tees)
Bull Run-Haymarket, VA 

Environmentally Friendly
Augustine-Stafford, VA
Bay Creek- Cape  Charles, VA
Birdwood- Charlottesville, VA
Blue Heron Pines- Atlantic City, NJ
Greenbrier- White Sulpher Springs, WV
Keswick Club- Charlottesville, VA
Kingsmill- Williamsburg, VA
Seaview Marriott-Atlantic City, NJ
Westfields- Clifton, VA

Exceptional Clubhouses
Greystone- Baltimore, MD
Keswick Club- Charlottesville, VA
Kingsmill- Williamsburg, VA

Fine Food Too
Homestead- Hot Springs, VA
Keswick Club- Charlottesville, VA
Lansdowne Resort- Leesburg, VA
Links at Lighthouse Sound- Ocean City, MD
Raven at Snowshoe Mt.- Elkins, WV

Finishing Holes
Bulle Rock- Havre de Grace , MD
Pete Dye River Course- Radford, VA

Junior Friendly
Bay Creek Arnold Palmer- Cape Charles, VA
Cape May National- Cape May, NJ
Hog Neck- Easton, MD
Penn National Founders-Gettysburg, PA

Links Style
Bear Trap Dunes- Rehoboth Beach, DE
Links at Lighthouse Sound- Ocean City, MD
Royal New Kent- Williamsburg, VA

19th Holes
Golden Horseshoe- Williamsburg, VA
Greenbrier- White Supher Springs, WV
Homestead- Hot Springs, VA
Kingsmill- Williamsburg, VA

Noteworthy Newcomers
Lake Presidential- Upper Marlboro, MD

Opening Holes
Bay Creek Arnold Palmer- Cape Charles, VA
Bayside- Rehoboth Beach, DE
Greenbrier Old White- White Sulpher Springs, WV
Primland Resort- Meadows of Dan, VA
Raven at Snowshoe Mt.- Elkins, WV

Share on Facebook

Pages: 1 2