Pleasant Valley Golf Club

I’ve played this course many times. The course itself is a decent, average track for the Northern Virginia area. No houses around it. Pace of play is hit or miss; like most places they send groups out 8 minutes apart, which data analytics has proven is not enough time between amateur groups for a smooth experience. So they are status quo in that regard which means management is not very progressive in their thinking. I’ve never seen a martial on the course in all the times I’ve played, even after the course get rid of the cart GPS systems and claimed they would use that money to get a marshal. The clubhouse is average, but the bathrooms are disgusting.

The major issue with this course is management, their driving range and their Players Pass gimmick, which they partner with South Riding on. I highly recommend you avoid purchasing this Pass if your interest is having a reliable place to practice and work on your game. You will regret it and you will find yourself having to practice elsewhere on numerous occasions. The first issue is that they designed this course so that it drains towards the driving range, which means anytime there is a bit of rain the day before or the morning of, then you can be assured that the range will be closed. Of course South Riding was designed the same way and so they will be closed to. Now if you call 20 other courses that day, all of their driving ranges will be open. I can’t count the number of times that on a perfectly sunny and 85 degree summer day the driving ranges at both PV and SR were closed while every other area range was open. Sometimes this even occurred when it hadn’t rained for 2 days. Need to warm up before your round, too bad. This could be fixed with an investment by the course to reroute, improve, or modify the drainage, etc. but since the course has been opened since 1998 and nothing has been done, rest assured management has no intention to do so. If it hasn’t rained in a couple days and you think you will be able to go to the range, well guess again because they will probably be a corporate event and the range will be closed for that. On their calendar I counted 21 events in May, 2015 and 15 events in June, 2015. During this time the course will be closed for most of the day and the range will be closed for a chunk of time. Many of these events also occur on weekends, essentially during the time when working people can actually go play golf. I have never seen a course hold events like this on a weekend, just shocking.

Additionally, one of their Players Pass restrictions is that you are allowed 2 buckets Mon-Thurs and 1 bucket Fri-Sun. I’ve been turned away from the range on multiple occasions due to events or drainage issues and when I showed up the next day and asked for an extra bucket due the previous day’s issue I was told “no” citing policy. Not a very good way to run a business and treat customers. For management, honoring agreements with their prepaid Players Pass members takes a back seat to the lure of additional revenue anywhere they can find it. I believe that this course has been on thin financial ground for years and it seems to me they are taking a short term approach to get into the black which will have long term consequences with regards to previous loyal customers.

Next issue, the driving range is a good hike from the clubhouse and if you are there to practice, they won’t provide you with a cart unless you are playing. After you finally make the hike to the range, then to actually get to a hitting station you will need to walk over a slippery rock path. I suggest having your lawyer on speed dial in case you twist your ankle before your round. There is no covered area on the range, no shade, no benches, and since the clubhouse is a long hike away on those really hot days you will have no reprieve to take a break during your practice session. The hitting mats are the cheap kind. They have two of the high quality mats separated from the rest which is for lessons only, so “regular” customers have to hit off the cheap mats. These are all issues that could easily be fixed with small investments and would have already been rectified if the management team was competent. They also have a very tiny area for chipping and pitching, which has a very small green and a dried out hardpan bunker, it simply is not an adequate short game practice area and needs to be improved. If the Golf business really wants to know why rounds take so long, a good place to start looking is the fact that most amateurs don’t have a reasonably priced and reliable facility to regularly practice and get better unless they belong to a country club. Pleasant Valley sure isn’t helping in that regard.

Additionally, do you enjoy hitting off grass tees? Don’t expect to here. They actually have a large area for grass tees, however, they only open the grass tees on Sat/Sun morning and they then close them at noon. I believe that the reason is that they really just want those tees reserved for higher paying customers. This is class separation at its finest. When the discount rates kick in for the afternoon, then you can be sure those grass tees will be closed. The management wants to proclaim they are trying to preserve the grass tees, but if that were truly the intention then they could easily rotate the times of the day they are open with some morning and some afternoons.
Furthermore, the rounds that come with a Player Pass can be used after 2 PM on Fri-Sun. I get this policy and understand it but if you happen to be there around 1:30 PM without a tee time and the course is slow with a wide open tee sheet and you tell them you’ll take an empty slot if they let you use one of the free rounds on your Pass, they will say “no”. When it comes to getting any value out of the Players Pass they are overly strict and incapable of applying common sense and common courtesy in many cases.

In summary, the overwhelming message sent by Pleasant Valley is that the course has corporate events at least every other day and they’ll take your money upfront for one of their Passes, but don’t ever go there to practice and don’t expect to get value from the Pass.

It won't be long before this golf course is closed

I played 18 holes on 6/13 as part of a small group outing. Course conditions were excellent. I enjoyed the round of golf. Pace of play was great for a weekend. We saw a marshal a few times during the round which was appreciated to see they were keep track of the pace of play. The staff was friendly and helpful. Nice selection of merchandise in the golf shop. Enjoyed food from the course grill after the round and the food was very good. I will definable be playing more at Pleasant Valley and I am glad to have found a nice course close to my house.

I played late afternoon during Memorial Weekend so the course was pretty empty. I was able to get 16 holes in before dark. Still, $40 for 'Super Twilight' hours is a bit much given the condition of the course and other offerings in the area. The majority of the tee boxes are chewed up and uneven. Also, the greens had been punched recently so putting was like playing Plinko. The 'staff' or the guy behind the counter wasn't what I would call super friendly either. Very business like. I like the layout but had I paid full price for punched greens I would have been pretty upset. I can't say I would play or recommend this course again.

Played on Memorial Day. Crowded conditions but pace of play was not horrid (4.5 hours). The group behind us hit into our foursome twice. They then drove past us in their carts only to wait on the next hole for the next foursome. We decided to forgo hitting into them on the next hole. :) Never saw a marshal or beverage cart the entire day. When we asked, we were told "she called in sick".
The greens were recently aerated so putting conditions were poor. The tee boxes were a mess with varying length grass and uneven footing all around. Hard to understand how they can't get them at least level. The rough was also extremely long were we lost several balls that had barely left the fairway. You often couldn't see a ball that was within 10 feet of where you were standing.
Overall, I'd give the course a poor review based on how much we spent. Our local muni has comparable conditions for much lower a price.

The course is laid out nicely with good conditions on the fairways and tee boxes. Some of the greens were spotty making putts hard to judge but overall in decent shape. Pace of play was pretty much on par and the spacing between holes allows for decent buffer between each group.

As always, friendly staffs and great food. The course was in very good condition.

Enjoyable course with a good variety of holes. Only complaint are the blind tee shots on several holes.

This was my second time playing the course, but the first time was probably 4+ years ago. The price for an early Saturday morning tee time was very reasonable for this area, which is why we chose the course. I was a big fan of the layout of the course and the property as whole, but the greens and tee boxes need quite a bit of work. The greens appeared to be very spotty, rock hard, and very hard to read. Putts tended to roll out better than expected, but were not in the shape they should be for an early season round. The tee boxes on most holes are the actual reason I am writing a review for this course. I would say that the majority of them were severely crowned and looked as if I divot had not been replaced in years. A flat lie on a tie box was very hard to come by, and that's if there was any grass for you to find to set up your ball. I was very disappointed by this.

All in all, I would love to return to the course, but the greens and tees would have to show improvement first. The staff was very friendly and a pleasure to be around, and the clubhouse grill had very excellent food as well.

Course was in great conditions considering it's still early in the golf season. Greens were running a little slow but still in great shape.

Got our round in well under 4 hours which was amazing.

Course is in good shape for april. Some tees were beat up and some greens had divots but nothing rediculous. Overall good value for hot deal ($40) but would never pay $70+. Good layout and will def be playing there again soon

My buddy n I paid $83 thru golf now and expected the course to be in decent shape base on the price that was charge, but when we tee off we noticed the bunker had very little sand and some part of the fairway still have no grass. I played here numerous times n it's usually in good shape but to pay $83 for the shape it was in was not worth it.

It was a very cold day but all thing considering the course was in fairly good shape. We started on th 10th tee but no one told me this and so there was much confusing starting off.

This used to be a course I visited often. While the course itself and is a good test, don't expect any level of service from the new management. I have played here at least 75 times. After 10 years I have decided to stop giving them any business. Too many choices in the area with staff that would at least smile once in a while.

Pleasant Valley is a very course and I was pleased tht the course was as I remembered. Because of heavy rain the couple of days before we played, carts were restricted to the cart paths ... always a good move. Most greens have multiple levels with sharp elevation differences between levels. While the course was in terrific condition for the last day in November, the pin placements were for the most part extremely unfair on a windy weekend day. At least six pins were placed on the edge of the ridge between two levels of the green. A few of the greens were so fast that a missed two foot putt could go 10 feet past the hole. Given the speed of the greens (not complaining about the speed) the pins should have been more fairly placed so that there was at least a better side of the green to aim. Still, overall it is a very enjoyable track

Chris at counter was the best, very friendly......

We save money from Golfnow.com .
The course was good value for money.

This course is great, play very nice, easy rival west fields and laurel hill,.

$60 plus a round but is worthy..

Very helpful and friendly staff
Tee boxes need some work

Although getting behind a foursome that was in no hurry, it was a real treat to play. Due to the foursome ahead we had to play the 17th & 18th in a downpour. I will definitely be back. Hopefully the foursome ahead will not.