Fort Belvoir Golf Club - Gunston Course

THIS COURSE IS INSIDE ARMY BASE AND YOU NEED A PASS TO GET IN. I drove to the course according to GPS guidance but was stopped at the gate told to drive to the main gate to get a pass. It took me 40 minutes.

We enjoyed play. Speed was good.

Course poorly layer. Missing hole markets. Lots of hills. I paid only 12.50 so I guess I got what I paid for.

The Woodlawn course has the potential to be much better. Played 18 holes in about 4 hours so pace was good. Sunny with temp around 90 degrees.

It takes 30-45m to get through Army security. If you don't have a pass you must wait in a long line, open your car doors and trunk, and wait for the office to run your ID through a government security check. The security check was not stated by golfnow.com until AFTER I made made my reservation and received their email with the info. Fairly ridiculous not to make this feature abundantly clear before you reserve...

Map search: Fail. I entered the address of the golf course in my GPS finder (Google Maps). It led me to a different gate a couple of miles away...so be sure you know how to drive to TULLEY GATE which is the only gate through which visitors may pass. NOTE: you can get a temp 90 day pass for free or pay $100 for a 1 year pass, to avoid being in the long line of cars at the gate.

Course conditions: the ground and rough are hard on many holes, leading to lots of funny bounces that put my shots (and my partner's shots) in very different locations from what we had sighted. This was very frustrating in the rough where there is a lot hard rocky ground. Fairways are mostly narrow and the rough is not wide, so easy to hit stray shots. There was dense underbrush and lots of POISON IVY just past the rough and in the woods. I hit a long drive. I usually lose 1 to 3 balls per round . I lost about 10 balls here because we could not find my tee shots in the rough. If we went further in we risked being in the poison ivy.

We played from the blue tees, total distance ~6,500 yards. This is somewhat long for a course with red, white, blue, gold and black tees. A couple of Par 5s are around 570 and 598 yards which is odd considering the "normal" length of the other holes.

The service at the pro shop and cafe was good. Staff polite and helpful, particularly the Starter and a "Player Assistant" who drives a cart around (like a Marshall) and helps people find their balls. To bad he didn't' find any of mine in the 2 times we needed help and saw him!

Carts were OK, but I was surprised that they didn't have an automatic slowing mechanism (basic safety precaution) when going down steep hills. There are lots of them so be ready to tap the brake.

I would have rated the course 4-5 stars if it weren't for the slow gate, bouncy rough and poison ivy issues.

Pace of play was excellent. Course in good shape. Only 2 par 5 holes on the new Gunston course.

Played yesterday and its amazing to see what warm weather can do for Bermuda grass. Course renovations last year changed up the Woodlawn course a bit, but overall best I've seen this course in a long time.

Played the new layout at Fort Belvoir Woodlawn. Two new holes are interesting but not quite finished. Fairways were thin and with patches. Other fairways thin as well. Early in season so expect conditions to improve.

The course no longer has detours since the renovation was done. From the tips the Gunston is now 5,800 yds compared to the 6,850 yds it used to be, which makes it unplayable for me. I play between 6,500 and 6,800 yds whenever I play. The Woodlawn is still long enough at about 6,750 and that's what I'm rating here. Golfnow has the wrong yardage listed at 6,900(last I checked).

From tee to green:

The majority of the Yellow tee boxes(one back from the whites) were in good shape. The fairways/rough were spotty in some areas, but still had a good lie most times. One new hole(#14) was added, so the old 14th is presumably the 15th. The greens were aerated/verticut about 3 weeks prior, but overall rolled pretty well. I'm sure they'll be as good as they were once fully healed.

A lot of sand traps- fun course - not too easy -worth the trip

I plan to return to this course, as well as playing the Woodlawn course. Very challenging and unique layout. The fairways are very thin at this time of year, greens were in good shape, although there has been a lot of rain recently, so they were a bit slow. The place was very busy, and I still played in 4 hours. It pays to play with someone that knows the course, quite a few blind shots that can get you in trouble without direction.I was lucky enough to get paired up with 3 military gentlemen that were very helpful. Can't wait to get back out there. GREAT Deal.

I have arrived at golf course 2hours before of T-time
When it wasn't put in when there was Military ID,
It was called.
I looked for a different entrance,but everything's being closed,and without being made for golf.
I returned.

Avoid Fort Belvoir for now while so much work is being done on sand traps and multiple holes. It's impossible to know what course you're playing as they put on various holes from the 9-hole courses with no real way to track.

Course under construction, conditions poor, staff unfriendly yet they continue to charge full price. Not a good deal right now.

I had a difficult time getting on to Fort Belvoir to play my round. I should have known better, but other members of the public, who are not military, may not realize this. I re checked your pages to see if there is an advisory about the security process. I did not see anything. Unless the course would prefer you not do this, you should advise prospective golfers, who are not military, to call the course for the security process. Thank you.

Course is undergoing renovations so it was a maze to travel the 18 holes. Would still be there trying to navigate if we didn't pair up with members. This also made it impossible to use my GPS. Overall the course was in good shape, greens seemed to run true and not ridiculously fast. I think I would play it again once the construction is done.

The course was great! The staff were friendly, and very helpful on reading the greens and letting you know about hazards. Lots of construction going on, but it didn't interfere with play. Overall A+.

This was a nice course for $20 twilight time. The course has construction going on around it so the courses are different than gps apps have them laid out, but there were signs. I do not recommend walking the course (I'm young and very much for walking rather than riding), but I saw many walkers. My only major complaint is that they did not have me down for a tee time that I signed up for and paid for through GolfNow. So if you want twilight play, just show up to the course at 3:50 and its first come first serve.

Pros: fairly easy layout for an intermediate golfer. If you drive long then you'll have a chance for some Eagles on the par 4s and 5s. The fairways were nicely cut. The rough was medium length. Bunkers in play were in good shape (except the ones under construction of course). Almost all of the tees were in good shape. There is a driving range and practice green. There were water coolers every few holes so nice for a hot day. There were a couple of bathroom buildings on the course.

Cons: Greens were pretty roughed up. Probably not the club's fault but more on players shuffling their feet and not repairing ball marks. The cart paths are pretty rough at times but that's just cause it's an older course. Course is frustrating for a beginner. There are a lot of woods/dense weeds to the right and short of tee boxes so you can lose a lot of balls if you don't hit fairly straight and get it off the ground. There isn't any water on the course which some would say is a pro, but I think it adds to the beauty of a course. Staff was semi friendly.

Fort Belvoir has 2 full 18-hole courses but construction to build an Army museum is impacting play, closing most of the Gunston course. Clear signs make it easy to get from one hole to another during re-routing. Fairways and greens are in good shape, although some tee boxes are temporary and some just need work. Bunker are hit or miss regarding quality. Overall solid value for under $60 including cart.

Greens in very good shape. Tee boxes not so much. Many bunkers playing as under repair. Bring your own fluids..cart girl seen on hole one and never seen again.

Ongoing renovations but overall great price for the course!!