The Gauntlet Golf Club

Fun course. Good idea to play with someone that has played here before.

The course was well maintained and the fairways were in very good shape. The greens generally were in good shape. Certain holes were quite challenging, requiring fairly accurate tee shots to specific locations. Sand traps were very difficult to escape because sand was very hard. Also had to modify our route in the course as wedding was taking place on 10th hole, requiring us to play it at the end.

It is hard to imagine what PB Dye was thinking when plowing through the wetlands of Curtis Memorial Park in Fredericksburg. He certainly wasn’t considering the 10-20 handicappers who would make up 99 percent of The Gauntlet’s paying customers. Numerous blind tee shots, blind approaches, multi-tiered greens, pinched in fairways… throw in poor drainage, a paucity of yardage markers, and a misguided decision to install bent grass greens (just about every collar was burnt out) and by the 4th hole you’ll be wondering why you came out.

Now, one shouldn’t throw around poor reviews gratuitously, so let me highlight a few positives, along with some details that might explain some of my negativity:

a) The price is more than right; $60 for a Saturday morning round can’t be beat.

b) I didn’t see a house on the course.

c) The superintendent appears to be trying; for late August, the fairways weren’t in terrible shape, and the greens (once you got around the burnt out collars) rolled relatively true.

d) The management is trying as well; they’ve instituted a moderately priced Monday twilight golf league and are offering a tremendous deal on Tuesday afternoons.

e) Perhaps the architect spent up all his creativity on the front 9, because the back side was, in fact, much more playable, and thus, more enjoyable. Or, it would have been, had I not been spent myself by the 11th hole.

f) The clubhouse staff was friendly and helpful, although it would have been nice had the roving marshall pushed along the one group preventing us from completing a sub 4 hour round rather than engage in back slapping and other frivolities.

To sum up; if you live in the Fredericksburg area and are a cost conscious golfer, you could do worse than The Gauntlet. However, I would not recommend fighting I-95 for an outing here, unless, perhaps, it was a bit earlier in the season or you're one who just cannot stomach paying upwards of $90 for a weekend round...

The course was really neat, but can become very challenging for the beginner or novice player. The course has a lot of blind shots, wasteland, elevation changes and bunkers; if you’re not hitting the ball well you could become very frustrated. For $38 a person we feel it was a good price for the course. Will play it again once I get a little better.

It was sort of last minute as I was looking for a place to play some golf. Finding a $17 round (yes!) at The Gauntlet was worth the 45 min drive! I've played this course a few times before and enjoyed the rolling fairways and feeling of "escaping" the typical courses littered with homes.

I certainly can't complain for what I spent and all in all I enjoyed the course but the greens were super-slow, however with the pin positions and undulations--quite challenging! There were plenty of patches here and there---not to mention the numerous jaw-breaking bumps from poorly maintained cart paths---which screamed for some attention, but again--all in all, and for the price; no complaints. Many blind shots so you better go with someone who's played it if you want any sort of decent score!!

Well maintained for public course, challenging course to average golfer. Shot placement impacts ability to make par on several holes.

Wonderful course nestled in the north Virginia countryside. Course knowledge is a plus here as there are many holes with blind tee shots (6 of 9 on the front side alone). No long from the middle tees, but a few placement shots to keep you in play. Beautiful layout with no distractions from surrounding houses, roads, etc.

Absolutely beautifully constructed course. Challenging with holes that are appealing to the eye. Fairways are in good shape, but the one deficit is that a number of greens need work. They are working on them, so hopefully be next year they will be better.

The Gauntlet is a very challenging course that you will love to play. The varies in hole length and has manyvchances to challenge any player. Some of the courses even have multiple fairways.

Fringe areas along fairways need more maintainance to return to its former glory
Cart paths will need refinishing but priorith should bd on wooden paths over protected areas
Greens could be faster but guess they Are being left a little longer due to height of summer risk
Still a big challenge and greaf value for money

Much improvement since I was last a member 2 years ago. I will be joining again next spring.

Not a long course. Lots of hidden greens and plenty of bunkers.
Very well kept course. Will play again.

There are a few sneaky doglegs and hazards to be aware of. Narrow fairways were a little hard to hit, but the rough wasn't so rough. They greens were soaked so the ball was never more than a foot away from where it hit. That was to be expected, though, with all the rain we've had, but what was up the all the hornets? Apparently they like a well maintained green, too. There were a few greens that I just held my breath and walked slowly to pick up my ball while pretending not to hear those low toned buzzes as they came to investigate me,. On 17, I noticed the flag in the midst of a swarm and decided to donate a ball that I found just to see how close to the pin I could hit. I think it would have been a birdie. This was my second attempt at the Gauntlet and even though I miss hit a few, I exacted my revenge on this tough course.

*I caveat this review by mentioning there has been rain in the area each of the past 6 days, and I had to stop at the turn to let a storm pass through, so the conditions were understandably soggy*

The Gaunlet's layout is the first and last thing you'll take notice of. Lots of split fairways and doglegs that challenge you to plan out your whole strategy for each hole from the tee box. Having said that, there are few gimmicks here, and while many holes present challenges, none of them are frustratingly unfair. In fact my only disappointment in the layout was the last par-3, which required a driver for me (I hit it about 220 and it still came up short) from the mid-length black tees.

The second and third things you'll notice are the greens and fairways themselves. The greens here are definitely faster than average with plenty of undulation to keep you entertained, and are smooth with few ball marks. The fairways are among the best I've ever seen (except that they were a little high, but likely from all the rain keeping the mowers away); lush, consistent, beautiful.

The bunkers appeared to be very good (again, tough to tell with so much water in them, no runoff gullies though) but the tee boxes were in need of attention. Concrete cart paths and electric carts make The Gaunlet feel like an upscale course, a nice touch.

The staff is very friendly (even gave me a free yardage book since it was only my second time playing there) and the amenities are good. I paid $20 for my round, and despite the wet conditions it was a total steal. Anything under $45 is good for a course like this.

Course plays to a very short 6000 yards. However, one must keep the ball in the fairway. The ruff was long, thick and on this particular day, wet.

A long hitter would not need to hit the driver except on the par 5s. Several holes one only needs to use a long iron off of the tee.

Proper position on the greens is a must on several of the holes. Had the greens been cut shorter the difficulty level would have increased dramatically.

Over all the Gauntlet was a scenic (several holes border a lake) and fun course to play. The greens were soft and rolled ok. However, they rolled very slow.

Priced reasonably well for weekend play too. Overall I would rate the Gauntlet at slightly better than average.

I love The Gauntlet!! Been playing here for years! The set up is fun, yet challenging. A true test because you definitely use every club in your bag! Staff is fantastic!! The rough is just long enough to lend a challenge, but short enough that you don't lose your ball! Perfect for pace of play!! My only complaint is the greens could roll a little faster!!! Several "downhill" putts ended up short.

Very Nice course, fun and challenging, B+ condition… The Zoysia fairways are awesome this time of year. A few ugly tee boxes, greens had a few too many “ignored” pitch marks (note – played after a big tournament that day). Pace of play was amazing! Our foresome had a 3:10 tee time and played in less than 4 hours. Water coolers were full and there was even a beverage cart running around at 4:30 PM on a Thursday afternoon. A great deal for $28! We will be back!

about what I expected. water coolers were dry--a problem on a hot day

especially front nine kind a like target golf, no need for driver, several blind shots, probably easier once you played it at least once. but nice layout, challenging but not unfair, several greens that require accuracy due to sloping away from green; 2nd nine more open, definitely does not get boring on this course;
negative: it took 3h to finish first nine, part of it was a tournament in front, part may be the layout where people wait to have green cleared after first shot. 2nd nine more smooth;
after first nine never wanted to play again, after whole round thinking about coming again; great course if it goes a bit faster, hopefully it was tourney related

We had a great time. It was packed for a Sunday and a little slow but the staff was great. We waited on the front nine but it opened up till the 18th,

It was Father's Day and the course was full. We had a blast and look forward to playing it again.

:)