Potomac Shores Golf Club

My Sunday morning round took just over 5 hours, and the ranger was no where to be found. We eventually called the pro shop, and the attendant, after venturing out onto the course, explained that there were a few slow groups ahead. That is, frankly, not good enough. We already knew that. The layout of this place already means the round is going to take a long time. It was also a crowded day. Those factors should mandate that the staff stay on top of pace of play and ask slow groups to speed up or skip a hole. Apparently, this is a common issue at Potomac Shores. The staff needs to do better or people will stop playing this course, especially at the premium prices typically charged.

Course will be stellar once complete. Looks like they have a ways to go.

Steps to T boxes, additional water sources on the course, more frequent visits from the cart person, construction debris still scattered around the course, club house still under construction. Will be awesome upon completion

I will preface this review by saying this used to be one of my favorite public tracks in the DMV, almost on Whiskey Creek level. However Potomac Shores is in a complete state of disarray right now. Heavy machinery on almost every hole on the back nine, the majority of fairway bunkers are ground under repair, multiple large “ground under repair” areas throughout the fairways and rough, and even the “repaired” areas around greens have significant sod seams resulting in some very tricky lies. IMO they shouldn’t even have golfers on this course right now. I really liked Potomac Shores the first few times I played there, but it’s looking like they need another 2-3 months before I will be giving them another $60-90. Hope you can get it fixed this season...

I was very lucky to be the first public round played at this course when it opened. Playing a perfect course without any divots or pitch marks in the greens is such a cool experience that you cant get other than opening day. This is a course I recommend to everyone

Third time playing this course. The first two times, I said I would never play there again. Now I am saying it for a third and final. All three, and one was during the week, were almost 5 1/2 hours!!!!!! I can deal with the free drop from bunkers because of redoing, the redoing of the fairways, the marshal driving the food cart because the employee didn’t show up, people wearing jeans and sweatpants, all good, it ain’t the 60s...... but over 5 hours and we were around the 8th tee time. All three, I was referred to the back of the scorecard where it says average time is 4 hours 35 min. In a time where golf courses are failing and they keep talking about pace of play, Troon should be ashamed of what they are doing to one of Jack’s designs. And here is the shame of it, the layout is great. It’s challenging and rewarding and fun to play. But after almost 3 hours for 9 holes, the course loses all character.

So, when you get that hall pass from your significant other and you want it to be a long one.....this is your place. Just be warned, it will be the longest of your life!

This course used to the one of the best, but now it is one of the worst. Not a single bunker was playable, greens were not maintained. We could not take cart on the course. I think management is using Jack Nicklaus name to charge more. Not playing here again.

Sprawling layout that is not walkable.

Nicklaus Signature, so you know it is a strong layout but something is way off given the condition of the course.

The bunkers are washed out and staff explained they will not be fixing them until they "fix them" in the offseason.

Greens are not healthy at all and not what you would expect given the tier 1/tier 2 cost for this area.

Not one to review but shocked the actual condition of this course is not on this site

Look at the slope ratings; they don’t lie.

Unfortunately, the course was not in great shape, but it’s been a very difficult growing season. Due to over 40” of rain this summer, the course was quite wet after a rainstorm two days before we played. Also, all bunkers had either standing water or a mud film over the sand surface; a lot of erosion of sand was noted. Forgivable bc of the recent rain and excessive rain over the summer.

I noted that the two fairway bunkers at the bend in fairway 18 look like the superintendent is allowing grass to take over.

The greens were great! Only a couple of bare spots. True roll, good speed, lots of undulations.

We play this course once every other year.

Course layout is great with interesting holes throughout. Clubhouse is great and everyone we meet was super friendly.

and its temporary but condition wasnt great. they just reopened fairways after replacing during summer and we were told they beginning a bunker refurbishment next week (very much needed and you will find sand during a round) and greens has some pace but clearly members didnt like repairing pitch marks.

Would recommend and we will be back but hope the condition of course would be better

The experience of golfing at Potomac Shores is excellent. Clubhouse is beautiful, staff is friendly and helpful, and the practice area is excellent. If these are the things you care about while golfing, you will not be disappointed.

The course itself is a mixed bag. There are certain holes that are interesting. Nicklaus uses angles and hazards to provide a strategically interesting test. I particularly liked the par 5 10th hole, which provides multiple routes to approach the hole location.

However, this is not a golf course. These are 18 individual holes on the same property, with nothing connecting them While this is common on modern courses, it leads to a painful experience, especially in terms of pace of play and overall enjoyment.

Conditions were pretty good, although the new bermuda fairways are still maturing, and were akin to playing from the second cut of rough.

An unwalkable course like this will never be my cup of tee, but the individual holes are good enough to justify the relatively high cost to play.

Before I talk about the course I would like to acknowledge the”front of the house”. The bag drop crew , and pro shop staff were wonderful. They thanked us for choosing Potomac Shores and made sure that we were comfortable with the amenities. Practice range was excellent and my wife and I teed off on time. In short, the course is spectacular! The condition of the course for early May was superb. We live in South Carolina and there are only a few courses along the Grand Strand that compare favorably to this course. During our round, we met one of the course pro’s who couldn’t have been friendlier . He knew about our home course because his parents live in Conway SC. . What a great ambassador for the golf course! If you are in the area, don’t miss the chance to play this course.

Played Potomac Shores on back to back days in above average winds. For early spring the course is in good not great shape. I could not give the course an Excellent rating like so many others due to the condition of the sand traps and having more than a handful of greens that have some turf issues. Really enjoyed playing off Bent grass fairways. Disappointed to hear that they will be replacing the Bent with Bermuda this summer but totally understand why they are doing this. I really enjoyed the challenging elevation changes throughout the course. Three of the Par 3 holes are some of the more challenging holes on the course. The Par 5 holes are set up to get some strokes back if you give up a few on the Par 3's I mentioned. Truly a course that you can score low on if you pick the appropriate club off the tee. Now they know the sand trap issues they have as they mentioned it when I said something at the end of the round. There is sand so be thankful of that but some of the traps do not drain well and ALL the traps need the be filtered of the rocks present in them. Some of the rocks were fist sized. For the price that should not be the case. As for the turf issues on some of the greens. Clearly the mowers get too close on some of the undulation in the greens. Along with that many of the edges near the first cut were showing signs of stress. Just not something you expect to see for the price nor for a Nicklaus Signature course. They have brand new carts so no issues there. The practice facility is nice. Grass on the driving range with a good size chipping and putting area. The putting green next to the clubhouse is attached to the 18th green which was pretty cool to see. Clubhouse is beautiful with fully stocked pro shop, great locker rooms and the restaurant has some tasty food. The staff is phenomenal. Form the bag drop to check in to the maintenance staff back to the bag drop again everyone was extremely friendly, professional and very helpful.

My spring game was not ready for this challenging track. Conditions were good weather was great, my putter just didn’t show up. Always a great test of all your shots from tee to green.

last day for winter rates so $65 felt like a real bargain. weekend rates normally a bit steep, but this course goes on the medal stand for best public tracks in the dc area

Love Potomac Shores. Have played it 6 times in all seasons and love the layout and condition. Last played Feb 2018 and greens/fairways were very reasonable for mid winter. I've played most the good DMV courses and this course is my favorite with Laurel Hill and Lansdowne. Challenging but fair

we went out on a wet sunday and got to the 12th hole where there was no marshal on the course as well as no drink cart. without the marshal, slow players backed up 4 holes and were not asked to move along. i will not go back