Potomac Shores Golf Club

The course is very well kept with just a couple of traps that are in poor condition. Rained the day before and they were full of water. First time playing it was a true adventure. There are several holes with blind tee shots that need exact length and/or position that you don't know until it's too late. There are several areas of high weeds that are hidden from view and will eat you ball. Many holes are quite breath taking and you kind off loose you concentration. Your main objective has to be hitting the fairway because the ruff is about a 2 club extra if you can even get it in the air.

This course was recommended to me and more than met expectations. Although challenging it is fair. It rewards good shots and penalizes bad ones. Playing it again with the knowledge I gained from playing it for the first time will increase the enjoyment. The staff was exceptional. I highly recommend Potomac Shores.

The course was very challenging. The layout was great "of course it is Jack's design." Plenty of room on the fairways to hit driver and you get a lot of forgiveness but the approach shots on the other hand well lets just saw unless you are shooting darts at the flag. I hope you have a good short game and can get up and down 75 percent of the time. I had a great time course was in awesome shape.

If your game isn't up to par, this course will eat you alive. However, this course has a great layout and great conditions. You can't walk the course because the holes are spread out quite a bit. I'll be back to this course whenever I get a round in.

Best course ever played in NOVA. First class facility. Played on a Thursday for $69.00. Well worth the money. Staff and facilities are outstanding. Overall course in great shape given the heat of this summer. Challenging, rolling fairways and greens, typical Jack Nicklaus design. Most greens in great condition, some fringe areas recently re-sodded but that's ok, course is been open for only 2 years and still growing in.Practice balls included in fees. Practice area is a distance from the clubhouse and first tee.

Some holes are long distances from others and require a cart, cannot walk.

Check the course layout on line before you play, many blind shots and no hole by hole layout provided. More signs should be added from greens to next tee.

Will be back again, highly recommend.

Heard much (good and indifferent) stuff about this course and finally got to experience it myself. WOW! What an awesome and challenging course. Jack Nicklaus did a fabulous job in routing 18 holes on this hilly terrain. The bentgrass greens were in excellent condition, playing fast and true. The only "strange" thing about this course is that the driving range is two holes away from the clubhouse and it takes a few miniutes to get there. My tip is to be well prepared and warm up, take an extra half an hour to ready yourself for the challenges. Can't wait to return. The staff is warm, professional and helpful. The Clubhouse is something to be proud of (for a public course). Troon Golf is to be commended to support this high level of golfing experience. Can't wait to get back to VA to enjoy an encore!

Kurt, Columbia, SC

Is this course nice? Yes - $110 nice? Not even close. Look, it's a great course but for me, an avid 3+ times a week golfer, I've seen my share of nice golf courses relative to price and this course is way over priced. Do what my group did and play during the week for $69.

Overall: We played from the Gold tees and shot well. Course plays shorter than the scorecard of 6,500 from gold. Fairways are great, open where it needs to be and bunkered nicely, however my playing partner found himself in several unraked bunkers leaving him with mounds of sand to hit out of. The course layout is weird. It's like they designed it so they can build as many houses on it as possible - every hole seems to take you a couple of minutes in a golf cart.

Greens: Rolled fairly true but we're pretty slow for a Nicklaus course. Divots were very much present during our round. Since it was a Tuesday we were 2 of about 25 players out there so I'm not sure why the greens had not been repaired by the greens keeper. The back 9 had a bunch of repair going on (did not affect play) but still was a bit of an eye sore. Again, I feel for a $110, greens should roll true and should have a good pace, this course did not.

Fairways: Highlight of the corse for me. Some repair going on but again, didn't affect play. Grass was a little sticky so we weren't getting much roll with our drives but again, course plays shorter (in my option).

This was my third time playing here. I had a family member in town and decided I'd take him to a "premium" public track here in Northern Virginia. I see the previous two reviews that played on 8/20 and I can't agree more. We've had some thunderstorms, but this course was beyond soggy - multiple balls plugged in the fairway and around greens... They may we over watering to avoid losing some of the holes, but it was way too wet for a mid summer round with temps in the high 80's. Traps were unraked and a few were washed out from storms we had days ago... Where is the maintenance? Multiple aprons around the greens were totally ripped out and just sand. Multiple holes with areas of new sod around the greens and, overall, the greens were not as true or as fast as they have been. It's a true test and a real challenge but for $109, it should be in MUCH better shape. Shame on the staff and superintendent for letting this course fall apart like it is. If your plans are to get it back to a $109 course, charge $70 until it's back in $109 condition.

For $109, I would expect a course in much better condition. There were a number of fairways that had diseased turf, a few of the greens where they were replacing the grass on the green and around the green, and a number of bunkers that had some erosion.

I think they should have offered a discount due to the condition of the course, but they were not.

I would highly recommend you not playing unless they reduce the rate to $50-60 or less.

Played Potomac Shores right after it opened a couple years ago, and it was okay. Played today, and geez, have things gone downhill. For a place with greens fees around $100, I'd expect the course to be in much better shape. You can't walk this course, and half the holes are marked "cart path only" for one reason or another. I think they have drainage problems -- the place was really soggy and we haven't had a ton of rain recently. Lots of dead spots on the fairways, lots of greens with sh1tty turf patches and way too many blind tee shots. If you don't know this course already, forget it -- you'll just be frustrated because figuring out where the green is from the tee box is almost as hard as finding the clubhouse from Route 1. Yardage markers were almost invisible. Little stakes with a patch of white or red (no 200 yard markers that I could see). And like many courses in Virginia, they have huge fans blowing on the greens because there's no airflow when you don;t cut down a significant number of the trees around the greens -- lose the fans, get some chainsaws, and clear the place out. Jack might've been a great golfer, but his course design is so-so. Not impressed by Potomac Shores.

Forget the"Shores" part.Ther is only one brief glance of the river and you wouldn't know otherwise there is ariver anywhere nearby.More importantly,they charge premium prices for a course that is currently in poor shape- almost every green apron is just dirt,many tee boxes have little grass and many greens are in poor shape.Definitely Not worth the price!

Finally, the design is the typical Nicklaus design that is fine if you hit a high fade 3 iron 200+ yards but not so good for a 10 who relies on ground roll and bump and run. The course is also unwalkable with 1/4 to 1/2 miles between some greens and tees.They brag about the 8 miles of cart paths!

Also,saw the cart girl once on a 95 degree day.

All in all, definitely not worth the price- go to Laurel Hill for a much better maintained , fairer course.

This is a beautiful course that apparently does not receive the attention it deserves. It is not a course for walking, ask it is spread out and very hilly. As with most Nicklaus courses, it requires thinking and rewards good shots and penalizes bad ones. My only criticism is that there was no food service on a Sunday morning, which the pro shop said reflected the slow morning traffic. The staff also put the golf bags on the cart backwards (with all the pockets facing inwards, so that they were totally inaccessible). That was a first I've never experienced before. For the green fee we paid,($109), they need to bring up the level of service. But the course is so good, I'll come back again to try it once more.

Fantastic clubhouse and friendly staff made for a great first impression. The course is challenging but plays fair- you don't want to be long with approach shots and there are a few blind drives that add to the challenge. Undulated greens make you think twice, but I found that once I stopped playing the break, I made more putts!

I had been anxiously awaiting the opportunity to play Jack Nicklaus' first public course in the DC-area for a couple years. I skipped the opening season (2015) and played during an unseasonably windy day (20-30mph) where it was also 90+ degrees. This was a wicked combination for my first time seeing the course.

There are many blind or semi-blind tee shots and approach shots. You really have to rely on a yardage book your first time and then be careful pulling a driver even when you think there's enough space. The course is very interesting and has many Nicklaus Design features (generous fairways, different shaped greens, undulations, elevation changes, etc.). The land used has plenty of elevation changes that make getting accurate yardages difficult (especially in the wind).

Skilled golfers will enjoy thinking their way around the course, whereas hackers will find themselves looking for lost balls more than normal. There aren't any water hazards, but a few gorges that you need to carry on tee shots or approach shots.

The clubhouse is gorgeous. Excellent grille room, restrooms, pro shop, et al.

Gripes: The driving range is nowhere close to the clubhouse nor 1st tee. This is going to be a major problem if it stays this way. The course layout of not coming back to the clubhouse just doesn't make sense. Especially because there's no half-way house or snack shack around the turn. Additionally, there are only two water stations on the entire course. On a hot day this is just unacceptable (which most days are in the summer in VA). Even with 2 bev carts going around, they should consider having additional carts with water driving around the course. And finally, this course is impossible to walk. With 8 MILES of cart path and a country mile between holes, it's like Nicklaus Design got a blank check and didn't even consider making it possible to walk. Really embarrassing in this day in age where walking courses and designing courses with the lay of the land are the trend.

This was an amazing course. Driver will get you into trouble if you aren't paying attention. You must shape shots and play to distances. They don't allow you to walk, and for good reason, lots of elevation changes and distance between holes. Once you leave on 1, you don't come back the club house until you come back on 18. The driving range is a ways away, hopefully they can figure a way to put a short cut to it. I would absolutely suggest playing here. Just a fun course to play.

When I heard there was a new public Jack Nicklaus course coming to the DMV area I had to get out there and see what it was all about. This place is a fantastic classic layout with tight fairways, massive elevation changes and some of the better greens around the area. The 9th has to be one of their signature holes as it's a downhill dogleg left par 4 with bunkers littered throughout that is quite easy on the eyes when you are on the tee. The following 10th hole is a par 5 that's a little quirky as there is a tree smack dab in the middle of fairway about 80 yds from the green. There was also a lot of earth moving and houses being built around the golf course when I was there. Unfortunately, I could see this course possibly going private in the future so try and play the course soon, but it is definitely one of the better public courses around the area.

Greens are in rough shape even after aerating last month.
Tee boxes have fallen off high standard.
Often only 1 rake per bunker.
Very little or no sand in many bunkers.
Fairways were being resodded in some places and very few divots fixed or filled with sand.

Either the people playing or course staff have really let this place fall off in the past two months.

Very friendly staff, very undulated course, no flat holes. some fairways need work. greens were aerated 2 weeks before we played. Two suggestions 1.get a yardage book there are no maps on the tee , no GPS, . 2. bug spray or wear long pants the bugs bite. We played on a tuesday afternoon took 4 hr 45 min. 5 Holes and par 3's are cart path only. Would love to play again in the fall when leaves are changing. We actually called the pro shop on the third tee and they drove us out a yardage book. great service. restaurant closed at 7 so we missed the food and beverage.

first time playing golf in the DC area. this course was fantastic. i really enjoyed the layout. lots of elevation changes and very pretty layout.

the back two sets of tees provide a good challenge as there are some forced carries and some doglegs. i always enjoy courses where you are forced to hit multiple types of tee shots and not just drivers. from the gold tees the yardage seems short, but many of the shorter holes are quite uphill so play longer than listed.

one thing to note is that this is NOT a course for walking. the layout is pretty unique, and there are a few holes where it takes 1-2 minutes to drive the cart between them. very beautiful setting, but would be quite a walk.

the day i played the course was aerified throughout, but they were very accommodating about that by offering a discounted round for the future. they also had an incentive for finishing your round in the alotted time ($10 off a $25 purchase if you beat the time). i'd never seen that before, and i think it's a great idea.

overall, this course is well worth playing! one of the best layouts i've played. i've come to expect great things of troon courses, and this did not disappoint.

This is the nicest daily fee course in the DC area in my opinion. The range is in great shape. The course has several elevation changes with a great layout. Every shot requires thought. An excellent value during the week especially their summer specials.