Rock Harbor Golf Course - Boulder

If you're a scratch golfer and have 5-6 hours to play a round then this is the course for you!
Pace of play was DREADFUL! What's worse was it was caused by the owner of the course. He was playing in a 4sum and his group was playing so slow that groups were stacked up 5 and 6 deep on the tees behind them. Wouldn't let people play through and would't pick up their pace. What a bunch off jerks! Pins were in places just 2 paces on the greens and anything that didn't go in the hole rolled off the green. Getting a ball to roll true was an impossibility from all the pitch marks and scuffing on the greens. I've never seen a ball bounce and jump around so much, even on municipal courses! Also, there were several holes that looked like they'd only been partially mowed. 18th fairway had a rough deep strip down the entire left 3rd of the fairway. 4sums I play with can usually play a round with a cart in about 3 and a half hours. This round took over 5 and a half! And in all that time, between 1 and 5:45, we only saw the cart girl once! And she drove by several other groups we talked to while waiting on the tee boxes.
Also, I checked the web site for policies concerning dress and food and drink and found nothing. There are no signs at the club house, driving range, practice greens or anywhere else concerning anything of the kind. Then, as I'm about to hit the first tee, the starter tells me I'm not allowed on the course with my own cooler and makes me take my small cooler of water and gatorade back to my car. Not even beer! Nothing like drinking warm gatorade on a summer day!
The only thing the place had going for it was I thought the design was better than average. But pace of play, poor upkeep, no coolers, and lackluster amenities means I won't be going back there ever again. Probably actually worth about half what I payed.
There are plenty of other excellent courses in the area. Save yourself the money and frustration and play elsewhere.

Don't know why this course is getting subpar reviews. Both Boulder & Rock courses are in great shape with greens running fast. Played Rock last week and Boulder today. Boulder much tougher than Rock but still a fair course. Recommend to everyone.

Cant get a beer. The employees are dont want to wait on you. Not organized at all.

What a pleasant surprise. Great course and in amazing condition. Customers service is top notch. Love the layout. It’s not a grip it and rip it course. It makes you think which I love. They have taken customer service to a new level. I played with a member, John Pearl who helped me shoot a 77. John knew every blade of grass on the Boulder course. Great guy. Worth the hour drive from Fairfax, VA. Will be back for sure. Keep up the good work.

This review is only for the Boulder Course at Rock Harbor. I have never played the Rock Course.

I've played hundreds of courses, and I could easily walk away from the Boulder Course and say that it was unlike anything I had ever played before. However, there are positives and negatives to this. There are many holes with incredible views, dramatic elevation changes, and interesting green complexes. The layout is truly one of a kind. On the other hand, there are some holes that are tricked out and pretty ridiculous (I'm looking at you, #3). As others have stated, playing here for the first time involves a LOT of guesswork.

While the layout is unlike any other, the condition simply is not there to match it. Greens had recently been aerated, but some greens were in much better shape than others - some were nearly fully healed and great, while some were really struggling. Weeds and dandelions were everywhere. The bunkers were very poor; unkempt and unedged with weeds popping out. The creativity of the layout mostly made up for the very average condition. If they could improve on the condition of the course, this place could be REALLY special!

If you want to throw yourself a curveball and switch up the routine, definitely go check out the Boulder Course.

Boulder course is still under construction, though they have beautiful and challenging layouts. Some holes have surroundings of greens with nightmare, with evil layout and never stopping slope into the pound. The course is well maintained with smooth green, maintained fairway and thick rough. Actually, you will have the same 9 holes twice even you paid 18 holes. Some holes have long approach between the holes - especially hole 1&2 and replayed 10&11 - it takes around a mile. I anticipate to have a round after all construction is made, but I strongly advise that this is not walking facility.

Place was beautiful boulder course under construction but will be a full 18 next year will definitely be back next year to play both courses once they are finished renovating. Definitely recommend to any caliber player

the boulder course will be evn better once the remaining fairways and greens are developed

Extremely friendly staff. Good course conditions, the course is not yet finished but the finished holes were very playable and challenging. Excellent value for the money, great area. Worth the drive to Winchester.

Play the rock course only. If u play the boulder course u will spend time simply trying to find the next tee box. On boulder course you play 7 or 8 holes twice. Once this course finishes completion of all 36 holes I would suggest playing either course. For now only play the Rock. Refer the boulder to people u don't like! Lol
One last thing this course is well maintained at 7500 yards from the black tees, you will cherish all pars and covet any birdies.

Everything about my experience Rock Harbor was very good except the design of the Boulder Course. There are some good holes but it's so extreme in spots that I would have a hard time believing a professional architect designed it. I've heard good things about the Rock Course and will give that a try one day. But count me out on the Boulder. (And I'm a guy that likes Tobacco Road!)

Enjoyed this course, liked the layout and the change of following the arrows around the course. thinking of playing it again in the fall.

This course features two courses that intertwine. The featured Rock Course, and the lesser Boulder course that we played. The cart paths criss-cross and are poorly marked. Had a ranger not been helping us on numerous occasions, we would have going around in circles looking for the next tee box. The score card did not have any hole descriptions; nor did the tee boxes, features customary at even far less expensive courses. First time players on this course are shooting blind into numerous water hazards. Even playing with a discounted rate, I would not want to play the course again unless they make the course more user friendly.

Did the Boulder part of Rock Harbor for the first time in awhile and it was very challenging. Near 500 yard par 4, a number of lakes to cross and some ridiculous hills on the greens. Everything was in great condition. The only downside is 5 holes you do again on the back but as long as you don't play the course too often it's actually good to have an idea of where you are going. Only 18 dollars with golf now was a great value.

I played the "boulder" course. This is the unfinished side. The layout was confusing. The entire course is very hilly. They have you playing certain holes twice. These holes have two pins in them, one blue, one yellow. Due to the hillyness of the course my cart battery died on the 17th hole. I think this happens frequently here. They responded quickly with another cart. There are a lot of water hazards and other environmentals to contend with. The over all conditions of the fairways and greens was excellent. The driving range was on artificial mats. I did not see any grass tees to practice from. This course gave me the overall impression of being designed more for fun than competition. Some parts almost have a "putt putt" feel to them. All that aside it was fun and challenging. I'd go again if invited.

The bolder course is only 9 holes played at different pins on the green and golf now has it as 18 hole course.

Great course, great shape. Played bolder course, play 12holes then replay first six. It was not well mark so it was kind of confusing.i would high recommend this or rock course.

While the course was very well maintained there were several issues with the design and golfnow app. For starters, the golfnow app- when using the direction feature, it brought us to a residence more the 5 miles from the course itself. This caused us to be late for our tee time. Once there we were very happy with the way the course looked. When asking for a course map or layout, we were told that they didn't have any. We explained that this was our 1st time playing here and need some help figuring out the course. The course ref's were very helpful and guided us after we had issues on the 2nd hole in determining where the next course was. This would lead to other issues as it seemed we tee'd off and played the incorrect #2 course. It was also explained that the Boulder course( which we were playing) was doubled up in most... Meaning the 2 was also 12 and so on.. The did this with color flags at each hole... I found this to make the course less enjoyable as I payed to play 18, not 9 twice.

The best part of this course is the par 3s. They are very visually enjoyable as well as a challenge in some cases. Where they can have valleys in between , water or be up hill.
This was the only saving grace I found of the entire play.
My main concern with the par 4/5s is that without knowing the course or layout, you can quickly find yourself in water hazards quickly. Most times you will not even see the water locations over the hills. You need to have ver controlled shots on most of these as the design forces you to one type of play and if you tend to go wide on shots, you might as well give up on finding your ball. My partner ran into this a few times where he had a great line shot , just to find that when you crest the hill that you likely ended up in the water.

The "Boulder" course at Rock Harbor Golf Course REPEATS 7 of the 18 holes which means we played 7 of the holes from the exact same tee onto the exact same green with a different color flag. It took our twosome 4.5 hours to play 18 holes because the hole directions were very confusing and no map illustrations on scorecard. Fortunately, the course wasn't pack with golfers otherwise, it could've been 5-6 hours of frustrating golf. Definitely not worth the green fees. The only positive aspect of the course was that it was well maintained and greens were perfect. Not going to play there ever again and that's a shame since it's only 20 minutes from my house.

A lot of fun for any skill golfer. I played with two friends and we all experienced some great holes and some not so great holes. The staff was well placed to help not critic with hard hole management. Club house staff eager, friendly and kind . The new carts worked great and are well maintained. Neat island whole and great views are just some if the reasons you got to play here.