Walden Golf Club

Weather was perfect, and yet course was not crowded - this is still a hidden treasure in the middle of a Maryland suburb. The course has been working on conditions this summer, obviously, because many previously washed out or damaged areas had been re-sodded and roped off for carts; this is a great step.

My only reservation is the lack of course marshals when it is not crowded. There was a group of EIGHT playing together (a wedding party), but they let people play through. However - there was also a twosome/couple holding up many people while they argued about the playing lesson the man was trying to give his partner. I literally stood in the fairway for five or six minutes with no acknowledgement or any action being taken by either player in the green 100 yards away while I tried to be patient. I finally gave up and progressed to the next tee.

I do hope Walden gets more play - it really is a good layout with a variety of challenges as well as some easy holes...ideal for the community it serves.

This course is in excellent condition and the greens are very fast which I appreciate. Pace was slow on a Sunday. Layout includes a lot of unique holes, several that make driver a poor choice, better to lay up short of the water hazards and doglegs unless you are very confident and long with the driver.

Greens rolled true. Some holes a little to far apart. A few tight holes that require some forethought and straight shots. Lots of hills. Practice your uphill, downhill, and sidehill lies.

course in good condition, greens true. front side good for scoring low, back side much harder. this is a good course for us old guys who don't hit it as far as we used to. if you are a long hitter and can stay in the fairway, it's an easier course. has some really "pretty: holes. fun to play

In golf, you typically get what you pay for and this holds true at Walden. Green fees are probably some of the lowest around. There's no driving range to warm up on and not much supervision on the course. The course is pretty challenging and there is a lot of trouble to be found. It's a fun course to play and practice on course since the fees are low. Course conditions are typically pretty good, but slow play happens a good bit here. Additionally, the last three times I've been, on very hot days, the water coolers have been empty. You've been warned.

I will start with the good things which would primarily be the course layout. The course is pretty short (6,384 from the tips) but it is quite tight so it requires some good shot making. I personally thought the layout was great but that is to be expected of a Robert Trent Jones Sr and Lindsay Ervin design. The back nine is most definitely better than the front nine design wise in my opinion, front nines variety is a little lacking where as the back nine each hole was unique in one way or another. Another good thing about this golf course was the price, I payed $10 for a hot deal which I would say is worth it if you are concerned about price. If you are paying the normal price the course charges I would go somewhere else since it is not worth it considering you can play 2 better courses for about the same price that are quite close, I wont name them per the review guidelines but they shouldn't be hard to figure out. So now I will talk about the course conditions and they are so mixed depending on where you are on the course. First off the bunkers are not raked on any part of the course so that doesn't change condition wise on each nine. The greens were also pretty good on both nines. On the front nine until you get to around 8 the course is awful, weeds everywhere including in the fairway and tee boxes. Some of it is literally just mowed crab grass to the best of my knowledge. The worst portion of the golf course are holes 3-6 with holes 4 and 5 being absolutely awful. There really wasn't much true rough on the beginning of the front nine, just mowed weeds I think. I was honestly thinking of just leaving after those couple of holes because I figured it was only $10. Then I got to 8 fairway and things changed, there was actual grass for rough and actual grass in the tee boxes, not weeds fully but they were still there just not as much. From then on the course wasn't bad, it still wasn't good but it was most certainly better than the first 7 holes. There were still a few spots that weren't good (hole 11 for instance by the green) Another minor thing about the whole course was the natural areas and the trees were over grown quite a bit, I did see a grounds crew employee out there working on it so maybe it is in the plans to improve but that is something that would greatly improve the look of the course. And if that isn't in the plans just at least trim the plants near the cart path so they aren't overhanging. Pace of play was fine, I was a single and finished in around 2.5 hours. Would I go back to the course, probably not. Would I recommend it, only if you are on a budget and get a hot deal or are local and don't want to drive.

I really enjoy this course. The pace of play is always good. The only drawback is a sometime problem with area residents wandering around the course, even walking their dogs. I noticed signs posted where the management is trying to curb this. Otherwise, the course is not over challenging for a high handicapper like me, but does require precise shots by low handicappers. The staff here is great.

This was my first time at Walden and I found it to be very enjoyable. Interesting layout, every hole is unique. Greens were a bit slow but the course was in good shape overall. It helped to play with someone that had course knowledge. I will go back.

The good- the greens are in great shape.

The bad - the rest of the course is in poor condition.

Enjoyable round, very few golfers out. Never had to wait. Greens in great shape!

Traps needed work after all the rain the previous few days.

Grounds keepers should monitor the greens for Geese activity esp for waste on the greens

This place is 180 degrees different than 2 years ago. Fairways, tee boxes and greens were all in great conditions. Greens were lightning fast. Friendly staff. Nice carts. Cold beer. What else can I say. Highly recommended.

I was very impressed with this course. You can tell they're trying to improve it. Can't beat the course for $30 on a hot deal. It's a fair but challenging course.

Playing golf in February on a seasonally warm day is a rare event in Maryland and my expectation of the course conditions was on par for this time of year. Expect I saw no "work in progress to maintain the course" while playing as I did at PB Dye course in Frederick MD and Waverly Woods in Woodstock MD which I played in the last two weeks. The weather was high 50's & sunny at Walden, while I loved the difficult challenge of the front nine holes, I did not like the tons & tons of Canadian Goose droppings everywhere. Yes, everywhere. The back nine has very little of that goose droppings and that layout has 5 holes from the original Golden Triangle days, but those holes looked tried and unaspiring even though I enjoy the nostalgia of playing them again after 30 years. My first "birdie" ever came on the now 15th hole, 31 years ago. From what I observed, I just don't see the club doing much to replace old unreadable tee marker signs , let alone clean up and improve the landscape to enhance the overall visual appearance of the course layout. I'll come back again one more time this summer to play and hopefully I'll be proved wrong about the lack of up-keep. But the tale-tell signs are there.

Good value for the price, though I escaped the pain of losing many balls. I can see that on a bad day or lack of confidence, you can loose lots of golf balls on Holes 2 thru 8 and hole 11.

Most don't realize its not Private any more. Fantastic course always in good shape, definite challenge.

You will not regret playing this course.