Swan Point Yacht & Country Club

This is a great course layout, but if you play on the weekends you should plan to be there all day. There was no attempt to control the pace of play and the round took well over five hours (we waited to hit every shot the entire day). We gave serious thought to leaving after nine holes because when we got to the tenth tee there were three foursomes waiting on the same tee!

This course is at least an hour drive southeast of DC, further out than the Rte 301 bridge to Dalghren. But it's worth the drive. I'd call it intermediate difficulty for the most part but more than a few holes are "quite a challenge" for the intermediate golfer, someone who normally shoots around 100. The layout is very nice, the grounds were excellent when I played, though it's cut out of the marsh along the Potomac so definitely bring some bug-spray. The bugs, horse-flies and what-not, were "evident" but not overwhelming. Don't let them ruin a good round. The main thing is that this is a full-on course, electric carts, pretty-much flat but the hole layout is simply excellent, time and time again. Especially if you like water. The fairways were decently wide with trees well-off the fairway and moderate-length rough. Only a few of the greens, if any, were tabletop and they were all mostly flat, not hard to reach in regulation and not overly big or small, not tricked-up or overloaded with traps and waste on the fairways and around the greens. Very nicely moderated difficulty. I can't think of any blind shots, either, nor the obnoxious and trendy "you've got to drive 150+ over a waste before you even get to the fairway" except on one hole. Even tee shots over water, there are only a few par4's like that, and two par3's that are over waste, not too bad. The main thing is that the shots are just amazingly, consistently good, challenging yet not impossible, from tee to green. Only on a few holes did I ever get that "this hole sure seems familiar" feeling, mostly you'll get a good solid intellectual and physical challenge on every hole all the way from tee to green. It was absolutely worth the $30 that I paid for a twilight round, which starts at 3pm in June. The front nine is a notch or two better than the back, but the most challenging holes are equally spaced between the front and the back. I played the course two days in a row, on two beautiful days in the mid-80s with blue skies and low humidity, the first time I actually shot a little better than the second but both times I was 15 strokes over my average. Some have said that you have to make a good choice of tee, it's really simple, the black tees (back tees) are at least a stroke per hole harder than the blues except for a few holes. Not much difference at all between the blues and whites. And if you play the blacks instead of the blues, which is quite possible for most of the course, on the back you'll get a nice 240 yard par3 over a giant marsh to a thin, wide green and then another 250 yard shot into a narrow angle for a dogleg right that you will never forget as long as you play golf. It's worth the trip, worth the money and quite an experience even for a jaded golfer. And the views on some of the holes looking out over the Potomac are very nice, though equally a few holes play between houses and are just average. I would definitely recommend this course to anyone who considers themselves an avid golfer, though it is definitely not a beginners' course, definitely not for the faint of heart. Make sure you can score in the 90s at least somewhere before you play here otherwise you will just waste a whole lot of balls. The blues are fairly easy. The blacks are another story entirely. But overall the course is just a solid, engaging challenge, not too long or short, not too tight or wide, not fantastic but not average either. A standout course all around. I would say that it is probably the best public course that I've ever played in the DC area, and I've played just about all of them.

Make the trip from Baltimore area once a year to play this course, and as expected conditions of the course were excellent. Played as a foursome, no wait on any tees, and played in 4.25 hours. Only criticism is to better mark yardages, but I would recommend anyone in the W/B area to make the trip for the views and the excellent conditions.

I grew up working at Swan Point and have seen it through all condition levels. I also play there once or twice a month starting in spring. This year the greens took a hit with the winter, but have bounced back to about 75% of the pristine condition that swan is known for. They were a little slower than Swan of the past, but they will get there in another couple weeks. Fairways are in great shape and I didn't have a bad lie as long as I kept the driver in line.

Over all great place to play. It was also nice to see some young guys working the parking lot and getting bags from cars again. There was a time where staff was cut to the point where it didn't make sense to have someone hustling the parking lot, so it's a good sign that the service is back in full swing. Go check it out and if your not into country club food, Captain Johns is right around the corner in Cobb Island or you could make your way over to Popes Creek on the other side of 301 for Captain Billy's or night time at Gilligan's Pier.

We enjoyed the course very much. Staff was excellent. Will go back soon.

Great course in beautiful condition. Hope they can keep the greens and fairways as nice throughout the hot summer as they are now in mid-June.
Very friendly staff. Nice pro shop, practice range, clubhouse facilities. Like a vacation spot.

Good condition to great.. only complaint not enough water, ice, and drinks on a very hot day. FRIENDLY Helpful staff. Long drive from North A A cnty.

The course weaves through the woods and out onto the marshes, providing just the kind of gorgeous views advertised on the website. The layout can be tricky in places and since the greens are INCREDIBLY tricky, its really important to know where to be for the best angle into the greens. Unfortunately it looks like they have some sort of fungus on the greens though, so even when you do have a straight putt, it can jump around on you.

Definitely worth the drive from DC though.

The flying bugs were terrible. They made playing very difficult and a round that should have been good was transformed into a miserable event.

Swan point used to be a premier course in so MD but conditions weren't too good this time around . maybe it was the hard winter but everything was pretty rough . greens were OK but splotchy. Still a good value for the discounted rate. Hope this course comes back to what it used to be.

I always slip down to play Swan Point whenever I can, even though its a little bit of a drive for me. The course wasn't in optimal shape, but better than most in the area and expected given the winter we had.

The staff at the course, and the overall "upkeep" of the course is what sets Swan Point apart from other area courses. Looking forward to playing Swan Point many times more this year and highly recommend to anyone who enjoys a challenging course that provides high risk/high reward layouts.

I enjoy play this course. I bet whenever this course is in full bloom it would be even better.

Although there were a few spots on the course that needed attention, the staff as always made the difference here. We were late because of a traffic accident and arrived behind 2 foursomes. They let us go off the back 9 and we played a stoppage free round.

Played on a Saturday afternoon. Course in process of recovering from this long winter. Many challenging holes, small and protected,greens. Driving down route 210 and 301 is such a treat compared to 95 south or 66 west on the weekend. Pro shop and starter very helpful . Will go back.

greens had been punched recently which was only downside. Otherwise course is always excellent. It is a shame other courses can't take a lesson from here on how to treat guests. This is not a course for the faint of heart but will reward the golfer who plays smart. The staff is always the best. If you own or run a golf course and want to know how to do it better, play a round here and learn

Driving into Swan Point Yatch and Country Club feels like being at a golf resort in Hilton Head, SC. The course is reasonably maintained but there is a need for tee box repair And some greens are also in need of repair. We paid $29 for green fees, cart and practice balls. A really great deal that we plan to repeat as soon as possible.

Awesome, challenging course with a great staff. Able to play at our own pace. Greens were a little beat up, but didn't impact play.

The front nine greens were just recently aerated and no aeration alert on Golfnow.

It was a good play except a casher's government offficer maner! All other staff was very nice and kind.

This was a difficult course for me (first time playing). I played 5 strokes above my 12 HCP mainly due to bunkers, and long chipping. But I had fun playing. Rematch scheduled soon !