Golf in Rosaryville

On its perch high atop Prospect Hill, the resplendent manor house stands overlooking the 18 holes of Glenn Dale Golf Club as they unfurl outward among rolling hills and dense foliage. Though the house has been there since 1742, it wasn't until 1956 that the course was carved around the base of the mount. Terrell Brazelton oversaw the building of the course using a design by George Cobb, who later became the resident architect at Augusta National Golf Club and the author of many of its architectural renovations.

Today, golfers find their short games put to the test by dramatically sloped greens, a difficulty encountered by many top players when the course hosted a U.S. Open Qualifier in 1994 and just one player broke par. As players herd their golf balls throughout the course, they tread over land steeped in American history. The fairways and greens reside on a tract that once served as a meeting place for Native Americans.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 70 course
• Total length of 6,282 yards from the back tees
• Course rating of 70 from the back tees
• Course slope of 115 from the back tees

A member of the PGA since 2005, Mark Russo helps golfers of every age and skill level unlock professional-grade play during lessons at Night Hawk Golf Center. He boils down the complicated game to a three-pronged teaching philosophy that focuses on establishing fundamentals, trusting the swing to produce consistently positive results, and relying on feel as opposed to technical perfection or the advice of a talking divot. Ultimately, students should be able to get the hang of a swing that’s well suited to their bodies and can be comfortably repeated when facing down a tough shot.

At Sumner Fitness, a Titleist-certified instructor obtains a player's golf history and identifies swing problems using physical screening, golf biomechanics, and human eyes. With a golf dossier in hand, the links expert will create a program tailored to your needs and follow up your on-site evaluation with an email containing customized results to help enhance golf performance. By combining physical workouts with an improved technique, both weekend swingers and pros can maximize distance and accuracy.

Course architect Gary Player remarked that Raspberry Plain, once an 18th-century plantation, “was made for a golf course.” Inspired by this ideal setting, he dreamed up the links-style course at Raspberry Falls Golf & Hunt Club, whose meandering brooks, stone walls, and stacked-sod bunkers evoke Scotland, while its vista of the Catoctin Mountains remind players they’re in Virginia. Farther south, Augustine Golf Club's award-winning course rivals Raspberry Falls’ natural beauty with its distinctive par 4s sculpted by Rick Jacobson. Although the greens at Augustine declined for a few years, recent renovations have restored the course to its former glory, once again luring golfers to its babbling streams and forest.

These golf havens have more than picturesque views in common—they are two of six award-winning courses united by Raspberry Golf Management’s portfolio, which stretches from Virginia to Pennsylvania and skips over to Arizona. Gary Player’s design team for Raspberry Falls included Tim Freeland, who went on to design two of the firm’s other courses: Royal Manchester Golf Links, whose bentgrass fairways sidle up to the Susquehanna River, and Old Hickory Golf Club, a parkland-style course crisscrossed by Beaver Creek. The management company's other gems include The Legacy Golf Resort, where cowboys used to ride their rocking horses around a 7,500-acre ranch, and Bull Run Golf Club, which sprawls across more than 450 acres of meadows and woodlands at the foot of the Bull Run Mountains.

Designed by famed course architect P.B. Dye, The Gauntlet Golf Club's 18-hole course is cleaved between dense woodlands and the lake at Curtis Memorial Park for 6,857 yards of challenging golf. Across the par-72 layout, golfers dig their spikes into zoysia fairways and steer balls over smooth, bentgrass greens while lecturing wedges about effective lawn-care techniques. The course’s signature hole—the par-4 fourth—begins with a forced carry over marshland and precise approach shots onto a three-tiered green, showcasing a number of memorable shot-making opportunities.

The verdant grounds also feature a 20-stall driving range, practice bunker, and chipping area. Three instructors are also on hand ready to spread their golf wisdom in lessons, clinics, and heart-warming memoirs about how they overcame the yips.

Course at a Glance:

• Designed by P.B. Dye
• 18-hole, par-72 course
• Zoysia fairways, bentgrass greens
• Length of 6,857 yards from the farthest tees
• Course rating of 73.4 from the farthest tees
• Slope rating of 139 from the farthest tees
• Four tee options
• Scorecard

Arundel challenges Mother Nature herself with its covered and heated driving range. At night, swingers can stay in the game thanks to extended hours (until 8:30 every night except Sundays) and lit facilities. With four rounds of mini golf, perfect putting skills or rustle up friends for a round on Arudel's well-manicured little greens. The golf park also boasts batting cages, allowing visitors the chance to hone their hitting skills. A staff of PGA gurus keeps the facilities all-age friendly.