Prince William Golf Club
Opened in 1978, the course was designed and built by a group of farmers. Prince William County Parks now owns this course, but it’s managed by Troon Golf. Dan Wagner, GM, and Mark Murphy do a great job of managing this NOVA treasure. Touting several youth programs, Prince William Golf Course offers a great experience. While it’s not your elite golf course, it’s a well-kept, well-managed, affordable, public golf course. Prince William County also hosts Forrest Greens and Lake Ridge Golf Courses. A par 70, the course plays 6266 yards from the tips (blue tees) with a 70.7 slope/132 rating. The course plays fair and there is enough variety to keep all levels of play satisfied while particularly offering novice golfers a track to hone their skills.
As 7 and 18 handicap reviewers played the course, fresh off a rain shower and cart-path only instructions, the course to be in good shape. Recently punched greens on the front nine and dressed greens on the back nine made us want to come back after the seasonal maintenance.
The course handles about 45,000 rounds of golf a year on a walkable, junior friendly course. The team knows golf carts are the next investment and then the club house, but their care for the grounds and playability was their first priority. The greens are poana grass, and the fairways are bentgrass .
We counted only two fairway bunkers (Holes 10 and 18) and determined the signature feature was the clean bunkers that usually came front left and front right of greens approach. Some had one, others had three, but mostly two green side bunkers on each hole. The sand, wet from a recent rain, was fun to play out of. No signs of pooling or drainage problems, the bunkers had a light-colored sand that sprayed a light dusting onto the green of successful shots. Greens were good sized and frequently offered slight breaks that required consideration.
As we finished playing the 18th hole we could hear good energy and laughter coming from near the club house. Young voices chanted “USA! USA!” As we got closer, we saw a youth putting clinic and these future golfers, inspired by the Olympics cheered each other on as they practiced putting drills.
If you go to Prince William – tell them we sent you!
