Trump National: Washington DC
Just played Trump DC in December of 2020. My threshold of cold weather golf is usually 50°, sunny, and no wind. Below that, I’m out. Well when we were spying the 10-day forecast and it looked like we should be over that threshold, my buddy Bill suggested I come down and we lace ’em up at Trump. As we got closer, the forecast got worse until the night before it was predicting 45° and breezy. He questioned my manhood for saying maybe we should cancel so I made the trip. Well it never got to 45° and “breezy” meant sustained winds of 15-20 mph and gusts to 30 mph+. This may have been the coldest round of golf I’ve ever played. In fact, my buddy Bill took my picture on the 18th…
It was fucking cold but at least we had the course to ourselves! Despite the cold I really enjoyed the course and can’t wait to go back down again in the spring. Our host Jeff quit after nine saying he couldn’t take it anymore and promised a return invite in the summer of 2021.
Trump DC is usually in Golf Digest’s Best in State for VA. It doesn’t get a sniff of love in any of the top 100 rankings, though. It should, this is a great Fazio course and I really enjoyed it even though I played it in Arctic-like weather.
So regardless of my feelings on Trump, I can separate the course from the name. Truth be told, I really like most of the Trump courses I’ve played: Ferry Point, LA, Doral, here and hope to play Bedminster this year. The Trump name – regardless of whether you’re talking about the man, the golf courses, the hotels or the verb – is a trigger for the Looney Left. I planned to use this write-up as a political post on all things Trump but if you found your way to this little corner of the web, you’re probably not wanting to hear my politics. I will pass then but hope beyond hope that Trump sues the shit out of the PGA for pulling the Championship out of Trump Bedminster – the weak PGA leadership cow-tailing to the cancel culture is sickening. But I digress.
To the course. One is a straight-away par four that was playing into a slice-exaggerating cross-wind when we played. I pured the driver but the wind took it into the right rough. The good thing about winter golf is the rough is pretty dormant so you’re never too deep, the bad news is you’re trying to hit the ball with oven mitts on. I was able to get on in regulation and drill a par putt and only lost one toe to frostbite.
Three is a par-three that was playing 185 yards into the teeth of the wind. I pulled out a three-wood and again pured it but SPLASH. I re-hit a driver and barely made it (most likely because I pushed it right and there’s room over there). The holes that play along the Potomac here are really great. Above is the par-three 14th and the 15th was an absolute beast of a 400-yard par four into the wind and the Potomac gobbling up anything right. They didn’t have the waterfall going on 18 but all-in-all this was a class course with a huge, regal clubhouse.
I’ve been going to the DC area for a long-time. My recommendation if going down from NY or Philly is to take the train and stay in DC – spent a lot of time in the Dupont Circle area so check that out if staying. The metro is super easy to navigate and there’re quite a few nice restaurants downtown. Some faves are Acqua Al, Chop House and really liked the vibe at Iron Gate. A Nats game is a nice excursion when they start letting fans back. Sign of the Whale right in the Dupont Circle area is an Eagles bar that was fun too.
We saw Jon Runyan once in the metro on our way to an Eagles-Redskins game. FedEx Field is a dump and a mile walk from the subway and traffic blows driving there (even when we took a sprinter bus in, it was a pain). Skip it. If you’re thinking of a golf trip to DC, unless you have the connections, not much good public golf here. For the privates, you got Congressional (played the Gold there), TPC Potomac, a little further out I played RTJ (my top-ranked in the area), and here. Played some other clubs here (all good) but all private. Of course if you go now I suggest packing your favorite bear skin vest and Viking helmet, paint your face and visit the Capitol Building. They love that there. Trust me.
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