Some friends of mine asked me to play at Little Bennett Golf Course on an absolutely perfect day for golf. But then again, just about ANY day is a perfect day for golf…right? Well, this one really was: 75 degrees with low humidity and only a slight breeze – what’s not to like? Located in Clarksburg’s rolling farmland, I think this upper Montgomery County track is a hidden gem.
This is another course that I had not played in quite some time – perhaps more than 7 years and as with most of my prior experiences in returning to long lost courses, the conditions seemed to have improved. We got out on a weekday at 11:30 and finished in 4 1/2 hours – it would have been quicker but we had a couple of lengthy searches for lost balls – which, as you know, is normal when you have a very exciting competition going on – as we did on this day! Those lost balls take on even greater meaning and there is a bigger urgency to find them on the last few holes. You KNOW what I mean as you golfers out there know how important it is to win those golf bets no matter what the size of the bet!
Since my last time at Little Bennett, I’ve learned that they switched the nines and you start off with a long par 5 which seemed to me to be a lot more than 535 from the whites! Maybe it was the rolling hills or maybe it was just uphill but whatever the reason, I hit a good drive and decent 4 iron and was still 190 out to an uphill green! It’s a good starter hole and open enough that you have some room to miss and still perhaps make a par to start your round.
One very noticeable thing about his course was the elevation changes especially on the par 3’s. On at least 2 of them, signs indicating that this hole plays 2 clubs less, choose your club wisely should be heeded. Don’t let this get into your head (like I did) and try to “baby it”. Just make your normal swing with whatever club you do choose and a par, or maybe even a birdie awaits!
As I mentioned earlier, the conditions of this course were really nice. A couple of tee boxes and greens were a little beat up and several greens have those giant fans to keep the air circulating but I was impressed by the overall conditions. The greens were sneaky fast but rolled pretty true. The try-to-putt-uphill theory should be utilized on this course whenever possible. I would call this course “hilly” with many elevation changes and I think would be difficult to walk because of those hills – but it was certainly fun to play.
The after-round beverages in their nicely apportioned clubhouse were cold and this course is relatively inexpensive for the product. In other words, if you get a chance to play Little Bennett – your wallet won’t be lightened too much – unless you lose one of those aforementioned golf bets! 🙂
Little Bennett Golf Course | Clarksburg, MD | website