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Rockburn Branch reviews
10
0
Fun holes, but with a little frustration 2+ years
Reviewed:
Played on:Jan 3, 2021
Played the course:once
Pros:
- Nice use of the topography and just enough hole layout variety to provide fairly consistently different looks and challenge throughout your round. For the long baskets, this includes uphills (#2, 10, 12), downhills (#3, 6, 13, 15, 16, 17), a left dogleg (#11), and right doglegs (#4, 14). And all of this is combined with enough distance (to the long baskets) to challenge intermediate players from the long tees.
- Two baskets per hole, and there's now 4 tees per hole. That's the most variety in ways to play a hole that I've seen on any course anywhere. If you're looking for the most challenge offered, play the long tees to the white baskets.
- Long concrete tees on every hole and they are all level.
- Very descriptive tee signs with nice sketches of the hole layouts that are actually quite accurate. That's a real rarity, so you really have to appreciate the effort that was put into the graphics - thank you!
- The hole lengths range pretty widely no matter which tee you choose to play from, with a few reachable birdie opportunities (such as #9) and some that require a big arm just to hope for par (like #15).
- Practice basket by the first tee, and you finish where you started.
- #17 is awesome! See "Other Thoughts" for more.
- Two baskets per hole, and there's now 4 tees per hole. That's the most variety in ways to play a hole that I've seen on any course anywhere. If you're looking for the most challenge offered, play the long tees to the white baskets.
- Long concrete tees on every hole and they are all level.
- Very descriptive tee signs with nice sketches of the hole layouts that are actually quite accurate. That's a real rarity, so you really have to appreciate the effort that was put into the graphics - thank you!
- The hole lengths range pretty widely no matter which tee you choose to play from, with a few reachable birdie opportunities (such as #9) and some that require a big arm just to hope for par (like #15).
- Practice basket by the first tee, and you finish where you started.
- #17 is awesome! See "Other Thoughts" for more.
Cons:
- Seems that the course is constantly changing, which makes drawing comparisons across reviews and over time really tough. For example, the pars on half the holes have already changed since I played here earlier this year. Just pick something and stick with it so those of us who want to regularly play the course can easily remember and compare our scores across rounds.
- There's plenty of parking, but it's a fairly long walk to the first tee and there's no sign from the parking lot about which direction to walk to get there. A sign would be very helpful here. As it stands, you're "just supposed to know".
- Some of the tee pads are ice-slick smooth, as other reviewers have mentioned. #18 is especially bad. I about ate concrete here first try (which never happens to me), chalked it up to being distracted and tried again, and same thing happened on my retry. Enough said.
- The layout is confusing in places and backtracks way too much. Places where navigation is particularly tough is finding the #2 tee, realizing that the tee you pass while playing #3 is actually the one for #5 (not #4), walking twice along the fairway of #4 to first find it's tee tucked back in the trees then to make your way from its basket to the fifth tee when you've finished the hole (seriously??), and figuring out where to go after you finish #11. Next tee signs would go A LONG way to helping this.
- Along with the navigation issues are a couple fairway-tee conflicts. These include the #5 tee being right in the #3 fairway and the #2 tee being right in a left hazard area of the 18th fairway.
- The white basket for #11 is in a horrid location: it's hidden shortly behind a building from the tee and shortly in front of another building, and to get there you have to throw right through a picnic area and across a rough path. So you're faced with a blind tee shot that can't be thrown when picnic-goers are there, and you're trying not to hit buildings too. Needs redesigning (again) badly...
- There's plenty of parking, but it's a fairly long walk to the first tee and there's no sign from the parking lot about which direction to walk to get there. A sign would be very helpful here. As it stands, you're "just supposed to know".
- Some of the tee pads are ice-slick smooth, as other reviewers have mentioned. #18 is especially bad. I about ate concrete here first try (which never happens to me), chalked it up to being distracted and tried again, and same thing happened on my retry. Enough said.
- The layout is confusing in places and backtracks way too much. Places where navigation is particularly tough is finding the #2 tee, realizing that the tee you pass while playing #3 is actually the one for #5 (not #4), walking twice along the fairway of #4 to first find it's tee tucked back in the trees then to make your way from its basket to the fifth tee when you've finished the hole (seriously??), and figuring out where to go after you finish #11. Next tee signs would go A LONG way to helping this.
- Along with the navigation issues are a couple fairway-tee conflicts. These include the #5 tee being right in the #3 fairway and the #2 tee being right in a left hazard area of the 18th fairway.
- The white basket for #11 is in a horrid location: it's hidden shortly behind a building from the tee and shortly in front of another building, and to get there you have to throw right through a picnic area and across a rough path. So you're faced with a blind tee shot that can't be thrown when picnic-goers are there, and you're trying not to hit buildings too. Needs redesigning (again) badly...
Other Thoughts:
- There are many mixed thoughts both in my head and in prior reviews here due in large part to the constant changes going on at Rockburn, but in my book I'd say it's a solidly-fun course thanks to the topographic and length variety with fairways that stay open enough to be fair. The great points are somewhat even with the drawbacks, thus my 3-star rating.
- If you're like me and waiting/slow rounds bother you, try to play it at off times or during the winter when there are less pedestrians along the many trails/sidewalks.
- The signature hole in my book is definitely #17. It's a really fun, long and slowly descending downhill par 3 with a roller-containing ridge all along the left side of the fairway that just begs you to bomb it as hard as you can from the tee. Then your approach shot is still slightly downhill, with both baskets positioned in nicely-level spots to act as disc-catching greens. Yes there's a walking path all along the right side of the hole, but when there's no one walking it this hole is awesome! Just don't shank it right or you'll be digging through dense brush down by the creek...
- It's literally the closest course to I-95 in the entire state of Maryland! This obviously makes it the easiest course to add into a roadtrip traversing through the Baltimore-D.C. area. (Side note: why is it that Maryland courses seems to spurn the I-95 corridor? Us road-trippers need more courses right along the interstates like this!)
- If you're like me and waiting/slow rounds bother you, try to play it at off times or during the winter when there are less pedestrians along the many trails/sidewalks.
- The signature hole in my book is definitely #17. It's a really fun, long and slowly descending downhill par 3 with a roller-containing ridge all along the left side of the fairway that just begs you to bomb it as hard as you can from the tee. Then your approach shot is still slightly downhill, with both baskets positioned in nicely-level spots to act as disc-catching greens. Yes there's a walking path all along the right side of the hole, but when there's no one walking it this hole is awesome! Just don't shank it right or you'll be digging through dense brush down by the creek...
- It's literally the closest course to I-95 in the entire state of Maryland! This obviously makes it the easiest course to add into a roadtrip traversing through the Baltimore-D.C. area. (Side note: why is it that Maryland courses seems to spurn the I-95 corridor? Us road-trippers need more courses right along the interstates like this!)
