Broad Run Golf & Practice Facility (Bristow, VA on 05/26/18)

I wasn’t set on playing anywhere after my round at Bristow Manor. But, I did have Broad Run in mind. I drove by Broad Run last month and it was literally a couple turns away from where I was at. The storms avoided us at Bristow Manor and even though it was lightly raining, I decided to roll the dice again for some more golf!

The light rain at Bristow Manor was replaced with an oppressive humidity at Broad Run when I checked in. Funny how the East Coast weather varies like that. The parking lot was deserted, so I guess people have better things to do on a holiday weekend than chance thunderstorms on the course! I paid $19 to walk a twilight round, which is probably about average for nine holes these days.

I sweated my way over to the first tee and tailed a threesome around. I eventually made it around in two hours, but 30 minutes of that time was me waiting in the woods, while a thunderstorm passed! The rain delay was probably the most interesting part of my afternoon at Broad Run.

I made it out to the 4th hole, which is the furthest point from the clubhouse. I could see a thundercloud getting closer and hurriedly finished the hole. I hiked halfway down the 5th hole, to a lower area, and found myself a dryish place in the trees to wait for the worst to pass. There isn’t a course map on the scorecard and I figured I’d spend more time looking for a shelter than it would be worth. So, I just made due.

That worked out better than I ever would have imaged and somehow I didn’t get drenched! Unfortunately, a threesome behind me also waited it out and jumped ahead of me while I walked back up the hill to the 5th tee. In their defense, I did a great job of hiding in the woods! They let me go through on the 6th, but it ended up taking me a lot of effort to play all nine holes here.

And, after all that effort, Broad Run turned out to be more of a list checking course for me than anything else. The layout of Broad Run is what I’d call quintessential Virginia golf. The course is cut through the trees, dense vegetation and some swampy areas. For someone coming from the desert, this may look great. However, trying to hit your golf ball in-between all these trees is problematic!

The 135 slope on a 6,046 yard course (if you play eighteen holes) confirms the difficulty. Besides all the trees there are hazards to carry, bunkers to avoid and greens with lots of contour. Broad Run is definitely a modern style course. All the toughness seemed a bit much for a short, par-35 nine hole course.

There are a couple decent holes at Broad Run, including the 3rd and the 5th. The 3rd is a short par-4 that runs out to the edge of the property. The tee shot, likely a layup, needs to carry a hazard before you’ll have a short iron into the green. The green is framed by some beautiful, dead trees and a swamp in the background. It looked extra cool with the storm clouds getting closer!

The 5th is the other notable hole at Broad Run. At 417 yards, it is the longest par-4 on the course. It is also the best driving hole with water on the left and trees on the right. So you’ll want to hit a club you are comfortable with, especially considering the ball will stay in the air a long time from the elevated tee.

The conditions were fair, what I’d call playable. The fairways and tees were fine with some thin spots and plenty of divots. I ended up with good lies so it wasn’t an issue for me. The greens rolled fine too, they were just super slow. I had to give my putts a good whack. One thing that added a nice touch were the American flags on the holiday weekend!

Unless you are like me and trying to play as many courses as you can, I don’t see any big reason to play Broad Run. I think nine hole courses like this should have more of a “fun” factor, but Broad Run doesn’t seem to be designed that way.

#1 (316 yard par 4):