Battle on the Mountain / Musket Ridge

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  Myersville, Maryland, United States
Sunday, August 3, 2008

Since I was going to be in the area, I wanted to play Whitetail Golf Course in Mercersburg, PA.  The course is located near the Whitetail Ski Resort and was listed in Washington Golf Monthly top 100 Mid-Atlantic courses.  Driving home from Lebanon, I decided to take Interstate 81 vice US 15 south and stopped in Greencastle to spend the night.  In the morning I drove out to Whitetail only to find out that they were hosting an outing and there were no available tee times until after 3pm.  I should have called in advance but who would have thought that an event was going to monopolize the course for the entire day.

Undaunted I pressed on towards Hagerstown, while doing a little research on the cellphone on golf courses near Hagerstown.  I ran across Musket Ridge, which was also listed in the top 100.  This time I called ahead to insure there was space available for a single walk-on

Musket Ridge #18

.  Musket Ridge was the site of the Civil War Battle of South Mountain and the Antietam battlefield is visible to the west just beyond South Mountain...this explained the blue and gray golf carts and tee locations.  The course was designed by Joe Lee, a direct descendant of Robert E. Lee.  I goggled Joe Lee and saw several top resort golf resorts as part of his credentials (Walt Disney World Resort, LaCosta and Sea Island).  I have played one other Joe Lee course, Greystone in White Hall, MD, but not enough to get a idea of his design philosophy.  General impressions were all positive.  I liked the fact there were no houses scattered around the course, there are some gorgeous views of the area, and the rolling terrain required considerable thought when navigating the course, but everything seemed natural...nothing looked force.

I got paired with two guys, Bruce and Mike, who were on their way to West Virginia to play more golf in Morgantown later this week.  It was enjoyable witnessing the two as they battled for the various golf wages.  The pleasant company helped me play a decent round, 98.  I could have scored better because I went out in 43 and had visions of posting a sub 90 round.  I really impressed the two with the fact that I managed to two putt the first 13 greens although I have never played the course before.  I really liked that the greens rolled true...not something I can say for most of the courses I play.  Probably I should not have counted my chickens before they hatched.  The course layout got the best of me on the back nine where I lost 5 balls into the tall grass strategically placed along side the fairways and greens.  Mike also prematurely counted his winnings when he was ahead three holes with three holes to play (dormy) because he gave up the lead and finished tied with Bruce.  I guess their tie-breaker starts tomorrow in West Virginia.

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