This golf course review is by a longtime Columbia resident and frequent golfer who has played virtually every course in Central Maryland. He also is an assistant business editor at The Sun.
If you want to work on accuracy in your game, Fairway Hills Golf Club is the place to go.
Environmental areas, wetlands, woods and two streams define much of this 6,158-yard, par-70 course, which cuts through several residential areas in the heart of Columbia.
Fairway Hills was built, for the most part, on land that was unsuitable for housing. Some of the property was on the old Allview Golf Course, which closed in the 1980s, but not much of it is recognizable today -- just one tree on the first hole, pieces of the former 17th and 18th fairways, and the clubhouse.
Play starts on a short, easy, downhill par-4. Then it gets instantly harder and target-oriented. Hit the target, score well. Miss the target, lose a ball. It will stay that way for much of your day.
On No. 2, a hefty 560-yard par-5 from the white tees, you're faced with carrying a drive over a creek and reedy grasses to a sloping landing area, then carrying the creek and more wild grasses again over a dogleg right to a second landing area. The third shot must carry the creek a third time en route to a well-bunkered, hillside green.
The hole -- ranked No. 1 in difficulty on the scorecard -- forces competent shots or trouble. A failure to hit two good shots at the start will leave you with penalties or a long carry that will make it difficult to stop the ball close to the pin.
No. 3, a par-3 that is reachable with an accurate short-iron shot, is a picturesque painting framed by trees, sand and marsh grasses around an undulating green. It's one of the course's prettiest holes.
No. 5, a 481-yard par-5, requires a 180-yard carry over marsh grasses from the tee, or a bail-out shot to a narrow neck of fairway on the right. The second shot must carry another environmental area to the opening -- over yet another marsh -- to the slightly elevated green.
Starting with No. 7, the fairways open up for several holes before descending into the lowlands again.
A competent tee shot on No. 10, a dogleg par-4 that plays downhill from an elevated tee, will reach the sloping fairway. The second shot is tricky: off a down slope, over a massive bunker, to a hard green.
The 11th hole, a medium-length par-4, requires length and accuracy off the tee to avoid a hanging net and houses on the left, and woods and a creek on the right. Position is paramount to set up a shot over the creek to the rolling green.
Nos. 13, 14 and 15 ramble through open space amid established neighborhoods. The toughest is No. 14, a 175-yard par-3 that plays from an elevated tee to a hillside green. If your tee shot is left or short, you're in heavy grass or trees, but the large green can be forgiving even if you can't hit your tee shot to the pin.
The last three holes -- after a long trek through the woods toward Route 108 -- require length, accuracy and course knowledge, respectively. No. 16 is a 435-yard dogleg left with an open fairway. Beware of the pond on the left.
No. 17, Fairway Hills' signature hole, is a 169-yard par-3 over a marsh and a pond to an undulating green that dips left and right toward deep bunkers. It's a good place to hit your target.
The 493-yard, par-5 finishing hole can bludgeon a first-time visitor. It's all uphill. Your tee shot must carry 170 yards over an environmental area. Left-center is the place to hit, to avoid a drop-off on the right that runs much of the length of this hole. The second shot is a blind one, and the fairway rolls forward into light rough at about the 150-yard marker. Uphill from there is the large, firm, angular green. It's the kind of hole that can ruin your score.
Fairway Hills is testy and tight, with hard greens and penalizing rough. It's not boring, and it's mostly fair if you know where you're going. No one in our foursome did this time, and we suffered some penalties as a result. But we went away knowing we would score better next time, armed with course knowledge.
"It's a fun course," says head pro Joan Lovelace, who notes that the Columbia Association, which owns it, tried to create an affordable, community-oriented venue. "You have to think a little. A driver off the tee is not always the best play."
At a glance
Yardage:Blue 6,158; White 5,728; Gold 5,306; Red 4,655.
Rating/Slope:Blue 70.1/125; White 68.1/121; Gold 66.5/117; Red 67.4/119.
18-hole rates:Members, $19 weekdays, $23 weekends; Columbia resident non-members, $30 weekdays, $34 weekends; juniors, $8 weekdays, $10 weekends.
Cart rental: $13 a player.
Tee times: Weekends, call 9 a.m. Thursdays; weekdays, seven days in advance.
Other: Practice range, lessons, snack bar.
Memberships: Columbia residents, $132 a year. Howard County residents, $264.
Directions: U.S. 29 to Route 108, west to Columbia Road (first traffic light), south 1 1/2 blocks to entrance on right.