Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-12-04

~ all the golf courses about
Washington that are enlinently
suited for Winter golf when
cold, blustery winds blow
golf ball all over the lot and plenty Of
warm clothing is needed, there are two
that stand out as Ravens Of comfort
in the days when sweeping winds blan-
ket the other layouts. These are the
courses Of the Washington Golf and
Country Club and the Burning Tree
Club.
Nowhere else around the Capital can
the golfer be protected from the wind
and cold, with one possible exception,
as at these two courses, and the result
has been that when the other golf lay
outs are deserted because Of wind and
weather, there is constant play at both
Washington and Burning Tree.
Over at Washington, which has been
regarded as one of the hilliest courses
around Washington, but actually is not
so hilly considering the way the holes
are played most Of the play is through
valleys which are protected from the
winds by hills and woods on either side.
At Burning Tree the play for the most
part is down between lanes OF towering
pine trees, which furnish a blanket Of
protection from the prevailing western
and northwestern winds of Winter.
Only at one other course around Wash
ington do the same conditions prevail,
and this is on the FIRST nine holes at
the Manor Club, which are cut through
dense woods much as was the Burning
Tree course.
WHEN the winds howl and cavort
w over Chevy Chase, Columbia, In
dian Spring Congressional and
Beaver Dam and golf becomes more
game for simple exercise instead Of
display of skill, Burning Tree and
Washington are comfortable. Only at
one or two spots on these courses does
the wind strike with full force. At
the first tee and the tenth hole at
Warrington the wind has full sweep,
but elsewhere on the course the sur
rounding hills and woods protect the
play. Only on the tenth and sixteenth
holes at Burning Tree does the wind
get sweep that causes discomfort, for
all the other holes are protected from
Winter gales by woods on either side
Of the fairway.
How different these conditions are
from those at most of the other golf
layouts about the Capital. Congress
sional, Indian Spring, Chevy Chase, Co.
lumbia and Beaver Dam are wide open
70 the sweep Of the winds across their
open fairways At hardly any spot on
most Of these courses is there much
protection from the wind, although Co.
lunbia is protected in some measure
for the first three holes and again for
the last four But at the other courses
mentioned there are only isolated spots
where the wind does not get a full
sweep and make Winter golf a matter
of bundling up in bulky clothing to
keep warm enough to play the game
However, these uncomfortable condi-
tons are rare, for Washington lies in a
climate belt that seldom has weather
cold enough TO completely stop the
playing Of golf.
ON only few days OF each Winter
~ will the courses be found COM
pletely deserted and then only be-
cause of snow or rain. In the main,
however, those courses which are no
tected from the wind such as Wash
ington and Burning Tree get the most
piav. As for the hiliy reputation If
Washington, If you take the layout
hole by hole it is not more hilly than
several Of the golf courses about the
Capital There is only one really stiff
climb-that from the ninth green to
the tenth tee, and one other climb
that is really a gentle ascent This Ia
up the slope for the fifteenth green.
And what golfer minds q slow amble