Par: 72
Yards: 7,038
Slope: 138 (Green/White)
Walking: Sometimes
Tee times: Call in advance.
Green fees: $$

Over the past decade or so, Wakefield Valley has become one of Maryland's very best golf complexes. The facility has three separate nines, but the best 18-hole blend is probably the Green and White nines; according to its slope rating, it's also one of the region's very toughest. The Green nine meanders around creeks and ponds in a valley bottom, while the White side features lots of up-and-down holes with elevated trees. Wakefield's immaculately groomed greens are a real pleasure to play, too.

River Downs Golfer's Club
1900 River Downs Dr.
Finksburg, Md.
410/526-2000

Par: 72
Yards: 6,900
Slope: 129
Walking: Not Allowed
Tee times: Call in Advance
Green fees: $$

A nicely restored farmhouse and grain silo stand watch over this Arthur Hills creation, which opened last year. Despite the farm motif, however, much of the course is carved from heavily wooded—and, in places, severely rolling—countryside. River Downs is a stablemate of the Lee's Hill Golfer's Club in Fredericksburg, Va., and the Highlands Golfer's Club in Chester, Va., and it may grow up into the best of the three. Like the others, it offers country-club service for daily-fee golfers.

Par: 72
Yards: 7,012
Slope: 128
Walking: Sometimes
Tee times: Call one week in advance.
Green fees: $$

Set on a former dairy farm halfway between Baltimore and Philadelphia (and owned by a former dairy farmer who got sick of cow-related chores). Wyncote is a mid-Atlantic rarity: a true Scottish-style beauty. Course architect Brian Ault of Kensington triumphantly transformed the treeless, windswept farmland with sneaky pot bunkers, elaborate moguls and huge waste areas. The course made an impressive debut in 1993 when it won an award from Golf Digest as one of the nation's best new public courses.

Hartfield National Golf Club
1 Hartfield Dr.
Avondale, Pa.
610/268-8800

Par: 71
Yards: 6,969
Slope: 131
Walking: Anytime
Tee times: Call seven days in advance
Green fees: $$$

Hartfield National just opened last summer, but already is establishing itself as one of the mid-Atlantic's premier country-club-for-a-day facilities. Tom Fazio, who is currently the nation's most sought-after course architect, carved 18 distinct holes out of the gentle countryside, adding little in the way of water hazards but subtracting almost none of the deciduous forest that dominates the tract. Hartefeld also offers dining and banquet facilities, a complete practice center and a full-blown golf school.

Queenstown Harbor Golf Links
310 Links Lane
Queenstown, Md.
410/827-6611

River Course:
Par: 72
Yards: 7,110
Slope: 138

Lakes Course:
Par: 71
Yards: 6,537
Slope: 124

Walking: Anytime
Tee times: Call one week in advance
Green fees: $

Without doubt, Queenstown Harbor's River and Lakes courses—both sculpted out of cornfields by Croften-based course architect Lindsay Ervin— provide the best one-two punch in Maryland. The vaunted River Course, which opened in 1991 and plays along the Chester River, ranks as one of the best—and prettiest and toughest—publics on the East Coast. The River Course, which debuted in 1994, isn't quite as daunting but also ranks among the region's best courses for both its beauty and challenge. The Queenstown management is as smooth and professional as its courses.

Hog Neck Golf Course
10142 Old Cordova Rd.
Easton, Md.
410/822-6079

Par: 72
Yards: 7,000
Slope: 125
Walking: Anytime
Tee Times: Call one week in advance
Green fees: $$

Golf Digest and Golf magazines always include Hog Neck in their lists of the nation's top municipal courses. Like the Queenstown courses, this one is a Lindsay Ervin design, and it's got a real split personality. The front side resembles a beach course, with wide fairways, lots of moguls, and plenty of sand and water hazards. The back side, though, is a real trip through a peaceful, serene hardwood and pine forest. Hog Neck is almost always in terrific shape, too. One oddity: On the course, distances are measured using the metric system. Hog Neck also has a short nine-hole course.

The Easton Club
7590 Oxford Rd.
Easton, Md.
410/820-9017

Par: 72
Yards: 6,702
Slope: 117
Walking: Sometimes
Tee times: Call one week in advance
Green fees: $$

No course says Eastern Shore more convincingly than the Easton Club, another first-flight facility that has opened within the past year. Set amidst a burgeoning housing development on the banks of the Tred Avon River, the layout features several visual treats that give it a unique character as well as a challenge. Among them: the 11th hole, which is puntuated by a series of grass mounds and sand bunkers shaped like an oyster bar, and the seventh green, whose outline forms the silhouette of a blue crab. The character behind these characteristics is course designer Bob Rauch, who is also the propert's general manager.

Par: 72
Yards: 6,761
Slope: 126
Walking: Sometimes
Tee times: Call one week in advance
Green fees: $$

Swan Point isn't in the middle of nowhere—it's at the end of nowhere!—but the rambling drive through rural southern Maryland ends at one of the state's most beautiful courses. It's a toughie, too, calling for accuracy on almost every shot, especially down the stretch of finishing holes. With plenty of pine trees and marshland, Swan Point reminds a lot of golfers of coastal Carolina.

Breton Bay Golf and Country Club
Route 3
Leonardtown, Md.
301/475-2300

Par: 72
Yards: 6,933
Slope: 126
Walking: Anytime
Tee times: Call Thursday for weekend.
Green fees: $

Even more out of the way than Swan Point, Breton Bay is one of Maryland's true undiscovered pleasures. The course is more forgiving than Swan Point's, and boasts some memorable views of the Potomac River amidst a relaxing rural atmosphere.

Augustine Golf Club
76 Monument Dr.
Stafford, Va.
540/720-7374

Par: 71
Yards: 6,810
Slope: 130
Walking: Anytime
Tee times: Call ahead.
Green fees: $$

Augustine opened to great fanfare last summer, and has lived up to every bit of the hype. It certainly ranks high among the mid-Atlantic's very best golf courses. With a diverse collection of holes, Augustine calls for as comprehensive a variety of shot-making skills as any region. But what makes it truly special is that course architect Rick Jacobson—a Jack Nicklaus protege designing his first course on his own—preserved as much of the area's bontiful natural beauty as possible. Included in Jacobson's preservation campaign are the remains of an iron furnace operated by Augustus Washington, George Washington's father. The area surronding the furnace's ruins is being developed into a public park.

Meadows Farms Golf Course
4300 Flat Run Rd.
Locust Grove, Va.
540/854-9890

Par: 72
Yards: 7,005
Slope: 129
Walking: Sometimes
Tee times: Call one week in advance
Green fees: $$

Meadows Farms, which opened in 1993, is rapidly maturing into one of the mid-Atlantic's real dazzlers. The course is as pretty as any in the area, and with good reason—owner "Farmer" Bill Meadows also operates a nursery that supplies much of the flora that decorate Washington's yards and gardens. Meadows Farms is also one of the region's most eccentric courses. It actually has 19 holes—the first one is a "warm up" hole, and the 12th is an 841-yard par 6 that the Guinness Book of World Records lists as America's longest. (Note: One of the season's most exciting events will be the debut of nine unique new holes at Meadows Farms this weekend. One looks just like a baseball diamond. And wait until you see the 45-by-80-foot waterfall—you drive your cart underneath it to reach a concession stand inside!)

Lee's Hill Golfer's Club
10200 Old Dominion Pkwy.
Fredericksburg, Va
540/891-0111

Par: 72
Yards: 6,805
Slope: 128
Walking: Not allowed
Tee times: Call ahead
Green fees: $$

Lee's Hill is the leader of the new goup of daily-fee facilities that provides true country-club pampering. The course—nestled among wetlands and hardwood forests—is a pretty as the service is sharp, especially when it's awash with color in the spring and fall. Its fairways can be skinny, but its greens are large. The course, set in a burgeoning real estate community, occupies part of the site from which the Confederate Army fled after the Battle of Fredericksburg in 1862-63. You won't want to leave so quickly.

The Gauntlet at Curtis Park
58 Jesse Curtis Lane
Stafford, Va.
540/752-0963

Par: 72
Yards: 6,857
Slope: 126
Walking: Sometimes
Tee times: Call five days in advance
Green fees: $$

Because the Gauntlet's debut last summer was largely overlooked in the wake of Augustine's grand opening, it remains something of a secret. But probably not for long: The course enjoys much of the same wooded terrain and elevation changes that make Augustine special including Curtis Lake, a 95-acre bass fishing hole.

Par: 72
Yards: 6,820
Slope: 132
Walking: Anytime
Tee times: Call 24 hours in advance
Green fees: $$

Birdwood is the home course of the University of Virginia golf team, and another Lindsay Ervin design. Most of Birdwood's birdies can be found on the open front nine; the heavily forested back nine presents a stretch of holes as unforgiving as they are beautiful.

Par: 71
Yards: 6,060
Slope: 117 (Blue/White)
Walking: Anytime
Tee times: Call one week in advance
Green fees: $$

Shenandoah Valley feels like it's a million miles away even though it isn't all that far out of town. The complex has 27 holes, with the Blue/White combination perhaps the best combination. But all three nines are pleasant, fair and fun—and distractingly pretty, especially in the spring and fall. Its prices are a bargain compared to some of its competitors, making it one of the area's very best golf getaways.

Stoneleigh Golf Club
35271 Prestwick Ct.
Round Hill, Va.
703/589-1402.

Par: 72
Yards: 6,903
Slope: 132
Walking: Sometimes
Tee times: Call in advance
Green fees: $$

The ranks of female course architects are thin, but the work of one of the best is on display at Stoneleigh. Working with some of the region's most scenic but severe territory, Lisa Maki came up with a course that ranks among the area's most visually dramatic. Accented by pre-Civil War stone fences, the course roller-coasters up and down sharp hillsides and careens through huge grassy swales and valleys. Not everyone loves Stoneleigh, but no one forgets it.

Par: 72
Yards: 6,646
Slope: 124
Walking: Anytime
Tee times: Call one week in advance
Green fees: $
The two best reasons to go to Hagerstown are to see a Suns minor-league baseball game and to play a round at Black Rock, which remains almost as anonymous as it is worthwhile. It has a bit of a mountain-course feel, with some elevation changes and surprisingly pleasing views. Its design is above average for a public, and it is usually in good shape.