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Fairfax County Park Authority Golf Courses

For the Love of the Game!

Golf is a lifetime sport, and the Fairfax County Park Authority gives golfers the opportunity of a lifetime to play through the seasons on quality courses at affordable prices. From par-three to championship length, the Park Authority offers courses to suit beginner and expert golfers alike. All courses are professionally designed and carefully conditioned and maintained to provide the finest golfing in Northern Virginia. All courses are open year round, weather permitting.

Please arrive 30 minutes prior to your scheduled tee time. Failure to report 30 minutes prior could result in the loss of your tee time.

Tee times are available seven days a week through an automated phone-in system for all Park Authority golf courses. All callers may access the system by calling 1-888-989-9077 twenty-four hours a day for reservations up to 72 hours in advance. Subscribers to the service receive access up to fourteen days in advance. The annual subscription fee is $26. To subscribe call 1-888-325-8808 or go online at TeetimesFCPA.com. Same-day reservations may be made by calling the course of your choice.

Laurel Hill Steps Up Its Game

Laurel Hill Golf Club superintendent Rick Owens and his crew are preparing for the biggest test of their careers – the United States Golf Association (USGA) 2013 Amateur Public Links Championship. “It’s the biggest event I ever hosted,” said Owens, who has more than 30 years’ experience in golf course construction and maintenance. “The staff is excited. They know they need to step up their game a little bit because it’s a national championship. It will put us on the national stage.”

Less than a year from now, the best amateur players in the country will descend on Laurel Hill, and already Owens and his crew are topdressing the surfaces with sand to ensure the course meets the USGA’s highest speed standards.

“They want us to cut the greens shorter and make the surface firmer and faster so shots land on it like a pool table,” said Owens, the Laurel Hill superintendent. “It’s the same with fairways and approaches; they want them to be faster.”

Crews are also overseeding and fertilizing the rough, creating a more challenging test for players there, and new, strategically placed tees are being added to enhance the golfing experience. Owens says bunker renovations will help ensure the sand stays put even in the heaviest of rains.

“We’re using the Better Billy Bunker Method (invented by Billy Fuller, former longtime superintendent of the Augusta National Golf Club),” Owens said. “The entire bunker below the sand is filled with three inches of gravel and topped with a polymer coating. This enables water to filter under the bunker, and the sand does not wash away.”

Owens says the relatively new bunker method is a modification of an older version and has only been around a few years. So far, two of Laurel Hill’s 120 bunkers have been renovated, and the club is on track to meet its 2013 championship deadline. When renovations are complete, Laurel Hill will be one of the few public courses in the country to have the state-of-the-art features.

All Fairfax County golf courses are accessible for persons with disabilities and adapted power carts are available to rent. These carts can be reserved for any golfer with a disability. Resevations should be made 24 hours in advance by calling the course. For further information, please contact the individual course or the Park Authority's Access Section at 703-324-8563. TTY 703-803-3354.