Lake Manassas is a prominent presence on the back nine at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.
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We are familiar with the stars, but what about the stage?
As the best female professional players represent United States and Europe prepare for Solheim Cup 2024here are 9 things to know about the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Va., where the biennial event begins this week.
The designer considered it his masterpiece
A prolific and deeply influential architect, known as the “father” of modern golf designRobert Trent Jones Sr. he was not shy in his self-deprecation. But he named only one club after himself. “The terrain is aesthetically perfect,” Jones, Sr. said. for his project of the same name, which he completed in 1991. “I don’t think we could have done anything better anywhere.”
He came to earth by accident
In the early 1970s, Jones Sr. was flying to Washington, DC, to inspect a site for a possible course when it looked down and was struck by another piece of land near what is now Lake Manassas, approximately 40 miles west of the capital. In the following years, he began buying up the property, plot by plot, until he had enough acreage to realize his vision.
The club hosted the first Presidents’ Cup (and three more)
Although the club has never hosted the Solheim Cup before, this is not the first time it has been in the spotlight. It hosted the inaugural Presidents Cup, in 1994, and repeated that role the next three times the event was held on US soil, in 1996, 2000 and 2005. It was also the site of the PGA Tour’s 2015 Quicken Loans National.
It’s not a country club
There is no pool. There are no tennis courts. No pickle balls. Not bocce. “We’re not what I would describe as ‘family friendly,’” says Wayne Valis, a former longtime D.C. lobbyist who now works as a consultant and has been a member of the club since it opened. “We are a golf club. We have a lot of single-digit handicaps. It’s for people who are serious about the game.”
MJ is a member
It’s no secret that the goat loves golf. It’s also no mystery how he likes to play it. Of the club’s approximately 400 members, perhaps the highest-profile amateur is Michael Jordanwho is not known to be a $2 Nassau fan. “He’s a high roller,” Valis says. “When he comes here, he’ll play 36, he’ll stay and play 36 the next day. And it’s very important all the way through.”
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So does Barack Obama
It’s hard for former US presidents to keep a low profile. But Obama does his best when he shows up at the club. “He brings in two Secret Service agents, and they don’t carry rifles,” Valis says. “They wear long shirts that hide their firearms, Obama has them ride in a cart so they look like golfers. And he doesn’t play until late afternoon. He is very modest.” Earlier this week, the former commander-in-chief made an appearance at the club to congratulate the American team.
Bill Clinton has a locker
As both President Bush, Bill Clinton put the club to good use during his time in the Oval Office, and he still keeps a locker, though he doesn’t come out as often as he once did. A big fan of mulligans, Clinton broke a few land speed records. George HW Bush, by contrast, moved quickly in a cart, completing 18 in a shade under two and an hour, pulling bats without accurately determining yards and spending enough time on the ball to repeat a first mantra – shot. Before each swing, says Valis, the President said calmly: “Mr. Calm down, be with me!” Which sometimes turned out to be the case.
There’s an RTJ burger
His name is in the club and in the group. Well, on one plate, anyway: the Robert Trent Jones burger, a staple on the club’s menu that’s made with a blend of beef and sausage.
It’s a sharp design
Among other things, Jones Sr. was known for ushering in an era of hero golf, with designs that required long forced carry and high aerial attacks. In many respects, this course fits that bill. It measures more than 7,400 yards and its greens, many of which slope back to the front, are guarded by bunkers that allow little space for runs. However, he will not play his entire length for the Solheim Cup, where the layout will be closer to 6,700 yards and will include short par-4s and accessible par-5s with fine issues: excellent raw ingredients for the drama of the game.
It builds in intensity
Lake Manassas is a prominent, unsettling presence, increasingly so with round use. It first demands attention on the par-3 9th hole, which plays slightly downhill to a peninsula green and remains in the picture for most of the back nine. Although there is only one forced carry across the lake (on the par-3 11th), the course bounces close to the shoreline on its way to the finish, and water becomes a constant factor, perhaps most convincingly at the 480-yard 14th. par-5 table that revolves around the drink. The par-4 18th is a nice hole, too, with a firm green along the lake.
