CONGRESSIONAL

Last updated: 4th July 2009

Washington DC is set to see some high-quality professional golf featuring some of the world's best golfers when Tiger Woods' AT&T National revisits the US capital City's Congressional Country Club.

Here is some background to the exclusive Club, a venue especially selected by Woods, who, some have suggested, may seek to move into politics some day.

HOW IT ALL STARTED:

When congressman Oscar E. Bland and O.R. Lubring of Indiana founded The Conressional Country Club just outside Washington in Bethesda, Maryland in December, 1921, it was with the intention of providing "an informal common ground where politicians and businessmen could meet as peers, unconstrained by red tape".

Before its incorporation, they had taken their idea to Herbert Hoover, then Secretary of Commerce, who agreed to serve from 1922-1923 as its Honorary Founding President, and primarily because of "the determination of Bland and Lubring, the club's original two visionaries", construction of the Club's two18-hole courses was completed two-and-half years later in 1924 when the club was first opened to play.

Ironically it has since achieved international recognition, not because of politics, but rather because of golf.

There are two golf courses at Congressional: the flagship Blue Course and the Gold Course.

TOURNAMENTS:

The championship Blue Course, where the AT&T National is to be played this week, was the annual venue of the Kemper Open from 1980 to 1986 and has hosted three major championships.

The first was the 1964 US Open won by Ken Venturi with a 2-under-par tournament score, the second the 1976 PGA Championship when, with the course playing as a par 70, Dave Stockton won with a 1-over 281, and the third the 1997 US Open won by South Africa's Ernie Els who picked up his second US Open title with a four under par total.

The Blue Course has also staged one seniors major, the 1995 US Senior Open, won by Tom Weiskopf and two USGA amateur championships, the US Junior Amateur of 1949, won by Gay Brewer, and the US Women's Amateur of 1959, won by Barbara McIntire.

The 2009 US Amateur and 2011 US Open are also scheduled to be played there.

THE BLUE COURSE:

Down the years the Blue Course has maintained its place as one of the games' Top 100 course.

Golf Digest rated it 89th in its 2006 listing of the America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses and this year the respected magazine ranked it 86th.

The course now measures 7,250 yards from the back tees and is a par 72 with a course/slope rating of 75.4/142.

Bent grass covers its challenging greens, and Bermuda grass has been used for its wide fairways.

Numerous water hazards come into play on a number of holes

The original 36 holes built at Congressional in 1924 were designed by Devereux Emmet, but both courses have since been extensively redesigned several times over the years, the Blue Course most recently by Rees Jones in 1989.

Before that Robert Trent Jones had rebuilt the back nine in 1957.

The back nine on the Gold Course was redesigned by George and Tom Fazio in 1977, but the entire course was redesigned in 2000 by Arthur Hills.

Among Hill's changes to the Gold Course were the reconstruction of all tees and bunkers, then re-sloping and replanting of the fairways, and the construction of new cart paths and an irrigation system. The Gold Course was also lengthened overall, making it almost as challenging as The Blue Course.

COURSE DETAILS:

(See under: Par-Yardage-Course Rating-Slope)

Blue Course: 72 7250 75.4 142

Gold Course: 72 6730 73.2 135

GREEN FEES:

Green fees at this private members course are said to exceed $125 per round

DRESS CODE:

No denim clothing is allowed on the course, shirts must have collars and Bermuda shorts are a requirement if shorts are worn.

AVAILABILITY: The course is open all year to members and their guest, but not to the public.

AMENITIES:

In additional to its many golfing amenities, which includes lavish men's and women's locker rooms, a top-ranked Pro Shop and practice facilities offering the best possible level of service, Congressional Country Club can boast a wide and varied list of amenities. They include:

- An indoor bowling alley (on the basement level)

- A grand ballroom that has hosted a number of famous weddings

- A Christian chapel with historically-preserved stained glass windows

- Indoor and outdoor swimming pools

- A fitness center, a spa and an indoor Jacuzzi

- Fine dining and a grand foyer

- A bar with large plasma television sets and a grill for everyday eating.

MEMBERSHIP:

The excellent golfing facilities and other amenities at Congressional come at a price. The club's current 'initiation fee' is $100,000 and membership is only available by invitation.

Some notable past members have included these former Presidents of the United States:

William Howard Taft

Woodrow Wilson

Warren G. Harding

Calvin Coolidge

Herbert Hoover

Dwight D. Eisenhower