Robert Trent Jones Golf Club

Founding and premises

RTJ was founded by the legendary golf course designer Robert Trent Jones. Located about 30 mi from downtown Washington D.C., the course is on Lake Manassas, an 850 acre reservoir.

Jones is to have said "the terrain is aesthetically perfect...I don't think we could have done anything better anywhere," and he has created legendary courses Spyglass Hill, Firestone Country Club, Bellerive Country Club, and Congressional Country Club. He actually bought this land in the hopes of attracting a world-class membership because there was a need to create a world-renowned golf course in the area. He called this course "my masterpiece," and it opened for play in April 1991.

RTJ has a clubhouse that is a "65000 sqft Georgian-style mansion, with its red brick exterior and stately white columns and portico serves as the clubhouse," and the club does not allow for residential development, but does allow members of the club to construct cottages. For all the water around the golf course the only holes that a player has to fly the ball over open water on the lake is the par-three fourth and par-three eleventh holes.

Presidents Cup

The course hosted the inaugural Presidents Cup in 1994, and again in 1996, 2000, and 2005. The United States defeated the Internationals on all four occasions.

• 1994: The United States Team defeated the International Team by a score of 20 to 12.
• 1996: The U.S. team won 16½ to 15½ in the second playing of the competition.
• 2000: The U.S. team won 21½ to 10½ in the fourth playing of the competition.
• 2005: The U.S. team won 18½ to 15½ in the sixth playing of the competition.

PGA Tour

The course hosted an event on the PGA Tour in 2015, Tiger Woods' Quicken Loans National. The tournament was won by Troy Merritt, his first victory on tour.

Solheim Cup

The course hosted the 2024 Solheim Cup tournament. The U.S. team won 15½ to 12½.

Members

In 2017, it was reported former President Barack Obama joined the club.

References

References

1. "Course Rating and Slope Database: Robert Trent Jones Golf Club". USGA.
2. [http://www.rtjgc.com/ Robert Trent Jones Golf Club]
3. Golf, L. I. V.. (2025-06-05). "Robert Trent Jones Golf Club offers tough test, good prep for next week’s U.S. Open".
4. [http://www.golflink.com/golf-courses/course.asp?course=1369456 Golf Link]
5. [http://www.gulfcoastgolf.com/robert-trent-jones/robert-trent-jones-golf-club.htm Gulf Coast Golf]
6. [http://www.southstardevelopments.com/roberttrentgolf.htm South Star Developments]
7. (23 February 2022). "Solheim Cup: Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia to host 2024 contest". BBC Sport.
8. (15 May 2017). "Obama joins private golf club in Virginia | CNN Politics".