Think about golf in the nation's capital and this club probably doesn't come to mind.

by Brett Avery

THE PHOTO GALLERY of the club's board of governors is similar to most displays, individual shots of the men and women who help direct the club. Yet there are two striking differences: The nearly three dozen photos hint at a membership of immense size, and the dearth of military dress makes one wonder if this is Army Navy Country Club.

Quixotic expectations don't wash at Army Navy, across the river from the nation's capital and just down the road from the Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery. True, anyone who's anyone in the services and enjoys golf has called Army Navy their home course. Still, there's no guard house with white-gloved sentinel, no plebes hustling at the bag drop, no salutes for generals or admirals. Unlike anywhere else in the military, stature is measured by tenure or prowess with a 6-iron, not stars and bars.

Army Navy's sprawl, 27 holes at its original Arlington, Va., site and 27 more to the west in Fairfax, is not funded by the Pentagon, but by club members. There are close to 2,400 on the active list -- among them hundreds of officers and enlisted men, members of Congress and undersecretaries, career vets and lobbyists -- and nearly twice that nonresident. Yet despite its size and lineage, Army Navy has an atmosphere that is all Midwestern family on a weekend afternoon. The war vets still play, but they're just as likely to be followed to the tee by a group of civilians. Or women. Or juniors.

"This went from being a totally military club and membership to a family club," recalls Steve Tobash, the head pro of more than 30 years. "We probably have no more than 400 members who were in active duty."

Men who saw time on world battlefields will be forgiven by the kids if hawkish bravado resurfaces this summer. While the U.S. Senior Open at nearby Congressional Country Club crowns the capital's golfing season, Army Navy members will commemorate the 50th anniversary of events leading to World War II's end. Just as the Senior Open and Senior PGA Tour are breathing museums of golf history, Army Navy's roster is dotted with those who received the nation's loftiest military decorations or spent time in POW camps.

The military-civilian melange is evident on the clubhouse walls. They are decorated with alternating artworks: paintings of the routings of famed courses, or photographs of moments from World War II. Outside the mixed grill, for example, Muirfield is flanked by the capture of the Remagen Bridge in March 1945, and a fist-clenching Gen. Dwight Eisenhower addressing D-Day paratroopers before battle in June 1944.

"Eisenhower was an early member of the club, and he still played here when he became President," recalls Adm. James Hinkle, a member of the board of directors who joined the club in 1976. "[Arlington] was country back then. You came across from Washington over the river, and it was well outside the city."

Arlington is anything but secluded these days, hemmed in by Interstate 395, known locally as the Shirley Highway, and Glebe Road, populated by several strip plazas. Outside the fences there are terrific traffic tieups, but inside one can peacefully view the heritage of the club -- and nation.

Every hole has been resculpted since the 1927 groundbreaking, when three ranking officers steered a plow hitched to an Army mule as the Navy goat and Marine Corps bulldog stood nearby. The architect was Major R. D. Newman, renowned for building the course at Fort Riley in Kansas for $700. He conceived 18 mostly straight, rolling holes: many of those were sacrificed within a decade, when a growing membership needed 27 holes over the same land.

The main 18 is not a pushover, despite topping out at 6,473 yards. Sidehill lies in many landing areas require creative shotmaking, and most of the smallish greens are tightly bunkered and deceivingly sloped.

The property doubles as a civics lab. The ninth green sits inside the remains of Fort Richardson, the highest of the capital's ring of Civil War defenses. Now overgrown by trees and brush, the embankment pinches the fairway of the 292-yard hole, which plays steeply uphill but rewards players with a view of the Washington Monument. Also, legend has it that after the Battle of Bull Run, the creek that figures into four holes, Rapid Run, was red with blood from an emergency hospital erected near the present 12th fairway.

By contrast, what the Fairfax courses lack in history they compensate with challenging play and a spacious feeling. Originally known as Fairfax Country Club, members bought it in 1958 and took a liking immediately. Built on less severe terrain than Arlington, the club this spring completed an expansion by Thomas Clark that forged 12 new holes while giving a facelift to those remaining. The assessment? Only $1,500 per member.

Clark's creative use of grass bunkering should not only reduce maintenance costs but speed play. And fast play is a necessity at Army Navy, even though two-thirds of the members live far from Washington. If everyone showed up at 7 a.m. Monday, the bag line would stretch into Saturday morning -- and that's if people played through the night.

"Weekends you've got to work at getting your starting time," Hinkle says. "Especially in the morning." Weekdays the club has what Hinkle calls "regular" use, but more closely resembles any other course during weekend rush-hour. Members of Congress out for a twilight nine, generals and admirals seeking a quick nassau -- all must stand in line.

The only exception is an honorary member, the Commander in Chief. Golfing Presidents have been regular visitors to Arlington -- Eisenhower's bag and clubs are on display in the Arlington clubhouse. The course is only a few miles from the White House -- 20 minutes by car, less than 10 by motorcade -- and Bill Clinton pops over about 30 times a year.

"They'll call from the White House and tell us what time he'll be out that day," says Tobash, the head pro. "He'll hit balls for about 10 minutes and then he's off. He's a quick player, and he'll shake hands and say 'Thanks' when he goes through a group. He just wants to feel like a member of the club."

It's no different for the thousands of others who have called Army Navy their home course.