Congressional Country Club, Private golf course in Bethesda, US.

Congressional Country Club is a private golf and country club in Bethesda, Maryland, with two 18-hole courses, the Blue and the Gold. The Blue Course, designed by Devereux Emmet, measures 7,574 yards from the back tees at par 72, with bent grass fairways and greens. Behind the course stands a white stucco clubhouse with a red tile roof, arched ground-floor openings, two brick chimneys and a central cupola with a weathervane.

Founded in 1921 by two Indiana Republican congressmen, Oscar E. Bland and O.R. Luhring, the club recruited Herbert Hoover as its first president and opened on May 23, 1924, with President Calvin Coolidge attending. After foreclosure in 1940, members reorganized and bought the assets for $270,000. During World War II the OSS used it as a training and billeting facility, and its rent payments helped clear the club's debts.

The club was founded in 1921 by two Indiana Republican congressmen, Oscar E. Bland and O.R. Luhring, who felt Washington-area clubs did not serve members of Congress. Herbert Hoover was its first president, and Presidents Harding, Wilson and Taft held honorary membership. By 2011 no member of Congress belonged; a former president described the membership as largely doctors, lawyers and lobbyists.

The facility is accessible only to members and their invited guests. Visitors to the club will find two championship courses, indoor practice areas, tennis courts and a large clubhouse with restaurants.

The Blue Course was designed to end on a par-three 18th hole played over a lake to a green in a natural amphitheater below the clubhouse. The USGA disliked par-three finishers, so in 1964 and 1976 two Gold Course holes were inserted to make the par-four 17th the last. In 1997 the USGA played the original order and finished on the par-three, a first in U.S. Open history.