You have wanderlust. You lust after wandering down newly mown fairways to soft inviting greens bracketed by rippling water hazards and treacherous pot bunkers with azaleas shouting "you the man" in the distance.

One day you catch wind of the new Northern Virginia Golf Trail. Twenty-two must-play courses within a short drive of each other. You realize it's been too long since you last spoiled a good walk.

What'll it be first? Freddie Couples' course at Westfields? Stonewall along Lake Manassas? Gary Player's links at Raspberry Falls?

Decisions, decisions.

You head toward Leesburg and find yourself teeing it up at Lansdowne, the Robert Trent Jones, Jr. track running through historic land inhabited by towering silver oaks and a healthy tribe of wildlife of which you are now a part.

You nearly drive the green on 3, a short par 4 with water guarding the green on one side and dense woods on the other. You rattle the pin with your tee shot on 7, hitting a near perfect seven iron. You strike back at 8 with a birdie on the picturesque par five.

The back nine is even more magnificent you realize as you stare out at the 12th, a challenging par 4 with a rock-infested watery ravine running through it. One hole is better than the next as you tee off on 13, a spectacular downhill par three with a stone wall bordering a creek guarding the front and gaping bunkers behind.

Through the woods you can see another course being built. The Greg Norman course at Lansdowne. Bad day to leave the drool cup at home.

Your sundrenched body basks in the dry warmth of a late spring afternoon in Northern Virginia as you appreciate the abundant inventory of balata battlegrounds in your backyard. What'll it be tomorrow?

The just opened Old Hickory Golf Club down in Woodbridge? The venerable Bristow Manor? The oh-so-pleasant Pleasant Valley? The no-bull Bull Run?

Somewhere in the back of your mind you hear a bass singing "Take Me To The River" and you're transported to Virginia National lining the banks of the Shenandoah.

Then the bass is interrupted by another voice that says "Go Westfields, young man."

So many courses. So little time.