We overlapped for a year. I played at Hampden-Sydney. Our home course went through similar trouble. The Manor was built as a course with homesites all around. Went bankrupt and was run by the bank and put up for auction a few times but no one ever hit the minimum bid. Conditioning just went to shit for my soph-senior years bc they had no money to pay anyone to do anything. If I heard correctly from some of the guys who run the golf alum assn., HSC and Longwood just recently went in together to buy the course so we could still have somewhere to play.
I went to school in Lexington and now I’ve settled down in Richmond. I’ve been trying to play some of the different public tracks around town, and I think Independence is probably my favorite.
That’s my primary track. A few of my buddies and I have a monthly membership.
I played there in early October and the course was in great shape. I live fairly close by and it has the best public practice facility around in my opinion. I heard about all the rehab they did to the course in early 2018 and I was very impressed. I would have had no idea they had done such extensive work to it.
Hey man!
I’m from Virginia Beach originally, graduated from VT in 2003, and worked at the River Course while in school before VT owned it and it was still fresh sod and a doublewide trailer clubhouse. It’s a killer track. Also worth mentioning:
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The Palmer Course at Bay Creek. A good balance of wind-exposed holes along the Chesapeake as well as holes carved into the sandy pine forest. The course opens with a tame par-5 but shows some teeth rather quickly.
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Bayville Golf Club: An exquisite private Tom Fazio design in Virginia Beach. Checks all of the Fazio signature design points. A must-play if you are extended an invitation.
Heron Ridge Golf Course: A relatively inexpensive Fred Couples design that lays mostly in wetlands. It’s a pretty open layout, and it seems like there’s at least a one-club wind in one direction or another almost every day. Greens are usually in decent shape and it’s very manageable from the tips.
Hope that helps!
Daniel @UnitedGolfCollective
Is there still any remainder of a course on campus? I skipped SOOOOO much school to play. I always figured it would be more quiet when class was in. lol
Does anyone have any experience with the VSGA VIP pass with the course discounts? Trying to see if its worth the money?
9 holes left. the other 9 were destroyed to build a hotel on campus
Anyone play the landsdowne resort courses? I see there is a Trent Jones and a Norman course. We have a company regional meeting for three days in June (so obviously plenty of time to research) but wanted to know if anyone has played them. I probably only have time for one round during the event so I’d love to know which people prefer.
Oh yes I’ve played both of them several times when I lived in northern VA. The Norman course is HARD. It sits much further below the TJ course (near the river), and so there’s marshland and water or OB on both sides of the fairways on almost every hole except par 3s. When you’re hitting balls on the downhill range, you hit towards the Norman course and away from the TJ course. It can be crazy long depending on what tees you play. Fairways look narrow from the tee but then when you get out there you realize it’s not as narrow as it looked. There are a few good birdie chances with some short par 4s but overall it’s dang tough.
The TJ course has Zoysia fairways so the ball sits up like it’s on on a tee which is great. Wider off the tee for sure. Shorter overall I felt, and more birdie chances. The greens on both courses are about the same difficulty. Nothing too special about the greens. I think they’re both standard bent with moderate slopes. Both courses are difficult, but if I was going back there I’d play the TJ course.
We had a charity scramble tournament there for a few years and the organizer always had us play the Trent Jones course because it was easier. I played the Norman course twice in a tournament but it was kind of disastrous - lots of lost balls.
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I am new to the area and live over in Reston. Still trying to find some of the better courses to play in Northern VA. I am near Hidden Creek but not sure that place is worth the money. How is LGCC?
Welcome to the Refuge. I’ve always liked Reston National. Have you tried that one?
that’s where I bought my handicap out of, but the place is run down. charging $100+ for some pretty bad conditions. For that, I’ll head over to Stonewall, which is one of my favorites.
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Hmm, well that’s not cool. Used to be $60 for good conditions.
Another good track is Pohick Bay in Lorton. Seemed like one of the least expensive ones for that area and it was in good shape when I was there a few years ago.
I live in Fairfax and get out to Reston a couple times a year, i’m with you on the conditioning. I love Stonewall too, but it’s a bit of a hike. If you’re looking for some tracks which are closer to stonewall in terms of quality here are a few:
-Laurel Hill: Owned by Fairfax County, but it’s not on golf now so doesn’t get as much play. Built on an old prison ground and they played the US public links there 7 or 8 years ago. Really hilly with a lot of elevation change throughout the course. Super fun, but be prepared for a long round.
-Raspberry Falls: Bit of a hike out to Leesburg, but worth your while. Gary Player designed course. Wide open, few trees in play, but challenges you w/ width, angles etc. Pretty fast greens too (little bumpy for my blood though).
-Bull Run: Owned by the same company as raspberry, but consistently kept in better shape. Challenging course, friendly staff, good facilities, and a lot more reasonably priced than the others i named. 18 is one of my favorite holes in NOVA. Risk/Reward par 5 over water that’s a great bet decider.
Hope this helps.
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This is good info, thanks for this. I’ve heard of Raspberry Falls and Bull Run, I’ll have to check all 3 out at some point this year. I also love the layout of Westfields, the Fred Couples design, but conditions get hairy a little bit… I find myself headed up to Worthington Manor and Whiskey Creek in Maryland often throughout the year but those are 45min-1hr, otherwise I play 1757 on weekdays after work.
Thanks for all the suggestions! Keep em coming.
For a 6500 yd track in the middle of ashburn, 1757 has kicked my ass a couple times. I pretty much take driver out of my bag there. Funny that you mentioned Westfield. I play there at least once a week in season and I love the layout. Has some of the best short par 4’s in NOVA (specifically on the back) and some really good par 3s (3 and 17). I agree with conditioning though. Everywhere got crushed last year, but it seems like they got hit harder than most.
If there was a perfect northern va line up I’d say this is it. Bull run is my favorite but laurel hill is close second. I love hitting driver so if you don’t laurel hill might not be for you (or someone in your group trying to get better)
With the record of amount of rainfall in 2018, I remember a lot of clubs saying how saturated everything is and they are just getting killed. So understandably so for this region. Hoping for a dry 2019 and I think these courses will be incredibly fun to play.
I’m very glad to see this thread pop up now. Does anyone have any experience with or know someone who is a member at Willow Oaks CC in Richmond?