West Virginia / Virginia Golf Weekend
Hot Springs to Williamsburg to White Sulphur Springs to Cape Charles to Keswick
T&L Golf, May 2006
The Virginias: Still Swinging Like Snead
The spirit of the Slammer is alive and well in this citadel of American golf
From T&L Golf May 2006
by Bob Cullen
The most fitting place to begin a golf trip in the Virginias is where the game began in America, at a farmhouse called Oakhurst. Beginning in 1884, this simple white-clapboard structure with a wraparound porch served as the clubhouse for the country's first golf course. A coterie of Scottish expatriates laid out nine rough holes on ridges and hillsides reminiscent of their native Highlands and played them avidly. But the club disbanded a couple of decades later, and the land reverted to pasture. Little changed until the 1990s, when Lewis Keller, an entrepreneur and fine golfer, came to the village of White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, to rediscover Oakhurst Links. Sure enough, he and architect Bob Cupp found original greens and bunkers, buried under the pasture grasses. Keller brought in sheep to chomp down the turf, imported replica gutta-percha balls and hickory-shafted clubs, and reopened the course.
For golfers who prefer to swing titanium clubs on tightly mown fairways, Virginia and West Virginia are home to two of the country's classic resorts, the Homestead and the Greenbrier, plus a collection of newer gems. And in this land of Thomas Jefferson and Colonial Williamsburg, there are ample opportunities to visit places where American history of the nongolf variety was made.
Where to Play
The Homestead, Cascades *****
Standing on the first tee at the Cascades, you might wonder what all the fuss is about. Sure, there's the famous sign quoting Hot Springs native Sam Snead: "if you can play the cascades, you can play anywhere." But all you see ahead is an unassuming tree-lined fairway rising gently to a green less than four hundred yards away. By the turn, however, you've begun to see why this course—whose bunkers were restored over the winter to their original shapes—has hosted seven USGA championships. The holes wind through clefts in the Allegheny Mountains and along gurgling Cascades Creek. The fairways fit the terrain. Consider the tenth, called Slippery Hollow: It follows the contours of a small ridge down into a dell, tumbling like a pooling stream from one landing area to another. The greens, subtly affected by the surrounding hillsides, can be as difficult to read as Sanskrit.
1766 Homestead Drive, Hot Springs, Virginia; 540-839-1766, www.thehomestead.com. Yardage: 6,679. Par: 70. Slope: 137. Architect: William S. Flynn, 1923. Greens Fee: $235.
Golden Horseshoe, Gold ****1/2
John D. Rockefeller Jr., the prime mover behind the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg, decided the place needed a golf course to amuse visitors after they'd had their fill of docent-led tours and candle-making demonstrations. He gave Robert Trent Jones Sr. a prime piece of land, and Jones produced reason enough to visit the area: a course so good that it might have distracted Thomas Jefferson from his legal studies at nearby William & Mary. The strength of Jones's Gold course at Golden Horseshoe Golf Club, in addition to its wonderfully rolling and wooded terrain and meticulous grooming, is its four par threes. Each of them requires a heroic carry—be it over ravine, stream or pond.
401 South England Street, Williamsburg, Virginia; 757-220-7696, www.goldenhorseshoegolf.com. Yardage: 6,817. Par: 71. Slope: 144. Architect: Robert Trent Jones Sr., 1963. Greens Fee: $155.
The Greenbrier, Old White ****1/2
Back in the day, the Old White course at the Greenbrier resort was like an annuity for Sam Snead. As resident pro, Snead made himself available for matches with guests, winning most before they started. He'd ask a guest for his handicap, and if, say, the guest answered "ten," Snead would offer him ten strokes. Then they'd agree on a set of tees, usually the whites. "Of course," recalls a longtime Greenbrier member who sometimes filled out Snead's foursomes, "from the white tees, Sam rarely shot higher than sixty-six." The course is no pushover, though, and it ultimately wasn't for Snead: The greens are so subtle they're believed to have caused his infamous case of the yips. This spring, architect Lester George will finish a restoration of C.B. Macdonald's original bunkering and contours. Expect retro-looking cross-bunkers and humps and swales in seemingly random places.
300 West Main Street, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia; 800-624-6070, www.greenbrier.com. Yardage: approximately 6,825. Par: 70. Slope: approximately 140. Architect: C.B. Macdonald, 1914. Greens Fees: $185 (resort guests), $350 (non–resort guests).
Bay Creek, Nicklaus ****
Developer Dick Foster wanted to build two golf courses for Bay Creek Resort & Club on the Delmarva Peninsula along the eastern shore of Chesapeake Bay, and he hired Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer to design them. Although both courses are good, the Nicklaus layout, which opened just last year, gets the nod thanks to several picturesque holes that play among the dunes skirting the bay. The par-three fourth looks as if it were on a links in Ireland: The green is nestled in sandhills covered by swaying fescue. The eighth hole, back inland, is a short (327-yard) par four curved around a lake. Trying to drive the green is a tantalizing, if inadvisable, gamble.
One Clubhouse Way, Cape Charles, Virginia; 757-331-8620, www.baycreekgolfclub.com. Yardage: 7,417. Par: 72. Slope: 144. Architect: Jack Nicklaus, 2005. Greens Fee: $95.
The Greenbrier, Greenbrier ****
The eponymous course at the Greenbrier is considered to be the resort's championship layout because the holes are tighter, by and large, and more demanding than those on Old White. A former host of the Ryder Cup, the Greenbrier course is in consistently good shape and indeed has its share of strong, exacting holes. The par-three eleventh, strikingly similar to the twelfth at Augusta, is as good a rendition of the original as you're likely to find in a mountain setting. The Greenbrier suffers somewhat from a set of par fives that play almost like long par fours, lacking interesting strategic options. And the physical surroundings of the course don't have quite the charm of Old White's. But then again, few places do.
Yardage: 6,675. Par: 72. Slope: 135. Architects: Seth Raynor, 1924; and Jack Nicklaus, 1977. Greens Fee: $185.
Keswick ****
Traditionally overlooked in rankings of Virginia's elite resort courses, the Keswick Club, just east of Charlottesville, deserves a place on the honor roll. Although recently lengthened, Keswick is really a finesse course. Long hitters may have wedges and short irons into many of the greens, but if they fail to place their approach shots in the right spots on the glassy surfaces, their scorecards will suffer. The course's location, amid rolling hills fifteen miles from Jefferson's Monticello, is spectacular.
701 Club Drive, Keswick, Virginia; 434-923-4363. Yardage: 6,717. Par: 71. Slope: 130. Architects: Fred Findlay, 1939; and Arnold Palmer, 1990. Greens Fees: $120–$150.
Best of the Rest
Rees Jones's Green course at Golden Horseshoe (757-220-7696) is not quite up to the standard of his father's Gold (thanks to the somewhat prosaic chains of gumdrop mounds he used to frame many of the holes), but it's a strong layout nonetheless. The owners of the Tradition Golf Club at Royal New Kent (804-966-7023), outside Williamsburg, have softened some of the edges off Mike Strantz's original design. But the late architect's bold ideas are still much in evidence, beginning with the opening tee shot, which must be played around or over a set of dunes that bring to mind Royal County Down. Mattaponi Springs Golf Club (804-633-7888) in hardscrabble pickup country between Fredericksburg and Richmond, Virginia, is the best of the region's new daily-fee courses and worth the brief detour from Interstate 95. Greg Norman designed his new course at the Lansdowne Resort (703-729-8400), about thirty miles from Washington and open only to resort guests, with the goal of having it supplant TPC at Avenel as the D.C. area's annual Tour stop. It would be a significant improvement. The Cobb course at Glade Springs Resort (800-634-5233), in the West Virginia hills, has a great back nine—with nearly every hole requiring a carry over water, bunkers or both. Tom Doak fans will enjoy Riverfront Golf Club (757-484-2200) in Suffolk, Virginia, ten miles from Norfolk. One of Doak's earlier designs, it's a strategic foray through tidal marshes that's unfortunately set in a housing development. At Oakhurst Links (866-625-1884) outside White Sulphur Springs, you can experience golf as it used to be. The gutta-percha balls are the color of cured putty, the weighty hickory-shafted clubs have rough leather grips, and instead of using a tee you build a sand mound with your hands.
Private Gems
Kinloch Golf Club (2001) in Manakin-Sabot, Virginia, near Richmond, was developed by former U.S. Amateur champ turned sports agent Vinny Giles. It may offer the best private golf experience between Pine Valley and Augusta. The layout, by Lester George, is outstanding. Everything else, from the caddies to the conditioning to the informality of the place, is equally superb.
Pete Dye Golf Club (1995) in Bridgeport, West Virginia, may be the single best use of former coal lands anywhere. You'll see sheer walls left from strip-mining, and your cart will trundle through a passage from a deep mine. Tee shots must be played to fairways laid diagonally along the line of play, requiring sound judgment about how much to bite off.
Robert Trent Jones Golf Club (1991) in Gainesville, Virginia, is the four-time host of the Presidents Cup. It boasts a bipartisan membership of political heavyweights, from George H.W. Bush to Vernon Jordan. There's a gated entry and an immense neo-Georgian clubhouse. The course reaches the shores of Lake Manassas at the ninth hole and flirts with it thereafter.
By Plane
Depending on your itinerary, you can fly into one of several places: Washington's Dulles International Airport; Richmond, Norfolk, Charlottesville or Roanoke, Virginia; or the Greenbrier Valley Airport in Lewisburg, West Virginia.
By Car
Interstate 64 is the main artery linking most of the Virginias' finest golf destinations. The highway runs from Norfolk northwest through Williamsburg, Richmond and Charlottesville and then on toward the Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs. If you're heading by car to either the Greenbrier or the Homestead, plan a detour on the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive in western Virginia.
By Train
Traditionalists can travel to either the Greenbrier or the Homestead via the Amtrak Cardinal. Coming from the east, the train rattles up the Blue Ridge Mountains and arrives in White Sulphur Springs as darkness falls. You can see the lights of the old Greenbrier hotel from the depot and, for a moment, imagine you're back in the 1930s. You can also get to Colonial Williamsburg by a connecting train from Washington.
Where to Stay
The Greenbrier
In the nineteenth century, the South's elite used to summer here, enjoying the cool mountain air, "taking" the sulfurous waters and introducing eligible young ladies of fine families to eligible young men of similar stock. The place still has an old, refined feel, with more square yards of floral carpet and wallpaper than a Laura Ashley factory. Guests can try their hand at more than fifty activities, from falconry to gourmet-cooking classes. The spa offers twelve styles of massage and seven types of facials. For kids, there's an "adventure zone" that includes art classes, puppet shows and pony rides.
300 West Main Street, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia; 800-624-6070, greenbrier.com. Rooms: from $389.
The Homestead
Like its rival the Greenbrier, located fifty minutes away, the Homestead has been offering thermal soaks and timeless serenity since the eighteenth century. Though the resort now provides a panoply of activities for adults and children, it remains faithful to its beginnings as a retreat at which to take the waters. Guests can make a short jaunt to the Jefferson Pools in nearby Warm Springs and use the same octagonal spa building that our third president availed himself of in 1818. The water is still a consistently soothing ninety-eight degrees.
1766 Homestead Drive, Hot Springs, Virginia; 540-839-1766, www.thehomestead.com. Rooms: from $245.
Keswick Hall at Monticello
Starting with the core of a 1911 country villa, Sir Bernard Ashley (widower of the aforementioned Laura Ashley, the famed Welsh designer) spent lavishly to create this stately forty-eight-room hotel, the centerpiece of a six-hundred-acre estate. The Italianate architecture, the grand antiques and the hilltop setting make you feel as if you're the honored guest of a Tuscan aristocrat. The hotel's celebrated restaurant, Fossett's, has floor-to-ceiling windows and inventive regional fare. As well as offering golf and a fine spa, the hotel arranges for guests to participate in that enduring central Virginia pastime: riding to the hounds. 701 Club Drive, Keswick, Virginia; 800-274-5391, keswick.com. Rooms: from $465.
The Williamsburg Inn
This charming hotel recently reduced its hundred rooms to sixty-two, essentially turning each into a minisuite, furnished, as always, in splendid style. For the best experience, book one of the eighteenth-century houses the Inn maintains, sit around a fire and enjoy an early-American breakfast that just might be delivered by a waiter in colonial livery. If the kids get tired of all the living history, the roller coasters of Busch Gardens are close at hand.
136 East Francis Street, Williamsburg, Virginia; 757-220-7978, www.colonialwilliamsburg.com. Rooms: from $339.
Julian's (Continental) Steve Jackendoff, owner and chef at this intimate place in an old frame house off Lewisburg's main drag about fifteen miles from the Greenbrier, got his start as a teenager pulling greens off strawberries in the kitchen of Lutece, the erstwhile Manhattan citadel of haute cuisine. By a very winding country road, he made his way to Lewisburg, but he hasn't forgotten what he learned in New York. 102 South Lafayette Street, Lewisburg, West Virginia; 304-645-4145. $$$$
Mariah's at Tower Hill Bed & Breakfast (Contemporary) Finishing an afternoon round at Bay Creek, one might look at the surrounding fields and conclude that a good meal is a long drive away. Not so. A few miles off, at this elegant little restaurant in a restored 260-year-old mansion on an inlet of Chesapeake Bay, the steaks are thick and delicious. And if you don't feel like driving after dinner, there are five tastefully furnished bedrooms upstairs. 3018 Bowden Landing, Cape Charles, Virginia; 757-331-1700. $$$
Tastings of Charlottesville (Regional American) Jefferson tried and failed to produce fine wines in Virginia. Thanks to modern agronomy, local vintners today are more successful, and the fruits of their labor are part of the charm of Tastings. It's half wine store, half restaurant, and excels at both.
502 East Market Street, Charlottesville, Virginia; 434-293-3663. $$$
The Trellis (Contemporary American) Four times a year for the past twenty-six years, Marcel Desaulniers has changed the menu and the art on the walls of this restaurant a couple of blocks from the restored colonial section of Williamsburg, emphasizing the fresh and local in both. Author of Death by Chocolate, Desaulniers also makes desserts that are divine. 403 Duke of Gloucester Street, Williamsburg, Virginia; 757-229-8610. $$$
History and Activities
Cold-War Bunker
Postwar Washington was possessed by the fear that at any moment the capital might be destroyed by Soviet missiles. That led to one of the Cold War's more curious relics, a Congressional bomb shelter dug deep beneath a false wing of the Greenbrier hotel. The bunker included rooms for all members of Congress and separate meeting chambers for the House and Senate. A secret until 1992, it's now open for tours in summer.
Campus Tours
Most visitors to central Virginia flock to Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home. Just as interesting and far less crowded is his "Academical Village"—the central buildings at the nearby University of Virginia. Take a student-led tour and learn how Jefferson artfully planned every neoclassical keystone and pillar.
Historic Jamestown
As generations of American schoolkids have been taught, this riverside settlement, founded in 1607, served as the first seat of British government on the continent for nearly a hundred years. The National Park Service maintains the village, a short drive from Williamsburg, as a living-history site. Events commemorating its 400th anniversary, including the opening of a "floating museum" in a replica of one of the three original colonists' ships, begin in May.
River Rafting
Considering that it flows through the Washington metro area, the Potomac River is remarkably wild. You can find bald eagles and raging Class V rapids within an hour's drive of D.C. Outfitters such as River Riders (800-326-7238) in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, can get you on the water.