Honey Bee Golf Club
About
Nestled in the heart of Virginia Beach, Honey Bee Golf Club is one of the area's most popular daily-fee golfing venues. Rees Jones designed the course, incorporating water on 10 holes as well as intricate bunkering throughout. The challenging layout has several tricky doglegs and some treacherous blind shots as well. It's a golf course that demands careful course management and some strategic thinking. Accurate shot placement is also key when maneuvering the rolling fairways and contoured greens. While it's by no means an easy golf course, it is an enjoyable round for players of all skill levels, making it a popular venue for tournaments and corporate outings. For golfers looking to get an entire day of golf in, Honey Bee's sister club, Stumpy Lake, is only about half a mile away.
Tee | Par | Length | Rating | Slope |
---|---|---|---|---|
Gold | 70 | 6075 yards | 68.7 | 117 |
Black | 70 | 5667 yards | 67.0 | 113 |
Blue | 70 | 5207 yards | 65.2 | 109 |
Silver | 70 | 4929 yards | 68.5 | 118 |
Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gold M: 69.6/125 W: 76.1/138 | 525 | 172 | 347 | 180 | 303 | 374 | 545 | 180 | 374 | 3000 | 465 | 179 | 339 | 190 | 363 | 446 | 196 | 399 | 498 | 3075 | 6075 |
Black M: 67.9/121 W: 73.9/134 | 510 | 152 | 326 | 164 | 284 | 357 | 510 | 160 | 348 | 2811 | 443 | 162 | 319 | 165 | 335 | 427 | 166 | 371 | 468 | 2856 | 5667 |
Blue M: 65.6/116 W: 71.3/128 | 404 | 146 | 315 | 136 | 277 | 336 | 456 | 130 | 336 | 2536 | 424 | 140 | 306 | 131 | 323 | 393 | 148 | 348 | 458 | 2671 | 5207 |
Silver M: 64.6/114 W: 68.5/118 | 400 | 128 | 296 | 130 | 262 | 326 | 442 | 123 | 325 | 2432 | 367 | 128 | 294 | 111 | 299 | 384 | 138 | 325 | 456 | 2502 | 4934 |
Forward M: 64.6/114 W: 68.5/118 | 402 | 128 | 306 | 124 | 259 | 327 | 445 | 125 | 324 | 2440 | 368 | 130 | 298 | 110 | 304 | 377 | 138 | 328 | 436 | 2489 | 4929 |
Handicap | 4 | 16 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 2 | 10 | 14 | 8 | 13 | 17 | 15 | 9 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 7 | |||
Par | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 35 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 35 | 70 |
Handicap (W) | 8 | 18 | 2 | 16 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 14 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 9 | 15 | 7 | 5 | 13 | 1 | 3 |
Course Details
Rentals/Services
Practice/Instruction
Policies
Food & Beverage
Bar, Grill, RestaurantAvailable Facilities
Clubhouse, Banquet FacilitiesAccolades
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Golf Advisor: Top Courses in Virginia (2016 #13)
Reviews
Reviewer Photos
Missing Care and Attention
I feel bad being critical because I really love this course, but even though I broke 80 for the first time ever here on this visit, it really was a struggle to get round.
Where to start... Well for February weather was amazing, sunny, temperatures in the mid 70's the only down side was that it was quite windy which made conditions tricky.
I took advantage of the driving range and putting greens beforehand so I could best enjoy my round and this might have been where I should have known I was in for a tough day. Driving range was very wet underfoot, but it's February so I just used an all weather mat. Putting green was lighting fast, actually took me by surprise just how fast.
Issues with the course...
Tee Boxes. It must be some time since they were last adjusted, between the complete lack of any grass underfoot to the dozens of broken and discarded tees it really just looked awful. It's not just on one or two holes either, there isn't a tee box fit for purpose on the whole 18.
Bunkers. I say bunkers because you cannot call them sand traps, more clay and shale than any actual sand (except maybe for the large greenside bunker on 16). It's amazing how poor the sand traps are for a course that has so much sand nearby.
Pace. I'll split blame for this on golfers with poor etiquette and a club with no marshals or starters. By the time I got to the fifth hole there were five groups behind a threesome that wouldn't have hit water if they fell out of a boat. The problem was they were not allowing smaller, quicker groups to play through and there was nobody around to sort it out. At least other courses in the area will pair smaller groups together to keep pace of play up to where it's acceptable (nothing enjoyable about sitting in your cart for 10 minutes while a foursome hacks out of the woods 60yards away).
Now don't get me wrong, this was not a bad day of golf, I love the challenge of this course (especially the last four holes that make up the Beehive). It was just disappointing to take over four and a half hours to get round.
Hot Day on the Course
The course is in very good condition, the layout is nice. Very nice place to play..
My favorite VB course!
Course is always in great condition. Challenging layout makes you use every shot and club in your bag.
You’d think
You’d think a course with this great reputation would let you know they are aerating greens and maybe knock some of the 52 off of your bill, or at least just make you aware. Turning into Stumpy Lake V2..
Big white circle
The staff at Honeybee hasn’t been good for years, no surprise there. It’s been about two years since playing this course and the most notable difference is the greens. Previously, the course had better greens than most, currently I’d rate then unplayable. It had rained, the tee markers hadn’t been moved in several days so every tee box was muddy. They also jacked their rates about two years ago, never was and most certainly isn’t now, a $52 winter rate course, nor $59 in summer.
Nice course... Would play again.
Nice course. Not overly challenging but very fun. Good mix of clubs used. Played on New Years weekend so it was a bit crowded which impacted pace of play, but that isn't the course's fault.
Rough greens
Hate to beat them up but it seems everytime I have played here the greens are torn up with bare patches.
Greens need some work
I am not a grass experts by any means, but the greens need work as it makes putting nearly impossible.
nice course, greens were rough
Fun course, wet from rain the days before. Greens had a lot of bad spots.