GLEN ALLEN, Va. -- Bill Love designed two golf courses in Glen Allen, one just a wedge shot from the other across the Chickahominy River.
Location is where the similarities end between the private Dominion Club, co-designed by Curtis Strange, and public Hunting Hawk Golf Club, where water conservation and environmental protection are foremost.
While houses line many of the fairways of the Dominion Club, there is not a home to be seen at Hunting Hawk. While the Dominion Club has a 28,000-square-foot clubhouse with a grand Rotunda and elegant dining room, Hunting Hawk has a single-story structure with a no-nonsense pro shop and snack bar. While the Dominion Club has a pool, tennis and baby-sitting service, Hunting Hawk is all about golf.
At Hunting Hawk, rainfall is captured and stored with an intricate network of streams, underground pipes and ponds. With water conservation the theme, the course is brown and barren in many of the peripheral areas, but well conditioned on the bentgrass greens, Bermuda fairways and primary rough. The naturally beautiful course traverses woodlands, wetlands and rolling land in a surprisingly secluded property, 20 miles northwest of Richmond. Hunting Hawk measures 6,882 yards from the tips, playing to a 73.2 rating and a hefty slope of 140.
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The 16th hole at Hunting Hawk Golf Club, a 545-yard par 5, runs along one of the lakes that designer Bill Love created to collect water to irrigate the course. Kevin Dunleavy/GolfAdvisor
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The first hole at Hunting Hawk Golf Club kicks off a strategic nine with wider fairways and fewer hazards than the course's treacherous back nine. Kevin Dunleavy/GolfAdvisor
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As if 460 yards weren't enough on Hunting Hawk Golf Club's longest par 4, a steep-faced fairway bunker adds to the difficulty of the fourth hole. Kevin Dunleavy/GolfAdvisor
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The green on no. 9 at Hunting Hawk Golf Club, the longest hole on the course at 568 yards, is reachable in two shots for long hitters who want to cut yardage from the dogleg and gamble over water. Kevin Dunleavy/GolfAdvisor
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Many fairway bunkers, like this at no. 10 at Hunting Hawk Golf Club, can prevent players from reaching the green. Kevin Dunleavy/GolfAdvisor
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With an environmental strip fronting the green, the 10th hole is appropriately difficult, introducing the tighter, tougher back nine at Hunting Hawk Golf Club in Glen Allen, Virginia. Kevin Dunleavy/GolfAdvisor
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Lakes figure prominently on three of Hunting Hawk Golf Club's four par 5s, including the 11th hole. Kevin Dunleavy/GolfAdvisor
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The 12th hole at Hunting Hawk Golf Club is a beautifully secluded par 3 that plays over an environmental hazard from tee to green. Kevin Dunleavy/GolfAdvisor
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At no. 14 at Hunting Hawk Golf Club, players have to carry a wide environmental area off the tee and a narrow strip on the approach. Kevin Dunleavy/GolfAdvisor
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The putting surfaces at Hunting Hawk Golf Club are a special strain of drought-resistant bentgrass. Kevin Dunleavy/GolfAdvisor
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The par-3 17th hole at Hunting Hawk Golf Club is all carry to a bunker-protected green. Kevin Dunleavy/GolfAdvisor
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The two-tiered green at no. 17 at Hunting Hawk Golf Club is a challenge. Kevin Dunleavy/GolfAdvisor
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Deep fairway bunkers add to the difficulty at no. 18 at Hunting Hawk Golf Club, which plays toward the clubhouse. Kevin Dunleavy/GolfAdvisor
