Lives
Charlottesville, VA
Age
45-54
Gender
Male
Skill
Intermediate
Plays
A few times a week

Review Statistics

Average Rating

5.0
5.0
Total 2 Reviews

Rating Breakdown

2 Reviews
5 Stars
2
4 Stars
0
3 Stars
0
2 Stars
0
1 Stars
0
Recommended Courses
2
Not Recommended Courses
0
Helpful Votes Count
2
Not Helpful Votes Count
0
First Review
06/04/2014
Last Review
08/26/2014

Reviews Map

Reviews

5.0
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Rock Harbor Golf Course - Rock

Played On 08/25/2014
I Recommend This Course
5.0
First Time Playing

Stunning Course, But Under Construction

My wife and I tried out Rock Harbor Golf Course this week, and found it to be memorable. A second 18 is in the process of being added, though it wasn’t clear to me which it was, as we were sent out to play “The Boulder’s” front nine and “The Rock’s” back nine. All of the course seemed to me to be under construction still, to varying degrees. There’s a lot of driving between holes, and though it is beautiful out there and the riding is fun, it is awfully confusing despite there being a lot of temporary signage and a staff of (wonderful) marshalls out there directing traffic. More than once we ended up nose to nose with other carts on a cart path, we were able to reason out which of two pins to shoot at on a large double green (Boulder #4), and on #18 a marshall arrived just in time to tell us “no, not that tee box”. We experienced some good natured “do you have the treasure map” from other lost groups, but also wore the patience of some folks behind us who clearly knew where they were going. Surprisingly and very unfortunately, we suffered from lack of any sort of “treasure map”. A range card; a score card with hole layouts; even a hole diagram on each tee box would have been helpful, particularly as there are a lot of elevation changes leading to blind shots. I’m sure these things are coming. Range markers on the fairways are scarce, and for some reason our normally reliable Skycaddie GPS seemed as confused as we were. www.rockharborgolf.com has a really super virtual tour of each hole, and as we did have an I-pad with us we tried to make some use of it, but we had folks behind us and it just wasn’t practical to spend much time looking at it.

The course itself is spectacular – I mean it is really going to be something! Each hole presents unique challenges, though again you lose a lot of it if isn’t clear to you what the challenges are until you are in them. One of a kind highlights for me were the artificial turf tee boxes off lake platforms on Rock #12, and the super-elevated tee on Rock #17. I was looking forward to the island par three, but that was not on our dance card. The “unfinished” aspects of the course are esthetics; the ground itself is quite ready and in excellent shape all around. The rough is thick. The greens are enormous, heavily contoured, and wicked fast. I came in seven over my handicap, and felt real lucky to do so. In my opinion it is a very difficult course to score on.

I certainly look forward to playing this course again. I only hope it is not priced out of my reach when it is “finished”.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Fair
Amenities Average

Blue Ridge Shadows Golf Club

Played On 05/03/2014
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played

Best Value in Virginia

My wife and I travel up to this course once a month during the golf season, all the way from Charlottesville, for a weekend stay and play. We don’t drive two hours to see the sights in Front Royal, but to golf ourselves to exhaustion on this wonderful course. If we don’t do 72 holes over the weekend, then there must have been a weather problem.

To each his own, but this course suits me perfectly. There’s something about each hole which makes it unique, and I like that. I really like the elevation changes and the “risk-reward” nature of many holes. I find the course to be plenty challenging enough from the white tees, but with five sets of tees usually on four distinct and sometimes widely separated tee boxes, this course can be FAR more challenging from the back tees. Favorites are #1 and #18…both are easy to par with two good shots, but one bad shot probably leads to a double or even triple bogey. Dislike the par three #10…it’s difficult for me to hit and hold the green from the tee well below the steeply elevated green, and my wife has it in her head that it is flat out not possible from her tee box even further below. But, every good course ought to have one hole to vex you. The starter advises you account for the distance and elevation, and then add two. He’s right.

I see some contrary opinions here on the condition of the course this year, but I’ve found the course to be in rather impressive condition each time I’ve played there, and I have played around patches of snow there. Starting our third year of monthly play now, I characterize the course conditions to be uniformly excellent. The worst I can say is that golfers there seem to have an aversion to replacing divots; perhaps it’s a NOVA thing. It can make some of the holes like #14, which feature landing zones from which a lot of irons are played, look like war zones by Sunday afternoon.

The staff there is like family. The pro on duty once opened up the course for me alone when I showed up on a day with weather so cold and rainy that they’d closed the course. And she warmed up some leftovers for me at the turn. Where does that happen?

I get around the state to golf pretty much, but for me there is not a better course open to the public at near this price. I highly recommend it.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Fair
Amenities Excellent
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