If “Virginia is for lovers”, it is also for... golfers as you will find out when playing Micko’s latest fantasy course, very pretty to look at with its rolling hills, panoramic views and nice (far away) homes on hilltops, and quite challenging with subtle elevation changes, water hazards and a few undulating greens, hard to read, sometimes.
Right off the bat, you will have an eagle opportunity on the nice right dogleg par-5 1st hole, with an elevated green, reachable on your second shot (following your downhill tee shot), before facing, later on, the scenic par-3 4th, with a tiny pond in front of the green and a small bunker, right behind it in front of the flag (with colorful flowers and bushes behind).
On the nice right dogleg par-4 5th hole, your slightly-uphill tee shot will have to land... downhill between a big mound (in the right corner), and two bunkers (on the left), in order to reach the
downhill green on your approach, before admiring the nice panoramic view of the valley as you aim your blind and downhill tee shot toward the green of the par-3 7th, surrounded by four bunkers.
As you stand on the tee of the right dogleg par-4 8th hole, you will have to think twice before firing your blind and steeply-downhill tee shot, in order to land short of a stream, winding its way across the fairway (and ending to the right of the green), before finishing with the left dogleg par-5 9th, quite challenging with trees along the fairway (on the left), forcing you to hit your tee shot to the right (with a bunker, midway, waiting for your errant shot), and a long approach toward the elevated green (next to the clubhouse, parking lot and putting range).
Fortunately, the next few holes on the back 9 will let you “breathe” a little bit, before facing the tough finishing stretch, starting with the pretty par-3 13th hole, with a blind and downhill tee shot over a wide lake (with a nice retaining wall), and continuing with the beautiful and challenging par-5 14th, with a wide elongated lake winding its way across the fairway diagonally (and quite narrow in the middle) and ending to the right, behind the green.
You will then go back the other way, with the straight par-4 15th hole, with a second shot over that lake again, before moving on to the short right dogleg par-4 16th, whose green is impossible to reach with an elongated lake on the right.
The last two holes are doglegs : the par-4 17th bends to the right, with a lake, midway on the left, and three small bunkers on the right, making the fairway quite narrow in the middle, and a steeply-uphill approach to the green, and the par-5 18th goes left, with a slightly-downhill tee shot landing onto the fairway, quite narrow again, with the lake (on the left) and bunkers (on the right), and a long and blind approach toward the elevated green, with the clubhouse behind.
With its wide open look and nice plantings, this par 72 does not look too difficult, at first, but you will have to hit good approaches to reach the (often) elevated greens on the front 9 and think first before firing your shots on your way back, with a lot of water to deal with, on this Virginia Ridge course, once again, nicely-designed by Micko...