Williamsburg Course Conditions Post-Irene

[karmacoma100]

Anyone worth avoiding?

I am going on a golf trip and we are playing 6 courses in 4 days. Anyone know what kind of shape they are in? We are playing Colonial Heritage, Kiskiack, Viniterra, Golden Horseshoe (Gold), Kingsmill (River) and Royal New Kent. Some of their phones are still not reconnected...

[idriveahonda]

I'm an Assistant Professional at Kingsmill River, and we lost power for phones for a single day (our grid is weird).

However, we didn't have power to most of the result for 3-4 days.

Right now, River Course is in some of the best shape of the golf courses south of Richmond. Golden Horseshoe is okay right about now, Viniterra is always a pleasure, and if you get the chance...find someone who can get you on to Kinloch.

You have a good list of courses there, you should (or already had) have a good time.

[karmacoma100]

Thank you for the post. We did go on the trip early this month.

The Kingsmill River Course was in great shape. It's a great resort and a great Pete Dye course. Unlike a lot of courses, you can experience a solid design here and feel as though you are playing in a tournament on each hole. As expected, 16, 17 and 18 were a great end to the round.

Golden Horseshoe (Gold) was as expected. This is a wonderful old school course and each time I have played, the staff has been great and the course was in great shape. Take advantage of the afternoon tee times to save some dough - totally worth the greens fees!

We played Viniterra for the first time and were pleasantly surprised. Each of the courses before had told us that we were in for a treat and that was the truth. However, I will say that setting up a tee time was an ordeal. We called a few weeks out to see if they could accomodate us as we were coming in from over 5 hours away. They told us 5 days or less for non-members. We called 5 days out and they told us they were hosting a tourney the day we requested and we were told we needed to wait until 3 days out. So 3 days before we left for the trip,, we called and found out that the second proposed date was also booked with a tournament. We ended up rearranging the itinerary and made a reservation. From that point on, we were impressed, but that could have been better.

Traditions Club at Kiskiack was a nightmare. We contacted the management company and they have since made things right by us, so I wont go into details other than Irene did some damage and the staff failed to say anything about flooded fairways, dead greens, "local greens fees discounts" unavailable to visitors regardless of verbal confirmation and unsatisfactory clubhouse grill. The course design is nice... but it was hard to see through the frustration we felt as we hit the first tee.

Colonial Heritage is likely the most underrated course in the WBurg area. A very challenging Arthur Hills design (lots of hills, forced carry, shot-makers course), some people think it is unfair, but it is worth playing and the price is right. Odd that such a challenge is located as the centerpiece of an over-55 community.

PLEASE READ
Based on the poor experience we had with the Traditions Club at Kiskiack, we decided to alter our plans and played Mattaponi Springs on the way home, rather than playing Traditions Club at Royal New Kent (which we have played, and LOVE). The course is not far off of I-95 Fredricksburg. If you have not played this course, you should. This was my favorite course of the entire trip and the perfect end to a long weekend. We pulled up the bag drop to a smiling attendant. Parked and went upstairs to pay for the round and grab some breakfast. Reasonably priced and the sausage, egg and cheese was perfect. We knew we had our work cut out for us once we noticed the course record belongs to Webb Simpson at a 65. GPS on carts. Nice range with practice green and chipping/bunker area as well. The course requires a solid tee shot. From there you can choose your own adventure to get to the green. A lot of variety on the course, but maintains a consistent design where every hole makes sense, even the tough 237 yd par 3 (yup...). The 9th and 18th require a fair tee shot and then your expert geometry skills for club selection. In each case, expect a 50 yd drop in elevation from the fairway to the green - very dramatic! This manageable course is fair, fun and different. It was in great shape and the Zoisia grass was a nice change from the Bermuda at Kingsmill and Golden Horseshoe. PLAY THIS COURSE.

All in all it was a great trip. Our plans for next year include Mattaponi Springs, Viniterra, Golden Horseshoe, Royal New Kent and two courses to be name later. Colonial Heritage, Kingsmill and The Golden Eagle at the Tides Inn (from last years trip) will make the rotation again in the future. Kiskiack and King Carter (2010 trip) probably will not.

[quote name='idriveahonda' timestamp='1316811483' post='3586085']
I'm an Assistant Professional at Kingsmill River, and we lost power for phones for a single day (our grid is weird).

However, we didn't have power to most of the result for 3-4 days.

Right now, River Course is in some of the best shape of the golf courses south of Richmond. Golden Horseshoe is okay right about now, Viniterra is always a pleasure, and if you get the chance...find someone who can get you on to Kinloch.

You have a good list of courses there, you should (or already had) have a good time.
[/quote]