The Virginian Golf Club...

 

Today marks the beginning of a special week for Spence and me. Before he heads off to college to begin his collegiate golfing career, Spence and I are taking off to play some of the best courses VA has to offer. We'll also be paying a long overdue visit to some family here in Southern VA. We took off early this morning for The Virginian. This Tom Fazio beauty is nestled in the rolling Appalachian hills of Bristol VA. We couldn't have asked for better weather to enjoy this gorgeous layout. We had the course to ourselves and didn't see another group the entire day. Incredible! I'll get to the course in a moment. Before we get to the golf though, I'd be remiss if I didn't share these incredible Yurts with you. Each of these units come with either a delightfully comfortable King bed or two Queens. As luck would have it, the 2 Queens Yurt wasn't ready for us so they "forced" us into two King Yurts. No complaints here. Take a look inside. 

Now for the golf.....

The clubhouse above overlooks the practice green and driving range on this side. The other side overlooks the 9th green and the 10th tee. Loved the big clock below. Reminds me of some of my favorites from across the pond!

And off we go...Below is the view from the Par 4 1st hole. As we would soon find out, every hole out here offers some elevation change off the tee down into the beautiful Zoysia fairways. 

Here is the Par 3 2nd hole. Beautiful hole!

Here is the Par 5 3rd hole. The multi terraced tee boxes offer a gorgeous view of what lay ahead. This was a true 3 shot hole from all the way back. 

The 4th hole is a strong downhill par 4. It was a doozy and rightfully dubbed the #1 handicap hole. With this rough, you better find the fairway off the tee if you hope to find the green in regulation. 

Better split those two bunkers.....

Above is the corridor you have to get through to find the fairway on the Par 5 6th hole. Make it through and you have the chance to reach this green in two. Came up just short here but was able to make an easy birdie! 

Short par 4 7th below. This was the view from our 2nd shots. Roughly 105 yards in but with a two tiered green and a sharp drop off the back, distance control was key. 

What follows was my favorite hole on the front. The par 3 8th played downhill to a tiered green nestled right beside the water. The front pin location made club selection paramount. We both had 20 footers for birdie. While birdies would have been nice, we gladly walked off with two pars. 

Below rounds out the front 9 with another elevated tee shot down into the Par 4 ninth fairway. Pretty hole...

After a visit to the grill room for some Gatorades we were off to the back nine...Below is the Par 4 10th. Spence nearly drove the green from the tips....

Always nice to see some fans in the gallery alongside the Par 4 12th....

Big time Par 3 here at the 13th...230 yards into the wind from the tips. Don't come up short or it'll funnel well back down the false front. 

The last two shots are from the reachable Par 5 14th and the Par 3 15th. Continue to be impressed with this course. 

After a quick bite to eat in the Twenty - Two Bar and Grill, we hopped in the cart and made our way back over to the Yurts to turn in for the night.  Thankful for our travel mercies today as well as the wonderful weather and course here at The Virginian. What a great start to our week together. We don't have too far to travel tomorrow as we are headed just up the road to Olde Farm. Guess that's all for now!