The first thing I want to say about Wine Valley is even in a bunk economy I predict it will be a success. They have a fun golf course out there in Walla Walla. The sophomore effort of designer Dan Hixson, the primary virtue of the course rests in him sticking to the basic tenets of links golf; wind, width and undulating firm turf.
Wine Valley occupies farmland; wheat and alfalfa. Someday there will be houses on the golf course, but for now it’s wide open. The rolling hills made finding golf holes simple; even Dan said it would be hard to mess this up. I’d guestimate the overall elevation change on the course, from highest to lowest point, to be somewhere around 100 ft. but I could be off. It’s a large site on a grand scale, which will mess with your sense of distance.
The course is two loops of nine, the first five holes sort of paralleling one another moving south away from the clubhouse, and then you turn north at the one shot 6th and play back towards the clubhouse. There is water in play on #3, #6 and #9. Only at #3 is it really in play.
I preferred the back nine more, which consists of three par 4, three par 5 and three par 3 holes. Additionally, the routing meanders out to the highest point on the property so there are wonderful vistas to be had coming home. There is plenty of variety; reachable par 5s, both long and short par 3s. I suppose the 4th is the closest thing to drivable par 4, but only to the likes of JB Holmes, Tiger Woods and perhaps Tyler, the super ;-)
I lost one ball, and I’m not hitting it very well right now. The course is large, definitely on a scale larger than that of Bandon Crossings. Many fairways are 75-100 yards wide and are a blend of fescue. The greens are bent, however. The long hay has yet to fully develop but will probably be amazing when it does.
This is something we talked about at one point. I think the aesthetics of the course will improve once you are getting more color contrast between the turf and native. They have plenty of work to do in the coming years, according to Dan there is some native stuff trying to re-establish a foothold; weeds, wheat, etc….. Like any course, elements of the maintenance meld are a constant work in progress, but in the grand scheme of things, Tyler, the super, has a firm hold. Dan talked quite a bit about how he thinks it is important to be able to find balls hit into the boon docks, and has advised not watering the deep hay in attempt to keep it sparse.
From a strict architectural and playability standpoint, the course is mature beyond its years. It has grown in pretty quickly, and while some evidence of drainage/irrigation work is evident, the turf played much quicker than the turf we played on at Chambers Bay during our GCA gathering there a couple years back.
The bunkers are an interesting lot. Dan provided the construction folks with a concept "Vertical Cleavage." All of the bunkers were crafted to mimic local landforms, Vertical Cleavage being a legitimate geologic landform. As Jeff Doerr pointed out, additionally, Slag attempted to emulate distant mountain peaks in some of his bunkers. Integrating local flavor into the golf course makes the difference between a good course and a charming course.
See Vertical cleavage below...
I’m looking forward to seeing the bunkers mature, and cannot help but speculate on how they will look five years from now. My personal opinion is they would look better with hairy grass noses/faces. The Vertical Cleavage just looks dirty to me, no pun intended. And I think they are always going to have a problem with something trying to grow on those faces, wanted or not. Regardless, they are mean and intimidating, and at the end of the day bunkers should scream out “stay away.” These hazards serve this purpose in spades.
The 17th hole, one of my favorites, has a cool dirt wall framing the left side of the fairway, but is the only hole with a feature of this sort. Apparently 17 was the last hole constructed and I bet if Dan knew how well that feature would come out he would have incorporated it into the course elsewhere too. To Hixson’s credit, there was a lot of effort put into randomizing/naturalizing the man-made features. Again, credit here must go to the skills of Proctor, Goalby. Painter et al as well
A lot of effort was spent creating optical illusions and messing with the golfer’s depth perception. The greens complexes at Wine Valley are well done. Numerous short chipping areas, false fronts and dead elephants, etc. You can approach the greens from different angles using the ground game, which I just love. Dan mentioned the pro shop staff was telling him recently that the course is developing a strong female following because of the playability. The course oozes creativity and playability.
Highlights for me included the 4th hole, a short par four with a large fronting wasteland to a shallow green. #7 has a super cool green within a natural bowl. To my mind this is a true punchbowl green, and it is so fun to hit approach shots long and have them back up towards the flagstick.
The 14th is Wine Valley’s “short” hole, and will lead to a lot of ugly scores. I hit my tee shot a little right into a greenside bunker and could muster no better than a double bogey I.E. sand shot and three putt. This is the biggest green on the course and devilishly crafted by Kye Goalby. 75 yard putts await golfers who cannot hit accurate short irons.
#15 asks for a tee shot across a wasteland cross hazard. Over time this hazard will only grow more and more hateful, as it should. Following a successful drive, your approach shot is uphill and into the smallest green on the course. While one of the more reachable three shots holes, I am inclined to think the prudent play is to lay up way out to the right. Working uphill to one of the highest points on the property, this hole possesses wild undulations and deep cavernous bunkers. Slag told me Dan Proctor spent quite a bit of time working over the back of this greens complex and it’s a beaut.
The closing stretch at Wine Valley is fabulous. Slag crafted most of the bunkers on 17 and damn if they aren’t good stuff! He pointed out to me that if the golfer’s tee shot is hit out to the right, behind the long cross bunker, one is left with a blind approach. It’s hard to tell from the pictures but there are a couple of huge mounds out there that truly leave you feeling helpless. One of the fellas in my group did such, and then didn’t get his ball up high enough and couldn’t clear the fairway bunker with his 2nd. He fell right into the trap. Even the green on this hole is a diabolical one. When the pin is in the front putts from the back are better served played to the elbows of the green than on a direct line. Hitting balls which turn 90 degrees like this is fun stuff…
#18 is a classic downhill closer. The small bunker up near the green was added by Dan Proctor, and once again, kudos to Hixson for being receptive to his construction crew offering input, especially sage builders like Proctor, Caesar and Goalby. #18 is a fitting closer to a fabulous round of golf.
In conclusion, Wine Valley GC is a major notch in Dan Hixson’s bedpost, and even though I really like the guy, I would not say that if I did not mean it. Should you travel across the country to play it? I’m not so sure about that, but should you travel from say, Seattle? I think absolutely. It should only get better and better as the course matures and the true strategy of the individual golf holes reveal themselves.
It’s what Links magazine would call a Modern Classic. I think if you are anywhere in the region you HAVE to go out and play it. At the end of the day I think it equates to a Doak 6, with the potential to be a 7 or even 8 provided additional maturity and tweaks on the part of Hixson and ownership. The course should be on the radar of any true student of golf course architecture.
Thanks to everyone who showed me a great time in Walla Walla, I look forward to returning to your fabulous course.