Having my DC weekend plans cancelled I headed home from Virginia a day early and opted to stop at Tobacco Road and check out their new greens and compare with Stonehouse and Royal New Kent which I had just played.
I am a walker and wasn’t easily convinced that I couldn’t walk Stonehouse, in the end I was very glad that I opted for a cart as it seemed that the distance between holes was at least as long as the holes themselves. After the first five holes I was starting to wonder when I was going to start playing a golf course. So much is hidden from the tees that you might doubt that fairways really exist. They in fact do and are fairly generous, but forced carries from the tee and to the generous greens seemed to rule the day. It reminded me of my first experience at TR where it seemed like more of a funhouse experience, wherein you waited expectantly to see what would jump out at you around the next corner. I played alone late in the day and really didn’t have the time to take in the course as I would have liked. While I don’t like to ride, the paths through the woods were a treat unto themselves sometimes with almost the thrill of a roller coaster.
The next day RNK was also must ride course. But unlike Stonehouse it looked like a golf course from the start but the surprises were there still there. The ultimate risk reward hole was the 2nd, a horseshoe where there was no recovery from the great ravine that guarded the approaching fairway and green. It had for me the same almost feel as the 13th at The Dunes, however, The Dunes was beautiful and daunting this was just daunting. At Stonehouse you seemed to be hitting down to every green RNK felt like you were hitting up to most.
I like this front nine as much as any his courses that I have played. The back nine was probably also as good but I had a hard time coming to grips with the awful little uninspired little tract houses that were pushed up so close to the course. I kept recalling a conversation with Bob Toll of Toll Brothers (largest builder of “luxury” housing in the US). As we drove along a ridge overlooking the Delaware River Valley, he noted at a couple of recently built homes and said : Why would a builder build $250K houses on lots with million dollar views, don’t they know that 10% of $1,000,000 is more than 10% of $250,000? I think I object to the fact that the houses were so out of keeping with the quality of the course that they abutted. I found the Williams burg colonials at Stonehouse quite pleasant, even the condos at True Blue were unassuming.
Yesterday I got to TR and was glad to be able to strap the bag on and play a course that I was familiar with. The new Miniverde Bermuda greens were in great condition and due to their newness were still receptive. Another big change was the removal of all the trees between the 12th tee and the clubhouse. The whole feel of the 12th tee shot is transformed, I believe for the better. While TR greens are perhaps as large in square footage as Stonehouse and RNK their hourglass, boomerang and finger shapes give you much less to shoot at.
I tend to play Stranz courses at well below my handicap. I think it is because he makes me focus on my target. Even knowing that a slightly wayward shot is likely to find a generous landing area does not take away from the feeling that that little sliver of green area that he shows you is all that is there.