Ballyhack

[Billsteele]

I was fortunate enough to be part of a small get together of GCA members at Ballyhack this past weekend. First, I would like to thank Wade Whitehead for extending the invitation and setting up this event. Jonathan Ireland and his staff did a wonderful job and were incredibly hospitable. With people like Jonathan and Aaron Dooley working at Ballyhack, the club is in good hands. Finally, I would like to thank Lester George for spending Friday and Saturday with us. Lester waxed rhapsodic until after midnight on Friday about the golf course architect profession and his design philosophy and strategy at Ballyhack and his other projects. He entertained five of us until after midnight in his insightful and gregarious manner. It was one of the more enjoyable evenings I have had in quite some time. Before this weekend, I had only played the Old White at the Greenbrier from Lester's portfolio. He did a terrific job there and I am glad his work will receive some attention when the PGA tour stops in White Sulphur Springs in July. At Ballyhack, I found out that Lester can design an outstanding course from a blank slate as well as do high quality renovations/restorations.

As for Ballyhack, it is a wonderful golf course: big and bold with wild bunkers strategic options galore and a high fun quotient. The wind is a constant factor coming off of the aptly named Windy Gap. We struggled/enjoyed a breeze with up to 25 mile an hour gusts on Saturday and now understand why the golf course is intended to play as a links course. The other great thing is that the ground game is alive and well here. With the wind and general firmness of the course, Lester's design permits you to roll the ball. While not immediately apparent on the first play, there are a number of ways to go at the greens on the approach shot.

It is difficult to describe all of the elements at Ballyhack. Here are a couple that stand out for me:

-the wicked false front on #1 that collects balls short and left of the green (as the numerous divots in that area attest).
-the great width of the golf course (including the double fairway share by #'s 2 and 5) which permits different options.
-the reverse redan characteristics of the par three #7 (a terrific one shotter).
-the mind games that Lester plays with you on some tees where the obvious choice is not necessarily the most rewarding one.
-the internal contouring of some of the greens (#3 and #18 come most immediately to mind).

I will be interested to see what others have to say. I once heard Pat Mucci say something to the effect that his test for whether a golf course is good is whether after finishing a round he wants to play it again. Ballyhack passes that test in spades. It is fun, challenging and playable. It also is a golf course that must be played several times to truly appreciate all that is going on. It reveals more of itself with multiple plays. Lester is to be congratulated for this great addition to the golf scene.

[Andy Hughes]

I too was part of the group, and would like to echo Bill's thanks to Wade, Jonathon, Aaron and Lester.  A very gracious and welcoming group of people.

Ballyhack is terrific.  It turned out to be a much more playable course than I had feared--I ended up losing one ball and it was a very windy day.  There is generally a lot of room to roam: might not be in position A (or B or C) but you can likely take another whack at it. I suspect I would like the course more with more play as there was just too much going on for me to grasp it all.  Many holes had a large number of ways to go--on #2 Bill hit his drive at least 75 yards further left than me, and we both chose the correct line.  I remain pretty baffled about the 'right' way to play a number of holes, and I would likey be further confused once when the wind changed direction.

You realize as soon as you arrive that you have found an unusual course. The 18th green sits below the club's entrance drive and is ~ 65 yards deep with all sorts of large undulations, troughs, swales.  The feeling I get on the 4th tee at World Woods Pine Barrens I felt a number of times Saturday, you look out there and think 'oh my' to yourself.  Holes/views/looks you have not seen any before. Big and burly and a bit overwhelming. You feel like you can take out your driver and fully turn your shoulders. Of course, that can sometimes bite you 

Bill did not like #7 because of any Redan characteristics--he liked it because he made a 2!  It did behoove one, however, to land it short and left and let it tumble towards the hole.

The ground game, as Bill said, is alive and well at Ballyhack.  We actually needed to bounce, roll and skip balls around to navigate around Lester's bunkers.  With the wind blowing there was often no way for players of our level to carry over a bunker and stop either near a pin or even on the green (#8).  Fortunately, Lester provided alternative ways to get from here to there.

I wish I had brought the camera as there are so many details that beg to be shown and discussed (like the tiny little bunker butting up against the 12th green--another fine hole that encourages running the ball on, or the front of the 14 green that turns a good but slightly weak short iron from a  15 foot birdie putt into a 25 yard pitch back up the hill, or which fairway to aim at on #15, I still have no idea).

[Richard Choi]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Ballyhack is great...

Now, who won???

[Lester George]

Richard,

I WON!!! 

I got to meet a diverse and interesting group of golfers who all have demonstarted passion for the game and who took their medicine (25 mph winds on Saturday) like men. 

Really, I enjoyed my time and look forward to more GCA guys coming to Ballyhack.  I won because I never picked a golf club in two days but got to relax from the long week at one of my favorite places.  Thanks guys.

Lester

[Jamey Bryan]

Lester:

No, we won!  We had a wonderful weekend that included you and incredible hospitality from your staff.  Please come see us whenever possible (and pass that invitation along to everybody that helped make our weekend so great.

Jamey

[Mike_Trenham]

Maybe it was the wind or the firm and fast conditions or the rugged terrain but the course certainly did have an Irish feel about it this weekend.  Especially holes #1, #2, #5, #7, #10, #12 and #18.

For me the standout stretch of holes was #9 - #12 which included back to back par 5's where you must think on each shot yet 4 is not out of reach nor is 7, the longest short uphill hole I have ever played and a rollicking long par four where if you hit the perfect drive from a blind tee you will kick forward and have a much shorter shot to the green which sits up on the top of a hill exposed to the wind.

A special thanks to Lester George and Johnathan Ireland for spending time with us characters on Friday night.  It was great to learn the story of Ballyhack and pick Lester's brain on what he likes best about his courses and others.  

The original name for the course was Fountainhead in tribute to Ayn Rand's masterpiece about an unbending idealist non-traditionalist architect.

[Jason Mandel]

I have to echo what everyone has said here, what a fantastic weekend!  Ballyhack really is a great golf course that is both tough to play and fun, and one that that gets more interesting with each play.  We had some pretty difficult wind on Saturday, yet the course was still a blast to play.

There really is some bold bold architecture out there, which most of you will really appreciate should you get the opportunity to get down there.  Some of the holes that really stood out for me were 2, 6, 7, 10, 13, 15 and 17. 

The course also offers some of the best views I've ever seen on an inland course.

Many many thanks to Lester George and Jonathan Ireland and the rest of his staff for an absolutely first class experience.  It was really neat to listen to an architect that was so excited about his new project, and with good reason!

Jonathan and his staff really take Southern hospitality to a new level.   Thanks to Wade as well for organizing the weekend.

Jason

[scott_wood]

Bill did not like #7 because of any Redan characteristics--he liked it because he made a 2!  It did behoove one, however, to land it short and left and let it tumble towards the hole.

Andy, "poor form" to malign the observations of a gentleman such as Mr Steele!
If he attributes superior architectural insight......it must be so   

[Lester George]

Guys,

GCA group,

Thanks for all the kindeness. 

I must insist, however, that the weekend was a success becuase of you.  I tried (probably unsuccessfully) to relate to both groups at some point that no matter how the course treated you (hopefully better on Sunday) that the reasons for the great time were Jonathan and his staff (they really are THAT GOOD aren't they), the unique setting, the views, the dramatic terrain and the comraderie.  That is what makes Ballyhack so much flippin fun to me. 

It really has to do with ATTITUDE, and you guys brought it!  You must be PREPARED for a beatdown (mostly wind does this) and you have to take chances to score when they present themselves.  You realize at some point that this golf course owns YOU and not the other way around, so you respectfully attemt to dominate at times.  It gives and takes.

What I found enlightening and refreshing about this group is that nobody compared their SCORE (success) to the amount of fun they were having.  No one wined (well maybe a little) about the wind.  You just played golf, the way it was meant to be.  I was really heartened by how much y'all GOT IT.  Your observations were in most cases dead on and your appreciation for something different was really rewarding for me and the staff.  I heard more than once the staff say, "these guys really understand what we are all about".  Which made it fun for them as well. 

Anyway, I hope we can make it a twice a year thing as fall is over the top with beauty.  We'll get Wade to set it up if you guys want to do it again. 

Lester

[Anthony Gray]

  No Pictures?

[Mark Pritchett]

Let me second Anthony's request for pictures.  

I would certainly be interested in attending a future outing.

[Wade Whitehead]

Gents:

Thanks to all of you who took the time and trouble to visit Roanoke and Ballyhack last weekend.  It was fantastic to spend time with you and to help host the event.

The golf course certainly showed its teeth on Saturday.  "25 mph" is conservative; the property over which Ballyhack tumbles is among the windiest in the Valley, but that morning's breeze was about as stout as I've seen there.  Jimmy's ball on the fifth hole, which was hit perfectly to about 12 feet on a back tier, picked up motion well after we arrived at the greensite due to a huge gust.  It finished almost off the front of the green, and that's with the protection of a small rise between the hole and the wind source!

The joy of playing the golf course in said conditions is that it reveals the beauty in its design.  After just missing the sixth green, I was stuck between putting, pinching a sand wedge, running an eight iron, or bunting a five iron.  On the eighth and ninth, we were faced with a suddenly-driveable par four and, then, a nearly unreachable-in-three par five.

Any golf course can have a great hole or two.  What separates Ballyhack is that it's comprised great stretches of holes.  Mike points this out by referencing 9-12, arguably its greatest consecutive set.  However, when I talked with the other guys about the concept, each pointed out a slightly different favorite stretch.  For one, it was the opening (1-3).  For another, it was 5-7.  I'm struck by this.  Most people would answer "7-9" (or 7-10) when asked for Pebble's best stretch.  11-13 at Augusta gets a frequent nod under the same question.  But at Ballyhack the answer isn't so simple.  It's an attribute I think other GCAers will notice when they come out to play.

This is to say nothing of the service that is - and will be - provided by Jonathan, Aaron, and their staff at the club.  Clubhouse construction is underway, and I believe its addition will add an entirely new level to the experience.

I'm planning to repeat and enhance this effort in the fall, when the Blue Ridge Mountains pop with color and when the course has had a few more months to mature and lock in.  It gets better every day and will be unrivaled in the challenge and experience it provides its players.

Anthony, you make too much sense.  Where are the photos, indeed?  I had my camera on Sunday but only took a couple.  I posted some last summer (http://web.me.com/wadewhitehead/Ballyhack/Welcome.html) and will have to take more soon.  Ballyhack is the most three-dimensional golf course I have ever seen.  A 2-D medium just doesn't give a sniff of its scale or scope.

Keep your eyes open, everyone, for a fall gathering.  We hope to see everyone there.

WW

[Scott Weersing]

It is great that you guys enjoyed the course and hospitality of the hosts. There is no one better at making you feel welcomed than Lester and Jonathan.

I really enjoyed playing the course last July and was interested to know if you appreciated the links feel of the course. I bet it was fun to play with all that wind.

I would agree that the course is much more dramatic in person than in pictures. It is a place to be played, rather than viewed in photos.

I hope to join you in the Fall.

[Jay Kirkpatrick]

Got to play two rounds at Ballyhack today.  Despite all the hype here, it exceeded my expectations.  I'd seen all the pictures on GCA, but two dimensional photos simply don't do the scale justice.  When you cross the road from the clubhouse to the first tee, the entire front nine is literally all in front of you.  Its unlike anything i'd previously seen in a golf course.

Given the extremely hot summer so far, the course is playing really firm and fast from tee to green.  Despite playing the tips @ 7300 yds, only one hole played longish (#16 @ 490 into a slight breeze).  Also, b/c of that heat the greens were probably a tad slower than they usually are, but they were full of healthy grass (no small feat given the constant sun/heat).  Given the added grass on the greens, we found it difficult to make many putts.  Perhaps it was user-error though.

The par 3s are all high quality.  I especially liked the two on the front... both redanish.  we played #3 at 250 but there is plenty of room on the large green and short to potentially run it up.  #7 is a beaut.  it reminded me of #3 @ merion the way it sits into the hill and slopes heavily from left to right.

My favorite par 4s are 4, 5, 12, and 16. 4, 5, and 12 are all classic "surprise" driving holes.  you have good aiming points but you don't see the shots land, and then you anticipate the result the entire cart ride down.  16 is a beast... the meat in between the short par 5 15th and short par 3 17th.

My favorite par 5 (by far) is #2.  i loved the road bunker in front of the green (despite visiting it) and the slope on the right side of it that feeds shots onto the green.

All in all, Ballyhack is very much worth a visit.  Lester and team have something to be very proud of, and I highly encourage any and all to visit while you have access.  The staff was extremely friendly and inviting... and the course is running really good overnight deals right now.

[Roger Wolfe]

Booked for 5 days in May 2011... can't wait!

[Wade Whitehead]

I'm on the Board of the Roanoke Valley Match Play Championship.  We're contesting our 75th event at Ballyhack next week.  It's as good a match play golf course as I can imagine and we're looking forward to watching how players think their way around it.

We talked about a fall GCA outing, probably on a Saturday and Sunday, with optional play on Friday.  The spring gathering brought great response but fall colors here in the Valley have to be seen to be believed.  Is there current interest in a repeat?  If so I can work on early logistics.

WW