Before play commenced at this year's Open, Gary Player gave a great interview on the Golf Channel. He said that golf where you were 160 yards and you automatically reached for your 7 iron just didn't excite him near as much as '...links golf where you have to play by instinct.' He went on to talk about playing by feel and learning to trust what your eyes were telling you etc. His use of the word 'instinct' particularly resonated with me and there are very few courses on the left side of the pond where 'instinct' applies.
Ballyhack is one such rare exception. The key ingredients for great golf are all found here - width, central hazards, multi-playing routes, greens with interesting contours that are open in front, and brick hard playing conditions. This is the exact sort of big, bouncy golf that Player was referring to - do I land the ball ten yards short of the fourth green and let the ground contours feed the ball onto this green that slopes from front to back? Which route do I take on the 2nd, 8th and 15th holes? How do I use the green contours to get a ball close on the short one shot 17th? There are some good photos in the course profile and wait till you see the 15th where there are several zig-zag ways to play around the natural ravine that George captured within the playing corridor.
Located in Windy Gap outside of Roanoke, Virginia, Ballyhack's routing shifts back and forth on each nine so that the golfer tackles the wind from ever shifting directions. Seeing a tee ball bounce hard right off the sloping tight fairway and skirt past the central bunkers at the second is as appealing a sight as can be found in this part of the world. In fact, once you experience it, playing conventional golf elsewhere with soft conditions during the humid summer months is a huge comedown. Still, some people simply prefer parkland golf, which is why golf is great. You are free to choose as we saw on the recent Kinloch/Ballyhack thread.
Personally, give me the lower humidity and playing conditions afforded by being 1100ft plus above sea level. Throw in some wind and this area in the Roanoke Valley serves as the basis for golf at its most interesting. There are posers and then there are the real deals - and a fast running Ballyhack is the real deal. Congratulations to Lester George and Bill Kubly for continuing to add to the American golf landscape in such an impressively original manner.
Cheers,