On our recent vacation to Virginia, I had decided in advance that I would venture into West Virginia and add it to my list. So a few weeks prior to our departure I opened up Google Maps and started scouting possibilities, using Massanutten Resort as the starting point. There wasn’t a lot to choose from. At least, not many within an acceptable driving distance. But I did fine one couse that seemed plausible, about an hour’s drive from our resort. It was up in the mountains, so that was also a bit intriguing for me. Most of the courses I’ve played to date have been at sea level and relatively flat. So I looked forward to the change.
Now, let me say that while it was relatively easy to find a pin placement on Google Maps for this course, it was a bit of a challenge finding a website with contact information as the course seems to come up under different names. I eventually found it though and made contact with the pro at the Highlands Golf Course at Fisher Mountain in Franklin, West Virginia. After I was assured the course would be open (weather permitting) I made concrete plans to set a day aside to trek up the mountains. I wasn’t sure exactly which day it would be, that I knew would be dictated by planned vacation outings etc., but I was definitely going to squeeze a round in sometime during the week.
I was really looking forward to playing in West Virginia. Perhaps it’s the sentiment of John Denver’s song that always strikes a chord with me. The song is just so soothing and simply makes you want to go there. Let’s just say I won’t be listening to much John Denver for quite some time!
Without a doubt, my round in West Virginia was the worst golf experience of this quest, by far! The only consolation was that my good friend Brian tagged along, so at least I had someone to commiserate with.
Now, I have to qualify that last statement and be completely fair to the Highlands Golf Course. The bad experience had little to do with the course itself, though I will touch on a couple of issues that definitely need to be addressed with the layout and more specifically, a couple of the greens. For the most part, the Highlands course is actually really nice and both Brian and I said we would gladly play it again if we had the chance. The main problem with the experience was that we were playing on a day where the temperature had dropped to just around freezing and the wind was whipping at about 30 to 40 miles an hour. Let’s just say it is extremely difficult to swing a golf club through 5 layers of clothing! Unfortunately, the way the vacation week and planning worked out, it was probably the only viable day for me to fit it in.
So let me state, I have no-one to blame but myself for the poor experience. I did after all have fair warning when I phoned the pro shop first thing in the morning and he informed me there was a skiff of snow on the course at that time. That should have been my first clue that perhaps that wasn’t the day to play, but the weather forecast stated it was going to warm up and be about 12 degrees Celsius by early afternoon, so I figured I could handle that. Well…..the forecaster got it WRONG!
Long story short, Brian and I headed up to the mountains at about 1:30, after a morning spent on the shooting range with 3 other close friends who were also vacationing with us. As I navigated my way through endless hairpin turns on our way up the mountain, the site of a snow covered peak in the distance still wasn’t enough to deter me/us from fulfilling my goal. But as we continued through the little village of Brandywine without a Hobbit in sight (because they were all keeping warm and toasty in their Hobbit Holes) and the temperature gauge on my dashboard slowly started inching toward the freezing point, I finally started to rethink this venture. But Brian and I assured each other that we’d be fine. HAH !!!
You know when you pull into the parking lot of a golf course and see only one car in the lot (which belonged to the pro) there’s probably a good reason. As we parked the car, opened the doors and stepped outside we immediately sensed that the wind chill factor was likely bringing the temperature below freezing. Still, we trudged inside the clubhouse, quickly played a game of Marco Polo, trying to locate ANYONE in the vast emptiness and once successful, paid our green fees.
As we loaded our clubs on the cart and added layers of clothing, I turned to Brian and stated that he was probably going to laugh at what I was about to do, then proceeded to take a sleeping bag out of the car and load it onto the cart as well. That extra bit of warmth may come in handy!
So by now you’ve undoubtedly gotten the picture. For me, I probably shot one of my worst rounds in a long time. I was miserable and simply couldn’t get on track. Brian fared much better, but still not an idyllic round for him either. I commented to Brian on about the 15th hole that as much as I love golf, I never looked forward to a round being over than I did that day. But we survived and in the end West Virginia got added to my playlist.
For the Highlands course itself as I stated earlier it is actually a pretty decent course, although there are a couple of quirks that kind of left us scratching our heads. The tenth hole has an island green, which isn’t necessarily unique. What was unique is that it is on a par 4. Neither one of us had come across that before. The eleventh also has an island green, but this time it is completely surrounded by sand. Again, we’ve never come across anything like that before! I’m not saying it is necessarily a bad thing, just different.
If we had one complaint though it was that a couple of greens are extremely difficult to the point of absurdity. One green in particular is a large two tiered affair. We both landed our approach shots within a few feet of each other on the front, lower portion of the green and were looking at long birdie putts with the pin set up on the upper tier. I putted first and had a decent effort but was off target and came to rest within three feet of the pin. Then Brian lined up, brought his ball up the slope to within a foot of the pin and then watched in amazement, nay horror as his ball rolled all the way back to his feet and then continued to keep rolling 30 yards back into the fairway. This might be acceptable in the British Open with pros, but on a course that working stiffs frequent, I’m not so sure. We had a good chat with the pro after our round and even he admitted that he’d like to change a couple of greens around..that one in particular!
But I encourage you, if you find yourself in the area, give the Highlands a try and let me know what you think. Just make sure you go when the weather is just a bit warmer!
