Royal New Kent (VA)

[gregorie]

Played Royal New Kent on Monday, May 17, 2010. Located between Williamsburg and Richmond, VA.

This is my 72nd different public course in 6 years for under $56 with cart on Saturday. Played Monday morning for $35 at 8:00AM

This course was highly ranked by friends, magazines, and has been 4 1/2 stars by Golf Digest since it opened. It is also ranked as one of the hardest courses in America.

This course is one of the best ever played for $56 or less on Saturday. It is as close as you get to Eagle Ridge (KY), Quarry (OH), and Iron Valley (PA) in regards to fun factor. The 3rd hole is replica of Eagle Ridge #2 if you drop Eagle Ridge's tee box and flip to the hole to a dogleg right.

Explaining the hole designs is like trying to explain Eagle Ridge hole designs. It is definitely memorable and very very different than the normal course.

This place is beyond brutal for a first timer. The most extreme case is the 7th hole, which is a par 4. I cannot see the green or the pin from the tee box. I hit my drive down the middle of the fairway, which I can see. I am standing in the fairway next to my ball and seriously did not have a clue where the green was located. You cannot see the green from 50 yards short of the green and I was 170 yards away. The shot direction ended up being 2:30 and over a 20-foot high dirt pile with weeds growing on it.

The normal mounding at New Kent are massive dirt piles 15 feet high. The breaks to the greens is everywhere. The fairways look like waves on the ocean. There are multiple greens where you can be hitting wedge from the green.

I like hilly courses with 18 character driven holes that require you to think. I also like an a-ss-kicking when not playing well. This sure does it.

A friend told me that all of the greens cannot be seen from the tee boxes. This is a good characterization, but not exactly true. The heather or weeds is as good as Twisted Gun (WV) and the old Old Silo (KY). There is almost zero rough at New Kent. It is 3 feet high weeds or fairway.

This place is as hard or harder than Thunder Hill in Ohio.

This place gets a lot of press. The conditions were deplorable for a golf course with this much press. The conditions were definitely playable and should not keep you away, however the tee boxes were one of the worst ever seen. The fairways were also in bad shape. The greens were good, but not great. The bunkers were very good and deep.

The layout is a 6 of 6. The conditions were 2 of 6. The fun factor was 5 of 6. This place is incredible when the conditions are average.

TOP 10 FOR $56 (PEAK SEASON) OR LESS ON SATURDAY.

1. Poplar Grove Golf Club, VA
T2. Shaker Run Golf Club, OH
T2. Boulder Creek Golf Club, OH
T2. Eagle Ridge at Yatesville Lake State Park, KY
T2. Conklin Players Club, NY
T2. Little Mountain Country Club, OH
T2. Grande Golf Club, MI
T2. The Quarry Golf Club, OH
T2. Riverfront Golf Club, VA
T9. The Tradition at Royal New Kent, VA
T9. Iron Valley Golf Club, PA