Noted architect Pete Dye transformed the rolling topography
at Keswick’s ‘Full Cry’ layout near Charlottesville, Va.
Four More Courses to
Score in 2015
A look at must-play layouts in and around Virginia for the new year
by BRIAN McCALLEN
THERE’S STILL TIME to make a few late entries on your resolutions list for the
new year. Also, because golf courses built from scratch are fairly rare in the current climate, three of the
four must-play venues on our eclectic list are completely new designs superimposed on pre-existing layouts.
Clearly, we’re in the era of the creative face-lift. If Hollywood stars can nip and tuck, why not
enterprising courses seeking to reinvent themselves?
‘Full Cry’ at Keswick Golf Club
Decades ago, Sir Bernard Ashley, who with his wife Laura founded
the British textile design firm of Laura Ashley, came to agree
with Thomas Jefferson’s assessment that the hills, meadows and
hedgerow of mountains around Charlottsville, Va., made it the “Eden
of the United States.”
On a glorious 600-acre estate called Keswick Hall, the couple
transformed a historic mansion into a stylish country house hotel
with 48 individually decorated rooms. “Thoughtfully designed to be
in total sympathy with its surroundings,” according to the Ashleys, the
lavish manor, tastefully updated over the years, continues to epitomize
English country living, right down to traditional afternoon tea served
in a lovely sitting room.
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The resort’s golf course, an Arnold Palmer-Ed Seay makeover of a
layout built in 1938, was completely transformed in 2014 by Pete Dye.
Despite the course name, ‘Full Cry,’ a hunting term that evokes the
call of hounds on the scent, the world-renowned architect designed
a very playable course on a beautiful site marked by ancient oaks,
meandering creeks and sparkling lakes. Dye has yet to build a cream
puff for anyone, though 17 of Full Cry’s 18 greens are open in front
and will accept a low, running shot. Wayward aerial approaches tend
to find deep, well-placed bunkers.
In its third iteration, Dye’s modern, sensible design at Keswick Hall,
infused with old world flourishes, is a worthy companion to one of the
finest hostelries in the Old Dominion (keswick.com/keswick_hall.aspx).
J ANUARY/F EBRUARY 2015 | V IRGINIA G OLFER
KEN E. MAY
Keswick, Va.
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