GreatHoles
No . 6 By
THE OLDE FARM
David Partridge
T
PAR 3 he Olde Farm in Bristol is one of only two golf courses in the Commonwealth that is ranked in the top 200 courses in the country in the latest biennial rankings published by Golf Digest . Rated as the 105th finest links in the United States , The Olde Farm opened in 2000 when it was selected as the Best New Private Course in America and since that time , the course has been honored with numerous prestigious awards and accolades .
Located in the beautiful , gently rolling terrain of southwest Virginia , The Olde Farm has an incredibly natural feel that flows perfectly with the topography and that complements the rural charm of this outstanding club . Designed by Bobby Weed , a protégé of Pete Dye , Weed found the property so ideal for a golf course that with his lay-of-the-land design strategy , it astonishingly took him only two days to stake out the tees and greens for the initial routing of the course .
The founder of The Olde Farm is Jim McGlothlin , an incredibly successful entrepreneur over his lifelong career , who was honored as the 2022 Virginia Business Person of the Year . Apart from his outstanding business achievements and contributions to economic development , McGlothlin is a world-class philanthropist who has raised and personally contributed millions of dollars to numerous worthy causes such as The First Tee and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts , as well as initiatives in education , health care , and the arts .
Among the philanthropic projects Mr . McGlothlin has dedicated himself to is Mountain Mission School in Grundy , Virginia , that has provided care to over 20,000 at-risk children over more than a century of service to the local community . Through his charitable foundation , McGlothlin orchestrated two of the largest single-day PGA Tour-sanctioned fundraising events ever held ; in 2010 , Arnold Palmer , Jack Nicklaus , and Gary Player came to The Olde Farm and together helped raise over $ 15 million for the school and in 2018 , 10 sporting legends including Nicklaus , Player , Tim Finchem , Betsy King , Lorena Ochoa , Lee Trevino , and Lanny Wadkins collaborated to generate over $ 57 million dollars to support and permanently endow Mountain Mission School .
One of the many outstanding holes at The Olde Farm is the long , challenging par-3 sixth that measures 219 yards from the tips . The huge putting surface ( about 45 yards deep ) is well protected by four bunkers including a penal pot bunker strategically placed at the entrance to the green . The super-fast putting surface ( green speeds average 12.5 to 13 ) has lots of movement and works predominantly from right to left ; various slopes and the speed of the green often create difficult putts from any appreciable distance as well as demanding recoveries from virtually anywhere off the putting
Medal : 188 yards
Senior : 148 yards
YARDAGES
Championship : 219 yards
Member : 168 yards
Forward : 143 yards
surface . Par is always an excellent score on this formidable , outstanding golf hole .
One of the unique features of the sixth is “ The Long Barn ”, a former tobacco shed that helps frame the hole and runs the entire right side of the putting surface . The Long Barn has been cleverly converted into an ideal , on-course drive-through refuge where golfers can escape the weather , get refreshed with food and drink , and even practice while they wait out rainstorms . Furthermore , this ingenious retreat is located so it can be visited from six separate holes at The Olde Farm .
A six-time VSGA Player of the Year , David Partridge was elected to the Virginia Golf Hall of Fame in 2020 . He lives in the Richmond area and works as a mortgage banker serving clients throughout Virginia .
THE OLDE FARM
16 V IRGINIA G OLFER | J a n u a r y / F e b r u a r y 2024 vsga . org