GreatHoles
PAR 3
YARDAGES
Red:
127 yards
Gold:
129 yards
White:
135 yards
Blue:
146 yards
No.3 by
The 2020 VSGA Women’s
Amateur Championship is
scheduled to be played at
Roanoke Country Club in
mid-July. Roanoke Country
Club has a long, rich tradition of golf, and
it will be a superb venue for this prestigious
championship.
With roots dating back to 1899, Roanoke
Country Club is one of the oldest clubs
in the commonwealth and an original
founding member of the VSGA. Roanoke
also has the distinction of being one of
only two courses in the state designed by
A. W. Tillinghast. Hermitage Country Club,
at its former location on Hilliard Road in
Richmond, is the other “Tillie” design in
Virginia; it hosted the 1949 PGA (won by
Sam Snead), the only major championship
ever held in the Old Dominion.
While Tillinghast was one of the most
prolific architects in the history of golf
ROANOKE
COUNTRY CLUB
DAVID PARTRIDGE
(he worked on more than 265 courses in
35 states), most of his courses—including
his most famous designs—are centered in
the northeast. His works include Winged
Foot (both courses—West and East); both
courses at Baltusrol (Upper and Lower);
Bethpage (five courses including the iconic
Black Course); Ridgewood Country
Club; San Francisco Golf Club; and Quaker
Ridge, which World Golf Hall of Fame
member, Paul Runyan, described as “the
greatest course in the world.” Tillinghast
was not only a brilliant architect, he was
also an excellent golfer who played in the
U.S. Amateur and the U.S. Open. Tillie was
elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in
2015 for Lifetime Achievement.
A forefront member of The Philadelphia
School of Architecture that included
such other esteemed architects as George
Crump, William Flynn, William Fownes,
George Thomas, and Hugh Wilson, Tillinghast—while
he did not adhere to a “Template
Holes” style of design as favored by C.
B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor—virtually
always had a short, well-bunkered par-3
on all his courses. We see a perfect example
of that in the lovely third hole on the
Dogwood Nine at Roanoke.
Playing uphill from a copse of trees to
a semi-blind green that is pitched toward
the tee, the third requires an accurate
shot—often into the prevailing wind—to
find the deep green. Errant shots often find
the flanking bunkers which make recovery
for a par challenging given the sloping, fast
putting surface. Staying below the cup on
this little gem is essential for while a wellplayed
tee shot with just a short iron can
often produce a good birdie opportunity, a
misjudged or poorly struck approach will
often result in a bogey or worse.
Part of the honored heritage of golf at
Roanoke Country Club emanates from the
club hosting the Scott Robertson Memorial
Tournament. Though the event was
canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus
pandemic, the Robertson—which debuted
in 1984—is always ranked among the finest
junior championships in the country.
Past participants in the Scott Robertson
Memorial have won every major men’s
and women’s golf championship, and past
winners of the Robertson include U.S.
Open Champions Webb Simpson and
Paula Creamer.
A five-time VSGA Player of the Year,
David Partridge is a member of the
Virginia Golf Hall of Fame Class of 2020.
He lives in Richmond and works as a
mortgage banker.
ROANOKE COUNTRY CLUB
16
V IRGINIA G OLFER | J ULY/A UGUST 2020
vsga.org