Virginia Golfer Jul / Aug 2020 | Page 25

Boar’s Head Resort. Love Golf Design, led by World Golf Hall of Famer Davis Love III, has spent the past two years redesigning 10 existing holes and creating eight new holes to present Virginia with a bold, challenging championship golf course. “It’s not really a renovation, it’s a brand new golf course,” Love said. “It was, let’s just build the best golf course we can build with basically a blank sheet of paper that had a clubhouse in the middle of it. It’s just an unbelievable piece of land.” Complete Transformation The original golf course was built in 1984, designed by Lindsay Ervin, but had become outdated, particularly for today’s collegiate players and modern equipment. The “new” Birdwood stretches to 7,116 yards from the tips and plays to a par 71 (formerly par 72). Davis Love III’s design team spent the past two years redesigning 10 existing holes and creating eight new holes at Birdwood. Love’s mission was threefold: to accommodate UVa’s men’s and women’s golf teams; to give members lots of options in terms of length; and to be versatile enough for guests at the Boar’s Head Resort. He accomplished all those vsga.org J ULY/A UGUST 2020 | V IRGINIA G OLFER 23