Virginia Golfer Jul / Aug 2020 | Page 28

Heronwood THE MYSTERY OF AN INSIDE LOOK AT AN ULTRA-EXCLUSIVE COURSE BUILT ON A 500-ACRE UPPERVILLE FARM by LEONARD SHAPIRO No more than 25 golfers have played Heronwood since it was completed in 2007. Every golfer on the planet, high or low handicapper, sweet or sour swinger, has a dreamy wish list of courses they’d dearly love to play. St. Andrews. Augusta National. Pebble Beach. As a longtime golf writer, been there, done that, and grateful for the opportunity to play on those three storied venues and a few others after covering a major championship. All those rounds marked memorable days, especially that par on Augusta National’s toughest hole, No. 11 at the start of Amen Corner. But there’s always been one course on the list that remained elusive. Even more frustrating, it’s located in the tiny, tony town of Upperville, an hour west of the nation’s capital but only five short miles from home. It’s an 18-hole truly pristine beauty located on a 500-acre property named Heronwood Farm that also is less than a mile from the estate of the late philanthropists Paul and Bunny Mellon on Rokeby Road, one of the most gorgeous thoroughfares in all of Virginia. It may also be the most private golf course in America, if not the world. EXCLUSIVE CLUB Ben Rogers, the farm manager at Heronwood the last 18 years, said that no more than 25 golfers, men and women, have ever played the course since it was completed in 2007. At 6,300 yards from the tips—which easily could be expanded—it plays to a par of 71 and includes four sets of Bermuda grass tees on each hole. Fairways also are Bermuda, and the expansive greens are all bentgrass. COURTESY OF THE COURSE 26 V IRGINIA G OLFER | J ULY/A UGUST 2020 vsga.org