No . 15 at The Dominion Club
No . 14 at Poplar Grove
CHRIS LANG
more than 250 yards of water and find a way to stop the ball , not easy with a driver or 3 wood in hand . Should you roll through , a dangerous downhill lie in the back bunker awaits . Shots that stray left often end up in the front-left bunker . The reward is great if you execute a perfect shot . But the risk is there .
NO . At Poplar Grove NO .
14
Golf Club
3
304 yards
Sam Snead ’ s final course design in Amherst features plenty of quirk , none more than No . 14 , named “ The Eagle .” It ’ s the No . 18 handicap hole for men and women alike , and much like No . 15 at TDC , there is a fairly straightforward path to par : Iron or hybrid off the tee to a landing area of inside of 100 yards with no real trouble in play to reach the green . But what fun is that ?
Poplar Grove hosted the 2020 VSGA Four-Ball Championship , and most competitors attacked the green . To do so , one must fly five bunkers that line the right side of the fairway and avoid another deep bunker that is left of the back of the green . “ The Eagle ” is a realistic outcome here for the longest of hitters , but the safer path is to take trouble out of play and assure yourself of par .
294 yards
At The Homestead ’ s Cascades Course
One of three holes on the other side of Sam Snead Highway from the rest of the celebrated Cascades Course , this short
There ’ s little room for error if you go for the green off the tee at No . 15 at The Dominion Club ( pictured left ).
par 4 is essentially unreachable with a driver except for the longest and most accurate hitters , thanks to an abundance of rough fronting the smallish green . Instead , the primary defense of this hole is the narrow landing area off the tee . Thick trees line both sides of the fairway . There is some protection for a miss short and right off the tee , but the player then must hit a tough , long shot over a thicket of trees to reach the green .
Consider these statistics from the last VSGA championship contested at The Cascades — the 2019 Senior Amateur . Though it ’ s the shortest par 4 on the course by far , it played to a 4.28 stroke average and yielded just 24 birdies against 55 bogeys . Most were happy to escape with par and move on .
No . 3 at The Homestead ’ s Cascades Course
vsga . org J ULY / A UGUST 2022 | V IRGINIA G OLFER 23