TheVirginia Explorer
Virginia’s Mountain Getaways
HEIGHTEN YOUR PERSPECTIVE
T
Tucked away in a remote
corner of Virginia’s Blue
Ridge Mountains, Primland Resort
is a 12,000-acre sportsman’s retreat with a
jaw-dropping golf course routed on splayed
fingers of land 3,000 feet above a rockstudded gorge.
Since its debut in 2006, The Highland
Course at Primland has established itself as a
mountain golf experience nonpareil.
“Primland sits on top of the world, enjoying
scenic views that stretch the vocabulary,” says
English architect Donald Steel. “This course
design has been a highlight of my career.
Once I strode over the plateau, with views
which reminded me of the highlands of
Scotland, I knew this (course) would test the
mettle of avid golfers.”
Because the entire layout crowns a knob
encircled by oblivion, Steel says Primland
is “one of the few golf courses where we
worked hard to make it easier rather than
more difficult to play.”
With its sharp drops and huge rolls,
the terrain itself poses a challenge, which
is why bunkers (only 39) were kept to a
minimum. Primland delivers in abundance
what Golden Age designers aspired to give
players: the thrill of nature. The blistered
potato chip greens, speedy as polished
marble, are an adventure unto themselves.
The resort’s LEED-certified Lodge and
Cottages at Primland, straddling the apex
of the property, has ethereal two-way views
of the Pinnacles of Dan on one side and
the rolling Piedmont on the other. Timber
salvaged from old tobacco barns was recycled
throughout the lodge. These burnished
woods add warmth, charm and character to
the interior. Anchored by a honey-colored
stone foundation, the lodge’s board-andbatten exterior is faced with rough-sawn
lumber and cedar wood shingles. With its
fine appointments and observatory dome for
stargazing, the 26-room lodge does not lack
for grandeur, but like the golf course, it fits
the land perfectly.
Due west of Primland near the Blue
Ridge Parkway is the resort community
of Olde Mill, which features a