GreatHoles
No . 14 by
THE CLUB AT CREIGHTON FARMS
DAVID PARTRIDGE
The 2017 Virginia State Golf Association Amateur Championship will be conducted at Creighton Farms in Aldie from June 27 – July 1 . Creighton Farms is a Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course that has earned numerous distinguished awards since opening in 2007 , and the Golden Bear fell so in love with his design and the magnificent Creighton Farms gated community that he and his wife , Barbara , built a personal home right on the course .
Constructed over the beautiful rolling terrain indigenous to that part of Virginia , Creighton Farms is a big , challenging golf course that measures more than 7,400 yards from the tips and has a slope rating of 154 . While the Commonwealth ’ s best amateurs will need power to compete at Creighton Farms , the course also demands strategic thinking and precision ball-striking to manage the undulating , ultra-fast greens . There is no doubt that Creighton Farms will identify a true champion at this year ’ s Amateur .
While the course includes seven par 4s of 435 yards or longer — many of which would have been worthy to spotlight in this feature — one of the really neat , intriguing designs at Creighton Farms is the shortest par 4 on the course : the 359-yard hole 14 . The dominant feature of this little gem is the small putting surface that measures 2,200 square feet and is only 30 feet across at its widest point . While the green is pitched from back to front , it also slopes dramatically from left to right at the front , often rejecting shots not struck with supreme accuracy .
The tee shot is played through a corridor of trees that encourages some golfers to hit less than driver , but the size of the green and the fact that the second shot is played uphill into the prevailing wind is reason to be aggressive off the tee to set up a shorter second . Regardless of the club selected , players should favor the right side of the fairway — while avoiding the very penal fairway bunker — to create the best angle of play up the length of the green for the approach shot .
Professional : 359 yards
Back : 324 yards
PAR 4
YARDAGES
Member : 283 yards
Forward : 226 yards
Hitting the green is crucial as recovery from virtually any angle , including the depressed hollow on the right and three surrounding bunkers , and the deep rough around the putting surface , is extremely challenging given the sloping , narrow green . This is truly a great golf hole , particularly in match play .
Since its inception , Creighton Farms has been a strong supporter of golf and it will be a superb venue for the VSGA Amateur . Creighton Farms was the site of the 2014 Captain ’ s Putter Matches and the 2012 Senior PGA Professional National Championship . The club is also home to the Creighton Farms Invitational , an annual charity event personally hosted by Jack and Barbara that raises generous sums of money for the Nicklaus Children ’ s Health Care Foundation .
JON HOOD
14 V IRGINIA G OLFER | M AY / J UNE 2017 vsga . org