GREAT Holes
No. 1
PAR 4
YARDAGES
HERMITAGE COUNTRY CLUB
(Manakin Course)
BLACK:
434 yards
WHITE:
382 yards
MANAKIN-SABOT, VA. | by BRUCE H. MATSON
JON HOOD
H
ermitage Country Club has
hosted golf at a remarkable
number of places around
Richmond over its 114-year
history. Previous sites in
central Virginia have included
the space now occupied by the Science
Museum of Virginia, most of what is today’s
The Crossings Golf Club near Interstate 95,
as well as being on the land of the current
Belmont Golf Course and two other locales.
Now with a permanent home firmly
established in Richmond’s far west end, golf
course architect Keith Foster renovated the
club’s Manakin Course 10 years ago. The
designer added interesting contours to the
putting surfaces, which enhanced the strategic
value of the bunkering and improved the
relationship between the greens and tees.
At that time, Hermitage also established
bentgrass on Manakin’s fairways, making it the
only club in the country with bermudagrass
fairways on one course, the Sabot, and
bentgrass on the other.
On today’s Manakin Course, mature
trees line both sides of the fairways, deep
bunkers protect the greens, and a classic
w w w. v s g a . o r g
BLUE:
414 yards
design highlights the strategic aspects of the
layout. Foster created a modern gem that
looks as if A.W. Tillinghast designed the
course during the golden age of golf course
architecture in the 1920s.
The par-4 first hole at the Manakin Course
sets the stage for the look and feel of this
outstanding layout. With little dirt moved to
create the hole, the design expertly utilizes
the natural features of the terrain. From
the elevated tee, golfers can see the entire
challenge ahead at this great opening hole. A
generous fairway invites a strong drive. Players
who successfully carry the hilltop twill are
rewarded with a more manageable approach.
On the approach shot, golfers may be left
playing anything from a hybrid club to a
middle or short iron on the uphill approach.
In order to set up the best scoring opportunity,
one must play an accurate shot to a green that
slopes from back to front and is protected
by deep greenside bunkers left and right.
By situating the putting surface at the top of
a hill, players must carefully consider how
to avoid the penalty of landing their shot
on the false front and how to manage the
considerable slopes that impact short shots,
GREEN:
347 yards
including the put ѥ