I played a late morning time here on 09/29/12 and ended up playing the burgundy tees at 72.6/136/6723. It was an overcast and cool morning which I think must have scared off some golfers because there were very few golfers out playing. There is something peaceful to me about golfing by myself and I enjoyed the day even more because I could play at my own pace without being concerned about groups in front or behind me. Right away while standing on the 1st tee it felt like I was golfing in North Carolina with all the pine trees and that feel continued throughout the round. In fact, throughout the round the course emulates some holes from famous courses (Pinehurst, Augusta, and Riviera) which I thought was a neat idea. Brickshire is a community course and it required a cart ride across many roads, but the homes did not distract too much from the round and seemed placed well to avoid distracting golfers. The course was well bunkered off the tee and featured small greens considering that some holes required a long iron approach. I always enjoy a course that does not penalize a wayward drive and Brickshire gave me some room to spray my driver, at least to begin the round, but it did pinch in some spots on the back side. The course was a little difficult to play for the first time as I could not figure out which way #3 went off the tee, #4 played a club up the hill but did not look like it, and #18 required a lay up off the tee and a well placed second shot to avoid the water that pinched by the green. The course tested my ball striking as I got plenty of uneven lies in the fairways which I had to compensate for and the elevation change was constant. The course also tested my short game as the ball sat down in the rough and I had to make an effort not to short side it because of some of the slopes in the greens. Hole #6, a drivable par 4, had to be the easiest hole while I thought #12, a ~600 yard par 5 that had trouble on both sides all the way, was the toughest. The course was in good shape without many burnt out patches and while the greens were a little on the slow side they rolled good enough for the green fee. If I had to criticize something I would say that the front 9 did not vary the club selection much (at least for me) as I always had a long iron or a short iron into the greens, no mid irons. I think Brickshire is certainly worth the drive from Richmond or Williamsburg especially for the $40 that I paid to play here on a weekend.
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