Emporia Country Club (Emporia, VA on 06/18/18)

After my morning round and hearing about so many local courses struggling with their greens I debated if I wanted to check out another course. Plus, it had been a long trip with over 2,000 miles of driving, hot weather and plenty of golf, so I was feeling it both mentally and physically!

Yet geographically, Emporia Country Club was a course that made perfect sense to play on Monday afternoon! I’ve scouted the course’s website multiple times and they have a few lines which mention that travelers can play when passing through. That is a nice gesture because technically they are a private club. The course is convenient to I-95 but seemingly every time I drive through Emporia I’m in travel mode and don’t have the time to stop and play. Because this was as good a time as any, I called over to the course and they put me down for an afternoon tee time.

I showed up a little after 2pm on another sweltering day. After recent afternoons of trying to dodge thunderstorms the nice thing was that no rain was expected, just the heat! The heat seemed to allow for sparse crowds and I motored around the front nine. I caught up to a group on the 13th hole and trailed them back to the clubhouse. Still, it was a quick round as I played in less than 3 hours.

Emporia CC is a nice blend of early 20th century golf course architecture and 21st century living. I mentioned that the course is convenient to I-95 and so much so that you get some road noise from the nearby interstate, nothing distracting though. The old north-south route, US 301, is on the other side of the course and some train tracks run alongside the first few holes. Shortly after I teed off a train rolled past with all sorts of freight. After not being in the right spot a couple weeks earlier for a plane picture, I managed to get a couple pictures of the train which made my day!

Even though you get many reminders about modern day life while playing Emporia CC, the design takes you back in time! Fred Findlay designed the course and if you are familiar with golf course architecture in Virginia, you’ll likely recognize his name. He did plenty of work close to Charlottesville and I’ve enjoyed most of his courses that I’ve played.

The course was built in 1930 and by today’s standards Emporia CC is a short course. The blue tees are only 6,297 yards thanks to more than the usual number of short par-4’s. From the blues the rating is 70.5 and the slope is 118, still respectable numbers since the course is a par-71.

The routing is compact and the greens are small here, both typical features of older courses. The front would be easy to walk while the back might require extra energy because of the up and down. The greens are the course’s main defense because of their small size and their edges falling off. Many greens slope from back to front so missing short is best, at least generally speaking.

The thing I loved the most about Emporia CC is its setting in the pines. To hear me say that isn’t uncommon if you read my posts, as you’ll know that I am a sucker for pine trees on the course! The front nine is more open but the back nine is tree-lined and very scenic. If you told me that I was golfing somewhere in the Pinehurst area I would have believed you!

I think two holes best showcase Emporia CC’s nice setting! The 4th and the 11th holes have pines almost overhanging their fairways. I wouldn’t call them the strongest designed holes because laying up off the tee is probably best, however they sure look great.

I thought the toughest hole was the 206 yard, par-3 13th. The green sits in a hillside with a bunker short. If you try to stomp a long iron then anything missing left of the green feeds to a low area with some nasty rough. The hole plays deceptively uphill so you might want to take an extra club.

The conditions at Emporia CC were playable, but that is about it. The fairways were a bit long and like I thought could be the case, the greens were struggling. The greens were slow, shaggy and crusty looking. The greens looked to be on the verge of getting lost, so hopefully the crew can do the right things to save them! For the $35 green fee I don’t expecting pristine conditioning.

Emporia CC has good bones and I’m glad I stopped! There are some severe doglegs and the back nine is tight, so it might not be a course for everyone. Because of those things it isn’t a place I’d want to play regularly. Unfortunately, I feel bad that my visit happened during a difficult maintenance time.

#1 (329 yard par 4):