I had some time on Sunday afternoon to check out a couple nine hole courses. I was hoping to check out three courses, but I ran out of time and was only able to squeeze in two. Even though it wasn’t the most efficient use of gas it was a very nice day to be outside!

My golf day started over at Farmville Municipal Golf Course, which is a little more than an hour from Charlottesville. Traffic was light and it wasn’t a bad drive on the back roads down to the course.

I checked in, paid my $5 green fee (walking) and headed over to the 1st tee. Heck, you cannot even get a large bucket of balls for $5! I got to play nine holes on a great little course so it was a killer deal.

The modest clubhouse sits at the top of a rise and from there you’ll see two lakes/ponds, which are the course’s main feature. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd holes ring around one lake and then return to the clubhouse. The other six holes play on the opposite side of the clubhouse with a couple of those playing over the other lake.

The course is very close to the local airport so it offers a flatter, open setting, which is unique for a Virginia course! The terrain is dotted with some trees that separate the holes and a couple times during the round it felt like I was golfing in the Midwest! There is an old barn out near the 5th hole so Farmville’s setting is quite picturesque.

Farmville is fun to play as well! Even though the course is only nine holes it plays 3,282 yards (as a par-36) from the blue tees, so the distance will keep you on your toes! If you go around twice it has a rating of 71.6 and a slope of 123.

Farmville features the traditional setup of two par-3’s, five par-4’s and two par-5’s. There is a nice variety of distances and I hit quite a few different clubs. The awesome thing is that the fairways are wide and you can swing freely! The greens are smaller, but have fairly minor breaks.

While there isn’t a signature hole at Farmville, the par-5 4th was my favorite. It plays 467 yards and offers a chance to get a par or birdie! The drive needs to carry a hazard and then you can decide if you want to go for the green in two. If you go for it you’ll need to carry a cross bunker just short of the green. It has a good look to it as well because the green is framed by trees on a couple sides!

The conditions at Farmville really exceeded my expectations! I’ll admit the tees weren’t great, but everything else was cared for well. The fairways and greens were full and I had some good lies in the fairways, with the ball sitting up. The greens rolled smooth – I just needed to hit putts firmly.

I liked Farmville a lot and it checks many of the boxes that I look for in a nine hole course! It is an incredible value, offers some shot options and you can walk it without much trouble. While it doesn’t make sense to drive from Charlottesville to play Farmville, the course is worth a play if you find yourself in town or are checking out The Manor Golf Club.

Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):