Our afternoon round was on the other publicly accessible course at Kingsmill, the Plantation Course. We paid our $30 replay rate (what a steal!) and got round two started on one of the hottest days of the year. Because of the heat keeping folks away, we got out early and were never bothered by any other groups. Our first tee time was at 8am and I was home by 8pm. That included two rounds of golf, dinner and the two hour drive back!

The Plantation Course is a player-friendly design. I played the gold tees which are 70.1/126/6254 and that is as long as the course stretches out. It offers the traditional setup of a par-72 with four par-5’s and four par-3’s, so it is short by today’s standards.

Normally Palmer designs allow even an average tee shot to end up in the fairway and that is the case here. The course allowed me to make adjustments during the round, which was a bonus. After playing the River Course earlier it was nice to encounter some easier approaches!

I’ll admit that I was feeling a little let down with the routing after playing the first four holes. The 1st hole is a weird, 255 yard par-4 that seemed crammed onto the property. However, I don’t think it was designed to be that short of a short par-4 from the back sets of tees.

I’m happy to report that the layout got better as it went along. Starting on the 5th hole the course took on a low-country feel, almost like something that you’d find in the Hilton Head area with overhanging trees and ponds. The homes were still behind the trees, but I could hardly see them.

Not only did the course get more scenic, it became more interesting to play. Holes that dogleg and the trees that overhang the fairways meant that more thought was needed to get around the course. During this stretch of holes, the angles became the best feature of the course.

Palmer (or likely his design firm) did a lot of things well on the Plantation Course. One thing that I like to see in a course is the yardages varying. I’m happy to say that you may hit every club in the bag, even for a short course. The par-3’s play between 117 and 179 yards, the par-4’s are between 255 and 434 yards, and the par-5’s are between 460 and 566 yards.

There are some holes to remember on the Plantation Course. The 9th is the 117 yard par-3 and it is sneaky tough! It has a forced carry over a hazard to a green that angles from front right to back left. Depending on where the tees are located, it could be a visually intimidating shot from such a short yardage. I played away from the pin, even with a wedge!

The 12th is a short par-5 that could be reached in two. A hazard cuts across short of the green so you’ll need to carry that if trying for an eagle. Even if you mis-hit it, the hazard still could be carried because it is ~20 yards short of the green.

The conditions on the Plantation Course were a step down from the River Course. The maintenance here was nice, but nothing flashy. The Plantation Course had a hint of a summer look to it with some areas starting to brown and the fairways were a cut higher than the River Course. The greens were slower too, a much more comfortable holing pace for me.

Sometimes a golf resort doesn’t have a “best” course. But, Kingsmill does and that’s the River Course. Still, I don’t think that you’ll be disappointed playing the Plantation Course as long as you know that you won’t be playing one of the top courses in the state.

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