Lake Chesdin Golf Club (Chesterfield, VA on 05/24/18)

This whole week was very nice when it came to the weather. With a sketchy forecast for the holiday weekend, I was anxious to get out and enjoy some sunshine and blue skies! I worked a half day and headed over to the Richmond area for an afternoon time at Lake Chesdin Golf Club.

Lake Chesdin Golf Club is one of a handful of publicly accessible courses near Richmond that I have left to play. I’m not sure if it is technically private or semi-private, but the course currently offers tee times on Golfnow. I don’t the history of the course, but it looks like it was designed as a private club and opened up some times for public play.

The course is part of Chesdin Landing, which is a waterfront community about 40 minutes from Richmond. From Charlottesville, it took me an hour and a half to get to the course via State Route 288. Once I got into Chesterfield I headed south on some backroads until I got near Lake Chesdin, where the community and course are located. It is one of those places that is out of the way from almost everywhere.

Once you do get to the course, you’ll find that it is in a very nice setting! While you only get a glimpse of the lake on the 11th hole, you are surrounded by hardwoods and pines throughout the round. You’ll also find a few strategically placed water hazards, which were sparkling in the sunlight. Out here, there wasn’t any of the hustle and bustle that you’d find in an area with 1,000,000+ people. So, if you want a relaxing round this might just be the spot! I followed a couple off the 1st tee and they let me go through on the 3rd. I didn’t see another any other golfers after that and played in 3 hours.

I played the blue tees which are 70.9/134/6352. I didn’t feel like messing with a 141 slope from the tips, but wouldn’t have minded a combo set of tees. From the blues, you’ll find a very playable course from tee to green! If you look through my pictures you’ll see that a lot of trees were cleared out and that most holes have a comfortable look from the tee. I hit it through the rough twice and was able to get a club on the ball to advance it, since much of the undergrowth was cleared out. You can play your normal shot shape and there are even areas that you cannot see, where you can find your ball. So, well done to the designer and the maintenance crew for putting together a course that members can enjoy!

The toughest part about Lake Chesdin are going to be the greens. The greens are large and every single one of them is a difficult two putt because of the large amount of undulation. It seemed I had to aim every five footer at the edge of the cup or beyond to give it a chance to fall. And, I was happy just to two putt from twenty feet.

Barton Tuck designed the course, and he also gets credit with designing the nearby Golf Club at The Highlands. These courses seem to be the only design work that he has done, but his firm does manage plenty of courses in the Mid-Atlantic. Tuck seems to have a knack for putting together some pretty par 3’s! I think the best holes at Lake Chesdin are the par-3 4th and the par-3 11th.

The 4th is 166 yards and it is in a natural area, surrounded by pine trees and hazards. Unless you chunk it, the water shouldn’t come into play but it features one of those tricky greens. My ball ended up on the back tier and I had to baby a putt to the top of the ridge and let gravity do the rest!

The 11th is 149 yards and looks very similar to the 4th, just with the lake in the background instead of dense trees. The hazard on the 11th will come into play more than on the 4th, as it is closer to the green. Both the 4th and the 11th had great reflections off the water! Besides those par-3’s the scenery for the rest of the course is consistent with what you’d find in the lower elevation parts Virginia. Everything sort of blends together, but it looks very tranquil.

The course closes with one of the most involved holes at Lake Chesdin, a 390 yard par-4. The 18th doglegs right and you’ll want to get the ball on the left half of the fairway, for the best angle into the green. The green is guarded by water which wraps around from the front to the back left. If you are over on the right half of the hole then you’ll have to start a shot at the water and work it towards the green to avoid the tree line. I ended up being blocked out after my drive and just had to layup.

Conditions at Lake Chesdin were very nice. I had great lies in the fairways and the greens were smooth as can be. They rolled at a good holing pace and the only putts I had to worry about the speed on were the downhill ones. I was in a couple bunkers and they had adequate sand. The rough was cut short and I could hit whatever club I wanted from there.

I paid $50 and all things considered I’d say the course is up there with the other nicer public courses in Richmond. It takes a bit of work to get here, but it is one of the more playable wooded courses that you’ll find. If you are on the fence about Lake Chesdin, I think it is worth a play.

#1 (349 yard par 4):