My main round on Sunday was at Magnolia Green Golf Club, a course that has eluded me for quite a few years! Earlier this year I messaged with someone from Instagram (@golfwithstrangers) who also lives in Virginia regarding a round this spring. We made it work on a day where the weather was a bit sketchy!
Magnolia Green opened in 2010 as a nine hole course. For those curious, the course was called “Westham Golf Club” when it was playing as nine holes! And, in 2015 the full eighteen holes were opened. Given everything that was going on with the course I opted to save my visit until all the holes were opened and everything had some time to mature!
From what the proshop shared with me the back nine is the original nine and the 1st hole was actually the old driving range. So, the 2nd through the 9th were added later – along with a nice practice area and a fancy clubhouse.
Tom Clark and Jack Nicklaus (or their design firms) tag-teamed to create Magnolia Green, which is on the southwest side of Richmond. The course and community are probably 30 minutes away from downtown, without any traffic. There are a few other courses in the general area including Birkdale, Highlands and Lake Chesdin. Magnolia Green is another mid-tier course that I think fits in with these courses.
Given Magnolia Green’s location I found the best thing about the course to be its setting! Like the other courses that I mentioned, Magnolia Green plays across some rolling terrain and through plenty of hardwoods and pines. If there are leaves on the trees then you probably won’t notice the homes much. However, if you hit a terrible drive then it definitely could end up in someone’s yard! The other thing about the course that stood out were the awesome looking jagged bunkers!
We played the blue tees which are 70.1/136/6216. As you can see the course packs a lot of punch, at least for the shorter yardage we picked! If you play from the tips the slope is a crazy 147! While the fairways are wide and there isn’t a ton of lost ball trouble at Magnolia Green the greens are something else!
Most of the course’s difficulty comes from the green complexes, which I thought were a bit much. Every green seemed to have some sort of unneeded ridge or slope to it. Also, the greens are surrounded by large bunkers and have edges that fall off into chipping areas. However, if anyone is going to put together some wacky green complexes then Clark and Nicklaus would probably be your duo!
For example, the 3rd is a 220 yard par-3 (250 yards from the tips) with a green featuring a bowl on the right side. The right side is guarded by a bunker so I was just happy to hit the green with my hybrid! However, I was left with a sideways breaking putt down a ridge towards the flag.
While I wouldn’t say there is a signature hole at Magnolia Green I enjoyed the 11th and 12th holes. The 11th is a short par-3 with a small volcano green. It isn’t a long hole but it will have you wanting to hit an accurate short iron! The 12th is a short par-4 and could potentially be driveable. There are various options off the tee and the green complex falls away to the right so it isn’t a guarantee to have a birdie putt here even if you layup.
The conditions were average at best and I’m glad I found us a deal for $45! I read last year that Magnolia Green took a while to get into solid shape and the same appears to be the case this year. If you are looking to play here then later in the year might be better. The greens were smooth and rolled quick, so that was the good part. Everything else seemed to be struggling. There were many bare spots and the edges of the greens and the tees were less than ideal.
As you probably can tell Magnolia Green wasn’t my style of course! The greens were a handful and the conditions weren’t what I expected. However, I enjoyed my round with a new friend and always love adding a new course to my list. If you like modern golf then Magnolia Green is worth checking out as you’ll probably enjoy the design.
Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):