I finished up about 12:30pm at Primland and was looking for another round somewhere. On my list for afternoon plays were Draper Valley, Pete Dye’s River Course, and Olde Mill. As much as I don’t like Pete Dye courses I have really wanted to play the River Course since moving to Virginia. But as much as I wanted to play there I was also curious about Olde Mill. I ended up heading over to play Olde Mill because I likely would not make a special trip off the interstate to play it at a future date. Since the other two courses are easily accessible from I-81 I could make another day trip later on this year or next to play them.

Olde Mill is only about 6 miles from Primland as the crow flies, but it took about 40 minutes to get there on the mountain roads. There were only maybe 7 to 10 cars in the parking lot when I got there so it was unfortunate that I got stuck behind a 3 someone on the front nine. Before I get too far into this review let me say that I paid $30 for a twilight time and because of that price the course was an exceptional value. However, I would have liked to have brought a little more game because the course was very tough. The 1st tee is elevated near the clubhouse and from the 1st tee parts of maybe 6 holes are visible including the first three. The 1st is reachable par 5 with water coming into play on the lay up and the 2nd is a short par 3. The course starts to get some character on the 3rd which is a bit of a horseshoe par 4 around a lake. The 4th is a straight away par 4 back up the hill which has pine trees lining each side and the 5th is probably the signature hole which is a par 5 that drops a couple clubs over a water hazard from 250 yards out. The 7th and 8th play to elevated greens before the 9th drops off planet. The 10th is a beautiful par 4 from an elevated tee and the 13th is a tight par 5 with water all down the left side. There are many memorable holes on the course including the last 4 which play in a low part of the property and are secluded from the rest of the course. Old Mill had plenty of character with doglegs, rock features, glistening white bunkers which stood out against the lush green grass, and as much elevation change as one could want. The course had a mom and pop feel to it so I was surprised to find that it was in great shape. The greens rewarded a good read and stroke and the sand in the bunkers was probably the best that I have seen at a course in the last 6 months. Because of the course’s remote location it had a secluded feel and many holes were peaceful to play with a creek running through them. The designer did a good job of mixing parkland holes and mountain holes together to create the course. In many ways the course reminded me of a Pacific Northwest course. A couple of the greens were more simple in design while others had the usual humps and slopes.

My reservation about the course is that it is just too tough for the average golfer. I played the Blue Tees at 73.8/141/6698 and shot well above my handicap. Water was in play on 13 holes that I can remember and on the open holes the holes narrowed with fairway bunkers and large trees at the sides of the fairways. There were not any tricks to the course except for the blind layup on the 5th hole. It was straight forward, just tough, especially when out of position. I think one sign of a good course is that it can be tough, but someone can still enjoy playing it and shooting a million. Olde Mill certainly has that quality.

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