The forecast for today called for partly cloudy skies and nearly 70 degrees in much of Virginia so I thought that I would take full advantage of it with a 36 hole day. I had already booked a noonish time at Blue Ridge Shadows which is the main course in the area that I wanted to play, so Shenandoah Valley was basically a “filler course” for me. I found an early morning time on Golfnow for $30 and hit the road before daylight for the two hour drive. For whatever reason, there was a dense fog advisory up that was posted pretty last minute or I probably would have saved this trip for a later date. Personally, I do not like driving in the fog and it was pretty bad as I had to go under the speed limit for most of the trip. I was running a few minutes late because of this but the proshop advised that they would not open until 8am when I called. So, I have no idea how I actually got a 7:30am tee time. It worked out okay as I could unwind a bit after a stressful drive.
The dense fog had not even started to burn off by the time I went off just after 8am. I could see the ball fly about 200 yards and then I would lose it on some holes. The fog really was a shame as I the course looks like it is in a beautiful area with some picturesque views of the Shenandoah Valley. The heavy air kept the ball from going my normal distances and it was cold and damp. The forecasters missed the forecast badly and the fog did not lift until around 1pm. So needless to say I did not take too many pictures and the pictures that I took have turned out pretty bad. The course has 3 nines and I played the Blue and Red nines from the blue tees at 71.0/128/6433. The weather added a few strokes to my score, but even on a nice sunny day I think I would have struggled a bit on the course because it was very involved from tee to green. The nines that I played were completely different with the Blue nine being longer and requiring more local knowledge with many blind shots. The Red nine was shorter and more enjoyable to play as I thought that I had a chance to have some good holes. It is a parkland style course with a Pacific Northwest feel to it. Most of the holes run parallel to another hole and are lined by mature, tall trees. The narrow fairways were tough to hit and many times resulted an uneven lie while missing the fairway would result in being blocked out on the approach. For such a short course, by today’s standards, it had some teeth. The Blue nine had blind shots on four of the first five holes so it was a bit of an odd start. I do not like blind shots, especially when playing a course for the first time, as I just cannot swing confidently. Holes of note on the Blue nine would be #4, a 425 par 4, and probably #5, a 430 par 4. The 4th is a downhill dogleg right par 4 that required a left to right shot and #5 required a solid tee shot over a hill. The 4th is one of the few holes that I played recently were the ball needed to be shaped from left to right. The Red nine had quite a few scoring holes and #1 was one of those holes. Hole #1 is a 309 yard par 4 up the hill to a very narrow green. I like small greens on shorter holes as it tests accuracy with a wedge. If I miss an approach with a wedge I have nothing to be mad at except myself. The other standout hole on the Red nine to me is #7 which is a par 4 that goes up a hill. It is straight without any tricks and looks nice framed by trees and the greenside bunkers.
The conditions left a lot to be desired, but I am not going to factor that too much into the review because there was plowed snow in the parking lots in the area, including at the course. Because of this it was evident that the course had recently had some snow on it. The fairways and tees were in fine shape for $30, but the greens were slow and bumpy. The greens on the Blue were recently aerated and sanded, so they were a mess to putt on and anything over tap in range going in was pure luck. Overall I liked the course as I found it forgiving, but still required accurate shots to score. There was a mix of differently shaped greens, some elevated greens, and a grass bunker. Plus, even with all the blind shots there were not hazards or out of bounds in the blind landing areas. If the conditions improve during peak season it would be a good bargain play.
Blue #1:
Blue #1 green:
Blue #2:
Blue #3:
Blue #3 approach:
Blue #4:
Blue #4 green:
Blue #5:
Blue # 8:
Red # 4 approach:
Red #5 green:
Red #6:
Red #7 green:
Red #9:
