Sunday found me back in the Richmond area where I had plans to check out Magnolia Green Golf Club. I had some time before the round so I went a bit out of my way to check out a new course. Shocking, I’m sure!

The First Tee Greater Richmond has a couple facilities in Richmond, including The Elson Redmond Memorial Driving Range. Here you’ll find a driving range, short game area and a six hole par-3 course. I was interested in the par-3 course because I knew I’d be able to zip around quick and still find some lunch before my round at Magnolia Green! Plus, I’d never played a six hole golf course before.

I paid the nominal green fee of $8 and took a few steps across the parking lot to get to the 1st tee. What I found there surprised me a bit! The 1st hole is a 180 yard par-3 that plays into some mounding and pine trees. The 1st has a great look for a course in such an urban area (downtown isn’t far away)!

The 2nd and 3rd holes aren’t bad either, as you’ll have between 95 and 135 yards on those holes – depending on what tees you play. The green on the 2nd features a small neck at the back that got narrow for even a wedge while the 3rd has a stacked sod bunker!

The remaining three holes are very short and a bit squished onto the property. They play between 45 and 90 yards so you may get to try some half shots, depending on how far you hit it. All in all the back tees play 640 yards and the course is a par-18.

The course was in great shape with beautiful bermuda greens. The greens were blemish-free and rolled pure. The tees were nice and didn’t have a bunch of divots.

I played in about a half hour and that included taking some additional time to chip. Elson Redmond is a great place to work on your short game or bring out the family, so it does a good job to encourage the game. If you are in need of some lunchtime golf then this is the spot to break up the workday!

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