When you’re too poor or too cheap to belong to a country club or to have an annual membership to a golf course, you play around a lot. Such is the case with my regular golf amigos. We play around and have lots of great choices in central Virginia. Last week, we added another venue to our tour – the Royal Virginian at Hadensville in Louisa County. It’s about 35 miles from Charlottesville as the crow flies, and anything less than an hour’s drive works for this duffer.
The 18-hole course at The Royal Virginian Golf Club plays at 7,104 yards of golf from the back tees to a par of 72. The course rating is 74.1 with a slope rating of 131. Designed by Algie M. Pulley, Jr., ASGCA, the Royal Virginian golf course opened in 1993. The course has twice hosted the Virginia Sate Open.
After 18 holes, I can state that the Royal Virginian is a very nice golf course, but it’s also a tough place to tee it up. I shot my worst round of the year. Even Kevin Mann, who frequently breaks 80, had a tough time, finishing 16 over.
There were no easy Par 3 and many of the par 4s were way too long for me, with even a good drive and a decent fairway wood. And the greens were brutal, some were a half-acre, or so it seemed, with multiple levels.
But we had a good time and had the course to ourselves. Literally. On a Wednesday afternoon, we had the only cars in the parking lot. So the only time we had to wait around was when Troy banged his drives off old barn doors and we had to track down his Callaway’s.
The course is also very reasonable. They take VSGA cards during certain times, but even when they don’t, I believe we only paid $32 in greens fees.
The tee boxes and fairways were in excellent condition. There was lots of water in play and several boa constrictor-tight fairways. It was a tough course. But would I play it again? Sure. It was a nice change of pace from our regular haunts, and change is good.
For a tee time, call 804.457.2041. The course is located off I-64 exit 152 (Hadensville) then follow the blue and white signs to the course.
