One of the fun parts about golf is visiting new courses. On a new course, everyday is Opening Day and there is always hope that the slice in your driver will magically disappear, your short game will come together and you knees will no longer knock when staring down a 5-foot putt. So it was with great eagerness that I accepted a friend’s suggestion to try the Heritage Oaks Golf Course in Harrisonburg,
I had heard good things about Heritage Oaks, a municipal course owned by the city of Harrisonburg. But with a municipal course, you never know. Nonetheless, we were willing to take our chances. How was it? In a word. Great!
The greens, tee boxes and fairways were all bent grass, a surface generally found only on upscale courses. Not only was the course sewn in bent grass, it was in outstanding condition. The traps were well maintained with a high quality sand, the greens were as true as any I’ve played and we had a blast.
Designed by Golf Course Architect, Bill Love, Heritage Oaks is a course designed for the average golfer. It’s mostly wide open. The landing areas after a drive are generous and the course is an easy one to score well on.
But the course is no pushover. It has one of the most difficult par threes I’ve run across in a while – hole number 8. This hole is 139 yards from the white tees and 185 from the back tees. It has water on the front and to the left, with some nasty bunkers to the right. There is also trouble behind the green if you over hit. I was delighted with a bogey, missing the water and traps with a pin high iron shot on the fringe. A chip shot put me within 5 feet, then I two-putted, of course. The longest hole at Heritage is a beautiful finishing hole, stretching 529 yards from the championship tees.
After the round, I knew one thing. I would be back.
One of the best parts about Heritage is the cost. With the VSGA card, the round is only $25. The card may be used any day of the week, at any time and can be used three times per year. It’s not often you can play a course with bent grass for 25 bucks. It makes the drive to Harrisonburg well worthwhile.
The course is also generous with amenities like numerous water stations, ball cleaning machines every few holes, toilets and well-placed signs leading new players to the next hole. The tee boxes were spacious and in excellent condition. There were no signs of summer heat on the course, with plush, green fairways. David Johns is the highly respected Golf Pro at Heritage Oaks and does a great job.
Heritage Oaks is located on Garber’s Church Roads, just off Route 33 on the west side of Harrisonburg. For tee times, call 540-442-6502.
