Golf courses and country clubs have been struggling in recent years. Slammed by the Great Recession, the labor intensive industry took a hit, and what’s more, even after the recession, not enough young golfers have been taking up the sport to replace the old duffers that are hanging up their TaylorMades. Too expensive and too time consuming are the common reasons.
I was most disappointed to hear that Waynesboro Country Club may be going belly up. It was up for sale at auction and anything could happen, including turning the entire course into a real estate development. But the new owner decided to keep the country club and golf course in tact. He put some much-needed capital into upkeep and the course is in top condition. My regular foursome played there Wednesday and enjoyed every stroke, and many there were.
WCC really has a storied history.
In 1948, a group of 17 people purchased 162 acres of what was then the Quillen Farm in Waynesboro. Fred Findlay, a noted golf architect, designed the course. Pete Lang, Findlay’s apprentice at the time, assisted with the nine-hole layout. In 1955, with the purchase of the Hewitt dairy farm, the back nine was completed with the design help of Pete Lang.
Waynesboro is and has been underrated. The Fred Findlay/Pete Lang is a wonderful test of golf.
Waynesboro is not a long course, playing 6,409 from the back tees and 6,211 from the whites. The Par 72 layout has four par 3’s and four par 5’s. The par 4 holes on the middle tees range from 287 yards on the tricky, uphill 16th hole, to 432 yards on the beautiful hole number 6. A lovely spring creek winds it’s way through the course and water comes into play on many holes.
Waynesboro is still a semi-private golf club, but they now allow visitors and we were able to use our VSGA cards on a Wednesday afternoon. It cost us just $28 with a cart. We can use our cards one more time this year, but it’s only $5 on a weekday to play without a card.
If you’ve never played Waynesboro, give it a try. For tee time availability, call 540-942-9340.