I think it's rare for someone to really love the Dye family design ethos. Pete Dye and sons built golf courses that, in general, are not universally loved. Places like Sawgrass and Kiawah are respected, perhaps even admired, and they're held in high regard, but I don't think too many people fall in love with Dye golf courses. That said, the Dyes almost always built interesting golf courses. You won't walk away bored.
That brings us neatly to Gauntlet Golf Club, a PB Dye golf course located in central Virginia near Fredericksburg. Even the name itself demonstrates the course's intent. Is it a little overly dramatic? Yeah, but you're not going to forget it easily. And frankly, a Dye family golf course was exactly what I needed when I played here in late August. After a summer of playing either boring or bad golf courses (or as we saw last month at Locust Hill, boring AND bad), I needed a palate cleanser. The last decent course I played was Armitage, and that was back in April. So, was Gauntlet worth the 2-hour drive? Let's find out.
The first hole is not a long hole at 370 yards, but the fairway bends hard left about 250 yards out, limiting your ability to hit driver. However, you do need to get far enough to avoid being blocked out by trees in the corner of the dogleg as well, so don't take this tee shot too lightly. Or listen too closely to the marshall who told me 230 yards was enough distance to open up a shot to the green. Anyway, a good tee shot will leave a wedge or short iron downhill to a medium-sized green with a single bunker bunker front right and a big dropoff behind. Long is very much not the miss here.
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| The first hole. |
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| The first green. |
The second hole is a very short par 5 at just 470 yards, though it has a lot of trouble to compensate. Though dense trees obscure it from the tee, a man-made lake lines the entire left side of the hole. The tee shot goes up to a plateau about 200 yards out, then drops down; a well-hit drive will get plenty of roll, even considering the more grabby zoysia fairways. You'll have a decision on the next shot: Either lay up safely on the far side of a small arm of the lake that cuts the fairway in two about 150 yards from the green, or go for the green itself. You'll likely have under 200 yards in if you've hit even a slightly decent drive, but the green here is quite small and protrudes out on a narrow peninsula jutting out into the lake. You're also going to have a hanging downhill stance, which will make the long iron second even tougher. That may not be the sort of shot you want to hit so early in the round. So, while it may feel a bit bad playing conservatively on such a short par 5, I really don't think this is the hole to be super aggressive on. Par here is perfectly fine.
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| The second hole. |
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| Approaching the second green. |
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| The second green. |
The third hole is 175 yards, though you can get some considerable variation in that length as the green here is nearly 50 yards long. A front hole location makes this a fairly short par 3. It's quite a narrow green as well, possessing multiple tiers. There are two bunkers left, but the green slopes from right to left and there's a slight falloff right as well, so right isn't the safe bailout you might think it is. It's almost easier to get up and down from the bunkers left.
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| The third hole. |
The fourth hole is 365 yards, but much like the first it doglegs quite severely (basically 90 degrees) about 225-250 yards out, meaning your ability to hit driver is limited. It's even more limited because the hazard left is the lake, which pokes into the fairway in the landing area as well. With bunkers beyond the fairway, this is a drive where accuracy is paramount. That said, you do want to reach the corner of the dogleg, as the axis of the fourth's small, narrow green is angled perpendicular to the angle of the tee shot. The green is quite undulating as well, and has three bunkers protecting it. Plus, there's water left and long. The hole itself isn't very long, but this is definitely one of the toughest holes on the course.
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| The fourth hole. |
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| Approaching the fourth green. |
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| The fourth green. |
The fifth hole is 510 yards, but this isn't a par 5 practically reachable into two, as we'll soon see. The fairway here is quite generous, but runs out 300 yards from the tee as the hole bends hard left over an arm of the lake. Long hitters will want to show some restraint on the tee shot, likely using 3 wood to avoid going too far and getting blocked out by trees. A good tee shot leaves a shot over the lake to the hole's second fairway, which bends left to right up and around a big hill toward the green. That green is medium sized, possesses multiple tiers, and is protected on both sides by two small bunkers. While the longest hitters could likely hoist a long iron or fairway wood long and high enough to clear the brow of the hill, it's just not practical for most people, who will play this as a three-shot hole, with the lay-up preferably favoring the right side. This isn't the most subtle hole in the world, but it is a good one, and I was really surprised with how much elevation change this golf course had. These are not small hills we're talking about.
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| The fifth hole. |
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| Approaching the fifth green (to the right). |
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| The fifth green. |
The sixth hole is 175 yards, making it pretty much the same length as the third. The two holes do play quite different, at least. This green is fairly small and angled from left to right as it juts out onto a promontory well below the level of the tee. With falloffs right, short, and long, there's really not much room for error here. But, since the hole has just a single small bunker, the penalty for missing the green isn't incredibly steep. It'll still be tough to make par, but since the green is tilted from left to right, recovering from short right (the obvious place to miss) isn't the most difficult thing in the world. Just don't overclub on the tee shot, and you should be okay.
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| The sixth hole. |
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| The sixth green. |
The seventh hole is 355 yards and doglegs right between a pair of bunkers (and over a pair of former bunkers turned grassy hollows) to a high point about 250 yards out. In order to get a full view of the green, you need to reach that central plateau. Doing so will leave just a wedge to a fairly large green, though the penalty for missing is quite severe. There's big 10- to 15-foot dropoffs left, right, and long, as well as bunkers left and right. It's not a tough approach, but it can be intimidating.
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| The seventh hole. |
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| The seventh green. |
The eighth hole is 470 yards, making it the same length as the second, though this is a par 4. Admittedly, this hole is much easier and has no water in play, so I do understand the reason for the different par. The tee shot here is blind, with the fairway reaching a plateau about 200-250 yards out. If you hit a solid drive, you'll actually get over that high point and hit a big downslope that will propel your golf ball at least 50 yards further. If that happens, the second shot will be just a short iron or even a wedge. The green is wide but fairly shallow, and while it has no bunkers, there are grassy hollows and slopes scattered around that perform a similar function.
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| Approaching the seventh green. |
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| The seventh green. |
The ninth hole is a mid-length par 4 with a very similar tee shot to the previous hole. Blind drive, and if you get far enough, the fairway drops down so you'll get a generous amount of roll. This fairway does also have some significant right-to-left slope, however, which makes the small pond left of the green a significant hazard. Still, a good drive will leave just a wedge for the second shot, and there's plenty of space right to bail out. The hole's two bunkers are curiously placed, being not really in play on the drive but not greenside either. The green here slopes from right to left, with a ridge dominating the right side.
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| The ninth hole. |
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| Approaching the ninth green. |
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| The ninth green. |
That's it for this week, next week we'll take a look at the back nine.
