Review: Shenandoah Valley Golf Club (Blue Nine)

Here's a strange little fun fact about my golf career: Up until now, I've never played a round of golf in Virginia. Considering I've lived within an hour of Virginia for most of my life, that feels a bit strange to me. I've played in Florida, which is a thousand miles away, and I've played in New Jersey, but never Virginia. It just never came up. I'm happy to report that this injustice has finally been corrected.

So, Shenandoah Valley Golf Club. It's just north of Front Royal, Virginia, located right in the middle of the scenic...Shenandoah Valley. How about that? It's also a 27 hole facility. This review will be on the Blue and Red Nines.

Another fun fact, there's a lot of golf in this one particular area. Shenandoah Valley has 27 holes, and literally right next door is another golf facility with 36 holes. Why so much? I have no idea.

Oh, and since this is apparently fun fact time, Shenandoah Valley is located in a really, really weird place. You turn off the main road, and you spend at least 5 miles on a tiny little road, half-covered in gravel, where there's no posted speed limit for most of the way and there is literally nothing around. I was glad I had my GPS up so I knew where I was going. My younger brothers, who met me there, did not have GPS, and got quite lost. It's a very strange place to have not one, but two golf courses.

Anyway, let's get to the golf, shall we? The first hole of the Blue Nine is the longest hole on the entire property, a par 5 weighing in at 546 yards. Yeah, this isn't an excessively long golf course. You'll notice the mountains in the background, those are, of course, the Blue Ridge within Shenandoah National Park. It's a very nice view, but unfortunately, it's the best one you're going to get on either the Blue or Red Nines. A little disappointing, but that's how it goes. The hole itself meanders to the left over rolling terrain. If you can get your drive to the top of a little plateau, you'll have a clearer view of the green, though it's going to take two big shots to get to the green in two. The green is reasonably large, and full of interesting little breaks. Actually, Shenandoah Valley has, in general, some interesting greens. They're quite tricky, full of subtle little breaks. You can easily have a poor putting day if you're not on your game.

The first tee on the Blue Nine has the best view on either the Blue or Red Nine.

You can get a sort of view of the green with a well-placed drive.

The first green is large.

The second hole is a 180 par 3, playing downhill to a green tilted at a 45 degree angle to the line of play. A fade is definitely the shot to hit here.

The second hole.

The third hole is a short par 4 at 350 yards. This is one of the best holes on the course, if not the best. At around 200-230 yards, the fairway plateaus, and this is where you want to hit your drive. You'll be left with a wedge or short iron from a level stance to the green. Obviously, leave the drive short of the top of the hill, and the second will be blind. But if you go over the plateau, you'll have a downhill lie, and that's a much more difficult shot to hit, especially when the hole is in the back of the green. It's very easy to hit that sort of shot long.

Get your tee shot on three to the top of the hill.

The third green.

The fourth hole is a fairly long par 4, and a tight driving hole. A 3 wood through the chute to get yourself into play is not a bad idea. The ideal aiming point for the blind tee shot is where the cart path disappears over the ridge. The second shot, is to a green guarded by a small bunker left, so the right side of the fairway is probably the more favorable place to be.

It's another blind tee shot on the fourth.

Not a bad place to be after your drive. Unfortunately, this was my third shot.

The fourth green. Long is obviously no good.

The fifth hole is, at 430 yards, the longest par 4 on the golf course. Once again, the tee shot is blind. Left is out of bounds, so you don't want to go there. If you hit the fairway, you should get a nice kick down the hill. Otherwise, this hole is pretty straightforward.

The tee shot on five is very blind.

I'll say it here, I was a fan of the bunker coloration. Nice to have something that wasn't just white.

The fifth green.

The sixth hole is a 383 yard par 4, and after three blind tee shots in a row, we can finally see the fairway. Blind tee shots are fine, but stacking them together gets tedious. This is another tight driving hole, but luckily, the hole's not too long, so a 3 wood should be more than adequate. The second is up the hill to a semiblind green, and is best played from the right side of the fairway. The bunker short right of the green is very much in play.

Not a lot of room to miss on the sixth.

Up the hill to the sixth green.

The seventh hole is another medium-length par 4. This is a pretty straightforward hole, hit down into the valley, hit back up to a semiblind green. I do kind of like the way the hole moves over the landscape. Golf courses on this sort of terrain will always have some sort of interest, so long as they use the land in a mildly competent fashion.

The seventh hole.

After five par 4s in a row, we are finally greeted with a par 3. This is a short one, just under 150 yards. If the hole is on the left side of the green, you can hit whatever sort of shot you want, I'd imagine. But when the hole is on the right, a fade is better. You don't want to be in the bunker short right.

Today, a fade is best for the eighth hole.

You can see all the little green contours here.

The ninth hole is a short par 5 at 487 yards. The dogleg can be slightly cut, but going too far right will get you blocked off by trees. Assuming you've hit the fairway with your drive (too big a task for me or either of my brothers), the green is very reachable, although this is the most tightly defended green on either of the two nines we played. Also of note, this green looks like it has a false front, but it isn't. So don't worry about that.

The tee shot on nine is fairly wide open.

The ninth green.

Here's the link to see the Red Nine.