Review: The Woods - Mountain View (Part 1)

We've had a couple of false starts, but spring has come to the Mid-Atlantic. And that can only mean one thing: Really crappy golf. Okay, it may mean a couple other things, but the rusty golf swing is definitely a force to be reckoned with. After months of not playing, it would be silly to make your first real round of the year at a mountainous golf course in the middle of nowhere, where there's plenty of opportunity to lose half a dozen golf balls, right?

Welcome to the Mountain View course at The Woods. The resort is in the panhandle of West Virginia, and while it's not nearly as isolated as the drive to Shenandoah Valley was, it's very West Virginia getting there. The same goes for the golf course itself. When I was paying, the person in the pro shop warned my brother and I that there would be some deer droppings out and about. And boy was there ever. I was prepared for some, but there was so much out there, and on every hole too. Hopefully it's not like that all year. Anyway, enough about poop, let's take a look at the course.

The first hole is a mid-length par 4 and is a generally friendly opener. The playing corridor is pretty wide open and there are no fairway bunkers in play. From the back tee, a gentle fade around the group of trees right should leave you a wedge or short iron up to the green. The second shot is going to be blind, and be aware that there is a bunker left of the green that remains unseen until you get up to it and find that your golf ball has plugged on a severe downslope and you have absolutely no shot at the hole. In normal circumstances when you're not incredibly unlucky, this is not a particularly difficult hole.

The first hole.

The white tees are a long way up from the back tee.

Looking back down the first hole.

The second hole ups the difficulty significantly. At 433 yards, it's the longest par 4 at the Mountain View course, and it isn't an easy hole. Okay, the drive isn't particularly difficult and the fairway is plenty wide. But the second shot is a lot tougher. The green is on the other side of a valley, and a deep bunker lies in wait. Hitting your drive on the left side of the fairway so you don't have to go directly over the bunker is definitely recommended. The green is significantly sloped from back to front, so going long is pretty much a guaranteed bogey or worse.

The second hole.

The second green.

That bunker is not a great place to be.

The third hole is a short little par 3 over a pond to a green ringed with bunkers. Not a whole lot to say about this sort of hole, if you hit the green it's easy, if you don't, it can ruin your round.

The third hole.

The fourth hole is a very short par 5 at only 472 yards. That makes it an excellent birdie opportunity. The ideal drive is a draw slung around that central tree that takes the downslope in the fairway, leaving as little as a short iron to the green. Of course, with it being March when I played, this is not what I did. Anyway, whether you lay up or go for it, the green is wedged between a hillside right and a stream left.

The fourth hole. The ability to hit a draw will benefit you here.

A draw remains helpful on the second shot.

Approaching the fourth green.

The fifth hole is a straight 415 yard par 4. There isn't a whole lot to the tee shot, though the playing corridor is a bit narrower than the previous holes. The second shot is more interesting. The green is small but has a significant back to front slope, as well as a small tier running perpendicular through the center. A pair of bunkers guard the green left and right. Long is once again very dead, as the back of the green is noticeably built-up above its surroundings.

The fifth hole.

Approaching the fifth green.

Long is very bad here.

The sixth hole presents quite a challenge on the tee. There is the tee, than a chasm 150 yards across, and a tiny sliver of fairway that soon disappears over the top of the hill. From the back tee, the hole is just over 400 yards, but from the next tee up, it's only 250 yards. I'm not sure I've ever seen that big a difference between two tees before. Anyway, while the canyon is intimidating, it's not actually that difficult to traverse. There is a single fairway bunker on the right side, and the green is fronted by three more bunkers, but otherwise there isn't a whole lot to the rest of the hole. The drive is the big selling point here.

The aforementioned chasm on the sixth tee.

Once you negotiate the canyon, the rest of the hole isn't so bad.

The sixth green.

The seventh hole is a long 550 yard par 5 playing over rolling terrain. If you can get your drive to the top of the first plateau, a big second shot could definitely reach the green. But that's a pretty tall order; for most, this is a very solid three shot hole. The second will be blind, but the hole is straight and there's no trouble close to the fairway, so feel free to blast away. The third will be uphill to a small green guarded by two bunkers.

The seventh hole.

Approaching the seventh green.

The eighth hole is yet another roughly 400 yard par 4. While there are no bunkers on the hole, there isn't much width here, as the fairway drops off precipitously to the left. If you're going to miss, miss right. Even then, you'll have a very awkward stance for the second, as the ball will be well above your feet. Basically, you want to hit the fairway here. The green is benched into the hillside, and any shot short or left will run back down. Honestly, being long or right isn't much better, since you'll be left with a chip from a downhill lie to a green sloping away from you. This is not a particularly easy hole.

The eighth hole.

The second shot on the eighth has another valley to negotiate.

The ninth hole is a lot like the third, in that it's a tiny little par 3 over water. Unlike the third, this hole plays significantly downhill, and the tee is very exposed to the wind. For our round, the wind was straight behind us. There are really no good places to miss here, but if you go long, there is a chance your ball will trickle back down onto the green. It's not a guarantee though. I know this from experience, both my brother and I went long, but his rolled back, while mine did not. Golf sometimes.

The ninth hole. Not an easy shot.

That's it for now, next week we'll check out the back nine.