Review: Sly Fox Golf Club (Part 1)

Apparently you can never get enough Front Royal golf, because we're back south of the Potomac after a month-long break (okay, the rounds were the better part of a year apart) for a round at Sly Fox, which is located barely a mile away as the crow flies from Blue Ridge Shadows. And that's about all the information I have as a preamble on Sly Fox, which is about as unassuming a course as can be imagined, apparently. I couldn't even find an architect responsible for building it or an opening date, so we'll have to assume the course sprouted out of the ground an eternity ago. This is actually the second coming of St. Andrews.

In all seriousness, I was looking through their website and some of the pictures intrigued me. Not in a "oh, this course could be good" sense, but more in the "this course could be really wacky and offbeat" sense. The images reminded me of Westminster National, which is a course I unironically enjoy precisely because it's so silly. So, can Sly Fox stand up against the heavyweight quirk champion? 

The first hole is a short par 4, playing 320 yards to a very wide fairway. However, while you can hit it pretty much anywhere, you will want to favor the right side, especially if you're using driver. The green is angled from right to left, and tucked behind a bunker on the left side. Also, in addition to being on the small side, this green is the first of many greens at Sly Fox to pull an interesting trick: They fall away at the back. There aren't too many purely back-to-front greens at this course, which makes them quite difficult to hold, especially if you've used driver on the tee and left yourself a delicate half-wedge over the bunker. So, despite the hole's modest length and lack of trouble, a lay-up to ensure you have a full wedge into the green may be the best play.

The first hole.

The first green.

The second hole is a short par 3, playing just under 150 yards. In classic fashion, the tee shot clears a deep valley, with the green perched on the far side. There's a bunker short left (and possibly a former bunker short right), and the green is tilted mostly from back to front. Not a terribly exciting hole, but nothing too bad either.

The second hole.

The third hole is the longest hole on the course by a fairly hefty margin, playing 550 yards to a fairway angled from left to right, with O.B. closely guarding the entirety of the far side. It pays to take an aggressive line here, otherwise you can quickly run out of hole. The second shot isn't particularly interesting, just avoid the O.B. left and you're fine. The green is bunkerless, but just like the first hole, the back half falls away, complicating approach shots.

The third hole.

Approaching the third green.

The third green.

The fourth hole is a straightaway mid-length par 4, with a tree line left being the only real hazard in play. The landing area is blind, though, as the fairway crests a hill about 200 yards out and begins to descend toward the green, which fully plays from front to back. That's really the only interesting thing about this hole, which is pretty simple otherwise.

The fourth hole.

Approaching the fourth green.

The fourth green.

The fifth hole is another mid-length par 4, doglegging slightly right to a fairway sloped from right to left. You'll want the drive to stay right, flirting with the small pine tree at the corner, in order to open up the best angle into the green. Drives that miss the fairway left will bound very far down, likely disappearing into the woods; at best, you'll have a very tough second shot with the golf ball a foot above your feet. While the fifth green doesn't fall away at the back, it does have plenty of contour and break to it. It's not a tough hole, but that didn't stop me from losing two golf balls and making a triple bogey. Oops.

The fifth hole.

Approaching the fifth green.

The fifth green.

The sixth hole is 375 yards on the scorecard, but plays significantly shorter thanks to a fairway that tumbles down a hill. The fairway's blind from the tee, but so long as you don't go left you'll be fine. Once again, it's the green that really provides all the challenge, sloping from front to back in a manner similar to the fourth. This time, you're also hitting your approach from a pretty severe downhill lie, which makes holding the green all the more tricky. You really do need to land the ball short of the green and let it run up to the flag.

The sixth hole.

Approaching the sixth green.

The sixth green.

The seventh hole is where things start to get interesting. This par 3 is 150 yards and plays through a rather narrow corridor between two groups of large trees over a valley to an elevated green visibly built up over its surroundings. If you end up short, you are going to have a severe uphill lie for the chip shot. The green is sloped from back to front, and with O.B. long, that makes going over the green a distinctly bad idea. There aren't any bunkers, but honestly, this green doesn't need them.

The seventh hole.

The seventh green.

The eighth hole is a short par 5 at 490 yards, and while the drive isn't particularly exciting, playing to a wide, mostly flat fairway with only a single small bunker left to add challenge, the second shot will definitely require your full attention. Beyond 300 yards, the fairway dips down into a valley, rises up again into a 50-yard-long plateau between 75 and 125 yards from the green, then crosses another valley before rising up to the green, perched at the top of that hill. If you're laying up here, you need to commit to it fully; you do not want a 50-yard pitch up a 30-foot hill into the green. This particular green is sloped pretty severely from back to front, and while the greens aren't very fast, a downhill putt is still best avoided. And the best way to avoid being above the hole is to approach the green from a hundred yards back with a full wedge in hand.

The eighth hole.

Approaching the eighth green.

The eighth green.

The ninth hole is a shortish par 4 at 340 yards which plays over a ravine to a mostly blind fairway. Beyond the pine trees lining the fairway, there's no trouble on the tee shot, but the green is sloped from front to back; there's also a distinct right-to-left tilt to this green as well. All this makes the front-right hole location we had for our round very difficult to get close to, especially if you're approaching from the right.

The ninth hole.

Approaching the ninth green.

The ninth green.

That's it for this week, next week we'll take a look at the back nine.