The Golf Club of Virginia At Beacon Hill, CLOSED 2006
The Golf Club of Virginia At Beacon Hill opened for play in the Fall of 2001. The course was designed by Johnny Miller. From the tips, the Johnny Miller design measures 7,155 yards and plays to a 76.3 rating and slope of 146.
Beacon Hill, sits on the 1,100-acre Arthur Godfrey estate. The course is set on rolling hills that offer dramatic changes in elevation and sweeping views of the surrounding woodlands and Blue Ridge Mountains. Streams and ponds are in play on 12 of the 18 holes, and wildlife is visible throughout. Each hole provides excitement and a new challenge. There are uphill and downhill tee shots. There are forced carries.
For sheer beauty, how about the 428-yard par-4 13th? It starts from a slightly elevated tee box and plays to a narrow fairway guarded on the right by trees and thick woods on the left. A stream also runs up the left side of the fairway, bending into the short grass near the landing area and then sliding in front and up the right side of a deep but narrow green.
For excitement, simply walk up the hill to the next hole. The 168-yard par-3 14th plays from an elevated tee box to a green guarded in front by a stream that feeds into a pond to the back and right of the green.
For adventure, try the 362-yard par-4 15th - as unique a hole as you will find in the Washington area. Again, you start from an elevated tee. The hole goes slightly to the left, and offers three parallel tiers of fairways to choose from. From right to left, the fairways get closer to sea level. The further left you choose to play your ball, the shorter and more level your approach shot will be. However, a lake banks the entire left side of the hole and makes cutting the corner a risk-reward decision. A single tree between the lowest and second-lowest fairway also must be avoided.
The par-4 seventh is the course's No. 1 handicap hole. It plays 497 yards with a series of bunkers on the right side of the landing area and out of bounds to the left. The approach is even more demanding as players must fly an environmental hazard and hit a shallow green that slopes back to front and is guarded in the back by bunkers. The 2003 Northern Virginia Amateur, held at Beacon Hill, turned on this hole when the leader took a quadruple-bogey eight.
The 453-yard par-4 16th is the course's No. 2 handicap hole. It doglegs to the left, but a lake on the left side of the fairway makes cutting the corner almost impossible.
The course finishes with another monster -- a 585-yard par-5 that plays uphill and along a narrow fairway with trouble on either side.
difficult as the course appears at first glance, there are no tricks. Nearly every shot is right out in front of the player, meaning the danger is always avoidable with a well managed club selection.
The Golf Club of Virginia At Beacon Hill closed in 2006.