Virginia Oaks Golf Club

We used to play this golf course a hundred times a year back in the 1990s when it was one of the best courses in the state. Since American Golf managed this course the course conditions went from excellent to fair and now that Billy Casper manages this course the conditions have gone from fair to poor. I come back to play this course from out of town once every two years and every time I come back the course is in far worse shape than the last visit. It is really a shame.

On the first hole the entire approach fairway to the green is dead of bent grass and filled with several species of weeds and dirt making it completely unplayable. The greens are so slow and bumpy that it's not enjoyable. The rough has grass in some places but where there is no grass it's just hard packed dirt. And the biggest problem of all is the bunkers. The majority of the bunkers have no edges from years of poor maintenance. Where there used to be an edge and a clear line of sand ending and rough beginning is just sand that fades in to hard packed dirt from years of bunker raking machines carelessly entering and exiting bunkers and no one caring to go back and clean up the mess of sand that has been pulled into the dirt where grass and rough used to be at one point in time.

Virginia Oaks used to be one of the great courses in the state, it still is a Pete Dye masterpiece in design, but it's clear that Billy Casper Golf puts nearly zero money into the maintenance of the course to the point where it is just barely operational and playable.

Fairway condition is not bad, but green is coverd with something. And fertilizer smell is disgust for me.

I hadn't played VA Oaks for some considerable time but still remembered it as a fairly tough course and I wasn't disappointed. The day was beautiful and we set off about on time. We knew it was going to be a bit slow due to the amount of people playing and being cart path only. Didn't matter to me because I was in good company and having fun. I would say there is some work to be done on the fairways but the greens were great and the rough was very tough as it should be. For the price I reckon it is great value. Compared to courses that are now charging $90 to $110 VA Oaks holds its own. Would definitely go back.

Fairways not in a good shape
No. Imformation on the score card, of how to play the course.
The rough not cut

If it would be your first time playing, keep driver on the bag, you probably would only use it, on 2 holes.

Prepare too loose balls, even if you hit a good shot.

Blind fairways, you have no idea what is there when your ball land.

Do not go at the flags, shoot for par, your ball would go off no matter how high you hit your shot.

Take an extra club if your 6 is 160, take the 5, trust me, you do not want to hit hard irons on the greens.

Greens arent that good either, probably too early on the season, tee boxes, are also terrible.

My round was over 5 1/2 hours for a 2 some, we were told is always that slow.

Lots of blind shots and no way to let the group behind you know, when they can tee off, so be on the look out for incoming balls.

The only issue I had was that the greens had recently been treated, so they weren't in the best shape. Worth $50

The first time i played this course 5 years ago it was fantastic. Greens were outstanding, course was in great shape and it was well worth the money. Unfortunately since then the course has gone downhill and has not recovered.

We had a 12:12 tee time and were delayed 40min due to a tournament, but we were told once it was over we should be good to go. Unfortunately this was not the case and for the front 9 we were waiting 5-10min at every tee box!

The greens were in poor condition and even with a good stroke and the right line it was almost pure luck if you caught the hole. The tee boxes are also in poor condition.

I'm not sure what happened to this course because it's a great layout in a beautiful area. I would love to play it more, but unfortunately it's just not worth it.

Homeowners let their kids play on the course while golfer are playing. Pro shop personnel were helpful and courteous. Course grounds left a lot to be desired. Range in terrible condition.

There are 2 holes on this course that make this course worth the price - #4 and #5. Really a beautiful shot into lake and across to RTJ. Apart from those, not a bad course at all. $39 is a great value.

The green of hole#4 (par4) has very good setting and beautiful surrounding.

The club schedules too many tee times, back to back, making the pace of play terribly slow. If there was a marshall cruising keeping up the pace of play that might help. Many leaves on the course make it difficult to find your ball; that's not the course's fault although I've seen some courses blow off the leaves at the start of the day. The problem is that the marshall or the clubhouse should inform the players not to spend too much time looking for balls; just suck it up, drop a ball, and play on. Depite all this, cudos to the snack bar attendant who is always very curteous and helpful.

Friendly staff. No reason to be cart path only. Wasn't very cold and hadn't rained in a week. Greens were hard , chewed up, and slow on a number of holes

Nicely maintained. Pace of play was very poor. Marshall's were virtually invisible. Had to call clubhouse to ask how a foursome went out ahead of us as we approached #10. She didn't know and said she would send out a Marshall. 10 mins later as we are still on the tenth, the Marshall arrived. About a 75 yo Asian man who spoke limited English at best. 5 hour round is unacceptable on a Friday at 11am.

A chalenging course that I have played before. Staff was friendly and check in process was smooth and fast. Tee boxes and fairways were in OK shape. Several fairways appeared to have drainage issue, as one drive plugged over an inch below the surface, with areas torn up by the mowers. Appeared to have been mowed when it was very wet as the mowers had left a lot of grass residue in the fairways. Traps had not been maintained since the rain 2 days earlier. Greens, even after the rain were very hard and appeared to have signs of an earlier fungus problem on a few holes. Greens were not being repaired by the earlier players. Course is usually in better shape and fun to play.

I like Virginia Oaks a lot and would recommend it to anyone as long as they had 5+ hours free. I think it he island green is both the most desirable feature and the biggest reason for the slowdown.

Got a great GN deal, as was initially excited to play here as I've played in several scrambles and always thought the layout was interesting. I was soon disappointed to see the condition of the course as we began. Grass clippings all over the fairways, bare spots, divots, etc were what we found on the front 9 .. Bunkers with little to no sand, and greens with bare spots also. The back 9 was much better, however it was sad to see what this course has become. They need to shut down the front 9 to get rid of the disease that is affecting the fairways, but that will never happen. This was once a great test, I only hope they are serious about returning it to its former glory

Extremely disappointed!! After speaking with several friends, the general consensus was that this course was a very nice course to play. The fairways had an enormous amount of grass clippings scattered throughout. The tee boxes were in horrible condition. The greens have been affected by some type of disease. I have played approximately 15 different courses this season. This course, by far, what's the worst that I have seen or played.

Course was not kept well - grass was not cut for weeks and it was cut the day before we got there and clippings were left all over the fairway resulting in poor playing conditions. Roughs were so long that I lost a few balls after the were hit really well.

paid less than half of what other courses were charging.
courteous staff, and challenging course.
Carts could use rain cover for clubs, and put sand in the sand traps w/o the rocks/gravel

Fairway and green should never managed properly so unwell

I Used to love to play this course. since the new ownership, the course has been going downhill Played it for $35 I wish it was in the shape when I was paying $45 no marshal that is needed for a course that is this difficult. Will not go again for a long while.