Canaan Valley - West Virginia - USA

The Canaan Valley Resort bounds the northern edge of the Monongahela National Forest, more than three thousand feet above sea level. In an area of outstanding natural beauty, framed by the Allegheny Mountains, the course here is owned by the state park authority of West Virginia and it has been managed by a number of private companies since it opened for play in 1968.

The layout was designed by respected Canadian architect Geoff Cornish in two returning 9-hole circuits with open, forgiving fairways routed up, down and around a hill that sits in the middle of an extensive property.

The four par threes on the card are all lengthy (the 12th hole measures all of 256 yards from the back markers) and they make good use of elevation change and water to enhance their difficulty. The par four holes are nicely varied and the par fives range from the easy, 473-yard 3rd to the tough 17th with its well protected green.

Both nines conclude with testing holes. Trees bound the fairway of the 573-yard par five 9th before it doglegs left towards a hole protected by a lake to the front of the green. An aquatic hazard also appears on the 18th hole, a long, straight par four that features a sizeable expanse of water from around 100 yards in front of the home hole.