Victoria National is one of the courses that I was able to get on with a phone call from the pro at my club. It was founded by Terry Friedman, who had bought a former coal mine with a golf course in mind. If you had asked me whether I was in favour of strip-mining a few weeks before my visit, I would have said, “No way.” But I have seen what Tom Fazio did with a former strip mine, and it’s fantastic. This is a tremendous example of turning lemons into lemonade…
Victoria National has only 52 bunkers, but it has 114 different tee boxes. Relatively small amounts of dirt were removed here, and water comes into play on 15 holes, so sand bunkers become less relevant under those circumstances. Many of the holes run parallel to the spoils mounds, which creates lots of privacy from hole to hole. The cart paths are almost invisible (due to Fazio’s great skill), and people paths make this a very walkable course. The course is not connected with any housing development, which is unusual in golf course construction today…
I didn’t play my best at Victoria National, but I remember standing on the 16th tee after I hit my tee shot into a stripper pit and declaring proudly that it was the first ball I had lost that day. Terry made me feel a little better when he said that the first time he played Victoria National he lost seven balls. Today, Terry shot two under par... I loved this course, and it is easily in my Top 10. Larry Berle