Victoria National Golf Club rose like a phoenix from the ashes of an old coal mine and it was laid out in 1997 by Tom Fazio who made the vision of the founder, Terry Friedman, an exciting reality.
Victoria National Golf Club
Victoria National Golf Club rose like a phoenix from the ashes of an old coal mine and it was laid out in 1997 by Tom Fazio who made the vision of the founder, Terry Friedman, an exciting reality.
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For many years I had heard from several people who have played most of the great golf courses in the world/USA that Victoria National was the one course on the top 100 in the USA (Golf Digest) that should not be on the list. In sum, they considered it to be the most over-rated golf course in the USA. I had also met a smaller number of people who thought it was good, including a few players on the pro tour.
The criticism came from its difficulty where many felt it is a course designed only for the very best players, scratch indexes who can hit it as least 280 yards off the tee. In this age where playability has become one of the primary factors in evaluating a course, Victoria National was deemed to have placed excessive challenge as a priority in front of enjoyment and the possibility of recovery. The course was considered to be out-of-balance: too many long holes, too many hazards, rough too high, too many trees, or some fairways too tight. Even the shorter holes were felt to have excessively undulated greens.
I was intrigued by people’s assessment of the course. Two of the most difficult courses I have played in the USA are Bethpage Black and Butler National. Please note I am not including wind conditions, as nearly any top course can become difficult if the wind is high or it is raining hard. I wanted to play it to see if it was designed to be so difficult as to be unfair. Over the past four years I had watched on tv the mini-tour (Korn Ferry) event held at Victoria National and listened to the announcers describe how difficult some of the course is. Victoria National typically serves as the final event of the season for players on the tour to achieve a top finish to advance onto the PGA Tour.
What I found was not quite what I had heard. Victoria National is difficult, but it is also fair. As pointed out in the other reviews, one should begin by playing the correct tees. By doing so, the course is very much right in front of you and if you keep it on the fairway or close to the fairway, you should not run up a big score. The course offers an interesting mix of holes with the first four holes on each side being easier holes. The other ten holes do require a higher degree of execution, but all of them offer a reasonable chance for par for anyone with an index of 10 or lower. I do think higher index players above 10 need to move to a tee one less than they would normally play. On these ten holes, they can be very punitive for a poorly executed shot. Perhaps some people do not like that, but I did not find it overly annoying.
I accept that if I hit a truly bad shot that I am going to drop a stroke. That is golf.
I have played other courses where I thought I hit a good shot only to find out that I did not. At Victoria National, if you hit a good shot you will be rewarded, not negatively surprised at the result.
I think the course strikes the right balance in terms of challenge, difficulty and playability. I also think it should be considered as a top 100 golf course in the USA, even if Mr. Fazio’s designs have fallen out of favor with the minimalists. The course feels very natural to me, albeit built around an abandoned strip mine for coal. There is water everywhere and rolling hills. There are views across fairways, some fairways tree lined, and some ravines 50 feet deep. But it all looked natural to me. Mr. Fazio did an excellent job of routing this course to take advantage of the prime spots for tees and greens, bringing water, ridge lines, valleys, and smaller hills into play or to define the playing corridors of each hole.
The course is difficult as indicated by its ratings. The course is a par 72. The Victorian tees are 7242 yards, rated a whopping 77.7, slope 152. The Tecumseh tees are 6848 yards, rated 75.4, slope 150. The Chinook tees are 6404 yards, rated 72.8, slope 145. There are three additional sets of tees beginning with a combo set that will place one at roughly 6100 yards. I played the Chinook tees, which due to the heavy rain the days before, made the course play closer to 6650 yards. I was able to walk and play the course twice as a twosome the same day, going off at 8:15 with the second round starting at 11:40. I will reference only the Victorian and Chinook tees.
1 – par 4 442/413. This hole plays downhill. From my tee it is a straight hole but from the back tees it is a slight dogleg left. There is a generous fairway with the long and somewhat deep bunker on the left side to be avoided. The fairway pinches in as you get closer to the green and is located between higher ground on both sides. The left side has a tree about 60 yards short of the green that is problematic with taller grass near it. At the green there are two bunkers on the left side with a green sloped back with a horizontal ridge line and different smaller shelves on it. Perhaps due to the rain, balls landing short of the green will not make it onto the surface. I think it is a good starting hole as one can make birdie or a double bogey, but should have a good chance at par.
2 – par 4 374/323 – playing over one of the lakes to a fairway angled to the left, one decides how much they want to challenge the water off the cliff down the left side. Going further down the left gives one the best view of the green, particularly if the pin is on the higher shelf on the right side behind the bunker. However, there is a bunker on the right side of the fairway and two trees on the higher ground on the right that need to be avoided. I made birdie and par here by finding the middle of the fairway. Longer hitters can easily fly the bunker on the right but if they stay right they can catch the tree or get stuck in taller rough. Visually this is a very attractive hole and a good risk-reward short par 4.
3 – par 5 578/508 – the lake from the second hole has now snaked its way down the entire left side of the third. However, you do not really notice the lake after the tee shot as it sits below you. This fairway appears to be narrow but is pretty wide. The safe shot is down the right but the better shot is down the left side if one can stay out of the three bunkers on the left. On the right side is higher ground and various trees on the higher ground all the way to the green. The second shot should try to be as left as possible as the green is set off to the right behind a hill. If coming in from the right one will have a blind shot to the green over the ridge line. The green slopes away from you and has a substantial left to right break away from the lake. It is another visually attractive hole. Some might not like the potential blind approach shot on a par 5 but I did not find it to be a problem if one knows the course or knows the yardage to the green. If one misses their second shot way to the right they could be down a 50 feet steep chasm.
4 – par 4 355/311. Another short par 4 with water off to the left. There are two bunkers down the right side for those people trying to be too conservative. Longer hitters will try to hit it as far as possible. There is a single bunker front middle of the green which is elevated and has two tiers with the lower half having a substantial back to front slope. I think the hole to be one of the more fun ones on the golf course.
5 – par 3 212/170. From the back tee this is a brute as it is all carry over the lake to an elevated green. From any tee one has to avoid the water on the left, a small pond on the front right and the lake behind the green. The green is very narrow at the front and wide at the back. There is a small bail-out area to the right. I was in the bunker and in the bail-out area and nearly made par both times. The hole is beautiful from the tee and at 170 yards is very fair. The green is subtly sloped and I over-read the breaks both times.
6 – par 4 – 474/427. While the first four holes are the scoring holes with the fifth being one that tilts towards challenge versus straightforward, the sixth hole is the number one index on the front nine and certainly one of the four most difficult holes on the course. It plays over the lake to a fairway with higher ground on both sides. It plays as a gentle dogleg left with the fairway narrowing. The green is one of the most undulated on the golf course with a false front and a swale on the front half and all sorts of borrows on the back half. My playing partner and I were 0-4 on trying to save par as the green is tricky. Perhaps the green is a bit much but I think if one knew it better it would be fine. Our misses were due to issues with the pace, not the line, and perhaps that was due to the rain. I like the hole.
7 – par 3 183/152. This hole played closer to 175 for us due to the back left pin location. The green is long and thin and has a long bunker down most of its left side. The green sits in a hollow with higher ground on all sides that has very tall grass. This hole is difficult due to the narrowness of the green which has a vertical smaller spine in it as well as a decent slope to the left. For me, this is a “what-if” hole. If I had a less intimidating pin placement it would have felt easier, but instead of playing to the middle of the green, I tried too hard and paid the price by trying to steer a shot. Perhaps the green should be five yards wider or perhaps I simply need to be a smarter player for tough pin locations.
8 – par 4 425/391 – This hole is the #11 index but I found to be visually confusing as it plays a half club longer than it looks. It is straightforward with a single fairway bunker to the right and then two front right and one front left to a green that angles off to the left at its back half. There is a big drop-off and valley down the left side that one must avoid as it leads to a blind shot. It is a fair hole but one I regretted my poor chipping as the green is less receptive than it looks. I tried to avoid the false front but if one lands near the pin the ball will roll out quite a ways.
9 – par 5 558/508. This hole also seemed to play longer than it looks. There are three large bunkers down the left side with a bunker on the right set off opposite the last bunker on the left. The fairway is pretty wide. Longer hitters will fly all of these bunkers. For the longer hitters they can have a go at the green or try to hit to a split fairway that begins about 110 yards short of the green with the right fairway having the better angle. To the right and behind the long green is the lake. The split fairway is bisected by a large bunker. There is a center bunker fronting the green. The green is difficult to read, breaking less than one expects if one is parallel with the water on the right. It is a very nice par 5 that also offers a wonderful view of the clubhouse and lodging across the lake.
10 – par 5 543/508. We go back to four easier holes again with the tenth being perhaps the easiest hole on the course. There are flanking fairway bunkers and higher ground on both sides of the fairway. Another fairway bunker is on the right about 100 yards from the green. At the elevated green there is a large bunker front right. This is definitely a breather hole.
11 – par 3 233/176. From the back tee this is all carry to the green from an elevated tee. From the Chinook tees, the water is on the left where there is also a bunker to provide a chance of survival. Unlike the fifth, one can hit short of the green and not be wet. The green has a hump middle right and overall slopes a bit towards the water. Visually this is a very pretty hole but it is the weakest par 3 on the golf course.
12 – par 4 357/317. This short par 4 is a reasonably sharp dogleg left that has a 40 yard long bunker down the left side. The green is elevated. The tee shot plays from an elevated tee across a valley. Go too far right and you will be down a hill, possibly into trees, but more likely into tall grass. Two trees are on the right side of the fairway yet the fairway is wide enough that it should be easy to hit. The green has a steep fall-off on the left side. It is another one of the “fun” holes.
13 – par 4 395/345. The final “easier” hole has two options to either play over a lake to make the hole a dogleg right or walk across the bridge to the tee to make the hole straight. I played it from both tees with the same score. Off the right are two trees and a bunker placed against the side of a small hill which I found both times leading to a blind shot. The fairway is certainly wide enough to hit but I hit poor shots. Farther up the right are two bunkers well short of the green spaced about twenty yards apart for the longer hitters. The green has two bunkers left with the lake off to the left. The green is one of the more benign ones on the course, but we were 0-4 again to try to make pars.
14 – par 4 471/406. The back tees requires a relatively long shot over water to a narrow fairway set between heavy trees on both sides. There is also a long bunker down the left. While the tee shot is daunting, the second shot is more challenging as the green has a deep, long valley fronting it. If one is short coming in from the right side, it is an uphill third shot that can be blind. Go too far right on the second shot and you will be either stuck in tall grass behind a ridge or bounce into the trees. Anything hit short from either side will not make the green. The green is wider than it appears but from the fairway seems to be only ten yards deep. It is a very difficult golf hole, ranking among the most difficult I have ever played. While the sixth hole has a more difficult green, this hole has a more difficult tee and approach shot. This hole kicks off a very challenging run of holes.
15 – par 5 548/530. Thick trees and tall grass line both sides of the fairway with a single bunker on the right on a rise. The fairway then angles off to the right. Longer hitters will try for the green with sits behind the end of the lake with a bunker on the left side. The green goes right to the lake set in a bowl of higher ground. There is a 30 yard long bailout area to the right side of the green. For those not going for the green in two, the second shot is a layup shot as the fairway goes downhill before it reaches the water. One needs to hit their layup shot far enough down the hill to get a flatter lie. I liked the risk-reward nature of the hole.
16 – par 3 208/161. Perhaps the most talked about hole on the course, this downhill par 3 plays to a green that is elevated about three feet above the water on half of its right side and then the entire left side. The green is relatively narrow and gets even narrower on its back half. The back half sits on a second tier. From the tee it is one of the most visually intimidating shots I have ever seen. On my first round I hit short, hit the stones short right, then hit the stones right of the bunker, but kicked into the bunker. I narrowly missed the par putt. In the second round, I was slightly short of the green but made par. From the back tee in a tournament, this hole must be terrifying. This is a visually spectacular hole which I like but I can see where others would criticize it.
17 – par 4 454/395. This is the second hardest hole on the back nine. The tee shot plays over the lake with the lake continuing down the left side. There is a long bunker down the base of the higher ground from the fairway that connects it to the lake. The ground rises to the green with a substantial slope away from the front of the green with three deep bunkers fronting the right side. The green is multi-tiered and steeply sloped. This is another difficult hole from tee shot to the green. The tee shot does offer a wide fairway but if one goes too far left off the tee, they will have a blind shot into the green. Perhaps the hill on the left side of the green should have been shaved down because if sits very close to the edge of the green.
18 – par 4 432/390. The final daunting tee shot with water down the entire left side to the green. The fairway looks very thin but is wider than it appears. This dogleg right has two fairway bunkers on the outer corner. The fairway does pinch in a bit at those bunkers. The green sits slightly above you and is steeply sloped back to front. There is a left middle bunker that pinches into the green which has two tiers. The green is long but not very wide. I find this to be a very good finishing hole, both visually and in playability.
As indicated I like Victoria National. I find it to be difficult but fair. If one plays smart and executes, they can avoid a big score. One will likely shoot 2-4 shots higher here than normally if they do not try to over-think or over-power the golf course. If they are not smart or have a bad day with the driver or longer clubs, they could shoot 5-9 strokes higher. Does it really matter what one’s score is unless one is playing in a competition? I believe people criticize it for its final five finishing holes, which is as tough a stretch as I have played in golf. While the front nine has four difficult holes, one can forget them due to holes 10-13 being easier. But after you walk off of eighteen, you could have in your memory the pain of the final five holes.
What I admire the most about the course is the uniqueness of each hole. I never got the sense I was playing the same hole. There is a good mixture of long and shorter par 5’s and par 4’s. There is a good variety of easier and harder holes. One steps on a tee and gets excited about the hole that is before you. Due to the presence of water and the solitude of the location, it is a very peaceful and comfortable setting despite the difficulty of the course. You might lose some balls in the water on the par 3’s but you will still be excited by the views.
The conditioning is excellent.
The greens are not overly contrived except for perhaps the sixth hole.
There is not an excessive use of bunkers. The bunkers are placed where they should be and of the appropriate size and shape.
It is a very good golf course and rivals the best work that Tom Fazio has done.
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