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.
5
I begin this review by saying I would describe myself as a moderately competent player, with an index of 3.5 and 25 years played to date with a single figure handicap. I have often enjoyed battling with the challenging yet engaging designs of architects such as Pete Dye and Tom Fazio, and I was curious as to the legitimacy of the reputation this course had acquired for being devilishly difficult, and wondered whether that repute was unfounded.
A clue as to the difficulty of the course comes when you study the unique and severe land it was constructed across. Victoria National sits atop land previously used for coal mining, with the corridors of play defined by ridges of old mining spoils and waterways where subterranean excavations once took place. That consistency of boundary danger makes the golf course visually intimidating on many of the holes, and makes it a golf course that demands a consistent level of accuracy from tee to green. Errant shots will be punished with at best an enforced recovery shot to get the ball back in play and more likely, with the player reaching for the front pocket of their bag. To get around this golf course with the same ball should be seen as an impressive achievement for all standards of player.
Having played the relatively benign opening par-4, you could be lulled into a false sense of security. The vista as you look out from the par-4 2nd tee brings the upcoming dangers into full focus however, with a forced carry over watery death and a catalogue of danger both left and right, meaning the only course of action is to play a well struck shot. A similar proposition awaits you at the par-5 3rd, with scrub covered humps and valleys to the right and a waterway to the left defining the line of play. The approach to the green highlights Fazio’s emphasis on posing strategic questions as well as indiscriminate fear. The hole can be played as a relatively simple three shotter, with the ground turning hard right and featuring a long downward slope to the green. The ball could run 60 yards + on the approach, meaning an attempt to play for the green in two must be played well and with the right shape, however a conservative player should be left with a number of good options to find the green in three.
With such difficulty from tee to green, you might be forgiven for thinking the putting surfaces and surrounds might provide some respite. However the slippery false front on the 4th and the tiered target at the 6th do much to dispel the notion that things will get easier as you get closer to the hole. The 9th closes the opening half with what appears to be a chance on the scorecard. This mid-length par-5 appears devoid of the kind of punitive hazards that have been abundant to this point on the tee shot, possibly enticing you to open your shoulders. Four cavernous bunkers await however, and you must plot your way onwards to the green, with a split fairway in the 2nd shot landing area and green site encircled by water, meaning there is plenty to ponder.
The back nine starts with a varied run of holes (of which the short 12th was a particular favourite), before entering ‘The Gauntlet’ at hole 14, marking the start of one of the most infamous closing stretches to a golf course in North America. The approach shot to the long par-4 14th is like playing an approach to a castle turret, and is the most intimidating par-4 approach on the course. The shallow green is raised above the fairway and defended at the front and left by a huge bank that will make recoveries difficult for nearly every missed approach. 15 offers the last real chance to attack if you take on the par-5 from the tee, offering a risk reward shot to the green in two for those playing the very best drives. And then we reach the absolutely frightening par-3 16th. I genuinely struggle to think of many (if any) par 3 tee shots more scary than this one that I have played or seen in world golf. Water defends the green at close quarters on three sides, with only a shot to the back right of the green providing any real area of leeway (an area that most amateur golfers rarely miss). If you find the water from the tee, the subsequent approach from the drop zone is no less intimidating, with the ever present wind swirling notoriously in this section of the golf course. The 17th is consistent in its brutal challenge, with water threatening the fairway on both sides and the long approach being played to one of the most severe greens on the course. In the words of golf architect Tom Doak, ‘The long par-4 finishing hole flanked by water has become a cliché of modern design’, however the finisher here is one of the more thought provoking examples I have seen. The 18th sweeps to the right, with water bordering the entirety of the right side of the hole. There is a risk reward element to taking on the corner with your tee shot, however it is the angle of the approach as much as the distance left that gives you the best chance of success, making this a fine strategic finisher both in stroke play and match play.
My conclusion is that the hype around the difficulty of the course is real. I caveat that by saying there were plenty of mistakes I made that I would know to avoid on a second visit, and there is plenty the course offers in the form of thinking and strategy to mean that the average golfer can still attempt and engage with the challenge at hand. In an era of course designs boasting width, angles, playability and an abundance of short grass, Victoria National is undoubtedly an outlier in the nature of the test it poses. I however believe that there should be variety in golf course design, and the dramatic nature of the land Fazio was presented with meant that building anything other than a drama filled layout would have been a waste of these unique surroundings. Would I want to play here every week? I think I would need to be a better player than I am to truly enjoy the severity of the challenge week in week out. But as an occasional or one time visitor, the ride is a wild and unforgettable one, and I challenge you to find many more coherent, consistent and engaging golf courses anywhere in North America.
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