Williamsburg VA Golf Reviews

WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT THE GOLDEN HORSESHOE

“A great golf course is a superb blend of shot values, an artistic flow of lines and a blending
of masses to satisfy all golfers. The Golden Horseshoe is more–a natural arboretum upon which a great golf course has been built. The overall result is perfection.”
Robert Trent Jones Sr.

“This is a wonderful golf course...as fine a Trent Jones course as I’ve ever seen. Trent has
done a beautiful job here, that is, he has made great strategic use of the terrain. There is plenty of trouble and it’s not a course you can get careless with.”
Jack Nicklaus

Upon completion of his record-setting round of 67
“The perfection of the Williamsburg Inn, a noble edifice of white-washed brick
modeled after the region's 19th-century spa resorts, is no accident. Beyond the Inn's
flagstone patio and well-kept greenswards lies the Golden Horseshoe's Gold Course, a
Robert Trent Jones layout debuted in 1963 and reopened in 1998 after a $4.5 million
makeover by his son, Rees. The layout's quartet of watery par threes is especially memorable.
The Golden Horseshoe's second venue, the Green Course, is a Rees Jones design carved
from a virgin parcel of towering beech, oak, and pine trees, with water in play at six holes.
Site of the 1998 U.S. Senior Women's Amateur, the Green, larger in scale than the Gold, fits
its setting hand-in-glove.”
Brian McCallen
GOLF Magazine

“God has heaven and Virginia has the Golden Horseshoe. God wants to renegotiate. If
there is a stronger set of par-threes than those on the Gold Course, it’s not on this planet.
Jim Pettit
Fayetteville Observer-Times

“The most memorable element of the Gold Course is a true island hole, one of the first
anywhere, with a fully bunkered green playing to 169 yards from the championship tee. The view of
the green from the elevated tee is stunning, but then you have to play the shot.”
Fred Behringer
Philadelphia Golfer

“It’s very pleasing to the eye, very pretty and very playable. The par-3s are on a par
with any I’ve seen.”
Justin Leonard

“When course architect Robert Trent Jones died, he left behind a legacy of more than 350
courses in 45 states and 35 countries. We present our favorite, six must-play masterpieces:
Ballybunion (Cashen Course) County Kerry, Ireland; Club de Golf Valderrama, Sotogrande, Spain; The Dunes Golf & Beach Club, Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Golden Horseshoe Golf Club (Gold Course), Williamsburg, Va.; Mauna Kea Beach Golf Club, Kamuela, Hawaii; Spyglass Hill Golf Course, Pebble Beach, Calif.”

The Editors
Golf Digest

“Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia has a virtually unparalleled golf and tourist destination–one
that compares favorably with the elite of American golf…”
Jeffrey A. Rendall
TravelGolf.com

Referring to the toughest hole on the Gold Course: “For good players, the par-four 18th, which
swings left off the tee and then proceeds downhill to a well-bunkered green perched above a pond, can be ruinous. Duffers struggle at the par-five 15th, which measures 600 yards from the white tees.
…Rare in this day and age, both courses at the 'Shoe are devoid of housing. Occasionally, however, players may hear the sound of musket volleys or a fife-and-drum corps, or even a latter-day Patrick Henry bellowing his defiance of King George III as the fevered events leading up to the American Revolution unfold daily in the streets of a town in the throes of democracy. Not to worry: The outcome is assured.”
Brian McCallen
Golf Magazine

“Built on the site of a former plantation, the Gold seems to barely interrupt the rolling
terrain from which it is carved, offering stunning panoramas from almost every tee.”
Charles Siebert
T&L Golf

“The Gold Course at Golden Horseshoe is a marvelous venue, complete with all the
necessities of a top-100 layout.”
Phil Sokol
Golfing.com