Virginia Oaks - Gainesville, VA

[SHIVAN]

What does/did everyone think of it?

Played there yesterday....I am looking for some diverse opinions on this course. I am just trying to find out if my course critique is an outlier, or normal.

Thanks.

[Puppetmaster]

I've yet to play there, but friends who are regulars around here tell me it is a pretty tight layout and not maintained very well (at least, in the last year or 2). According to them, VA Oaks and South Riding are two in this area that have seen a pretty steep decline in quality of late. I do have a Groupon to use this month at VA Oaks or 1757 and was leaning towards 1757 anyway.

[SHIVAN]

Tee boxes hadn't been mowed. Green scum in the entire #18 water feature. Missing grass in the fairways. Missing grass around the fringe of every green on the course. Weeds in the midst of every green. Bushes un-trimmed. Several back tees (not championship) that don't accomodate anything but a slightly above average tee shot with driver, but Championship tees that present too much yardage for a casual golfer. Saw the PGA pro a couple times on the 10th through 18th, they start in reverse back nine first, and never on the front nine -- even though we got to painfully, painfully slow.

Five hours and 10 minutes on a rather deserted, unkempt, course. Worse news, this was a practice round for a league round tomorrow. I have to go back....ugh.

[aso2b]

[quote name='SHIVAN' timestamp='1315354944' post='3546813']
Tee boxes hadn't been mowed. Green scum in the entire #18 water feature. Missing grass in the fairways. Missing grass around the fringe of every green on the course. Weeds in the midst of every green. Bushes un-trimmed. Several back tees (not championship) that don't accomodate anything but a slightly above average tee shot with driver, but Championship tees that present too much yardage for a casual golfer. Saw the PGA pro a couple times on the 10th through 18th, they start in reverse back nine first, and never on the front nine -- even though we got to painfully, painfully slow.

Five hours and 10 minutes on a rather deserted, unkempt, course. Worse news, this was a practice round for a league round tomorrow. I have to go back....ugh.
[/quote]

That basically sums up my experience, too. Admittedly, I played on a Saturday morning -- but even by weekend standards, the round took [i]forever. [/i]And the conditions were bad. Maintained like a muni. I would never pay full price to play there.

[SHIVAN]

Another five hour round, but even in the driving rain yesterday, I was able to eek out a decent score for a league low net, and win some cash. Fact is, I won't even go back unless I hear some glowing reviews that could possibly erase how horribly maintained I think the course is right now.

[Puppetmaster]

Guess I'm using my Groupon at 1757 for sure then... LOL.

Congrats on the low round.

[Wood511]

1757 is much better than VA Oaks right now.

From what I've heard, 1757 had some issues a few years back and they were expensive. They have reportedly cleaned up their act a bit and prices have come down.

I played VA Oaks a few weeks back and it was bad. According to the kid in the pro shop, 2 outta 3 pumps failed earlier in the year and they were unable to water the majority of the course for much of the season. I think he said they didn't have the funds to fix them. The result is that it burned up when we were in the 90's for weeks on end in June/July and hasn't recovered. It may have been less horrible than usual that week because they had also just aerated and top dressed. Some of the greens were white from all the sand. I think putting on solid sand was probably preferable to what was under it.

If you are getting in for a song or doing a best ball for cheap, it might be ok to spend half a day there...I'd go elsewhere otherwise.

[SHIVAN]

[quote name='Wood511' timestamp='1315938810' post='3561730']
....they didn't have the funds to fix them....[/quote]

Apparently none for mowers either, or weed control. :-)

I bet there are landscapers, lawn crews, etc that play golf. Maybe they should try bartering. Give the landscapers/lawn care company course vouchers for their staff. Win/Win.

[Wood511]

I used to play almost daily with a guy that ran a huge landscaping company...on VA Oaks and others in the area. They could have done that. There are lots of "outta the box" ideas they could have worked to get things on track. I think you have some dude in an office somewhere that is just looking at numbers and not managing the situation. A few years later, they are closed. It happens to a lot of courses and VA Oaks will go that way if they don't get the course in order. People might pay once to play a crappy course, but not twice...and they certainly won't become members. A few years back it was in great shape.

[bubbagump]

VA Oaks is usually not too bad and has a nice layout on Lake Manassas Lately it looks as if it has fallen on tough upkeep and I was actually surprised by the last time I played it a few weeks back when the hurricane came. I dont play it often because it is notoriously slow, and charges too much for what it has become, and would rather play at different places but right now it is ok at best. Lots of the slow comes from it being tight, people teeing off the tips, spending forever looking for their balls, and poor ready golf skills. Sad because it used to be a pretty nice looking course.

If your in that area, youd be better to check Stonewall out which is about 5 minutes or less down the road, across the lake. Always in fantastic shape, really good layout and usually pace stays pretty good. Also check out Bristow Manor down the road about 15 minutes.

[carpergolf]

This course is looking a lot better now, almost back to normal