Green Course at Golden Horseshoe Golf Club

Golden Horseshoe kept it in the Jones family when they added onto the famous Gold Course with the Rees Jones-designed Green. It's a totally different experience here, and while the courses border each other, the clubhouses are about a mile or so away. The Gold feels a little more like a resort course being so close to the Colonial Williamsburg lodging, while this semi-private facility feels a little more member driven.

The Green has its moments with some tricky par 3s and a great par-5 finisher. An Audubon Sanctuary course, virtually every hole is surrounded by dense canopy, providing a sense of solitude. It is a little more player-friendly than Gold, with mounding generally running alongside the fairways, but certainly of championship quality.

I would either play this course before the Gold, or play Gold twice. Playing it after the Gold, one of my favorites of the year, left me wanting a little more.

I was in the Virginia Willamsburg area. The staff at Kings Creek Plantation where I stayed suggested I play at the Golden Horshoe Green course. The fairways where a little rough due to I guess lack of rain and not watered down enough. The bunkers were in great shape and so were the greens. A little slow for my liking. Because I love fast greens. The course is challenging because of sloping and rolling greens. The fairways are very hilly. Some holes are very tight. The Course is worth 45 dollars but not no more than that in my opinion. The down side is that quite of few holes where cart paths only. 1 of them is the last hole on the 18. Which is a long par 4 if play from the tips. The Course is very long from the tips. Definitely a must play in the Williamsburg Va area. Many famous people and presidents played there. Example Obama the Kennedy's exc.

The Gold course at Golden Horseshoe is closed for renovations, so my wife bought me my annual gift card for the Green course this year. I played it several other times in group outings, and found it to be OK, but not memorable. This time, on my own ball, I paid more attention to why I didn't think highly of this course, despite the fact that the scenery is beautiful, the course condition usually good (today it was a soggy mess, but I assume that is left over from last week's heavy rainfall), and the staff is great. Here's why: (1) this is what I call the generic nice modern course. Practically every hole has huge man-made moguls down each side. Every hole, same old thing. Each hole looks like the other, except for direction of the dogleg. One thing I typically am able to do is to go back in my head after a round and recall the holes. The Green course I just cannot. I only recognized two holes today after playing it about 8 years ago. I am sitting here one day after playing it, and I cannot even get to the third hole in recalling what the holes looked like. That was not true after playing the Gold - I could remember each hole in order with few exceptions after playing it the first time, because it has so many more memorable holes and character (2) Related to the first, the cart paths run behind and below the level of the moguls. So, if you are riding (which you should given how hilly this course is), you cannot see your ball from the cart path on practically any hole. That is a problem if it is cart paths only, like it was for me. I found I was forever having to walk up the hilly moguls just to spy my ball, only to see it maybe 20 yards behind or ahead of where I parked. It wasn't easy to figure yardage. In a couple of cases, I couldn't even tell where the hole was because the maintenance crew left the pin on the ground off the green. (3) The greens are fairly small, even for 400+ yard par 4's.

All in all, I find it hard to believe anyone who enjoys a challenging and beautiful course would think the Green is as good or better than the Gold. The Gold is much more natural, not tricked up with tons of bulldozed artificial hills. The Gold is the way golf should be, and given that the price is the same, once the Gold reopens, I would play that one every time I had the choice.

After enjoying the Gold course the previous day, we went to the Reese Jones designed Green Course at CW and get ready for yet another challenge to your skills!

Be prepared to see a little of everything and make sure that you are ready for the day, breath taking views, and tough par 3's are waiting for you!

I cant decide which course I like better so I recommend that you play them both!

like it's big brother the golden, this course compares favorably. similar terrain and beauty, well maintained, lots of fun.