Eighteen Hole Regulation at Pipestem State Park Resort

Booked round for 11am on golf now. After three holes we are on number 4 tee box. Place over books and have no ranger or Marshall to push play! I understand slow play but we have 4 groups at the tee box with us and staff refuse to do anything!

This has always been a favorite course in southern WV. Greens are bent grass and a little slow but with only a couple of exceptions very good shape. Fairways are not so good with lots of bare areas and lots of trash grass. Pace of play was excellent.

Narrow tee shots, elevated greens, tree lined fairways, and even the occasional wide open “let er rip” holes; this course requires you to hit many shots. Great greens that roll true and quick. Course measures just over 6700 from the tips and has many long holes.

You can tell they don’t water the course very much

I believe it is overpriced for what it is extremely dry fairways hard. Greens in good condition just hard. Played on a Saturday and the course let everyone on front of us in the back causing us to have a lot longer round. When you are paying the kind of money it cost to play this course you would expect a little more when it comes to scheduling.

This course is absolutely beautiful and includes great views of the surrounding mountains. The conditions were overall good, although the greens were a little bumpy. Pace of play was fantastic. I had an 8:00 am tee time and was able to finish is 2 hrs and 45 minutes.

I played on a moderately busy Sunday and could not believe how slow and bumpy the greens were. A member that I ran into on the course said they had aerated two weeks prior but that the greens had been in rough shape for a while. They still had no excuse to not be better maintained for weekend play. It also looked like there were bad spots on some of the greens that were not due to only being aerated. I played this course a year ago in the summer and the greens were very bumpy then as well with a lot of bare spots around the greens. Other than that the inside staff was very friendly and it is a beautiful layout with great scenery. Just a shame the greens can't be kept up better than they are. Driving range is not in good shape either and food and drink options are very limited at the resort for golfers.

Prior to making reservation, I checked online and they said that they would be doing aerification on Wednesday through Friday of last week so I booked it for a Monday. When we arrived Monday morning we were told that the front nine was closed for aerification and we would have to play the back nine twice if we wanted to play 18 which we did. The greens on the back were very bumpy, slow and not hold a line. Tee boxes and most fairways in bad shape.

I’ve been playing Pipestem for 30+ years. It’s a fine course, if slightly overpriced. For a November round, the leaves were not as big an issue as we expected. The one sad constant with Pipestem is the lack of improvement. The sand is probably the same sand I’ve been playing out of since my teenage years. The grass is fine, but many bare spots need addressed. The upkeep is decent but it’s never built upon.

Front 9 great layout open back 9 is tight and tough ! But fun!! November so conditions were tough but great set up and fun can’t wait to come back in spring !

I am a big fan of Pipestem Champ and Short course. I play multiple rounds during a yearly visit. Glad they are part of Golf Now family.