Old Waverly Golf Club

This course is worth the cost to play!!!!!!!!!!
By far the best manicured course I have played in the state of Mississippi. We had a rain delay and the course was in just as awesome shape after the rain as it was before. If you get a chance go PLAY! AWESOME

I had a enjoyable and fun round of golf. The pro shop staff was welcoming, friendly and very helpful. The staff was very knowledgeable and helpful throughout my round of golf. There is so much to say about this golf course. Very challenging, fair and so many beautiful views. All of the tee boxes and greens are in great condition. This course was everything I had expected to be. I'm really looking forward to coming out here again. Thanks!

Old Waverly has been on my “to-do list” for a while now.

Upon arrival, it is easy to see why this Golf Digest Top 100 American Public access golf course has garnered its reputation: stately gated entrance, unique lavish clubhouse, and a quality practice area. If true, rumors that the club is enduring some hard times is not evident at first blush.

I was eager to see how OW stacked up to some of the courses I’ve heard it compared to, notably Shoal Creek.

The opening hole is a good way to ease into the round, with a shortish par 4. But for me, the round really didn’t begin until the sixth hole, which easily became my favorite hole on the property. Here’s why: there are an abundance of long, straight, narrow holes at OW and I found the sixth to be anything but that. A variety of club choices off the tee still leaves a short iron in a player’s hand. The approach shot is made memorable by a carry over a small pond, dotted with bright flora to a narrow green buttressed by a stone wall. I would never tire of playing this hole. The seventh follows, and in my opinion is the best par 3 on the course. Eight is a brute of a par 4, especially into the wind. The outward nine concludes with a rather straightforward, bunker-laden par 5.

The par-5 10th was my second favorite hole. You tee off up a hill with the green nowhere in sight some 90 degrees left of the landing area. The second shot offers a chance to get home in two with equal parts nerve and skill. I thought it was a well-designed hole. The eleventh follows, using sort of a reverse-cape design along the lake. The 14th hole stood out as well, as it made you think of how to fit whatever club you pulled into a landing area framed by creeks in front of and behind a small patch of fairway, a thicket of trees on the left and a fairway bunker guarding the right.

This was a recurring theme on the course: strategy and accuracy off the tee to find the proper landing area and angles into the rather large greens that rely more on slope than contour.

I liked that the course played into and out of hardwoods, then emerged into wide open spaces with the holes that play around the lake.

But is it rightly ranked among Golf Digest’s best 100 public access courses? These rankings are highly subjective from one player to another. I would be hesitant to firmly place it there, but will reserve that notion until playing it again when the fairways aren’t water-logged from torrential rains the area has endured over the last few months and in calmer conditions than the 25 mph winds that made holes 17 and 18 real challenges playing dead into it.

Also keeping me on the fence is my sense that to be among the best 100 public-access courses in the U.S., every hole must be strong and holes shouldn’t be too similar. In this regard, the collection of par 3s were a little mundane in my opinion. I liked seven and 17 is a nice hole. The third and 12th holes, however, were very vanilla. The par-5 second was pretty bland as well. The bunkers were a bit below par, but I cannot say if that was again, due to all the rain, or neglect. But a top 100 course gets the little things right.

I would describe OW as a good tournament golf course - demanding, yet fair - and can see why the USGA has chosen it for several of its women’s championships.

Old Waverly is a course that never grows old when playing over and over again. Paired with the contrasting Mossy Oak Golf Club across the street, West Point is lucky to have one of the top 36-hole destinations in the Southeast. With the contrast the two courses offer, a traditional Southern tree-lined course with Waverly and the wide open links-style of Mossy Oak, this is undoubtedly one of the most unique golf getaways in the country.

You can't beat days like the one I spent playing Old Waverly.

The morning was a highlight in itself - watching from a luxury box as Mississippi State University beat Texas A&M, a top five team. After the half-hour ride back to from Starkville, I teed off with long-time Director of Golf Chris Jeter for a round that ended with a par on no. 18 in utter darkness. What a marathon adventure.

This classic course designed by Jerry Pate and the late Bob Cupp remains one of the great semiprivate clubs in the South. It hosted a memorable 1999 U.S. Women's Open won by Julie Inkster and could someday host another premier event.

Golfers must stay on property to gain access. There are villas, condos and homes for rent within walking distance of the clubhouse, where fantastic weekend buffet breakfasts and lunch/dinner meals are served.

The course winds through the neighborhood, although there are secluded stretches on both nines. The back nine flirts with Lake Waverly for its most testing holes. There's nothing fluky or awkward about the layout. It's just purely enjoyable golf from start to finish.

Whether staying for the weekend or just the day, Old Waverly is a fantastic golf experience. With the addition of its second course in 2016 (Mossy Oak Golf Club), Old Waverly will rank toward the top of golf trips in the south and in the country. I've played this course for years and will never grow tired of it.

A buddy of mine and I tacked on a day at Old Waverly before heading over to a Florida-Alabama football game. I'm glad we found a way to make it happen.

We played 18 holes, had a late lunch, then went out for another nine holes before dark. This was a fantastic experience and the course was in fabulous shape.

The main takeaway is that this is a place that you could easily play everyday and never get tired of it. It's fairly generous off the tee - you can spray it a little - and is playable around the greens. If you miss one you have several options how to play the shot toward the hole.

I can't say enough great things about the staff and the members. Everyone was so friendly and accommodating and were genuinely thrilled to have us play there. It was Southern hospitality at its finest.