Williamsburg Lodge, Autograph Collection

A lot will be said about the four par 3's, and it's all true. For a 16 Handicap, the white tees are challenging but not overwhelming. Beautiful layout. Looking at the google map, the holes are very close together but you'd never know it and only rarely see other golfers on other holes. Carts were quiet and fast. Will definitely come back and play again in the summer. Greens and fairways were in great shape for mid March.

With apologies to the River Course and Royal New Kent, this is the best course in Tidewater. RTJ crafted a course that has stunning visuals while still looking like he barely moved any dirt. It feels like New England in the heart of Virginia.

The front nine serves as a good warm up, as it plays much shorter and narrower. A good wedge game will really allow you to score, if you an avoid all trees. Once you get to the back, especially from 14 in, the course opens up. Of course, it also gets really long and difficult, so your driver better be working. 16-18 are up there with courses like Pinehurst #2 and Bethpage Black (well, maybe 14-17 at the Black) for best finishing holes on the east coast. I can't say I notice a difference since they replaced the grass with a new breed a couple of years ago, but the bunker work they did was top notch and has really improved the conditioning.

Post round, make sure to make the short trip to Colonial Williamsburg for great food and beer (Hi, Precarious!). It's the perfect end to a day made perfect by getting to play the Gold Course.

Since it is mid November and the grass is dormant, the course wasn't as luscious as I am sure it is during the rest of the year. The fairways were in great condition and the greens were fast and overall in very good condition. If you get the chance you should play the course.

Enjoyed this course, even though it was a bit cold (no wind). Great group of par-3s. Multiple tee boxes and greens were in good shape. Fairway's too.

Having played this course in the spring it’s amazing what a season of neglect can do to a course. What was once a great course is now a second tier municipal that isn’t worth the $60 they are charging. I’d be ok paying $30 for these conditions. But clearly the goal of Golden Horseshoe this year has been to spend “ALL” of their money on the Gold course, which is a shame since it’s usually $175 to play.

That being said, I will not be returning any time soon, playing bunkers filled with water (from rain that fell 4 days ago) and “some” sand in the ones that were dry. The weeds are taking over, it won’t be long until they loose the greens to quickly spreading crab grass everywhere. For me, I’ll take my money elsewhere….

The Gold course is special and very demanding. The scenery is spectacular. When you get there you are treated like royalty from the bag guys,to the starter, the pro shop staff, the bartender, everyone makes great effort to treat you like a member. I’ve played some of the best courses in the country and the Gold course takes a backseat to none of them. We had a great day, even though the wind played havoc with a few shots. Play from the correct tees ( shorter than you think you should) and you’ll have a great day, and so will the group behind you!

We had three players in our group and had a threesome in front who were rather slow and did not offer us the chance to play through. After about five holes a ranger appeared and asked them to let us play through. We had no hold ups after that and enjoyed the rest of the round. The slow threesome was 5 holes behind us when we finished!

This is a very scenic course very similar to its sister course The Golden Horseshoe. You want to stay in the fairways here rough can be challenging. There are some pretty good carries on some of the holes. I really enjoyed this course and will play again. The day I played the course was in excellent shape. The greens rolled well and as I mentioned the scenic views on the course are great.

Although the course was pretty. The fairways were terribly wet. Soaked! Been in a drought for 6 weeks and they must of left the water on the whole time. The greens were t nice either. Very disappointed. The Golf course is always great and we decided to try the Green course since we couldn’t get a earlier tee time. Will never play a round there again.

First time to play Golden Horseshoe Green Course. Bag drop & check in couldn’t be friendlier or more helpful. Great pace of play. Will certainly put it on the return play list.

Can’t say Enough about this course. Staff was super friendly! Free range balls before round! Fantastic practice facility. Starter was great! Course was in fantastic condition. Greens were fast and true. No leaves on the course. Played in 3 hours so pace of play was exceptional. Cost is high but the experience and course layout is why it’s worth it..at least once a year! If you haven’t played here yet, do yourself a favor and play.

Golden Horseshoe GC - Gold Course by Robert Trent Jones Sr. is offers on of the best golf experiences using the least amount of acres. The Gold course is a near-perfect use of the hilly terrain. All fairways are framed with tall mature trees making hitting the fairway very important. The course has one 4 amazing and fun par 3s which all required you to hit over water, including 16 which is an island green that proceeded the island green at TPC Sawgrass (I prefer this island green over TPC in design and beauty). While the course is on a smaller plot of land than many courses, you feel isolated on each hole because of the large trees. While the Gold Course has one of the best foursome of par 3s, the entire course is outstanding especial how it is routed amongst the rolling hills, Robert Trent Jones Sr at his best. My favorite hole was the par 5, 6th hole. The course located in Williamsburg, VA as apart of the Colonial Williamsburg Resorts. The course is a classic offering fun and challenging holes and outstanding conditions.

Beautiful setting. Long course, some length needed, but forgiving. Super friendly staff. Would play again.

The pros ,were nice greens and layout. Plenty of space between holes. The cons, were very wet saturated fairways. Almost ridiculous. You’d hit dead center 260 on the fly and have a 3 yard roll. 80% of bunkers were packed wet sand, and we been on a dry spell . They must of had sprinklers on way to long. I was only in 2 bunkers but dad was in several. Half the tee boxes were in bad shape as well. Luckily it only cost $60 a person to play but even at that price, it wasn’t worth it. The staff were absolutely great though.

Played the Green course today at fair clip for Saturday (4: 20). But the conditions were far from desirable. Yes, it rained the day before but the drainage was so poor that the grounds were very bad. Plus weeds on / around the greens tell me groundskeepers aren’t on top of the needed maintenance. And it could be me but the course layout stinks: 575 par 5 w 335 par 4s with lots of swails seems poorly designed. Not thrilled to return and just put my boys into school in area so was hoping for a regular spot.

Nice course to work on your short game, nice layout with different looks. Can easily play in under 1.5 hours.

I’ve been waiting years to play the Gold course at Golden Horseshoe. First, it was too expensive for my budget, then it was too far away, and for the past two years the conditions haven’t been up to the standard they’ve set with the rest of the course.

But finally today, with recent reviews raving about the conditions and with thunderstorms surrounding the Williamsburg area, the stars aligned for me to finally play here and what an experience it was!

First and foremost, let’s address my primary concern going in and that is the conditions. I’m pleased to report the work they’ve done on the greens has paid off, they are as good if not better than the greens on the Green course, and that is high praise. Perfectly smooth, perfect pace and slope, and fairly easy to read. Putting on these greens was a real joy.

The rest of the course might be in even better condition. Tee boxes are immaculate; your tee just sinks into the ground with the slightest effort. Fairways are lush and buttery smooth. The rough is evenly consistent in thickness and height. The bunkers are exceptionally groomed and filled with a wonderfully heavy, gritty sand that encourages balls out of them rather than swallowing them up swing after swing. Heavy rain towards the end of my round had no effect on playability as the course seems to drain very well.

The next thing to note is that the layout is every bit as good as you’ve heard. Yes, the par-3 16th and par-4 17th are perhaps the best of the bunch but each and every hole has something to offer and it would be difficult for me to narrow down to four as my favorites. More than the strategy involved in scoring on them, each hole is beautifully presented. This is one of the most photogenic courses I’ve ever played and it wasn’t easy to pick just six photos to post here. Though there is still a sizeable gulf between them in every way, this course is more like Augusta National in its look and feel than any other course in Virginia.

As I witnessed during my visits to the Green course, the Gold also offers fantastic amenities, facilities and a professional staff. To get all that plus a world-class course to play for as $69 is an exceptional value (less so if you play in the morning where it can reach $150, but this course certainly warrants that premium).

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve been asked before today if I had played the Gold course at Golden Horseshoe, I wouldn’t have needed any extra to cover my round today. But now I can say I have, that the hype surrounding the course is warranted, and that the course is spectacular! I have written 150 reviews here on Golf Advisor and have only given three courses 5 star ratings across every category. The Gold at Golden Horseshoe is the fourth, it is well-earned and well-deserved!