A Course You Can Play

Yes, Virginia Oaks Offers Highs, Lows

One of the newer courses in the area, Virginia Oaks Golf Club features contrasting sides to a contemporary design.

On the one hand, there is the layout itself, designed by renowned golf architect P.B. Dye, pleasing to the eye and a fair test for players of all skill levels. The fairways are mowed meticulously, and the greens roll fast and true.

Then there is the housing community that surrounds the course, or in some instances intrudes. It's a distraction at best, an eyesore at its worst. Also on this afternoon, Virginia Oaks lacked an eye for detail. Specifically, the range ball machine was empty, severely limiting our practice options, and a handful of water coolers were empty, making a humid day even harder to take.

Still, on balance, Virginia Oaks offers enough perks to make the weekend golfer consider taking a weekday off to play it again.

From the championship tees, Virginia Oaks plays 6,928 yards, and the par-72 course makes even the scratch golfer work for every stroke. The middle to high handicapper has no easier time from the back tees, which play 6,468 yards, including three menacing par 3s.

The second of those demands the most precision of all 18 holes. At 135 yards from the championship tees and 125 from the back, No. 9 is a small island green guarded by sand to the short left. The spacious clubhouse sits directly behind the hole, providing a picture-postcard backdrop.

On Nos. 3 through 5, it's Lake Manassas that frames the fairways and greens.

The tee box at the par-5 No. 3 (par 4 from the back tees) has water on both sides, but the more punishing stretch runs along the right side of the narrow fairway. The left side is not any more forgiving, with private properties providing the out of bounds.

The par-4 fourth not only plays along Lake Manassas, but there is the added enjoyment of viewing the neighboring Robert Trent Jones course across the divide. The exclusive course hosts the Presidents Cup in October, and even from a distance, it's easy to see why the match play event is returning there for a third time.

Though the back nine at Virginia Oaks offers few glimpses of the lake, water comes into play more frequently than on the front side. No. 12, for instance, has water for 150 yards starting along the left side, crossing the middle and then tapering to the right of the fairway and green. Four of the final six holes also have water challenges.

On No. 18, that danger lurks left of the green on a par 5 where scoring requires three straight shots to reach in regulation. Stray left or right, and there's a good chance of finding one of the seven bunkers lining the extended fairway, making for an aggravating finish.

After all, it would be a shame to end the day in sand after playing around one of Virginia's most scenic bodies of water.

Virginia Oaks

* Designer: P.B. Dye.

* Year opened: 1995.

* Par: 72.

* Distance: 6,928 yards from championship tees, 6,468 from back, 6,061 from middle, 4,852 from front.

* Spike policy: Soft spikes only.

* Fees: $72 weekends before 11 a.m., $60 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., $45 from 2 to 5, $27 after 5; $37 weekdays until 5, $27 after 5.

* Directions: I-66 west past Manassas to Route 29 south in Gainesville. Follow for approximately a half mile, turn left on Virginia Oaks Drive to the course.