The most important ingredient in constructing any new golf course is a great piece of property.
A sculpture can't start without clay, a painting can't come to life without a canvas and the genesis of any golf course starts with the natural beauty of the underlying land.
Sure, we've seen courses sprout from unlikely places the last couple of decades, but courses built to suit natures original design seems fitting in most purists’ minds.
A good example is the mountain course design. A mountain course is difficult to cultivate because the layout has to fit naturally within the confines of the underlying land.
Sure rock can be moved and valleys can be slightly altered but the majority of the design has to work with nature’s original intent.It's a challenge to build and the end result is a level of character and type of play all its own.
At Packsaddle Ridge just outside of Harrisonburg Virginia you fully understand what a mountain course is and why the underlying land is the most important ingredient to any golf course.
Opening in 2002 the course is nestled in the foothills of the Shenandoah Valley. Tons of rock was moved literarily carving the base of a mountain to accommodate the fairways, tees and greens; many of the rocks still accent the course at various locations.
Even with the vast amount of rock moved to accommodate the course, the underlying land still dictated the overall design.
Your journey starts on the front nine with tree lined holes and fairways sloping from tee to green, either up or down hill.
Knowing how to correctly club up or down depending upon the change in elevation is a good skill to have, a general rule of thumb is one down for uphill and one up for downhill.
All the Par 4's and Par 5's are guarded with either a hill to one side of the hole or dense vegetation on the opposite. Conservative play is the key to playing Packsaddle Ridge the first time where correct placement is awarded and over aggressiveness punished.
Like all good designs you have to focus on what the course is willing to give you. You must trust decisions you wouldn't normally make, hit shots you wouldn't normally hit and believe in your creative ability to adapt.
On the back nine you realize the front nine was just preparation for what’s next.
Starting with the Par-5 Number-11 you slowly wind up the mountain providing views that are simply breathtaking. At times you have to adjust club selection two to three clubs. I remember on the 13th fairway hitting a 7-iron from only 140-yards away, that's normally my 165-yard club on level ground.
As your make your way to the top of the property, you soon realize what makes a setting like Packsaddle Ridge special. A grand view of the Shenandoah Valley blossoms and culminates on the 13th green in a vision you will soon not forget. There are even two Adirondack chairs at the back of the green providing the perfect moment to relax and breathe in the natural beauty and serenity of the location.
Amigos Favorite Hole: With many elevation changes and lots over overlook views, Packsaddle Ridge had many holes vying for our choice as favorite.
In the end we decided the par 4 323-yard number 14 was our favorite for its tempting risk reward design.
This short Par 4 is reachable for the long hitters but "probable" is a different story. The advisable way to play the hole is with an iron or hybrid to the middle of the fairways just prior to the creek that cuts across the bottom portion of the fairway.
From there you're only a wedge away to a green with a ridge running diagonally down the middle.As you proceed to the green you cross a covered cart bridge that adds to the scenic beauty of this short Par-4. The bridge is dedicated to Samantha, the grand daughter of course owner Bruce Forbes.
At the green everything depends on pin placement. If your ball is on the pin-side of the ridge you should have a good run at a birdie, anything on the opposite side of the ridge will make for a testy two putt to save your par.