Merchant Square in the heart of Williamsburg features quaint shops and a number of restauraunts.
For all but the most adolescent-minded of buddy golfers, Williamsburg is a better choice for both a golfing week and, perhaps, a permanent living situation, than is Myrtle Beach.
There are just so many courses you can play in one week; having 115 of them at your disposal on The Grand Strand is superfluous. After a week in Williamsburg, I'd say that the area's top 10 golf courses are as good as the top 10 in Myrtle Beach, which I have played over time. And the atmosphere at the golf clubs in the Williamsburg area seemed more refined. Williamsburg has no strip joints and no bars per se (just bars in restaurants), so if you are on a cut-loose golf vacation, head for Myrtle Beach or Orlando. But for the pure golf crowd focused on the golf, excellent lodging, some cultural activities post round and a good meal each evening, Williamsburg is a viable alternative.
Getting around Williamsburg seemed a lot easier than negotiating Highway 17 in Myrtle Beach. Williamsburg is finally growing as other southeastern golf destinations have grown, but the town already has good roads in place, including I-64 and US 60. Only at peak commuter times did I encounter any hiccups in traffic flow, mostly the result of traffic-signal congestion.
Although Pete Dye softened his original design at Kingsmill's River Course, he still made the greens a challenge to get to.
Williamsburg offers virtually every combination of golf course community, with prices to match a range of budgets. The resort community of Kingsmill provides two outstanding golf courses (The River and The Woods courses) and a good one in The Plantation course. Its nine-hole par three course runs along the James River with stunning views. Services at the golf course were excellent, for both guests and members, friendly and prompt and providing the feel of a private club. The lack of a resort hotel building - guests stay in condos - enhances the notion of private club. Because Kingsmill has been a tournament venue for more than 25 years, and is currently home of the LPGA Michelob Ultra open, the golfing amenities are excellent. Housing in Kingsmill, which is owned and run by Anheuser Busch, whose brewery and Busch Gardens are on adjacent properties, runs the gamut, from townhouses and condos to estate-sized homes, at prices that range from $350,000 to more than $4 million. Golf club initiation fees are $25,000 per couple, refundable at 75% of total (non-equity initiation is $10,000). One important note: Each day, Kingsmill designates one of its courses for member-play only, a daring and smart move.
Guests at the Marriott Hotel, one of the busiest in the chain, can almost roll out of bed and play one of the three courses at Ford's Colony.
The huge Ford's Colony, which is more than 20 years old, finesses its status as a resort. Its residential areas are segregated from the tourist's rentals and the Marriott Hotel that provides many of the golf packages that help populate and fund maintainence of the 54 holes of golf. Although the main entrances to the 4,00+ acre community are not gated, a key code is required for access to the interior entrances to the property's various neighborhoods. As at Kingsmill, Ford's Colony offers the entire range of house options, at prices that begin at $300,000 for a town home. Single-family homes with water or golf course views begin around $650,000. The three courses at Ford's Colony don't provide the drama or river views of Kingsmill, but a mid-teens handicap player will find much to like in the Dan Maples designs. Blue Heron was pretty easy without being boring, probably the best definition of a resort course. Golf initiation fees at Ford's Colony are $30,000 if you purchase a home through the on-site real estate office, $60,000 otherwise. We met one person during the week who had purchased a home in Ford's Colony via an outside real estate agent and resented the $30,000 "penalty" for having done so. He opted to join the Two Rivers Club at Governor's Land instead, for an initiation fee of $30,000 (equity).
The 16th at the Two Rivers course at Governor's Land provides the first glimpse of the James and Chickahominy Rivers, beyond the green.
What Governor's Land lacks in quantity (of golf) it makes up for in quality. It is the only strictly private golf community in Williamsburg. Its 18-hole Two Rivers Golf Club by Tom Fazio, opened in 1992, is lined with homes mostly designed in the Williamsburg tradition -- large, attractive and well back from the course, hidden for the most part behind mounds. The Fazio layout features a number of doglegs with the designer's customary big fairway bunkers, well-protected and undulating greens and, of course, buried cart paths. The two rivers at Two Rivers are the Chickahominy and James which merge just behind the clubhouse, forming a three-mile wide body of water that gives the effect almost of playing at ocean side (the wind blows too). Although the final three holes play along the river, the water does not come into play unless you overcook severely your approach on the finishing hole.
Narrow landing areas are only a few of the many challenges at the Arthur Hills layout for Colonial Heritage.
Colonial Heritage is a six-year old, age-restricted community whose challenging (tough, really) Arthur Hills course opened for public play in October. You must be 55 or older to live in the community and are required to abide by certain restrictions (e.g. limits on length of visits by children and grandchildren). Like most such communities, the gated Colonial Heritage is loaded with amenities like an indoor pool, a vast clubhouse (we were impressed by the two pool tables), concierge-type services, and reasonably priced houses, albeit on small lots set close together. I felt a little masochistic in my admiration for the difficult golf course, and I was confused as well: I don't know many players in their 60s and older who will be able to negotiate the forced carries over ravines that Hills has incorporated into his inventive design. It is small wonder the course counts only 44 members thus far, in spite of the modest initiation fees of $3,150 (per couple) for community residents (members also pay just $10 per cart rental, the best rate we have found anywhere). For those of us up for a severe challenge, Colonial Heritage is a must stop, in nice shape and with helpful folks in and around the golf shop.
Not everyone wants a home inside the gates of an amenities-loaded golf community, especially if membership in a private club is not a priority. In Williamsburg, the choices for daily-fee play are abundant. Williamsburg National is a 36-hole complex by The Nicklaus Design Group that emerged next to The Greens Springs timeshare resort (Does anyone buy timeshares anymore?). I drove through the surrounding communities - there are at least a half dozen that touch the courses at some point - and the choices were plentiful and less expensive than in the area's gated communities. Other excellent daily fee courses, including the heralded Mike Strantz layout at Stonehouse, are all within a half hour.
Finally, my only golfing disappoint with my week in Williamsburg was that I did not get to play either of the two renowned courses at The Golden Horseshoe complex, the only one in the area that is without adjacent housing. Many regard The Gold Course as the best layout in Williamsburg, something I hope to confirm on a drive south later this summer spring.
We will publish a much more estensive overview of Williamsburg and its golfing communities in an upcoming issue of HomeOnTheCourse, our bi-monthly newsletter.