Robert Trent Jones And Golden Horseshoe

Robert Trent Jones and Golden Horseshoe

this week's blog post, I will be reviewing and comparing two more golf courses located in Virginia. The two courses I will be talking about are the Robert Trent Jones Golf Course and the Golden Horseshoe Golf Course. Golden Horseshoe Golf Course holds two 18-hole courses, while Robert Trent Jones Golf Course has one 18-hole course. Out of all the courses I have reviewed, these are by far the most luxurious courses on the list. They both are very prized courses in their areas and hold multiple events, which include high-paying tournaments and specialized personal events. I will be discussing both of these courses in detail, going over information such as basic introduction and history, overall pricing, and overall difficulty of each course. 

Robert Trent Jones Golf Course is located in Gainesville, Virginia. This course was designed by Robert Trent Jones in 1988 and was opened in 1991. There is one full 18-hole course, and this is a private club that is open to paying members only. The course layout sits alongside Lake Manassas, which allows for beautiful scenery to be seen while playing. I have personally never played this course, but after researching it, I would love to be able to experience it personally.

When going to play an 18-hole round of golf with a cart at Robert Trent Jones Golf Course, you are not able to unless you pay a yearly membership. The annual membership dues are around $10,000, with a $100,000 initiation fee. It's very easy to say I will likely never be playing at this golf course.

When discussing the difficulty level of playing at Robert Trent Jones Golf Course, overall, I would say this is a very difficult course. It was designed to be a championship-level course, which makes it way more difficult in comparison to other courses that we have reviewed. The layout is around 7,500 yards, which makes it a large 18-hole with multiple water shots and angled fairways. This, alongside bunkers that make it difficult to get on the green, allows for a pace of play that challenges.

Golden Horseshoe Golf Club is located in historic Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. It was originally designed in 1947 as a 9-hole course. In 1963, the course was upgraded to an 18-hole course and was designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr., and it’s believed to be his best golf course architecture design of his career. Later, in 1991, his son Rees Jones designed the second 18-hole course, making Golden Horseshoe Golf Club a full two-course club. In recent years, Golden Horseshoe Golf Club did some substantial renovations to the overall course by meeting more modern standards. I have personally never played this course, but after doing a lot of research, I believe that this is a very high-quality establishment that is well respected among top-level players.

When going to play an 18-hole round of golf with a cart at Golden Horseshoe Golf Course, you are looking to pay around $99–$169. In comparison to Robert Trent Jones Golf Course, this course is actually playable to the public. Though it is by far the most expensive public course on my review list, I would love to be able to go and play it one day.

When discussing the difficulty level of Golden Horseshoe Golf Course, there is no doubt this is one of the most difficult courses I have reviewed. Between the two 18-hole courses, they are both designed as championship-level courses that are extremely difficult for average golfers. I would not recommend playing this course if you are not a well-experienced golfer.

In conclusion, there is a lot to be said about both of these courses. I feel as if this week's reviews were more far-fetched in the eyes of a normal golfer. Both of these courses are extremely prestigious in comparison to others I have reviewed in prior weeks. It interests me that there are courses like this in Virginia that cost so much money to be a part of. They are also designed to be very difficult overall. I would not recommend playing these courses if you are not a very experienced golfer. My overall takeaways from reviewing these courses are that you get what you pay for. For example, the initiation fee at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club costs more than most people make in one year.

Thank you for reading this blog post! Next week, I will be discussing Kingsmill River Course in Williamsburg and Two Rivers Country Club in Williamsburg.

*Robert Trent Jones Score Card*