Virginia’s Primland Resort

For nearly three decades the 12,000-acre Primland Resort near Meadows of Dan, Virginia, has been devoted to hunting, fishing, sporting clays and horseback/all terrain-vehicle riding on more than 90 miles of wilderness trails. While those sports are still major activities, the opening of The Highland Course in 2006 heralded a new direction for the resort. Designed by renowned Scottish architect Donald Steel, the 7,034-yard layout follows the crest of a ridge 2,850 feet above sea level. On almost every hole there are views of valleys and mountain ranges to the East and West.“There is a remoteness about Primland, a sense of escape, that is special,” says Steel. “Golf courses have been built in every landscape imaginable but only rarely on mountain peaks. Primland sits on top of the world, enjoying scenic views that stretch the vocabulary, and with a course design that is very different.”

I agree. Having played the course several times, I continue to be awed by it. It is one of my favorite mountain tracks. It’s no surprise to me that Travel+Leisure Golf named The Highland to its America’s Best New Courses list when it opened in 2007. Or that, the following year, it was Golf Digest’s choice as the country’s best new public course in the over $75 a round category.

The first hole is a portent of challenges–and scenery–to come. The par-five doglegs through an opening in a rocky ledge and drops steeply to an angled green that drops off on three sides. Behind the green, the land slopes into a deep valley with tree-covered mountains rising on the far side.

The 463-yard (427-382-346) dogleg par four tees off next to the lodge and sweeps right around a down-slope covered in tall grass. While the fairway looks like a big target, deep bunkers are set into mounds on the right and bunkers on the left fringe are also positioned to catch drives. It takes a good long drive to be in position to carry the cross bunkers in front of the green, and stick your ball on the slick putting surface. With good reason, it’s the number one handicap.

Steel often allowed the terrain to provide natural hazards—cliffs and deep woods from which there is no escape—but he spiced up an already stiff test with vast, Scottish-style bunkers throughout, and none are extraneous. To top it off, the greens are quite large, with lots of undulations and a short-clipped fringe that invites balls to roll away.

In short, it’s a course that does not “suffer fools gladly.” You must choose your tee (5,422-6,054-6,450-6,771-7,034 yards) and your clubs wisely—and plan your strategy on every hole so you can achieve a favorable position for your approach.

I’ve also dined with Steel several times at Primland, and found him to be delightful, with a wry Scottish humor and a wealth of stories from his colorful past. A graduate of St. Andrews University, he became the Sunday Telegraph’s golf correspondent at 34, a position he held for 30 years. In 1960 he graduated from Cambridge with a master of arts degree, and turned his hand to designing golf courses. In addition to having careers in golf writing and architecture, Steel has held many distinguished posts and honors—including being an advisor to every club that has hosted the British Open.

NEEDS UPDATE FROM HEREFinding a world-class golf course by such an esteemed architect atop Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains is great—a pleasure that is compounded by finding a gourmet chef there, too. The resort’s Stables Saloon Restaurant is rustic chic, with knotty pine walls decorated in nineteenth-century hunting and fishing paraphernalia. It’s a place where hunters, fishermen, golfers and families alike are at ease

member of the Primland team is Head Golf Professional Jeff Fraim, a 34-year-old Class “A” PGA member with 16 years in the business, most of it at prestigious private clubs such as the Myopia Hunt Club and the Edgartown Golf Club in Massachusetts, Yeamans Hall Club in Charleston, South Carolina, and the Sunnybrook Golf Club in Pennsylvania.

All of the Primland staff are looking forward to the opening in 2009 of the “Clubhouse,” the resort’s main lodge, which will contain 26 beautifully appointed rooms and suites with nine different floor plans. All have great views. We did a hard-hat tour of the building in August 2008 with the hotel’s general Manager, Brooks Bradbury, who came to Primland from Kohler, Wisconsin. Needless to say, the bathroom and kitchen fixtures are stunning. We were enchanted by the loft suite, which occupies two floors of a round turret topped by an observatory with a 360-degree view.

surroundings. Similar architecture was employed in the three luxurious new fairway cottages, each with a kitchen and two bedrooms, vaulted wood ceilings with exposed beams, and stone fireplaces. Our cottage had a private porch with comfortable chairs overlooking the tenth fairway—a perfect place for early morning coffee and late afternoon drinks. One night we were lulled to sleep by the sound of rain drumming on the tin roof.

On another visit we stayed in one of the 15 older—but no less luxurious—cabins tucked into the woods along the ridge, with views of the valleys and mountains beyond. The cabins range from one to seven bedrooms, most with screened porches and gas fireplaces. Furnishings in the cabins and fairway cottages fit the setting—thick quilts, wood floors and deep, comfortable chairs and sofas.