Stonehouse Golf Club
Stonehouse Golf Club
9700 Mill Pond Run
Toano, VA 23168-9605
United States
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Overview
Strantz won Golf Digest’s Best New Upscale Public Course in 1996 for his design at Stonehouse, 40 miles east of Richmond. Magazine panelists clearly scored it high, but it’s possible they did so because they didn’t know what else to make of it. Of all Strantz’s designs, this one is the least coherent because it’s the least cohesive. The holes make a wandering six-mile circuit around a heavily wooded property with significant ups and downs that feel mountainous in places. Some sections are sleek and slithering, and others are broad and cresting as if imported from another part of the world. Unfavorable economics in the 2000s contributed to the slow deterioration of Stonehouse, and the course closed temporarily in 2017 before new ownership revived it in 2019. What a relief—though a little out-of-sync overall, its eccentric architecture makes it a must-play when in the Richmond-Norfolk area.
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Ratings from our panel of 1,900 course-ranking panelists
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Review
“This a typical Stranz course. It meanders though the countryside using the natural terrain to dictate one’s shot choices. Each hole is an adventure unto itself with no visibility from hole to hole. The tee boxes and fairways need some remedial work to bring them up to par, or even a semblance of good maintenance. Without sounding sexist, even playing from the red or rose tee boxes, one who does not have adequate distance would find it impossible to overcome the forced carries. And one must be particularly long off the tee to play from either the tips or blue tee boxes. The three stars is merited simply because it is a Stranz course. Love his work or hate it, it is amazing how he was able to visualize a golf course in this maze of hills, gulleys and water."
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