Old Trail Golf Club (Crozet, VA)

Old Trail is a scenic golf course nestled near the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Jerry Kamis designed it in 2005. It's part of a housing community, and kudos must be given because the course avoids the homes and focuses on golfers having a good time, enjoying both the golf and scenery. 

(The 222 yard second is the best hole on the course. What an exciting shot across the valley!)

The first five holes are well designed. Janis did a good job routing the holes around and over the valleys.

 (The first tee shot of the day. Hope you warmed up on the range.) 

(The tee shot on the 624 yard par five third. Note the view of the mountains in the background...)

(....the green at three. The hole switches back to the left, forcing players to make

a long carry over the valley unless they've hit two well struck shots past the dogleg.)

(The par four fifth is interesting. Players can challenge the water hazard and drive it up in the neck of the fairway, leaving a short iron. Conservative play is out to the left, to the fat part of the fairway, but it's a much longer second.) 

Then the course becomes complacent, and some of the holes I would even call throwaways. The seventh and thirteenth, both par threes, are guilty of this. One and three are such great par fives, I think Kamis would've been better off making eight, ten, and fourteen long par fours. They're just too short as par fives. 

(Looking back towards the ninth tee box, 167 yard par three. I like rustic structures. They give the hole a bit of personality.) 

(Fifteen is only 136 yards, but the green is such that a couple pin positions can be decidedly difficult to get close.)

I found the last hole to be quite interesting. Every review I read put it down, but I think that's because they didn't understand it. The fairway is cut in half by a diagonal valley. If you hit a driver, or even a hybrid, straight, then the ball will kick forward down the hill, and you ll have a horrible stance for your approach. The strategy is either layup to the diagonal; hit driver down the right side away from the valley; or purposely hit into the valley and take a chance with the lie and stance. The line of charm is disrupted and I really like that. It ll take a few plays to figure it out. 

(A successful tee shot on eighteen leaves an approach over the valley to a well defended green. There's plenty of room left for those bailing out. It's a tough up n down from there, but manageable.)

Old Trail is a nice golf course. The members cite how it's in good shape, gives them a chance to score well, and the mountain views are great. I give it a 3 (average).