Pipestem Resort State Park (Pipestem, WV)

Pipestem State Park is a wonderful place to enjoy nature, and I don't feel golf was necessarily on the list as a priority there. Nonetheless, a piece of property with great views and an architect with pedigree should have been able to design a more than functional golf course. Geoffrey Cornish, a northeast guy who is familiar with tough terrain, designed what I would call a pedestrian course. 

(The seventeenth plays 199 yards across the corner of the mountain. Wonderful views as the player walks to the green. This and eighteen make for an excellent ending!) 

The first thirteen holes have one decent stretch of golf, three, four, and five. All three play atop the perimeter of the mountain, and any ball hit right will be gone. All the others play like Cornish was anticipating the course being played by beginners. It's quite disappointing. 

Then stepping on the fourteenth, the last five holes are fantastic! Fourteen is 203 yards over the ravine. Fifteen is 447 between large mature trees. 599 sixteenth is a monster three shot hole. Then 199 yard seventeen plays over the corner of the mountain, the views are tremendous as you look out across the valley and mountain tops! Then eighteen is a 443 yard uphill par four that plays to a plateau fairway and to an elevated green! If the other holes could have been like this, then Pipestem would be a top golf destination. 

Pipestem is a fantastic place to get away for the weekend. If golf crosses your mind, then a nice option. I feel it's an average course with a great ending. I give it a 3 (average).