Brickshire Golf Club (Providence Forge, VA)

Brickshire is so different from it's neighbor, Royal New Kent, that it becomes a must play for those looking for an alternative to Strantz's design. It's a layout with traditional principles and strategies, including few holes emulated after famous ones. 

(The eighteenth is regarded as one of the finest finishing holes in the mid-atlantic. The bunker complex in middle of fairway forces players to make decision on plan of attack. Water guarding right side also guards front of green. Great hole!)

Tom Clark with Curtis Strange designed it in 2001. While most modern courses focus on the aerial game, Brickshire focuses on angles and the ground game is an option. The first hole is templated after the third at Augusta, "Flowering Peach", where the further right the drive, the tougher the approach to a left tilted green. 

It's theses type of strategies that makes Brickshire a fun golf course. The par fives have central bunkers that make players decide between conservative and aggressive. Drive the bunkers on three, and the ground pitches downhill to give the ball a boost into "go" range. Or nine where "Hell's Bunker" instills fear in the second shot, making a tough par five tougher. The 618 yard par five twelfth tumbles downhill, left to right, all the way to the green. Now that's a par five! And finally the eighteenth which many think is the best ending hole in the Mid-Atlantic. 

The par fours are well varied, and a couple drive n pitch, including a driveable one, are balanced by a few long ones. The 478/440 yard fifth can be played left knowing the ball will run back to the right. Carry the left trap 50 yards short of the green, and it's possible the ball might make the putting surface. Six has three central bunkers but it's only 292/264 yards, so a solid drive can carry them and reach the green. Seventeen at 475/420 has not a single bunker, but the downhill drive will have to go back uphill on the approach, making this a good four par. 

If there's one legitimate complaint, then it's the similarity of the par threes. Basically, the player is hitting across a ravine or gully uphill to the green. However, I've never seen a hole quite like fifteen. 

At 244/218 yards, the player might feel like he's looking at a short par four, but glancing at the scorecard will confirm this monster par three is like a vulcano that must be ascended with a fairway wood. There is plenty of room to hit left and play for an up n down pitch. This is the beauty of Brickshire. 

It's funny how back when we played Brickshire, RNK was the primary course that we went to see. All these years later, I lowered my opinion on RNK, but Ive raised it on Brickshire. Reading my notes, I think it would be a blast to play. Like I said at the beginning, the courses are neighbors. Thirty-six holes tween the two would be an awesome day. I give it a 6 (very good).