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Virginia Golf - There's plenty of golf in Virginia! The Hampton Roads area has 40 golf courses, Northern Virginia has 45, and central Virginia has 50. And many of these courses also are top-quality, according to Cliff Holtzclaw, golf marketing manager for the Virginia Tourism Corp. The state has six golf resorts that rank among the country's top 100 to 200. The Homestead's Cascades and Colonial Williamsburg's Golden Horseshoe Gold golf courses often place on top-50 lists. Wintergreen, Kingsmill, The Tides, and TPC of Virginia Beach also are nationally-known golf destinations. Packages combine greens fees with meals and lodging for multiday golf vacations. Ask our Golf Specialist to assist you in either customizing your own golfing itinerary, or in reserving one of the golf packages listed below. (For a copy of the 'Virginia Golf Guide', call (800) 932-2259.) For assistance with Business Meetings on Virginia Golf Courses, contact our Business Travel Specialist! Business Meetings Tee Up on Virginia
Courses BUSINESS MEETINGS TEE UP ON
VIRGINIA COURSES Mattaponi Springs joins a long list of business-friendly golf course sin Virginia. More than 340 private and public courses are available across the 500-mile breadth of the Old Dominion. The courses are as diverse as the state's geography. As a result, there is a golf course with the right style and price tag for almost everyone. The arrival of warmer and longer days signal the return of corporate and charity golf outings. Corporate-, charity- and association-based golf provides "our single largest customer base," says Jason Paul, general manager of WESTFIELDS GOLF CLUB in Clifton. "A relatively large amount of attention is geared to that segment; 70 percent of our outings are repeat business." Westfields features a Fred Couples/Gene Bates signature course that opened to rave reviews in 1998. The course is open to the public and it has a small membership. However, in association with the Westfields Marriott hotel makes it a prime spot for a one-day outing or tee times for someone attending a conference in Northern Virginia. A combination of location and service is the drawing card at Westfields. "There aren't many public facilities this close to the beltway," Paul says, "and the focus is on customer service because it's Marriott managed." The outing season for most golf courses is April to October. Outings are held every month at Westfields, but the highest numbers occur May through June and September through October. "Corporate business is the most lucrative segment of our business," Paul says. "They tend to spend a little more in the golf shop and in the restaurants." Westfields plays host to a number of Washington Redskins charity events. In addition, the Congressional Black Caucus has held outings there, as have companies such as Washington Technologies and National Geographic. Business-friendly courses walk a fine line of meeting the needs of the corporate or charity client and the demands of their regular clientele whether it be daily fee players or private club members. Outing scheduled in the morning leave the course open for afternoon play and vice versa. "We will always try to strike a balance (between outing and daily play)," Ferris says. "We project having 30 to 40 outings a year. We are seeking the business, but we aren't driving for it." Westfields limits its corporate outings to Monday through Thursday. Other resorts and public courses have similar limitations. Private clubs often hold outings on Mondays because that is the day the club usually is closed. We have found that both public and private courses in Virginia are more likely to be the sites for one day outings. Resorts are usually the choice for corporate or association meetings. All resorts are business friendly and try to accommodate you; they are easy to work with when planning tournaments or group play. But for incentive travel (meeting a sales goal, etc.), more than for other meetings - a recognizable course, whether because of the destination or for the course, is an important factor; if everything is comparable, a resort with a recognizable course will have the edge.
Virginia resorts have some of the most recognizable course in the country, In its annual Middle Atlantic Source Book, Washington Golf Monthly lists 17 resorts from affordable to expensive. "For every resort, group business is an important component," says Wayne Nooe, vice president for golf and club operations for KINGSMILL RESORT & SPA in Williamsburg. "When our salespeople go out, they know groups are looking at other sites. You try to separate yourself with the services you provide. A business group is looking for ease at getting out of the meeting and onto the golf course. The services a golf staff provides that facilitate that is the No. 1 factor." The River Course at Kingsmill played host to a PGA Tour tournament for 22 years and now is the site of one of the richest tournaments on the LPGA Tour, the $2.2. million Michelob ULTRA Open. The resort has two other 18-hole courses and a nine-hole par-3 layout. "Larger groups will ask about playing a specific course. For other groups, the course isn't that important," Nooe says. "Some groups want to play the River Course and they will adjust their schedule to do so."
The venerable HOMESTEAD in Hot Springs has three 18-hole courses, including the Cascades, a layout that is a fixture on numerous lists of the top 100 courses in the United States and is rated No. 1 in Virginia. The U.S. Golf Association has completed seven tournaments there.
FORD'S COLONY in Williamsburg has 54 holes. Colonial Williamsburg's GOLDEN HORSESHOE GOLF CLUB's Gold an Green courses have been the sites for three USGA events.
WINTERGREEN offers the golf course with the highest elevation in the Old Dominion, Devils Knob, and 27 holes at STONEY CREEK in the valley below. If the weather's right, you can attend a meeting, play golf at Stoney Creek and ski all in the same day.
The TIDES INN in Irvington, the BOAR'S HEAD INN in Charlottesville and LANSDOWNE in Leesburg have meeting facilities, excellent accommodations and golf courses - the Golden Eagle, the Birdwood and the soon-to-be 36 holes at Lansdown - that are among the most challenging in the state. THE
BIG TWO OF VIRGINIA Area golf associations offer multiday packages with lodging, meals and greens fees in a general area. WILLIAMSBURG to VIRGINIA BEACH has partnered on this golf promotion where golfers can reserve a hotel room and tee times on a variety of courses. Golf carts and greens fees are included in the price, which varies depending on whether moderate, premium, or super-premium lodging and golf courses are selected. In WILLIAMSBURG, the cost of two nights of lodging and tree rounds of golf midweek in late July is $471 pp/dbl. The price includes one round of golf at a super-premium course, the Golden Horseshoe Gold, and other choices from the premium list: a stay at the Williamsburg Lodge and golf at the Golden Horseshoe Green and Williamsburg National. At the moderate end, packages could cost as little as $288 pp/dbl for two nights and four rounds of golf. ROANOKE VALLEY has similar packages mixing seven golf courses and nine hotels. A moderate package there would begin at $178 pp/dbl occupancy for two nights and three rounds of golf. VIP Pass Some state area golf associations offer the VIP PASS for golf tourists interested in a stopover on the way to another tourist destination. GOLF TRAIL: Virginia courses (that could be part of a 'trail', perhaps associated with Sam Snead) include the RIVER COURSE in Radford, HANGING ROCK in Salem, LURAY CAVERNS, the HOMESTEAD, WINTERGREEN, KINGSMILL'S GOLDEN HORSESHOE, THE TRADITION CLUB at Royal New Kent, STONEHOUSE, THE TIDES, HERON RIDGE, and TPC VIRGINIA BEACH.
PGA Tour-Sponsored Tournaments: Three PGA tour-sponsored tournaments are played in the state: the Michelob Championship at KINGSMILL in Williamsburg, and the Buy.Com Tour events in Richmond at STONEHENGE GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB, and in Virginia Beach at TPC VIRGINIA BEACH. |
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