The Olde Farm

There are few places in the world, if any, where you can truly disappear and escape from the realities of modern-day life. At the Old Farm Golf Club, members and their guests speak volumes about 'crossing the cattle guards' and entering a sanctuary in which golf and friendships are all that matter. The frenetic pace of modern day life definitely seems to stop when you cross through the gates. Olde Farm, which sits in a natural valley in the southwestern foothills of Virginia, is the brainchild of James McGlothlin, a coal-mining baron and lover of golf. McGlothlin grew up in nearby Grundy where he was one of the founders of United Coal Company back in 1970, a company that grew into a diversified giant known as the United Company that sold in 2009. Jim wanted to build a place for his friends and their friends to gather and play golf which led him to the rural hills of Bristol, Virginia. The land is a stunning piece of property full of creeks, rocks and rolling hills. It used to be a working farm, with several barns and structures incorporated into the course, After purchasing the land, McGlothlin invited Bobby Weed up from his Ponte Vedra, Florida office to take a look at the site. He and Weed had worked together on the development of the Slammer & Squire course at World Golf Village in St. Augustine. Weed came, walked the property, and in one day 'found' the golf course. "When I first walked the property," said Bobby, "I was amazed at the landscape and I realized the golf course was already here. We just brought it out and knocked the dust off of it. Weed's routing was laid out in the valley, playing alongside the hills rather than up and over them, preserving the integrity of the valley and promoting walkability, both McGlothlin desires. "The course complements its surroundings completely," said Kenny Schweitzer, Membership Director. "You can't come here without admiring the natural beauty of the landscape." That landscape is clearly evident when approaching the property, but nothing prepares you for the view of the course and the Clinch Mountains from the back porch of the clubhouse, which was patterned after Castle Hill, a home built by Dr. Thomas Walker, guardian of Thomas Jefferson, near Charlottesville. From this vantage point, the links-style course unfolds below, with windswept grasses, rugged bunkering with fescue "eyebrows", expose rock croppings, several ponds and Sinking Creek meandering across the bottom of the valley. The 7,063 yard, par 71 course features bentgrass tees, fairways and greens with Kentucky bluegrass roughs. Wide fairways, open entrances to greens and large putting complexes make The Olde Farm a course anybody can enjoy. There is a great openness to the course which allows it to play firm and fast, the way Weed designed it to play. Scoring well is another matter. The course requires strategic placement of tee shots, accurate approaches to well-guarded greens and a dependable putter. There are few flat spots on any of the putting surfaces and Sinking Creek comes into play on seven holes. While every hole is memorable, standouts include the 446-yard, par 4, 2nd with its intimidating downhill tee shot and well guarded green; the 438-yard, par 4, 3rd which rides along the ridge top and offers unimpeded views of the entire course; the devilish 386-yard, 14th, which one member says has 'one of the meanest greens on the course;' the 461 yard, par 4,16th guarded down the entire right side by cattails and a pond. Let's just say it is a daunting design.