Golf at Luray's Caverns Club

Finally, we caught a break today from the rain that was really dampening the vacation. It’s Wednesday, and I dialed in for a few work conversations before I struck out to play 18 at the Caverns Country Club here in Luray – the photos that accompany this show a few highlights from the course. It was overcast, but no rain, and the sun did break through in patches.

I’d been looking forward to this round over the winter – in September, Dennis and I played the ShenVallee course in New Market, on the west side of the Massanutten ridge. We settled on that one because the Luray course wasn’t open.

Using the term “settled” is not meant to suggest that there was anything to disappoint about the course there, it was simply that the Luray course was closed for four days to do grounds maintenance, so we had to change plans and drive over there.

The Luray course is on the east side of the ridge, and there are three or four holes on the back nine that form a sort of corner along the South Fork of the Shenandoah. You catch a glimpse of it here and there through the trees, from the tee boxes, along the cart path, or as you walk up to the greens.

Some of the highlights of the course – I have photos here of the number one green, looking back at the clubhouse down number one fairway, the first par 3, one of the big par fives, a house with Duncan Knob in the background, and the charming little bird houses that form the 150-yard markers on most of the par fours and fives – include that river view and the views of two of the dominant Massanutten peaks, Duncan Knob and Kennedy peak, which are visible from most points on the course.

In previous posts (here: http://hawksbillcabin.blogspot.com/2009/03/weekend-hike-duncan-knob.html - three posts document the whole hike) I’ve written about the excellent Duncan Knob hike; it is so far my favorite over there.

The Caverns Club offers memberships and that is one of the reasons I have been wanting to check out the course. The big question will be, can a weekender count on a good start time Saturday or Sunday morning? Or will I have to take what I can get as a walk-on…the unasked question is whether or not there is a threesome looking for a regular fourth.

The results of my round – I shot a 98, with one triple bogey and two pars, the rest mostly single bogey with some doubles. I did take a few extra mullies off of the tee, but I played every hole to the score I wrote, so I am happy with this round, breaking 100 for the first time in a couple of years. I even pulled out the driver for a ceremonial tee shot on 18, and wound up with a nice 245-yarder. I haven’t hit that club in two years.

And to top it off, there was even a riddle for me as I left the parking lot: four Ontario-tagged SUVs were parked there, owners still out on the course somewhere. Did they drive down for a golf vacation in the Shenandoah Valley? Did our natural beauty tempt them to make a break for the sun after a bleak winter up there?