draper valley golf club

Club house staff was friendly and helpful. The course map they provide to first time golfers was helpful. The course is well maintained and in perfect condition. It does tend to get crowded on Saturday, but there is a marshal who keeps an eye on things. All the holes are challenging but not impossible and the greens are not totally flat but not too uneven either. Greens fees with a cart are very reasonable, especially for seniors. There is a "water station" aned restroom on each nine. There is a snackbar with the usual hot dogs, hamburgers, barbecue, etc.

I live in Roanoke valley, 57 miles from this golf course. But I play this course FAR more than any other!! It is visible if you are traveling on I-81 at milepost 88 in SW Virginia, especially from the southbound lanes. The reasons I am willing to travel so far to play this course, in addition to being interesting and gorgeous, are that the greenskeeper is a dream-come-true for me. The greens here are bent grass, and they will hold approach shots MUCH better than most other courses. You will actually see ball marks on the greens, which I consider a huge plus!! Not the marks themselves, but the fact that the greens are not rock hard. Lots of break on the greens. Big pieces of advice: A. on holes that head toward the interstate (that face south ... 1st, 4th, 6th, even the 8th, 14th and 15th), the approach shot will be more downhill than it appears. But conversely and to an even greater extent, B. holes that head north, away from interstate (2nd, 3rd !!, 5th !!, 9th a bit, 11th, 13th!!, 16th!! and 17th!!) are mostly steep uphill. I am not a high ball hitter (although I am a solid single-digit handicapper), so I have to "add clubs" on those holes like crazy. C. Do not gamble by trying to drive the 10th or 18th holes if you are a long hitter, unless you are part of a scramble or better ball tournament (and a partner has driven first and is in good position). There is a ton of trouble around those greens, and both tee shots would be completely blind. D. Forgive the one hole that should be changed ..... the 14th. A tree in the fairway 95 yards short of this 422-yard (but quite downhill) hole. Better to be slightly in the left rough than the right-center of the fairway. I disagree with the fellow's review that the par 3's are weak. Both the 3rd and 16th are steep uphill to small greens, and the 11th is my nemesis hole, a not-too-long par 3 over water that sits on a narrow embankment (green is very wide but not at all deep, quite narrow from front edge to back). Deepest trap on the course is in front of the middle of the 11th green, a nasty spot for a shot that at least made it over the water. The 7th is a very short, downhill par 3 hole (something like 160 yards, but steep downhill), and easy if you can hit the ball straight. But there is a good -sized trap left, a pond further left, a creek over and left, and another trap short right. Best advice of all that I can give? On your first visit, try to arrange to play this course with someone who plays it regularly, or who has at least played it a couple of times in the current year. One last suggestion: when playing this course for 1st time, consider playing it from the white tees. This course is a bear for me now from the championships. I tried it one last time last summer when the course was dry (we are in the midst of a wet May as I type this), and it was still not a good idea. Who will not like this course? Players who want A. A flat course. This is the opposite. B. Players who want greens with a stimp of 9.5 or more. Once in a long while DVGC greens might get that fast, but that is a rare occurrence, or at least it has been in the past. C. Players who want there to be lots of fairway bunkers. Draper Valley has a few here and there, but for the most part they are off to the sides, and frankly the golfer deserves to be in a trap in most cases (one exception is the fairway bunker on the right side of 4th hole).

Love playing this course because you can just let the driver rip. Par 3's are weak and course is PGA long from the back tees, but the back 9 has a bunch of interesting holes and the staff is friendly.

Draper Valley was part of a golf trip we booked through Region One Golf and Travel. Alan Kelly was outstanding trip organizer. Draper is rated as one of Golf Digests Top 50 under $50 and really deserves the rating. Clubhouse is fully stocked and folks were very accomodating. Replay rate for 3rd 9 was cart fee. Course layout is within housing development but homes are never intrusive. Wide variety of holes. Lots of room -- ALMOST impossible to loose a ball. Even in early March greens and fairways in good shape. Excellent practice ground. Only suggestion is to add a set of tees between the White (6412 yds) and Gold (5467 yds) --- White is to long for guys with 200 yd. tee shots and Gold is to short for their egos. Could have played this all 3 days.