After playing many golf community courses younger than our teenagers, it is refreshing to step back in time and play a classic course like the Farmington Club in Charlottesville, VA whose history, in at least one way, traces back to the 18th Century.  Just four miles from Thomas Jefferson’s own home at Monticello, the third U.S. President designed in 1803 two-rooms in an octagon shape as an addition to his friend George Divers’ plantation house in the Farmington Estate.  Today, the octagon serves as a grand side entrance and room for Farmington’s welcoming clubhouse.
    The surrounding neighborhood is Charlottesville’s richest and includes tidy little brick homes with three bedrooms as well as estates behind large iron gates.  Even the small homes sit on multi-acre plots of land.  Unlike in many newer communities, the houses do not intrude on the golf course, yet during our round we encountered an annoying number of out-of-bounds stakes marking the “back 40” of the properties.  It was the only even slightly false note struck during the round, which we played with HomeOnTheCourse subscriber Bob Harris, former dean of the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. 
    The Fred Findlay-designed golf course was built in 1927, during the golden age of American golf course architecture, and although it underwent a late 1980s redesign by Buddy Loving, the layout oozes with 1920s cachet. The three nines at Farmington are not long, and they put a premium on shot making on virtually every play.  The nines are played in three combinations; the South/North combo, at 6,600 yards from the back tees, is the original 18 and the standard.  The East nine (2,862 yards) was added in 1965 and is of a different character, considerably shorter and easier than the other nines, but with tighter landing areas and smaller greens. 
    The North/South routing (rating of 71.6 with a slope of 128) is a course of modest elevation changes, some gentle and some sharp doglegs, and tilted fairways that force you to think about placement from virtually every tee box.  We noted that some fairways tilted rather dramatically, calling for shaping of tee shots if you wanted a short approach, but penalizing you if you overcooked the draw or fade even a little.  Farmington puts a premium on the short game, and its short-practice facilities are about the best we have seen.  They include a large practice putting green, a green for long pitch shots (up to 70 yards) and a chipping green that includes a well-groomed sand trap with a range of angles and slopes from which to practice. 
    Farmington’s driving range is fairly standard fare, and shorter than most at just 250 yards.  Modified golf balls are provided; they fly normally up to about 140 yards, but beyond that their launch distance is ratcheted back (we don’t understand the physics of it, but the ball didn’t exactly fly off the clubface).  The limited balls are fine for warming up but not for getting the “feel” of four-iron shots.    
    Farmington’s 1,200 members are a comfortable mix of working families in their 30s and 40s and retirees.  The amenities appeal to all; Farmington offers more sporting amenities than most other clubs, with 18 tennis courts (three indoor) that are well used by its members, a large swimming pool, and a well-equipped fitness center the equal of those in most new communities.  Locker room facilities and the dining room are what you would expect, which is to say they befit the overall traditional private club atmosphere.   The club’s dining facilities enjoy a solid reputation; the food we had at lunch was excellent.
    Initiation fees for a family (or couple) is $29,000, with monthly dues currently $400 per month.  You will need one member to propose you and two to second the nomination.  Homes in the adjacent Farmington neighborhood average around $2 million and don’t dip much below $1.5 million.  A viable alternative is Ednam Forest nearby, an established community with an eclectic mix of homes in a heavily wooded area and prices about 25% less than in Farmington.
    How many golf clubs can boast a clubhouse designed by a U.S. President?  You will need to make a few friends to sponsor you for membership, but take some courses at UVA and one of your professors could very well be a member.  But while you are waiting to be approved, the excellent, University of Virginia owned and managed Birdwood course is across the street.  For Farmington membership information, contact Membership Coordinator Clare Rannigan at 434-245-0684, or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..


There is a lot of history around, and even on, the course at Farmington.

Pyramid scheme:  Glenmore's driving range is amply sized and professionally outfitted.

Golf Course Review 

    Glenmore is one of those communities that suddenly appears along a stretch of country road and, yet, is close to everything.  Just a 20-minute drive to the University of Virginia, the gated Glenmore is also conveniently close to all other conveniences and necessities, like hospitals and shopping within 15 minutes.  Its east-of-Charlottesville location offers alternative air transportation options for those willing to drive about an hour to Richmond International Airport.  The Washington, D.C., area airports are two hours away. 
    Glenmore appeals to those who still work and those who don’t with roughly equal numbers of retirees, young families and empty nesters who are still working at least part time.  “The home office,” says lead broker Tom Pace, “is an important room to have [in Glenmore].”
    Housing runs the gamut in the community.  We found what Glenmore calls their “Scottish Homes” to be especially interesting.  Eleven choices of models are available.  At 2,100 to 3,700 square feet on lots from 2/10 and acre to ½ acre, these low maintenance homes fetch prices from around $550,000 to $800,000.  For $1,000 annually, an outside contractor handles all landscaping on the property, including mowing, mulch, fertilizer and aeration.  As for homes in the rest of the 1,300-acre community, they tend toward indigenous brick exteriors, with a good representation of hardy plank and stone.  Pace says Glenmore’s “bread and butter” house is about 3,000 square feet and sells for around $750,000.  There are no multi-family homes in Glenmore, although cottages are available (close together and some as small as 1,700 square feet) in the $400K range.  Owners of the cottages are required to purchase landscaping services for about $800 annually.  Houses in the rest of Glenmore range in price from $550,000 to more than $2 million.
    Glenmore has not been stingy with its non-residential land; 500 acres, including walking trails, a two-acre park, athletics fields and the golf course, will not be developed.  Just a small handful of Glenmore’s 800 lots remain available, and almost 700 of them have houses already.  This is a popular community near a popular town for both workers and retirees, and Glenmore’s resale values over the last few years have been strong. 
    The John LaFoy-designed golf course, which preceded the rest of the community, has the same kind of wide appeal as does the community that surrounds it.  LaFoy, a former president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects, is an authority on the classic designers, and among his body of work are renovations of courses originally designed by Alister Mackenzie, Seth Raynor, A.W. Tillinghast, Donald Ross and Charles Blair MacDonald.  As we made our way around Glenmore’s challenging track, we saw multiple classic influences in the Scottish-style bunkering, undulating and large greens, and sometimes dramatic changes in elevation (a number of those big greens sat well above the fairways). 
    Tree lines provided nice framing for both fairways and some of the greens, and houses rarely encroached.  Greens were aerated and heavily top-dressed when we played the course, but the rest of the layout was in nice condition; we didn’t have a bad lie in fairways.  Our only wish is that Glenmore would relocate the large, dark scoreboard that dominates the back of the 18th green.  Better to let the dramatic clubhouse form an uninterrupted backdrop on this good finishing hole.
    Full family golf membership initiation fee is $20,000 with monthly dues of $411, both reasonable not only for golf of this quality but also for the 15 tennis courts (nine lighted), fitness center, and large swimming pool, as well as both casual and more serious dining in the clubhouse, with views out to and across the Rivanna River to Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello.
    From the Scottish style homes to the golf course design unashamedly influenced by Ross, McKenzie and the other greats, Glenmore is true to its name.  Coming up the long, uphill finishing hole to the dramatic clubhouse, only the elimination of the scoreboard and addition of a bagpiper might have improved the scene.  For info, contact Lead Broker Tom Pace at 800-776-5111, or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  Website:  www.glenmore.com

Eyes have it:  You wonder if architect John LaFoy was having a little fun when he put a "human face" on one of the holes at Glenmore.