The Golf Guide
Winter 2004
The Woods: A Ray of Light Nick Ciattei
My first introduction to The Woods Resort was a whopper. If my memory serves me correctly, I was in charge of arranging a spring golf trip for about 12 couples back in the early 1990’s. With most of the group coming out of the Baltimore area, I distinctly remember the outstanding Maryland style crab cakes they served at the restaurant there. We had a dilly of a time and the golf was terrific.
Ray Johnston is a man of vision. The owner and developer of The Woods started this project as a vacation home community in 1976. Today, your choices at The Woods include lodging or living with a list of amenities suited to pamper any lifestyle. Johnston opened the first 18 back in 1989. Since then he has added holes and changed them. The two 18 hole golf courses, as they stand today, are as playable and fun as any in the Mid-Atlantic. The Championship Mountain View and Stony Lick mid-length courses give players choices and combinations for their golfing pleasure.
The Mountain View course is routed through 500 acres with exciting holes and spectacular panoramic views at every turn. Carved from a forest, Mountain View’s fairways are framed by dogwood, maple, oak and pine trees. The two par 3’s on the front nine are memorable, not for their length, but rather that both require a forced carry over water. Rumor has it this is how The Woods stocks their driving range. You’ll notice that the Mountain View layout is not overbearing in length. Johnston designed it so that straight ball hitters would score well just by managing their game properly. Because of the rolling plateau, the course meanders along and you’ll want to choose wisely which side of the fairway to be on. The par 5, seventh is called “Road Hole” and is considered one of the best three-shot, par fives in the region. 550 yards from the tips, uphill half the way and normally into the wind, it sometimes takes three good shots to find the putting surface. The par 4, eighth is one of my favorites. It is an example of mountain golf architectural style at its best. Mountain View plays a single loop with a well positioned snack bar accessible several times in your round. The most demanding tee shot of the day is found at the long 416-yard, par 4 twelfth. It favors a right to left ball flight over a pond to a fairway that slopes away from left to right. It is a visually intimidating shot.
The inward nine has 2 solid par fives, including the fifteenth, which necessitates a decision from the fairway as to whether to go for the green in two. The smart play is a lay-up shot because the green is small and sits close to a pond. The 563-yard eighteenth is one of the best closing holes you’ll play anywhere. Your approach to the green will need a delicate touch because your target is surrounded by four impending bunkers.
The Stony Lick 18 hole mid-length course, which opened in 2002, is maturing nicely and fast becoming as popular as its championship sister course. I enjoy it more each time I play. The Woods is finding out that even low handicappers enjoy Stony Lick because it’s maintained and conditioned like a regulation course and allows them to work on their short games, a common practice amongst good players. Several streams, ponds and lakes provide a picturesque setting for the course. It will surprise you and test your game to its fullest. I didn’t know golf was supposed to be this fun! The first hole of Stony Lick is the one you see as you enter The Woods golf complex on your way to the clubhouse. From the plateau, golfers encounter an 80-foot vertical drop to the green. Johnston designed the course with three things in mind. It takes about an hour less to play, the difficulty factor is less and walkers and families enjoy mid-length courses. Ten par 3’s and eight par 4’s make up the layout. Where else would you find a 200-yard par 4? The ninth at Stony Lick is just that. Your tee shot is a lay-up and your approach must be an accurate pitch across the pond. The longest hole is the thirteenth, a 330-yard par 4 that may be easier to get on in two than down in two. The green has severe undulations and is dubbed “Three Putt.” My favorite hole may just be the shortest hole on the entire course. The sixteenth is a picture perfect postcard. It’s just one hundred yards downhill to a green protected by a creek with a stone bridge. The finishing par 3 is the eighteenth, where four bunkers surround the putting surface. The shot is uphill all the way, so take one more and get it close for birdie!
These two great golf courses are just part of the wide scope of attractions at The Woods Resort. They are in the process of upgrading their existing sports and recreation center. The buzz is that it’s going to be first class with a full service salon and spa, enlarged swimming pool, massage rooms and more. Look for a completion sometime this spring. The way Ray Johnston does things, we expect nothing but the best. That’s been his foresight.
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