2024 MGS Kingsmill Resort -Live Thread

[buckpillar]

On 6/1/2024 at 6:58 PM, TJ Hall said:

Honestly could not have asked for better weather for a round of golf..just wow!

Was able to play with @Golfspy_CG2, @sirchunksalot and @Berg Ryman and had a blast…sorry my putting was terrible again today.

@Golfspy_CG2 and @sirchunksalot teeing off on a par 3:

@sirchunksalot playing an approach with a nice fountain in the background

Looking at our approach

@Golfspy_CG2 teeing off with the auto flex…this is just too much flex for me…

And watching the first group off for the morning

MAN! Wish I could have made it to the outing. Glad there was great weather and golf.

[buckpillar]

6 hours ago, rkj427 said:

Safe travels home to the Spies from the MGS Outing both flying the skies, and those hitting the roadways.

I don't leave until tomorrow, so I can add a few pictures from the Woods course today for viewing.

Again, some may appear to be duplicates, but they were taken in both landscape and portrait modes for the MGS staff to potentially use for social media sites.

View of the 9th and 18th greens from the back porch of the clubhouse. 

Two of our foursome today were members of #leftygang @MDGolfHacker and @TJ Hall

Some signage on the course, related to the property.

 

Various pictures from the course, showing not only the holes, but also the views of the landscape and scenery around the course.

 

Scores did not matter, the fun, enjoyment, and camaraderie of all ruled these past 4 days! 

Thanks to all the MGS staff for their efforts in making this a truly AWESOME experience for all the Spies in attendance.  

Great photos 

[berkeleybob]

Thanks all for sharing your time together here. It looked really special. I hope everyone who traveled home had a safe trip.

Did you folks add your scores to the VCT?

Edited June 3 by berkeleybob

[ejgaudette]

Great trip all and great to see everyone had a great time. Safe travels home everyone!

[jbern]

That trip looked great! Thanks for sharing all the photos and comments! I’m going to have to try to make next year’s outing! 
Safe travels!

[revkev]

Looks like so much fun. I wish we could do one of these in Florida in the winter - there are a bunch of us down here in the Tampa Bay Area - maybe at Streamsong or Innesbrook although that’s pricey - there’s lots of golf in Orlando - just saying. 

[craiger1]

I am using the Titleist Vokey 58, 48 degree wedges.  took the 60 degree out of the bag because I realized that by chocking down a little on the 58, I can get the same results.

[sirchunksalot]

After seven hours of driving and almost 400 miles, I've arrived back the house. I took it kind of easy and stopped twice at rest areas to stretch my legs and take in some scenery in North Carolina. 

I'll post up some more later on, but I want to thank the forum staff for putting this together and say thank you to my roomies @Tom the Golf Nut, @cnosil, and @EasyPutter for being such great guys. 

 

[cksurfdude]

Quick rundown on the 4 courses most of us played...

Royal New Kent 

Nasty reputation well deserved, but - very playable! Can see now why it generates strong love / hate reactions.

Our group played all the way up which made it all much more manageable.

The biggest problem / complaints were with the condition of the greens - they were very rough and bumpy for a high end course, and there were (poa? zoysia?) seed heads growing in clumps on many of them. Don't know if this is by design, or if it's still early in the course reno stage.

There are also several blind tee shots but fortunately I had @Tom the Golf Nut in our group to give us a heading to hit towards.

Yes would play it again

 

The River (at Kingsmill) 

Definitely the better course right at the resort, though oddly enough the holes play away from the James River until you get to #16 runs towards the river, #17 is that Par 3 that parallels the river, then #18 plays across a pond then back towards the clubhouse. 

Overall course is in great condition, nice layout with a variety of holes and challenges and there are a few comfort/water stations along the way.

It's very good golf, but .. not super memorable until those closing three holes. 

Yes would play it again

Bonus: the clubhouse is just a few steps away from #18 green with a nice pub (really good food at very good prices, I thought especially for a resort) and a nice big back patio. Plus, have to mention, a great local IPA on tap!!

 

Plantation

Very good course but the consensus seemed to be kinda blah - ie a bit of a letdown for a destination course. 

OTOH the great Arnold Palmer did what he could with the tract of land available. Still good golfing with good golf challenges throughout the holes.

Opinion mixed - eg if I were on property already I'd pay it again, but not as a destination to go to.

 

The Woods

Members only but available to group outings staying at the resort. 

Beautiful course in a very beautiful setting! This one seems to be everyone's fav of this group of courses.

Every hole presented a good golf challenge, plus even with a little bit of wind it would fluctuate through the trees adding to the fun.

Some good minor elevation changes, doglegs and strategic bunkering to keep things interesting!

Yes would totally play it again

 

Others in the area: 

Some of the Golf Spies played Williamsburg National; also mentioned in conversation were Viniterra and Golden Horseshoe / Gold course.

[EasyPutter]

Arrived home safely, did the overnight to take advantage of easy miles in darkness that pass mostly unnoticed and only things moving that need to be considered have lights on them, as well as very light traffic and short waits are whatever traffic lights cause a stop/slow down.

I was amazed when after a pause for dinner, with Robert @rkj427 and Jeri that was a wonderful way to end the event, it wasn't far from Williamsburg that rain appeared on the windshield that needed the wipers going and the weather system followed catching up again before and after Frederick MD.  The route returning was east of the one going down to the meetup because I had a late request, after dinner and just after topping up the fuel tank for the return trip.

Son had found a chrome bumper for his MG Midget in Horseheads NY, between Corning and Elmira in the southern tier, that was acquired before 8am and then delivered through more showers in the Finger Lakes region before arriving home in brilliant sunshine. 

Total mileage when parked back on the driveway: 1311 miles
Total hours of drive time: 41 hours over 7 days. 
Awesome trip and would do it again to SC or GA or wherever the next meetup happens to be 

Total number of balls lost: I shoulda kept track - I won the inauspicious award for most balls lost last year and took the award back home with me to pass along to the next winner.  Just put it back in the vehicle conceding it was unlikely anyone else did any worse than I did.  And no I would not suggest to keep track of number of balls lost, just one more distraction to keep from enjoying a beautiful day in God's amazing gardens on Earth 

To all those traveling, God speed and safe journeys with fair winds and gentle seas/skies/roads 

Edited June 3 by EasyPutter
readability

[Josh Parker]

3 hours ago, cksurfdude said:

Quick rundown on the 4 courses most of us played...

Royal New Kent 

Nasty reputation well deserved, but - very playable! Can see now why it generates strong love / hate reactions.

Our group played all the way up which made it all much more manageable.

The biggest problem / complaints were with the condition of the greens - they were very rough and bumpy for a high end course, and there were (poa? zoysia?) seed heads growing in clumps on many of them. Don't know if this is by design, or if it's still early in the course reno stage.

There are also several blind tee shots but fortunately I had @Tom the Golf Nut in our group to give us a heading to hit towards.

Yes would play it again

 

The River (at Kingsmill) 

Definitely the better course right at the resort, though oddly enough the holes play away from the James River until you get to #16 runs towards the river, #17 is that Par 3 that parallels the river, then #18 plays across a pond then back towards the clubhouse. 

Overall course is in great condition, nice layout with a variety of holes and challenges and there are a few comfort/water stations along the way.

It's very good golf, but .. not super memorable until those closing three holes. 

Yes would play it again

Bonus: the clubhouse is just a few steps away from #18 green with a nice pub (really good food at very good prices, I thought especially for a resort) and a nice big back patio. Plus, have to mention, a great local IPA on tap!!

 

Plantation

Very good course but the consensus seemed to be kinda blah - ie a bit of a letdown for a destination course. 

OTOH the great Arnold Palmer did what he could with the tract of land available. Still good golfing with good golf challenges throughout the holes.

Opinion mixed - eg if I were on property already I'd pay it again, but not as a destination to go to.

 

The Woods

Members only but available to group outings staying at the resort. 

Beautiful course in a very beautiful setting! This one seems to be everyone's fav of this group of courses.

Every hole presented a good golf challenge, plus even with a little bit of wind it would fluctuate through the trees adding to the fun.

Some good minor elevation changes, doglegs and strategic bunkering to keep things interesting!

Yes would totally play it again

 

Others in the area: 

Some of the Golf Spies played Williamsburg National; also mentioned in conversation were Viniterra and Golden Horseshoe / Gold course.

Great recap and def going to have to add to the list of places to go play!  

Looks like an unbelievable trip!  

[Shrek74]

Made it home around 1:30pm CDT today. I stopped in Staunton, VA after leaving The Woods. I'd never made it all the way back home in one day after playing. Started losing my focus multiple times (eyes getting heavy) for under a 3 hour trip on Sunday, let alone the full 8.5 hrs home. Today's drive was so much easier on a full night's sleep.

After unpacking, I finally checked out one of the ball sleeves I got from HQ. Got a bit of a shock. That 3rd ball might be a bit tough to launch. :-D

Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk

[cksurfdude]

My lost ball count...

• Started the trip = 36
• Finished the trip = 18

So an avg of only -4.5 golf balls per 18 holes. Pretty good for me and a big improvement over past two years' outings! 

Funny enough at RNK only lost *1* ball until the approach on #18 when I splashed into the pond fronting the whole green. Dropped and tried again. Splash. Being stoopit hot tired and determined .. I dropped again. And .. Yep.. splashed again

So two of those 18 were me just being plain old dumberer 

Also.. found 1 good ball (Plantation I think it was) which I cleaned up and is going in with the growing outing souvenir collection...

[TJ Hall]

Glad you made it home safely @EasyPutter and @Shrek74!

[Berg Ryman]

I'm home and recovering. When I get a chance to sit down and decompress I hope to have a recap post up in this thread.

[sirchunksalot]

I'm still not fully awake after staying up way after my bedtime every night and four consecutive days of golf, but I wanted to do a bit of a recap of the trip. 

Royal New Kent 

This one was my favorite course of the trip simply because I love it's beautiful layout and how brutally tough it was, even playing way up. With it's rolling hills and unforgiving rough I thought it was a hard, yet fair course. I knew I was in for a tough day when I officially sent the first tee shot of the trip into the rough and never found my ball. 

I had tough sand shots and a couple of lies where I felt like a Billy goat might have a hard time climbing, much less swinging a golf club. 

The only negatives I saw were the growths on the green and having a divot tool/ball marker combo that the magnet was so weak that I lost the marker. 

I would definitely play here again just to see if I could break 120 on it. 

The River Course 

I can see why this course has hosted both PGA and LPGA events. It's both picturesque and challenging, plus the closing 3 holes are spectacular. The view going into the 16th hole is something else with the backdrop of the James River in the background. I loved that green complex! 

I do wish they could have designed the course with more views like that, but having the river displayed prominently on 16 and 17 made it worth the wait. 

The Plantation Course 

I'm going to have to agree with the consensus that this was the least favorite of the 3 courses. I'm not saying it was bad as it's still miles ahead of the better courses I play in my area, it just didn't have that wow factor. 

If I had to vote on which one had the least replayability factor of all the resort courses, this would be it. 

The Woods Course 

This one was easily my favorite course among the resort courses. It boasted both wonderful views and the times the cart path meandered through the woods was awesome. 

I think the only negative thing I could say about the course was the fact that they had the snack bar closed. Who does that in a Sunday?

I would love to play this one again. 

I want to say thank you to my fellow forum members for making this an experience I'll never forget. It was a pleasure meeting all of you and I told my wife the experience was like meeting old friends. You were all warm and welcoming. 

 

[cnosil]

@EasyPutter, @JohnSmalls, @sirchunksalot, and @cksurfdude   it was fun talking about how we are trying to work on our game, what instruction we are getting, and how it helps us get better.   

I just want to repeat that I am not a golf instructor and I just love the game.  Any discussions we had about how to swing a golf club, chip (I should never give out advice on this area of the game), or putt is just my opinion and I am not responsible for any improvements or failures you might have.    

 

 

 

[sirchunksalot]

3 minutes ago, cnosil said:

@EasyPutter, @JohnSmalls, @sirchunksalot, and @cksurfdude   it was fun talking about how we are trying to work on our game, what instruction we are getting, and how it helps us get better.   

I just want to repeat that I am not a golf instructor and I just love the game.  Any discussions we had about how to swing a golf club, chip (I should never give out advice on this area of the game), or putt is just my opinion and I am not responsible for any improvements or failures you might have.    

 

 

 

The chipping advice worked out good for the round at the Woods Course when I did it half right, I'm definitely going to have to spend some time getting used to the different wrist action. 

Also, thank you to @Tom the Golf Nutfor the regripping lesson, to @TJ Hallfor the sand advice, and @Berg Ryman for allowing me to be part of the #back9charge and the fairway woods advice. Thanks to @EasyPutterfor the coffee, that stuff kept me lively and was delicious. 

[Josh Parker]

I gotta say, the woods and river course look absolutely amazing! 

Thanks for all the photos and recap fellas. 

[cnosil]

4 minutes ago, sirchunksalot said:

The chipping advice worked out good for the round at the Woods Course when I did it half right, I'm definitely going to have to spend some time getting used to the different wrist action. 

 

I need to just switch over to one handed chipping.  When I was talking with @Tom the Golf Nut and yourself I was hitting them close or putting them in the hole.   See,  I don't even follow my advice 

[TJ Hall]

16 minutes ago, sirchunksalot said:

The chipping advice worked out good for the round at the Woods Course when I did it half right, I'm definitely going to have to spend some time getting used to the different wrist action. 

Also, thank you to @Tom the Golf Nutfor the regripping lesson, to @TJ Hallfor the sand advice, and @Berg Ryman for allowing me to be part of the #back9charge and the fairway woods advice. Thanks to @EasyPutterfor the coffee, that stuff kept me lively and was delicious. 

Hopefully all of the “advice” works for you…keep working it!

Let us know how it goes!

[William P]

Thanks for the recaps, pics everyone! 

Looks like it was a beautiful venue to meet and greet new friends while enjoying catching up with old friends!

Beautiful courses and great weather for the event.

[TSauer]

Love the post round recaps of the trip, I definitely wish this was something I could have made! Sounds like everyone had an absolute blast.

[Rob Person]

Glad almost everyone has made it home or are enroute!  Fantastic recaps and beautiful photos!

 

So has a next year's meet-up location options been decided on?  If it's NC, Tennessee or south of that, April/May is great weather usually. (Plus I might be able to make it!) 

 

[rkj427]

Left Williamsburg about 9:30AM this morning and decided NOT to stop overnight, so a total of 761.7 miles in 13 1/2 hours, with a quick stop for lunch about 40 miles from Charleston, WV, then a gas stop near Chillicothe, OH and a coffee stop near Marion, OH before the final arrival at home about 11:00PM.

Car averaged about 33MPG, and my ride home averaged 56.42mph door to door, mileage divided by time.

 

[rkj427]

2 hours ago, cnosil said:

@EasyPutter, @JohnSmalls, @sirchunksalot, and @cksurfdude   it was fun talking about how we are trying to work on our game, what instruction we are getting, and how it helps us get better.   

I just want to repeat that I am not a golf instructor and I just love the game.  Any discussions we had about how to swing a golf club, chip (I should never give out advice on this area of the game), or putt is just my opinion and I am not responsible for any improvements or failures you might have.    

 

 

 

Too modest @cnosil

Sharing your knowledge, although it may or may not work for any particular individual due to different swing, still provides basic knowledge that has been proven to work.

[Preeway]

3 minutes ago, rkj427 said:

Left Williamsburg about 9:30AM this morning and decided NOT to stop overnight, so a total of 761.7 miles in 13 1/2 hours, with a quick stop for lunch about 40 miles from Charleston, WV, then a gas stop near Chillicothe, OH and a coffee stop near Marion, OH before the final arrival at home about 11:00PM.

Car averaged about 33MPG, and my ride home averaged 56.42mph door to door, mileage divided by time.

 

That’s quite a day. Put in 790 miles today in 11 hours from hotel to hotel. Only stopped twice for gas and bathroom. And to literally stretch the legs. My longest day driving solo was three years ago when I put in 900. That was a loooooong day. 

[sirchunksalot]

5 hours ago, rkj427 said:

Left Williamsburg about 9:30AM this morning and decided NOT to stop overnight, so a total of 761.7 miles in 13 1/2 hours, with a quick stop for lunch about 40 miles from Charleston, WV, then a gas stop near Chillicothe, OH and a coffee stop near Marion, OH before the final arrival at home about 11:00PM.

Car averaged about 33MPG, and my ride home averaged 56.42mph door to door, mileage divided by time.

 

I'm glad to hear you made it home safely Robert. It was a pleasure getting to play a round with you over the weekend and a double pleasure getting to meet Jeri. 

[Rob Person]

Did everyone stay at the lodging for this trip during golf days? 

[MDGolfHacker]

12 minutes ago, Rob Person said:

Did everyone stay at the lodging for this trip during golf days? 

 

A few of us didn't.  Due to work, I couldn't make it until Friday afternoon so I just rented a hotel Thursday night through Sunday. I teleworked Friday morning before rushing to make my tee time.