Princess Anne Country Club listed among top 25 short courses around the world
When it comes to destination golf trips, short courses may not always get their proper due. But as the Princess Anne Country Club demonstrates, bigger isn’t always better.
In the September issue of Golf Magazine, the Princess Anne was recognized as one of the top 25 sub-6,000-yard courses in the world. The list, which features courses as far away as Iceland, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, was chosen with input from Golf Magazine’s ranking panel, editors and course architects. Princess Anne is one of six American courses listed, and the longest course on the list at 5,995 yards.
“A stunning golf course in a fittingly stunning area, Princess Anne is a narrow, tricky and well-appointed test.”","additional_properties":{"comments":1/83/8,"inline_comments":1/83/83/4,"_id":"6J5MQTCIKJH65PRJH4OVZWWXX4
Golf Magazine on Princess Anne Country Club's golf course
“We were living there happily with our golf course that we loved and we suddenly found out we were under consideration to be in the running (for the list),” club secretary Les Watson said. “… Then in the September issue of GOLF Magazine, lo and behold, there we were.”
The club was founded in 1916 and underwent a redesign in 2007, reopening in mid-2008. Architect Tim Liddy, who designed the renovation, worked to incorporate the classical elements of the Golden Age of golf course architecture from the 1920s, putting emphasis on recapturing the course’s long views of the water and turning it into “more of a thinking golf course.”
“I think it’s one of the pinnacles of my career,” Liddy said about the club’s inclusion on the list. “To be in the top 25 in the world, that’s pretty awesome for me.”
Watson is glad that shorter courses like the Princess Anne are getting some well-deserved attention.
“I think the magazines … are starting to recognize the importance and the value of shorter courses that people … my age can play and enjoy but would still challenge the young guys and ladies that can hit it nine miles,” he said. “It’s funny because these really quality players come here and I think they come here believing they’re going to eat the course up and, more often than not, the opposite happens.”
Historically the club, which boasts honorary members such as former PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem and pro golfer Ernie Els, has been one of the premiere courses in Virginia, but Watson and head PGA golf pro Matt Liebler both agree that this recent honor is one of most exciting Princess Anne has received.
“We were really proud of that,” Watson said. “… We found ourselves being in some pretty rarified air with some other fantastic golf courses … (from) all over the world.”
“I think (the list validates) what a lot of our members have already known,” Liebler said. “It’s obviously a sense of pride.”
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