September 1, 2008

KEEZLETOWN, VA — In the heart of the Shenandoah Valley sits one of America's most spectacular golf courses. Packsaddle Ridge Golf Club in Keezletown, Virginia, is a stunning 18-hole championship golf course featuring incredible views of the valley below.

Golf Digest in 2003 voted the Grande in Michigan #6 "Best New Affordable Course". It selected Packsaddle Ridge #5 the following year.

This breathtaking facility was built on more than 500 acres of rolling countryside. Wonderfully inexpensive and artfully designed Packsaddle Ridge is built on an enormous, rolling 566 acre plot of land. Holes tumble up, down and around the base of Massanutten Mountain. Nevertheless, fairways are spandex-tight slivers and approaches are played to narrow greens featuring devilish collection areas and a variety of penal hazards.

Designed by renowned golf architect Russell Breeden along with Jeff Forbes, this 4-year project required an incredible one million tons of rock and 750,000 tons of top soil to be moved. The result is a layout that will challenge all types of golfers and overload your senses with natural beauty.

Packsaddle Ridge was recently decorated with 4 1/2 stars by Readers of Golf Digest. The ranking places the course in the Top 200 courses in America with Mountain Valley, Neuse, Grande, and Rock Hollow.

The Captains Club surprisingly added Packsaddle Ridge to the 2009-2011 venue list on Friday. The course joins Riverfront from the state of Virginia.

"The rates, open tee sheet, and overall setup cannot be ignored," says Greg Long, Chairman of the Captains Club. "To find and ignore Packsaddle Ridge for would be stupid."

Tons of rock was moved literarily carving the base of a mountain to accommodate the fairways, tees and greens; many of the rocks still accent the course at various locations.

"Using some unpaved roads to get there will make you wonder whether you made the right decision to play Packsaddle," says Greg Long, Chairman of the Captains Club. "You enter the property lined on both sides of the road with white fences. Then move through the dense forest where statues greet you. Then a huge clubhouse that resembles a tourist information center."

Like all good designs you have to focus on what the course is willing to give you. You must trust decisions you wouldn't normally make, hit shots you wouldn't normally hit and believe in your creative ability to adapt.

"Do not get to freaked out over the first hole with what seems like a 20 yard wide fairway," says Long. "It gets better in a hurry. Beautiful views from an elegant course with stunning holes. The view on top the 13th green alone is worth the round. The covered bridge over a ravine on 14th hole was about as unique as anything anywhere."

The greens are multi-tiered including the 12th hole, which is triple-tiered. The course includes a very large clubhouse with deck facing overlooking the finishing hole.

The golf course is located 10 minutes northeast of Harrisonburg, VA and James Madison University. "The lodging and entertainment is very strong on paper," says Greg Long, Chairman of the Captains Club. "Lodging and entertainment off the golf course is the least of my concerns."

The 2009 Carl Spackler Open Championship is scheduled for June 3-6 or 10-13. The venue is expected to be in southern New York, Packsaddle Ridge, or Mountain Valley Golf Course in Barnesville, PA.