Text by Jeffrey A. Rendall, Photos by Jeffrey A. Rendall and Kevin Gaydosh
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MANAKIN-SABOT, VA -- Not a single hole on the front nine at Kinloch Golf Club touches the lake that’s so prominent on the property, but Lester George (Kinloch’s Course Designer) said that was intentional:

"CB Robertson (Kinloch’s owner, along with Marvin ‘Vinny’ Giles and Charles Staples) told us to use as much land as we needed, but not an inch more than we had to have. He also said that he wanted to save a portion of the lakefront to develop for home sites, which we thought was fine, because we didn’t want the entire course to be bordered by the lake."

George continues, "We thought if there was water on every hole – or even a lake view on every hole, that that would become monotonous. The lake is one of the things that makes the property special, so we thought we’d use it a little differently than some others might’ve approached it. That’s why you’ll see it on some holes, then move away, then see it again, play along it, move away and come back to it. That’s why the back nine’s routing is the way it is."

As hinted above, there will be residential development on the Kinloch property, but the secluded quality of the course will hardly be disturbed, according to George: "Kinloch is a core golf course, and will not have homes. Obviously with a contiguous border on the property, there will be some along the left edge of the thirteenth hole, and some along the left edge of one, but that’s where the rest of the property borders the golf course."

"There won’t be any ‘in’ the golf course, and I’d be surprised if you even saw many homes from the course itself. There is a development planned, but it’s not the kind that’s a hand and glove relationship with the golf course," George added.

Here are some views of Kinloch Golf Club’s back nine, with some lake views, and some that don’t even see the water:

It's a grueling uphill climb to reach the 10th green. Even with a solid drive, it'll probably still be a long iron into the putting surface.

The 495 yard, par five 11th hole is the shortest par five on the course. But if you want to reach the green in two, you'll need to hit it high and long for both shots.

One of the more beautiful approach shots at Kinloch Golf Club - into the par five 13th hole. You'd have to scull a sand wedge to reach the water, but it looks intimidating, nonetheless.

You can't help but marvel standing on the green of the short par three 14th. Kinloch's got tremendous natural gifts mixed in with some creative human ingenuity, too.

George said the tree in the middle of the short par four 15th hole used to be in the yard of a historic home (based on a archeological foundation discovered there).

The long par three 17th plays uphill and over a stream - but you can bail to the right if you feel you must.

The clubhouse deck overlooks the 19th hole and the lake. Not a bad place to take in an afternoon repast.