By Jeffrey A. Rendall, Photos By Jeff Janas

WINTERGREEN, VA -- Wintergreen Resort's original golf course is an Ellis Maples design that opened in 1976, known then and today as Devil's Knob.  It's a curious title, in that hell is supposedly hot and excruciatingly painful -- and neither of those adjectives truthfully depicts what's offered up in the mountains of central Virginia.

Wintergreen Resort is about an hour's drive south and west of Charlottesville, and even the drive up the mountain is nothing short of angelic.  Cool temperatures and stunning mountain views accompany you on the journey up to the resort -- and once there, you'll find excellent accommodations and facilities to welcome you to heaven.  No doubt, the devil hasn't been seen around these parts for an eternity.

Sunflowers divide the par five 10th hole and the 11th tee. Just one of the many beautiful sights you'll see at Devil's Knob.

If anything, Devil's Knob may get its name from the difficult nature of the layout.  Number one greets you with a slight dogleg right, and the first thing you'll notice is the landing area is guarded by dense forest on each side.  Some might call it tight.  The accuracy challenge won't let up until you're done, either.

Devil's Knob's Head Golf Professional, Lance Reynolds, admits the layout is difficult, yet it's also the type of course where you probably won't need to bring your driver:  "If you play Devil's Knob from the white tees -- where 95% of the players play it -- you really only need about 170 yards off the tee on most holes.  For that reason, it's a great course for seniors and ladies, where they can hit long irons from the tee box and still score well."

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From the back tees, Devil's Knob measures 6,576 yards, and plays even shorter due to its lofty elevation (lighter air) and firm playing conditions.  The sloped fairways often provide generous rolls if you manage to hit the ball where it's supposed to be -- but doing that is much easier said than done.

The layout's high altitude (almost four thousand feet, the highest course in Virginia) and location (on top of a ridge) can lead to devilishly difficult conditions.  Breezy a good portion of the time, the smart player weighs wind direction and severity on every shot.  Even then it's tough -- because once your ball's above the treetops, it's anything goes for the flight.  Lucifer probably laughs heartily while watching players gauging the prevailing wind direction, only to curse when he changes it in mid-flight.

The view from Devil's Knob's 12th tee -- a devilishly difficult short par four.

Adding to the Devil's Knob challenge is the distracting imagery in the form of gorgeous mountain views.  There are also natural rock outcroppings on many holes to accent the beauty of the scenery.  Reynolds says they're making a conscious effort to expose the rock as much as feasible:  "The course is essentially built on a rock, so wherever possible we cut back the vegetation growth to give the course its own extra unique flavor."

The greens at Devil's Knob also deserve special note.  Not only are they in great shape, they roll fast and true.  Maples obviously set out to challenge you in the putting game with some significant undulation and tiered greens -- but also with your iron play in reaching the putting surfaces.  It's essential to leave the ball below the hole, and any shot long is trouble -- if you're over the green, forget it.  If you're above the hole, good luck finding the brake lever on your golf ball.

Trees border both sides of nearly all of Devil's Knob's holes. Here, the par three 6th hole.

Reynolds adds, "After you've played the course a few times, it's a good strategy to go for the same areas off the tee to set up your approach shots.  It's better to be short of the putting surfaces, because it'll be a much easier pitch up the slope than down -- and there are run-up areas in front of almost every green to give you the option of that shot, too."

Local Wintergreen members and resort guests have enjoyed the course for nearly three decades, yet the difficult nature of the terrain and the passage of time mandated some changes.  Prior to this incredibly wet year (2003), Devil's Knob's irrigation system had a hard time keeping the playing surfaces consistent, making an already challenging course that much more difficult.  For that reason, in the last year, Wintergreen has spent over a million dollars ($1.25 million) to improve the course.

Still more color lines the tee boxes on the par three 15th hole.

Reynolds explains:  "The driving force behind the changes here at Devil's Knob was the need to replace our old irrigation system.  We'd really been limited in our ability to water certain areas of the course, which was making things a bit uneven in terms of conditions.  In doing so, we went to a double row system, so we're now able to water more effectively and efficiently."

That's not all.  As long as you're addressing some needs, you might as well fix up the other areas that might have deteriorated under heavy play over the course of decades.  Here too, the Wintergreen folks spared no expense.

The 10th tee. You'll need a good drive here to set up the hole on this demanding par five.

Respected Golf Architect John LaFoy was brought in to redo the bunkers and address a few of the course's playability issues.  Again, Reynolds expounds:  "We'd noticed that the bunkers on the Devil's Knob course needed some work, so we asked John LaFoy to come in, redesign them and make them a little bit more intriguing looking, with more fingers and character.  They actually got a little deeper and smaller in the process."

And as you'd guess, they have some real nice new sand.  It's never a pleasure to be in the sand on a golf course, but at least the playable bunker sand helps ensure you're not in there more than a few seconds.

On a clear day, the view from the 3rd tee is simply spectacular. Even on a hazy morning, it's still something to behold.

"The new bunkers on the course kind of gave the entire green complex a little fresher look.  And there's brand spanking new sod around the bunkers now, so it's almost like having a new course, from the visual standpoint," Reynolds added.

Again, that's not all.  Reynolds said their experience over the years demonstrated that they could use another set of forward tees on many of the holes.  "With all the digging and trenching we were doing to put the irrigation system in, we created a lot of extra soil.  We'd been wanting for some time to put in some more forward tees for resort guests in different spots, so that provided the perfect opportunity to do that."

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One of those new 'forward' tee boxes is on the fifteenth hole, widely considered Devil's Knob's most scenic par three.  Prior to the new addition, however, the hole either played at 185 yards from the back box, or 60 yards closer for the white tees.  Reynolds said that was too big of a discrepancy, so a new box was added in front of the regular back tee, so white tee golfers no longer have to hit a knock-down wedge to avoid going over the green on this hole -- they'll have a 150-165 yard try instead.  All in all, a significant improvement.

And the best part about the 'new' Devil's Knob -- it's got all the charm that it's always had, and for those returning to play it again, they'll benefit from the changes, yet probably won't notice a drastic difference.

The clubhouse at Devil's Knob houses the Devil's Grill -- a great place to eat, and watch players coming in.

"The nice thing about the changes is -- for those who haven't played here in a while, they'll find a fresher look and better course conditions, though I'd say our playing surfaces have always been excellent.  Now they're even better, because we can keep it manicured from tree-line to tree-line.  And for those who're coming for the first time, they'll find more choices on how to play the golf course.  We're very pleased with the way it turned out," Reynolds said.

Out on the course, favorites included the third hole, a 478 yard par four (from the back tees) that'll give you all that is Devil's Knob -- an excellent example of how distance, elevation and wind direction combine to play havoc with your golfing common sense.  The tee shot plays severely downhill to a dogleg right.  Even at that distance, take a club less to avoid rolling through the fairway long.  Keep it in the short grass on this course, or you'll struggle to reach the green in regulation on the par fours and fives.

Another unique aspect at Devil's Knob is its hole sequencing.  The course plays to a par 70, but the front nine features two par fives and three par threes.  The back is a more standard one par five, two par three configuration (par 35 each side).  The par fours are a good mixture of doglegs and straight on challenges.  But even the straightforward holes usually have something distinctive to them, such as the twelfth hole -- which has a sharp sloping fairway to the right.  Even a well-struck straight ball here might roll into the rough (or out-of-bounds).  Better try and get some draw on the tee shot if you want to stay in the short cut.

Two other holes on the back deserve honorable mention.  The elevated tee shot on the sixteenth presents a spectacular mountain view.  Measuring 408 yards from the back, it's one of the few opportunities where driver can be hit comfortably, and you may be able to record a 300 yarder if you strike it well -- because of the steep slope and fairway roll.

Finally, the seventeenth is a picturesque par 3 -- again, from an elevated tee box.  Players must contend with the wind direction here also, and there's a pond in front that won't really come into play for anything but a mishit.  Bunkers protect the left and right sides of the green.  Not a huge challenge, but very pleasant to look at.

Coming in on the eighteenth, there's a veranda that overlooks the final green, where patrons can give a nice round of applause to putts true on their mark.  Somehow, it's fitting that there should be some folks to give you a nice hand upon finishing the course.  After all, you've challenged the devil and won.  And you'll feel as if you did, too. 

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