Golfing on Virginia's Middle Peninsula - Pt. 3 - Piankatank Golf Club

In spite of its rating as a “Best Place to Play” by Golf Digest, and the word “Club,” at the end of its name, the Piankatank Golf Club in Hartfield is open to the public, affordable, and designed for use by golfers of all ages, regardless of ability level.

“We probably shouldn’t have added the word “club,” says John Fleet, the older of the two Fleet brothers (E.G. being the younger brother), who own and operate the bucolic course which touches the banks of its namesake river in Middlesex County.

Opened in 1996, the club sits on a plot of land which reflects some of the rich history from the Middle Peninsula. Along with the 285 acres which have been owned by the Fleet family for 11 generations, the bottom seven holes are located on 130 acres of Margaret Beckwith’s property, Woodstock, a former plantation home which was built in 1840. Beckwith is the widow of Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith, who is Abraham Lincoln’s great grandson and last blood heir.

Fairfield Landing, site of the club, and where the tributary empties into the Piankatank River, is adjoined to the east by Scoggins Creek, whose headwaters start at Lower Church, formerly known as the “Chapel of Ease,” with ties linking back to 1650, when it was the first parish church of Christchurch. The steamboat “Fairfield Landing” can be viewed from the 13^th and 14^th greens, leaving one to picture a simpler time in history, when commerce was accomplished by boats and trains.

The Fleets, who were originally involved with the farming and equipment industry, fell into the golfing business by accident. With the Middlesex and Mathews regions lacking an 18-hole golf course, the National Golf Association headed up a feasibility study to explore the possibility of finding land to design one.

“One of the architects had family in Mathews. We shared a mutual friend so he stopped by and told us that he was passing through,” said John.

E.G. quickly interjects, “We told him that you don’t just pass through Hartfield. It’s a destination.”

From their initial conversation in 1994, a bond was formed and the architect inspected the Fleet’s property.

John recalled, “He was a man of great vision, because at the time, 70 percent of our land was woods.”

The determination was made that a course could be built, but there was a problem.

John adds, “We didn’t own all the land.”

Fortunately, Margaret Beckwith was happy to offer a 40-year lease for her property, with the future option to purchase. The addition of Beckwith's property gave the course a unique look, and topography.

“There are two distinctly different nines (holes). The front nine has seven streams and a 110-foot elevation change. Then it flattens out on the bottom nine as you get closer to the river. It’s not your prototypical golf course, like the ones being built in the 90’s,” continues John. “It’s a unique course, but a good test of golf.” To prove the point, he adds that unlike many other American golf courses, there are no two completely parallel holes at Piankatank.

“I want the culture of the course to be where a golfer is standing on the 15^th  green, looks around and asks “Where am I?”

Piankatank’s club pro Kris Keith tags on to the thought. “From a golf perspective, it’s one of the most unique courses anywhere.”

Along with its status as a top notch course, Piankatank also plays host for many civic and charitable events. Recently, the course hosted a tournament for Bliley House, an organization dedicated to brain injury issues. The annual Relay for Life has also hosted many events at the club, which features room for 150 people in its Steamboat restaurant and accompanying multi-purpose room, whose large windows overlook the course.

Eighteen years after the Fleet brothers looked at each other and asked, “What are we getting ourselves into?,” the Piankatank Golf Club has emerged as an athletic and social hub for the Middle Peninsula, as well as neighboring Richmond, Williamsburg, and other parts of the Peninsula.

The Piankatank Golf Club is an 18 hole, par 72 golf course, located at 6198 Stormont Road in Hartfield, VA, just off Rt. 3 W/33 (General Puller Hwy.) at the Grafton Church Rd. intersection. Memberships are available. For further information, call the club at 804-776-6516.