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T ThirTeen Years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, three ships, the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery, sailed up what the ship's passengers would later name the James River in hopes of establishing the frst permanent English Colony in North America. The last serious attempt to colonize this new world led to the famous "Lost Colony," and the odds were stacked against this new group, as well. Most of the passengers were "gentleman," a kind English euphemism for someone who doesn't work. Many of the rest were experienced craftsmen, no strangers to manual labor but skilled in trades that would be of little beneft in settling and developing the raw land. It's no surprise that 70 percent of the population died within seven months of arriving in Jamestown. Hope for survival came the next year in the form of supply ships and a strict commander named Captain John Smith. Prior to Smith's arrival, the community seemed unable or unwilling to understand survival would be based mainly on growing and harvesting their own food. Smith strengthened the colony's defenses and implemented rigid discipline including a "no work, no food" policy. Thanks in part to Captain John Smith, the colony sputtered along and narrowly avoided the fate of those previous settlers who vanished from Roanoke Island nineteen years earlier. With the challenges they faced, it's amazing the colonists survived at all. "They frst stopped here," says Richard Keurajian, impatiently pumping the lever of a nearempty coffee thermos. "By the way I really like coffee," he continues, as air, steam, and a few brown bubbles spurt into his cup. Rich, as he is known, is vice president of sales and marketing at Kingsmill, a 2,900-acre resort located on the shore of the James River and just a few miles east of Jamestown. The "they" he is referring to are the Jamestown settlers who had frst considered what is now the "Hope" section of Kingsmill for their permanent home. After examining the site for a day, they eventually decided to sail farther up the James River in search of a place where they could anchor their ships closer to the shore. I was on a discovery mission myself. I'd driven up from South Carolina to visit Kingsmill and take the pulse of its golf operations. The resort, built by Anheuser-Busch in the early 1970s, boasts three championship golf courses and one of the top golf schools in the country. The future of the resort's golf reputation hung in the balance when in the summer of 2008 Anheuser-Busch announced it was accepting a buyout offer from Belgian-Brazilian brewing company, InBev. Kingsmill's River Course had long been the site of the Michelob Championship PGA event and later the LPGA's Michelob Ultra Open. With an ownership change, the future of professional golf at Kingsmill was uncertain. Fortunately, that uncertainty was short-lived. The resort was purchased by Xanterra Parks and Resorts in 2010 with a commitment to reignite the Kingsmill's LPGA event and continue its dedication to top-quality golf. 2. 3. 2. The River 3. Audiences Course is flanked by the James River and lush stands of trees. look on at the eighteenth hole of the LPGA's Kingsmill Championship. Spring 2013 . Tempus-Magazine.com 33