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1. THE DRIvE NORTH HAD TAKEN ME through some of the most beautiful terrain in eastern virginia. Just south of Richmond, I had wisely ditched the interstate to follow State Route 5 along the north bank of the James River, then turned south to catch the Colonial Parkway which begins in Jamestown. The unmarked surface of the parkway is made of river gravel set in concrete, and it hummed rhythmically as I tried to imagine what the country's frst settlers must have thought of this part of the new world. I counted eight deer along the nine-mile route between Jamestown and the Humelsine Parkway where I exited, just south of Williamsburg to enter the Kingsmill property. The next morning Keurajian gave me a tour of the resort, including the River Course and its famous seventeenth hole, a 177-yard par three with trees on the left and the golf ball tractor beam of the James River on the right. It was a breezy but mild day, and after the tour Keurajian brought me up to the executive offces to fnd coffee and introduce me to Wayne Nooe, vice president of golf and club operations and Robin Carson, Kingsmill's general manager . Keurajian was inviting me out for a "friendly" afternoon nine holes when Wayne Nooe joined our discussion. "Don't let him fool you," says Nooe, "Rich is a good player, just ask him about his last round." Keurajian shrugs with a mix of pride and embarrassment, "I was minus four after 34 Tempus-Magazine.com . Spring 2013 seven holes," he says, "I even holed out from the fairway for an eagle." Four under after seven holes is no small feat on any of Kingsmill's three courses; Plantation, Woods and River, designed by Arnold Palmer, Tom Clark and Curtis Strange, and Pete Dye respectively. "When you put the three together you have a very unique complex of courses," says Nooe who is no stranger to top-quality golf with seventeen years combined experience at Pinehurst and the Homestead. "One thing here is the terrain is more up and down than people realize. You get a lot of different experiences." Of the three courses, the Palmer-designed Plantation layout is the shortest. "On this course it's all about the short game," says Nooe. "Off the greens you have some bunkering and a lot of movement, so it's easy to make bogey if you miss the green on that course." The Woods Course, designed by Tom Clarke and Kingsmill's former resident touring pro, Curtis Strange, is a welcome change from most resort courses in that it is not surrounded by homes. "The Plantation and River courses are right here on the main campus of the resort, and the Woods Course is about a mile and a half away," says Nooe. "So you get out there and it's just a completely different experience." The course is a favorite of Kingsmill members, many of whom live on the property