Stumpy Lake Golf Course

Don’t go after a good rain. It’s been said on other reviews, but the course does not drain.
Front nine has some dog legs that require a shaped drive or a precision straight shot to prevent going through the turn. The distances of the holes does give you an option to hit the 3 wood.
A couple of holes on the both nines have a small hazard that runs across the fairway that is hard to see off the tee or during your second shot. Pay attention to the overhead view of the hole.
It is great not worrying about breaking house windows and there was plenty of opportunity to work on escape shots. Since it was the first time I played the course, I didn’t play the doglegs well.
Use the golfnow app and you can get some really great rates with cart.

I love stumpy lake, going there to visit the ghost of hot dog tony. May see sweet swinging Danny or play tonk with the boys long since gone. You can play in the blitz were everybody played everybody… old joe, Dickie from Chesapeake, Marvin and the boys. Merv still got that Lincoln, come play were all walks of life were equal and you could always find a game, and they all helped this PGA pro make it, there goes Paulie I’m sure he will shoot some pinball, I still putt better then all of you

Never really knew this place was here. Friend of mine found an app or something that got a discounted tee times. My first time playing really enjoyed the course. A lot of other things around with respect to the nature park. They even had kayak rentals available when we played. Course is not bad, well kept. Challenging but not intimidating. I only lost two balls, so it was a win for me. Not too much water, not too many trees. Really enjoyed the round and would go back.

While on vacation a group of us decided to go to Stumpy Lake, I hesitated because of the price and the others were game for the price. It could be a great layout but if it rains the night before STAY AWAY. The drainage is horrible, every shot is an adventure. The starter told us they could rent us a kayak for the round and then proceeded to tell us it is either very hard pack or under water. So after a round of getting muddy we decided to try to get some lunch and were told the burgers were frozen and the wait would be a long time. Staff doesn’t seem to care about customer service.

I’ve always been hesitant to tee it up at Stumpy Lake in fear of ruining my 2 – 0 record against the golf course. In 2000 I shot a two under 70. Two years ago I shot a three under 69. In golf you play the golf course. Shoot par or better you win. For lack of a better term I «own» this place. This was the case until I showed up a couple of Sundays ago. I don’t get to play much golf anymore so putting up a low round to match my two previous good rounds was obviously going to be tough. The record now sits at 2 – 1. I shot an 82! :(
Okay, so on to reviewing the course. First, bring lots of bug spray. The bugs are terrible!!! I was dressed with a long sleeve shirt and pants even with the temperatures hovering around 90 degrees and the bugs still managed to follow. The round took place late in the day so the greens were a bit slow. Stumpy Lake has always had a challenging layout, being home to the Tidewater Amateur for several years and where a lot of the good area golfers play a majority of the time. It’s challenging but not extremely difficult course for the novice or average golfer to play.
If it wasn’t for the bugs I’d consider playing there more often. Unlike most golf courses in the area you don’t have to worry about being surrounded by houses. They have a decent practice facility: a putting/​chipping green and a driving range. I think their clubhouse is new (in the last five years), too. The guy working behind the counter was pretty friendly. Their carts are a bit old but that doesn’t really matter to me. As long as they work and not break down when you are at the furthest point away from the clubhouse.
For us golfers we prefer solid playing conditions: nice fairways, smooth and fast greens and rough long enough to penalize errant tee shots but not so high you spend hours looking for your ball. Outside of the greens this course had enough of what I would like to get out of a golf course. I get to play this course for $ 15 because of my membership at Cypress Point but it’s not a place that I’d be wanting to go to often — mostly because of the bugs.

One of the Hampton Roads Golf courses. This one seems to be the crown jewel in Merv Troyer’s cap… in price only. I just don’t get why this course is charging the rates that they do.
The turf is a so so blend of rye and poa annua and is in ok shape. The greens are well covered with a few questionable patches here and there. The practice facility is strange. The range offers a ridiculously small bucket for $ 5, most of which are beat up or are balls found on the course by the maintenance crew. The putting green is back by the clubhouse and the chipping green is way over by the 1^st tee. Weird layout!
The front nine offers some really cool holes and one really awkward/​tough par 5 with a forced carry over water. The back nine is just dumb. It seems as though they have had massive drainage issues from the nearby lake so they have carved water hazards into the middle of several fairways. The guise is that they have improved the design of the course, however, the reality is they have made a cheap attempt at fixing a problem and they have created some well hit tee shots to go into water that shouldn’t be there. Also, they have added a pace of play nightmare with these «ditch» hazards. The staff is not the greatest but isn’t rude, they seem to want to keep the course to themselves, which at their prices they are likely to do so!