Swannanoa Golf and Country Club, Afton, VA

Never thought golf-presentism would be a thing, but it lives at this golflink page, courtesy of a review by a certain Jeremiah B., who was disenchanted with the length of the par 4s and 5s. He might have had a different opinion of this 100-year-old course if he played it with 100 year old gear, such as rubber-wound, tree sap-covered golf balls and hickory-shafted clubs. But, alas, his view (and others, no doubt) of Swannanoa is compromised by giant-sized, enabling, titanium woods and zooming 3-piece golf balls.
The course is super-cheap to play, the people are friendly, it's cooler than playing in adjacent valleys, and you get some long-range views in case you need a diversion to ameliorate your "unhappiness" (like Jeremiah's) with the state of the course. It can be drought-y, patchy (play winter rules, then), and hard to sink the tee into the ground, but, hey, like I said, it's super-cheap and challenging (very few flat lies on this mountain course).

This is a great, fun place to get up on the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains and enjoy life. It's breezy and cooler than in the valley. The views are of the Southwest Mountains on one side and the Shenandoah Valley on the other. The golf conditions are rough around the edges, but honest. It is a real gem of a place that has not changed much in a number of years but, in my opinion, doesn't need to. If you're looking for a pristine round of manicured golf, there are a number of other great places around the area that you would probably like better. If you want to play in a place that is part and parcel of the Blue Ridge, come here and enjoy some time looking for your ball in among the warm pine needles and blueberry bushes.

My decision to play this course was between this and Old Trail. The people I went with decided on this to save a little bit of money. $35 later I would have gladly paid the additional $25 to play a course with actual tee boxes. This course has about as much grass downtown Baghdad and the tee boxes are mounds of grass with no flat spot. Every par four is driver, SW if that and the par 5s are an easy driver, 5I in. I suppose if you are looking to burn $35 and see the "other" side of the quality spectrum this is your course.