WILLIAMSBURG — The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation announced Thursday that golf will once again be returning to part of the Spotswood property.
Construction will begin in June on a nine-hole, par-3 golf course on approximately one-third of the onetime Spotswood Course. The new golf course will be named The Shoe, a reference to The Golden Horseshoe Golf Club, Colonial Williamsburg’s suite of golfing properties adjacent to the Historic Area.
Estimated completion for The Shoe is summer 2025.
In December 2022, Colonial Williamsburg closed the nine-hole Spotswood Course, identifying it as one of its underutilized properties. Later, foundation officials announced a partnership with Norfolk-based Frye Properties Inc. to develop the parcel. Frye unveiled plans that called for more than 160 custom-built homes on 39.45 acres of the shuttered golf course.
Citizens voiced concerns over the effects of developing the Spotswood property, and in June 2023, Frye withdrew its application to rezone the property and announced it would reimagine the development.
In its announcement Thursday, Colonial Williamsburg indicated that The Shoe is part of rethinking the future of the property, and that citizen input helped steer the decision.
“Our revised plans for the Spotswood property were developed in response to the Foundation’s continued work with community stakeholders to determine the best uses for the Spotswood property,” Colonial Williamsburg spokeswoman Ellen Peltz said in a statement. “We appreciate the concerns voiced by community members last year about the potential development of the site — traffic, green space and the number of possible buildings, in particular.”
Peltz said that one-third of the property originally slated for residential development will be transformed into The Shoe. The part of the tract that will become the new nine-hole course is east of South England Street.
Colonial Williamsburg is still mulling the future of the remainder of the Spotswood property, according to Peltz, who declined Thursday to say if Frye Properties is still part of the conversation.
“We continue to weigh options for the remainder of the site,” Peltz said. “Thoughtful evaluation of the best use of the Foundation’s assets is essential to strengthening the financial underpinnings of the Foundation and maximizes our ability to share a complete and inclusive story of America’s founding with the world.”
Williamsburg Mayor Doug Pons lauded Colonial Williamsburg’s decision to bring golf back to Spotswood.
“They heard from the community that some still wanted a golf course, and some wanted green space,” Pons said. “It seems like CW is willing to make that investment, and it helps assuage some of the residents’ concerns. It sounds like a good move.”
Fraser Hudgins, a local attorney and community activist who initially founded Citizens for Responsible Spotswood Development, which transitioned to become Citizens for Responsible and Sustainable Development, also praised the effort.
“Citizens for Responsible and Sustainable Development thanks Cliff Fleet and Colonial Williamsburg for valuing community concerns over the originally proposed Spotswood residential development,” Hudgins said. “Building a par-3 course on a significant portion of the Spotswood land will maintain important green space and offer local residents and visitors a great new recreational asset.”
Keith Jackson, Colonial Williamsburg’s vice president for hospitality, said that as a par-3 course, the layout of The Shoe will be much more compact than its predecessor. While it’s possible that some of the original Spotswood fairways may be repurposed, The Shoe will be completely redesigned, reseeded and resodded. Golf course architectural firm Rees Jones Inc., which designed Colonial Williamsburg’s Gold and Green courses, will also create The Shoe, Jackson said.
Compact par-3 courses are becoming increasingly popular around the country, with half of new golf courses being nine-hole layouts, according to the National Golf Foundation. The idea of The Shoe is to make it more accessible for families and younger players along with others, such as seniors, who would appreciate the shorter course.
Once completed, The Shoe will be able to be played in an hour and a half or less, Jackson estimated. He sees it being a major draw for families.
“If there had been a nine-hole course in my town when I was a kid,” Jackson said, “I would have been there all the time.”
Ben Swenson, ben.swenson05@gmail.com
