Tucked away in the westernmost edge of the city of Newport News sits the 8,000-acre Newport News Park, one of the largest municipal parks east of the Mississippi River.
Like most city-run parks, there are many activities. Newport News Park boasts two reservoirs, extensive hiking and biking trails, camping, fishing, boat rentals, disc golf and picnic shelters and is home to several community events throughout the year. But unlike most city parks, it is also home to two top-notch, 18-hole public golf courses.
“Newport News Golf Club (NNGC) sees an average of 450 to 500 players a day and had 67,000 players in the 2024 fiscal season,” says Elwood “Woods” Woolwine III, general manager.
“It’s so easy to sell a product when the product is in such good shape.”
The golf courses, designed by Ed Ault in the late 1960s, garnered four-star rankings on www.golfpass.com. NNGC is in good company as the other highly ranked courses are mostly private.
“For us to get four stars as a public facility and the private and resort courses four to five stars speaks volumes for NNGC,” Woolwine says. “I am very proud of where we have come in the last three years since I started (as general manager),” he says. “We have made a lot of changes since the day I arrived and look to continue to grow.”
The Deer Run Golf Course is 7,206 yards woven among Virginia hardwoods. Thanks to frequent sightings of deer and other wildlife, the course is listed with the National Audubon Society. The Cardinal Championship Golf Course, the original course, is 6,645 yards, nestled among thick pines.
NNGC has several amenities, including a bent grass putting green, a Bermuda grass chipping green and a 25-station driving range that is more than 320 yards deep with three target greens and marked yardage. The balls for the range are Pinnacle Range Balls and are replaced every year.
All practice areas are located near the clubhouse, which has a shop and restaurant. If you’d rather stay on the course, there is also a food/beverage cart that makes the rounds.
Woolwine was the head pro at Ford’s Colony in Williamsburg before coming to run NNGC three years ago. “I’ve always been interested” in working at NNGC, he says. “I used to play a lot of junior and amateur golf here.”
“What’s really different about us is we’re pretty affordable. The city allows us to keep the rates so we can get more people,” he says.
Woolwine developed a free mobile App that is very successful. A search for Newport News Golf Club-VA at the App Store and on Google Play will allow a golfer to examine daily conditions.
“You can look at course conditions and book tee times,” Woolwine says. “Makes it easy on the golfers and they’ve taken it real well and been real good with it. About 75 percent of bookings are done through the app.”
Both the Deer Run and Cardinal course fees are affordable with a cart for 18 holes of play. The Cardinal Course also offers a nine-hole option.
A wide range of golfers come to NNGC. “High school, families with their two-year-olds, playing all the way up to 90-year-olds,” Woolwine says with a grin. “Men, women, seniors… lots of players.”
Woolwine’s staff of 35 is as varied as his golfers — from college students to retirees to people who have been there 20 years.
Woolwine has been holding a golfclub since he was two years old.
A favorite golf course? Woolwine says, “My only bucket list course is Augusta National because of the Masters. But I enjoy playing any course with my family and friends. At this point, it’s all about spending time with family.”
TO THE POINT:
Newport News Golf Club
Address: 901 Clubhouse Way, Newport News, VA 23608
Contact: Elwood “Woods” Woolwine III, general manager
Phone: 757-886-7925
Email: nngolf@nnva.gov or woolwineea@nnva.gov
Website: www.nngolfclub.com
