Set on 600 acres in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Boar's Head Resort opened as an inn in 1964 and has been owned and operated by the University of Virginia Foundation since 1989, following the Foundation's 1967 acquisition of the adjoining Birdwood estate. The estate's centerpiece is Birdwood, the 18-hole championship course rerouted and rebuilt by Davis Love III's design team in 2020, joined by a six-hole approach course and a nearly acre-sized putting green. Beyond golf, the resort's Sports Club anchors a program of tennis, squash, and pickleball, while a full-service spa, farm-to-table dining at The Mill Room, and sunrise hot-air balloon flights over Monticello round out the grounds. The mood stays collegiate and unhurried, closer to a well-endowed alumni club than a conventional resort.
168 rooms · 2 courses · North America · LXV
Golf travel press identifies the par-3 13th as Birdwood's signature hole: a spectacular downhill tee shot to a challenging island green, the most photographed moment on Davis Love III's 2020 redesign.
Three ways Boar's Head Resort distinguishes itself from a standard country club stay.
Birdwood closed for two years so Davis Love III's team could reroute the layout across newly opened acreage south of the original grounds. Only five holes occupy their old corridors; the rest, along with a six-hole par-3 course and a putting green nearly an acre wide, opened new in July 2020 as the…
The resort's spa draws on its Blue Ridge setting rather than importing a generic treatment menu, pairing massage and body work with access to steam rooms, a lounge, and a seasonal adults-only pool with cabana service — a quieter counterpart to the Sports Club's more athletic pace next door.
Few resorts anywhere still fly their own hot-air balloon program. Boar's Head has done it for decades from a dedicated lawn on property, sending guests over Monticello and the University at sunrise — a Charlottesville tradition that predates most of the resort's current buildings.
The Mill Room · Birdwood Bar & Grill · Racquets Fresh Market · Aqua Poolside Food & Drink
Birdwood Golf Course · Full-service spa · Sports Club (tennis, squash, pickleball) · Hot-air ballooning · Nature trails
Fall
October brings peak foliage across the Blue Ridge foothills and firm, fast conditions on Birdwood — the same weeks UVA's own golf teams train on the course.
Book the sunrise balloon flight from the resort's own Balloon Lawn well ahead — it flies April through November, weather permitting, and passes directly over Monticello and the UVA Rotunda before most guests are at breakfast.
The resort sits just west of downtown Charlottesville and the UVA campus, in the Ednam neighborhood off Route 250.
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