Kingsmill Resort vs Ford's Colony Country Club for Golf Living

Both communities offer 54 holes across three courses. Kingsmill's River Course (Pete Dye) is the pedigree standout: it hosted a PGA Tour event from 1981 to 2002 and then an annual LPGA Tour stop under several sponsor names from 2003 through its final 2021 edition -- genuine national tournament history, even though the event has not returned since 2021 (current as of this research date). Ford's Colony's three Dan Maples courses (Blackheath, Blue Heron, Marsh Hawk) carry strong regional reputations but no comparable professional-tour history.

Neither community bundles golf into the home purchase, but the structure differs. At Kingsmill, the golf/resort club is owned and operated by Escalante Golf, entirely separate from the homeowner-run Kingsmill Community Services Association (KCSA) -- golf, tennis, the spa, and resort dining are all part of one optional resort-membership purchase apart from HOA dues. At Ford's Colony, the country club (also optional) is more directly the community's own social institution -- the 2026-refreshed membership tiers (including a new Premier category) sit alongside more than 60 resident clubs and activities run through the same club.

Kingsmill is a genuine resort -- hotel rooms and condo-style accommodations, a marina, spa, and over a mile of riverfront beach sit alongside the residential neighborhoods, meaning transient resort guests and short-term renters are part of the everyday landscape. Ford's Colony has no resort component -- it is a purely residential, owner-occupied-oriented community with a 200-acre wildlife preserve and nature trail as its signature non-golf amenity.

Ford's Colony is the larger single community by home count -- roughly 2,850+ homes and 5,700 residents across 3,200 gated acres, versus Kingsmill's roughly 2,350-2,400 homes and 5,600 residents across 2,900 acres. Both are among the largest single golf-residential developments in the Williamsburg market.

A buyer drawn to a resort atmosphere -- amenities like a marina, spa, and riverfront beach, plus genuine national golf-tournament pedigree, alongside the trade-off of transient resort guests sharing the property -- will find more of that at Kingsmill. A buyer who wants a purely residential, owner-occupied community with a larger resident base, a wildlife preserve, and an extensive resident-club calendar will find more of that at Ford's Colony. Neither community requires joining the golf club to buy a home; confirm current membership pricing and terms directly with each club before deciding, since this research found only dated (2016-2021) or unconfirmed fee figures for both.