(NOTE: This is the final installment in a weekly series featuring some of the toughest golf holes across Hampshire County.)

BELCHERTOWN — Throw out whatever it is you think you know about Mill Valley Golf Links.

For most people, what they know or remember about the 18-hole course off of Mill Valley Road is that it was a rundown 9-hole track earlier this century.

Well, you’d be in for quite the surprise if you haven’t played there since then.

Under the ownership of Tim and Nancy Kurty, Mill Valley has flipped from a course nobody wanted to play into a gorgeous and popular destination for locals. From the time the Kurtys took over in 1999 to now, the amount of people playing golf at their course has quadrupled. And ever since all the changes that have been made, compliments pour in time and time again.

The improvements truly are drastic, and it all can be credited to the vision of Tim Kurty and the landscape prowess of superintendent Jason Colbath, who seemingly can’t ever stop working, according to Nancy. Anything they ask him to do, he’s on it right away.

“There’s not a blemish on the greens, the fairways are tight and everything is in great shape,” Tim Kurty said. “I rate our course up there with anybody. And we’re constantly changing and modifying our course to make it more challenging for the younger players. I think a lot of courses are running out the clock, but we’re developing.”

Mill Valley plays 6,525 yards from the tips, and the par 71’s course record is nowhere even close to par. It’s not even in the 70s. The tips play impossibly hard because of the narrow tee shots and length of certain holes, so that’s exactly why the record is only an 84, according to Kurty.

It was never an 18 hole course until 2007, when the new nine opened. Kurty co-owned the course with two others, one town local and seven-time LPGA tour winner Silvia Bertolaccini. The three had the blueprint to renovate the course and make it 18 holes, but none of them had any idea how long the process would take. About halfway through, Kurty was all by himself.

“We were all kind of naive as to the amount of time it took to renovate the course and build the other nine,” Kurty said. “It took longer than expected, so Silvia decided to get out around 2005. Then the next year, the other man passed away, so it was just me after that.”

And now Mill Valley is much more than it ever was, and because Kurty is constantly trying to evolve the course each season, so much so that his wife jokes that he’s never satisfied with it, it’s only going to improve.

It’s a pretty course with fantastic greens. An absolute gem for the price – $40 for 18 with a cart.

“We try to have the best conditions of all the courses, at the best prices; that’s what we try to do here,” Kurty said. “Whether it’s liquor sales, beer sales or green fees, we try to have the best prices. And on top of that we try to have the best conditions.”

No. 17 is the hardest, but they all are

The theme across Hampshire County continues, as typically the hardest hole on each golf course has been one that requires a draw and needs to be landed in a precise location.

Such is the case with the 17th hole at Mill Valley, a 422-yard par 4 from the tips. Honestly, when driving around the course, there might’ve been four or five different holes that could’ve gotten the nod as most difficult. But 17, the No. 2 handicap hole on the course, edged out the others.

It cannot be stressed enough: left is completely dead on this hole. Even if you find your tee shot down the left side rough, or even in the fairway on the left side, you’ll have no shot up to the green. Missing left blocks out that option completely. Like almost every other hole at Mill Valley, woods line both sides of No. 17. The only way to get up to the green in two shots is to hit the ball on the right side of the fairway and hope it’s far enough to get around the corner – which you can’t cut thanks to a huge tree standing on its own, blocking the option to shave some distance off your second shot.

The green is pretty straightforward once you get there, but you’ll be happy to even sniff a par putt on 17.

“You have to play a draw, and it’s one of the longest holes we have,” Kurty said of 17. “It’s fairly narrow. Everything’s narrow here. Every hole is basically cut out of the woods, so nothing is open. The green is pretty standard on 17, it’s long and narrow but there aren’t any severe slopes. Everything is in our yardage book on how to play every hole. There are tips to help everyone. But for 17, basically you have to hit it long, and you have to be on the right side of the fairway.”

Easy choise for feature hole

The 13th hole at Mill Valley might just be the coolest golf hole I’ve seen throughout my journey across Hampshire County this summer. The tee box is over 100 feet above the fairway, and you’re essentially looking straight down at your landing point in the fairway. If you’re afraid of heights, your heart rate may spike when setting up to hit your first shot.

A 382-yard par 4, hole No. 13 is as picturesque as it gets. You can see the entire mountain range in the background, and when the leaves change color this fall, the already stunning views become that much more vibrant. And the cart path ride down to the fairway is quite the adventure. It’s steep and bumpy, but quite thrilling. You just have to make sure any open containers are empty or close to it before you head down.

There isn’t a whole lot else to say about 13. Just believe me, you won’t want to leave the tee box once you’re up there. If you like the outdoors, you’d wish you could set up a lawn chair and sit there all day to take in the scenery.

“I don’t know exactly how far the drop is, but it’s at least 100 feet of elevation from the tee down to the fairway,” Kurty said. “It’s really scenic and unique.”

Garrett Cote is a Daily Hampshire Gazette sports reporter. He can be reached at gcote@gazettenet.com