CHARLOTTESVILLE -- The special charms of Birdwood Golf Course begin to unfold when you stand on the tee of the par-3 12th hole.

To the right of the green below, a weeping willow cascades by a double-row of manicured hedges, and a brook carves a canal along the front lip of the bank. To the rear, trees climb a hill that forms a pocket sheltering the landing area.

It's a picturesque setting, the first in a series of postcard holes that provide memorable vistas and formidable challenges for golfers in Virginia's Piedmont.

The 13th takes you farther into the woods, curling around a ball-hungry lake. The 14th, another par three, forces you to hit a green surrounded by a placid moat--a beguiling lesson in club selection. The dog-leg 15th skirts Ragged Mountain Natural Area, where Edgar Allan Poe once wandered. And the round peaks on the 16th tee, where the earth spreads out in a rolling carpet of green and brown.

"I think it's unique," said Martin Winters, head pro and director of golf activities. "You really feel like you're in a nature preserve; you're out in the middle of nowhere."

Birdwood, part of the Boar's Head Inn resort, is owned by the University of Virginia Foundation and serves as the home of the University of Virginia golf teams--note the crossed sabers and "V" on the fairway yardage markers. Golf Digest magazine has ranked it as one of the top 10 university courses in the country, and Washington Golf Monthly rates it among the top 100 courses in the mid-Atlantic region.

Designed by landscape architect Lindsay Ervin, the course, which dates to 1984, takes advantage of the flowing contours of the Blue Ridge foothills. Over the past few years, course officials have enhanced the natural environment with everything from bluebird boxes to careful use of chemicals, and now Birdwood is a certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary.

"We went as far as even changing the way we wash our vehicles," said Winters, who was an environmental science major at U.Va. "That is really our main focus--to be very green and make sure we take care of the special piece of land we have."

In addition to the woodland setting, players will notice an intriguing contrast between the front and back nines. While the back is more woodsy, the front is more open, with few blind shots and wider approaches.

The front nine also sports some tricky greens, particularly the par-three 4th hole. Protected by water in front and sand in back, this green slopes sharply toward the tee. Feel good if you walk away with a two-putt.

The par-fives allow big hitters to stretch out for birdie opportunities, while a couple of the par-fours, notably No. 18, make distance part of the challenge. Total yardage ranges from 6,907 off the championship tees to 5,041 from the ladies'.

A major redesign two years ago improved, among other things, play from the bunkers.

"We redid every bunker on the golf course," Winters said. "We probably eliminated 10 bunkers and added five or six new ones." The changes upped the course rating to 73.2, but beginning players won't be overwhelmed by the difficulty.

"The architect's philosophy," Winters said, "was to make the course more playable for your average golfer and more challenging for the blue-tee player."