While King Carter Golf Club has brought national attention to river country in the Northern Neck, world-renowned accommodations and one of the area's best golf courses are situated alongside a creek.

The Irvington area's daily-fee Tartan Golf Club (Weems) and The Tides Inn resort are on opposite banks of Carter's Creek. You can stick your toes in the creek, but you won't do any wading. Take a boat.

The Tartan, one of the top three courses in the Northern Neck along with King Carter and the Tides Inn's Golden Eagle, was once was part of the Tides Inn/Tides Lodge complex owned by the Stephens family.

The course was designed by Sir Guy Campbell, an Englishman who was caretaker of the courses in St. Andrews, Scotland, for many years. Appropriately enough, the Tartan's address is St. Andrews Lane. Construction began on the course in 1959, but Campbell died in 1960 after nine holes had been completed. George Cobb and John LaFoy, who later designed the Golden Eagle, finished the course.

The Tartan features a strong set of par 4s, some long and some short, that test the skill level of all players, but most of all, it's fun to play.

The Golden Eagle Golf Club, a few miles from the Inn, has been the area's most prestigious course since it opened in 1976. It has been host for seven Virginia State Golf Association championships, including three State Amateurs. The layout is routed through mature woodlands and around and across Lake Irvington. There isn't a bad hole. Golf Digest once ranked the Golden Eagle as the third best course in Virginia.

The Golden Eagle is the most expensive (around $90) of the area's courses.

The new kid on the block is King Carter Golf Club, a course Golf Digest named the "Best Affordable Public Course in America" for 2006.

King Carter is the centerpiece of a residential development 2 miles north of Irvington. The Golf Digest award is for courses with a greens fee under $75. King Carter's peak-season highest rate is around $50, and that includes a cart.

The par-71 layout will be the host for the Virginia State Golf Association's Senior Four-Ball Championship this spring.

The best things about the golf courses in the Northern Neck/Middle Peninsula are accessibility and affordability. Except for the Golden Eagle, you can play the other courses in the region for about $50 or less.

Piankatank River in Hartfield, Hobbs Hole in Tappahannock, Quinton Oaks in Callao, Cameron Hills in King George and Queenfield in King William County, along with the Tartan, Golden Eagle and King Carter, are participating courses on the VSGA's VIP Card Program, which offers complimentary green fees when you rent a motorized cart.

Learn more about the VIP program at www.vsga.org. River country region's 18-hole courses: