Golf wouldn’t be golf without the green of the tees, fairways and of course putting greens. But as you approach the 11th hole of one West Virginia course you quickly recognize that the dominate colors here are red, white and blue.

“I want every golfer who plays here to know that the freedom we have in this country is by blood and in some cases by life,” says Jim Dodson a part-time greenskeeper and former Marine. He is the inspiration for the patriotic flavor of this otherwise ordinary but difficult par three.

“[Golfers should] take a moment and think about what the veterans represent to them as they live in this country,” Dodson says in talking about the purpose of his hole at the Sleepy Hollow Golf Course in Charles Town, W.Va.

The hole measures 190 yards from the back tee and a sign planted into the teeing ground reads “Hole #11 Dedicated to all Veterans both Past and Present.”

There are dozens of American flags and other markers painted in patriotic colors from tee to green. Even the white out of bounds stakes to the left of the green are topped off with American flags. No other hole on the golf course looks like this–perhaps no other hole in the country doubles as a memorial to American veterans.

“They just asked if they could do it and I said sure you can,” says course owner Marshall Glenn about Dodson and his co-worker and friend Donnie Magaha. The duo have paid for all of the costs of building and maintaining the memorial out of their own pockets. “I’ve never seen anything else like it,” added Glenn who with his family manages the course which was founded by his father nearly a half-century ago. They offer a military discount for service members who want to play.

Dodson, a fervent Boston Red Sox fan, is well known around Jefferson County for his GMC truck that’s covered with patriotic-themed bumper stickers and pro-military messages. He says his passion for honoring the men and women of the armed forces developed over the four decades he worked as a barber at the Veterans’ Administration facility in Martinsburg, W.Va., about 20 miles away.

After retiring in 2002, Dodson picked up a part-time job at Sleepy Hollow and is responsible for mowing the greens early each morning. The Jefferson County native says he always wanted to do something to honor veterans and the 11th hole seemed like the best place for a memorial.

More than 60 people showed up last July 7 for a dedication ceremony which included a bugler playing Taps.

There is a memorial garden behind the green and a bridge leading to the 12th hole that is dedicated to the course’s longtime golf pro Jake Pugh, a World War II veteran who died a couple of years ago.

“I don’t think I will ever quit trying to come up with something new,” Dodson says about his hole. He’s thinking about adding a pathway from tee to green that would allow people to buy individual bricks and have them inscribed with a loved one’s name. Proceeds, Dodson says, would go to a charity affiliated with the VA hospital.

Dodson is also kicking around the idea of adding a new stone wall to shore up a pond that’s on the hole. When asked if he was going to paint the stones red, white and blue, Dodson thought about it for a second and then said with a smile, “I’ve thought about that.”