The Richland course at Reynolds Lake Oconee
There aren’t many golf destinations like Reynolds Lake Oconee.
Situated midway between Atlanta and Augusta, Georgia, down a side road appropriately named “Linger Longer,” Reynolds is both a luxury community of approximately 3,500 homes, a plethora of rentable cottages and condos, and a high-end lakefront resort anchored by The Ritz-Carlton.
The community recently unveiled its seventh 18-hole golf course – the Tom Fazio-designed Richland – making it one of the biggest golf destinations in the U.S., with 126 holes in total.
Five of the courses are open to the public as well as guests of The Ritz-Carlton: Great Waters, The Landing, The National, The Oconee, and The Preserve. All but The Landing are listed by Golf Digest among the top 15 public access courses in Georgia.
Fazio, who originally designed three nines at The National back in 1997, returned to Lake Oconee to add nine new holes for the Richland course.
Breaking down the changes
The National was downsized from 27 holes to 18, with its Bluff 9 incorporated into Richland routing. The newest course at Reynolds Lake Oconee starts and finishes with the nine Bluff holes (first five and final four) and introduces the nine new holes from Fazio and design associate Bryan Bowers in between. They’re unlike just about anything else found on the 12,000-acre property, set on a 75-acre tract that has more than 100 feet of elevation change, open vistas, and tall native grasses that frame the holes.
“There’s a lot of ups and downs, ins and outs, and twists and turns, which is great for golf. That’s what makes it such a natural setting,” says Fazio. “At Richland, the strength is in the middle. They’re the hard golf holes. To me, that adds to that level of uniqueness as well as individual character.”
The removal of many trees gives the Richland site a much different look from the rest of the property. Instead, it’s the swaths of almost unplayable lovegrass, which Fazio jokingly says should be called “hategrass,” that give the newest nine on property its defining character. And a feel that’s foreign from the other nine holes.
“It’s a pretty wide golf course, but it’s not (with the native grasses) if you go errant,” added Fazio. “If it was dense trees and tight, balls would hit the trees, drop down, and you’d find your ball. It can be easier if it’s tighter, because you can find your ball and play it. So that’s the variety that we have here.”
There are a few holes at Richland with views of Lake Oconee, which at 19,000 acres is the second-biggest lake in Georgia. It’s also manmade, created in 1979 when Georgia Power installed a hydro-electric dam on the Oconee River.
The Richland course at Reynolds Lake Oconee
‘One of a kind’
Lake Oconee boasts 374 acres of shoreline, of which Richland’s picturesque par-3 fourth hole sits on a tiny slice. That postcard-worthy hole was one of the existing ones that was changed more significantly beyond the re-grassing of greens and reshaping of bunkers, with the tees positioned closer to Lake Oconee and trees being removed to create an infinity-edge feel to the 4th green.
Given the name and location of the property, the lake is obviously central to the experience at Reynolds, whether it’s golf, boating, fishing, jet skiing, paddleboarding, kayaking, canoeing, or just indulging in the serenity of the lake lifestyle.
There’s a year-round appeal to Reynolds Lake Oconee, which is an incredibly popular destination for couples’ trips – golf or otherwise.
The luxury accommodations and vibrant outdoor scenery are good starts when it comes to getting away and unwinding, but the world class dining and spa raise Reynolds to another level. There are now 11 distinctive on-site restaurants at Reynolds, among them the reopened restaurant at The Landing known as ESSĒ. In addition to the revamped on-site spa, there are state-of-the-art fitness facilities, tennis and pickleball courts, and 21 miles of hiking trails.
The leading amenity at Reynolds Lake Oconee, however, has to be the golf.
A diverse roster of golf architects has put their stamp on the property: Bob Cupp, Rees Jones, Jim Engh, Jack Nicklaus and now Fazio for a second time. Fazio joins Cupp in having two different 18s at Reynolds, and during the Richland grand opening said he hopes he’s invited back if and when the growing community expands its golf offerings again.
“There’s a lot of design elements that we are capable of providing to create a distinctive golf experience,” said Fazio. “We have, I’d say, 40 Fazio golf courses within 100 miles of here. So, that’s an important factor for us, because they must be distinctive and unique… one of a kind.”
The Richland course at Reynolds Lake Oconee