Jekyll Island  GR

Jeykll Island, GA  (about 50 mi N of Jax)

www.jekyllisland.com/activities/golf.asp

Great Dunes Course: 1900, Walter Travis; 2002 renovation

Blue 6321, 70.9, 126, 72
White 6321, 69.6, 123, 72

Jeykll Island Resort has 4 courses

From the website-

Pine Lakes- The newest (originally designed and built in 1968 and completely renovated in 2002) and longest (at 6760 yards) course, Pine Lakes is a veritable masterpiece that meanders through ocean forests and undisturbed hammocks populated by migratory birds. The original Dick Wilson/Joe Lee design was completely renovated in 2002 by course architect Clyde Johnston, designer of Southerness Golf Club in Atlanta. Johnston took what was a near perfection and added his vision and flavor – including new lakes and bunkers, redesigned greens and drainage improvements – making it the premier course on Jekyll Island. During course design Clyde Johnston incorporated "Family Friendly" tee boxes, making this the only course in America that allows players of all ages to compete evenly. Pine Lakes and Jekyll Island are the official hosts for the annual US Kids Golf Jekyll Island Cup.

Indian Mound- Joe Lee, in 1975, mapped out this a new 18-hole challenge with trademark strategically situated fairway bunkers, playing through some of Jekyll Island's most pristine lakes and marshes. Lee named it Indian Mound after the large oyster shell middens deposited by aboriginal tribes hundreds of years prior. Indian Mound, like Jekyll Island's other courses is unobtrusive by residential or commercial development.

Oleander- Considered the local favorite among Jekyll Island golf courses, the Oleander Course follows the Island's inland lakes and Pine forest on the grounds that once was the 34th oldest registered golf course in the United States. The 1964, Dick Wilson-designed course challenges golfers with numerous dog legs, par 4's, 5's and situated only 300 yards from the ocean, trade winds will often affect your play.

Great Dunes- In 1926 the "Old Man" Walter Travis, the leading golf course architect of the time, was summoned by Mr. Rockefeller and the wealthy members of the Jekyll Island Club to create the "Best course money could purchase". His vision did not disappoint and had the club members golfing along Coastal Georgia's beach, swept with oats, natural sand barrier of the coastal dune system and the unique coastal terrain. Still in its original condition, this 9-hole golf course highlights the alternating simplicity and difficulty that only the "Old Man" could accomplish and a direct ancestor of all modern American Ocean Links courses.

Per Philadelphia Magazine, this place is so quintessentially Southern, so laden with oaks dripping in Spanish moss, that scenes from The Legend Of Bagger Vance were shot here.

Best Bar Nearby: Philadelphia Magazine recommends Lattitude 31 (1 Pier Rd, $65 dinner for 2 with drinks), a down-to-earth place just across the oyster-shell-paved white lane from the J.I. Club Hotel. On the marina with prime views of the river, Lattitude 31 is ringed with shrimp boats, and has a big, rickety deck where local cover bands wail for fishermen and visiting golfers to dance and drink Killian's Red on a hot, humid night. Check out the Georgia White Shrimp at the indoor-outdoor raw bar, likely caught that very morning just off shore by Captain John, a skinny shrimp-boat captain who might be swilling beer at the bar.

Where To Stay: Like much of the island, the Jekyll Island Club Hotel (371 Riverview Dr, www.jekyllclub.com, Fall rates: clubhouse doubles from $139/night, cottage suites $159-$299/night) has a likeable time-warp quality, relaxed and genteel. Born in 1806 by a New York entrepreneur as a hunting club for the likes of William Rockefellar and J.P. Morgan. The stock market crash of 1929 started a downward spiral ending in the sale of the island back to the Great State of Georgia by 1940. Investors turned the tall, gabled clubhouse and cottages into a hotel in 1986. The best rooms are in Crane Cottage, a 1904 Italianate white stucco mansion renovated in '01. Think intimate courtyards, original moldings, tall French windows, chic plantation-style furnishings, and big bathrooms.

Further Diversions: Tennis, biking, lawn croquet, a beach pavilion which rents old-fashioned wooden chaise lounges, an hour-long history tour of the old club, or head 90 minutes north for the old Southern charms of Savannah (See Savanah Harbor GC).