Five of the top-10 golf courses you can play in Georgia are conveniently located at one venue — Reynolds Lake Oconee, a resort community situated on 19,000-acre Lake Oconee between Atlanta and Augusta. That’s according to Golfweek, which this week released its “Top Courses You Can Play in the State” rankings.
This is the first time Reynolds Lake Oconee has placed five courses in the state’s Top-10:
#2—Great WatersGreat Waters (Jack Nicklaus)
#3—The OconeeThe Oconee (Rees Jones)
#7—The NationalThe National (Tom Fazio)
#9—The LandingThe Landing (Bob Cupp)
#10—The PreserveThe Preserve (Bob Cupp)
Great Waters held firm at No. 2 from the 2019 rankings, while The Oconee, The National, and The Landing each moved up one place.
Great Waters underwent a total renovation and re-opened in October 2019. The completely rebuilt, modernized, and reconditioned version of the 1992 original is a visually breathtaking 18 holes of championship golf along the Lake Oconee shoreline that looks almost exactly the way Nicklaus first designed it—but better.
“Spectacular is a pretty good word for the golf course,” said Nicklaus, the living legend who devoted considerable time and attention to taking Great Waters back to the future. “We created a little more of an exciting golf course with more variety; a golf course that is really strong again.”
Wes Forester, Director of Golf at Reynolds Lake Oconee, said he was very pleased to see The Preserve crack the Golfweek Top 10 for the first time. Designed in 1988 by Bob Cupp, with U.S. Open champions Hubert Green and Fuzzy Zoeller serving as consultants, The Preserve was the original course at Reynolds Lake Oconee.
“Our award-winning courses continue to enrich the reputation of Reynolds Lake Oconee as one of the country’s premier golf communities and a preferred golf destination,” Forester said. “The rankings are a tribute to all who oversee our facilities and care for our layouts, as well as the many people who love to play our courses and spread the word about the special experience.”
Reynolds Lake Oconee is considered one of the most diverse golf experiences in the southeast with courses designed by several legendary architects. Along with designs from the all-star line-up of Nicklaus, Fazio, Jones, and Cupp, the community also boasts the Members-only Creek Club by Jim Engh.
Every year, Golfweek’s team of course raters, which currently boasts more than 850 evaluators, surveys more than 3,600 courses, grading each nominated course on strict standards. Collectively, more than 75,000 votes were tabulated to compile the best-courses lists.
