Reynolds' new seventh course is already making major headlines for being named 'Best New Private Course in 2024' by Sports Illustrated.

From the article:

Best New Private Course (Hybrid Division): Reynolds Lake Oconee (Richland), Greensboro, Georgia

There’s something comforting, almost familiar about the new Richland course at Reynolds Lake Oconee—for good reason. Nine of the holes—1 through 5 and 15 through 18—made up the Bluff nine on the 27-hole National course that Tom Fazio designed in the late 1990s. The public-access National layout began as an 18-holer in 1997 with the Ridge and Bluff nines. Three years later, the Cove nine debuted. In mid-October, that equation changed dramatically when Reynolds opened its new private Richland course, teaming the old Bluff nine and nine new holes. For Fazio, the king of private golf in the southeastern U.S., Richland is another jewel in the crown.

Measuring 7,090 yards, par 72, Richland exemplifies the classic Fazio formula: roomy fairways, a plethora of large bunkers and water hazards, medium-large, moderately undulating greens, gorgeous aesthetics and few forced carries—or at least alternate routes—to avoid the most penal of hazards. Members and their guests will feast on handsome vistas on the hilly Richland journey.

“There’s a lot of terrain variation—lots of ups and downs, ins and outs, twists and turns—which is great for golf,” said Fazio. “That’s what makes this such a fine natural setting.”

The nine new holes unfold on a 75-acre parcel that sport a more open feel than the existing nine, with fewer trees and fairways framed by lovegrass. Fazio kids that the plant should be called “hategrass” because golfers hate being in or near it, but it's attractively presented and their potential terror is mitigated by the wide landing areas. Fazio and associate Bryan Bowers retrofitted features on the existing nine so that bunkers, greens and sightlines conformed more closely to what they created on the new nine. Of the tweaks to the old nine, the most significant was in moving the tee boxes at the 193-yard, par-3 fourth closer to the edge of 19,000-acre Lake Oconee and clearing trees near the green to provide unobstructed views.

Most controversially, greens carpeted in TifEagle on the new nine serve up an abundance of vexing interior contours. At the excellent downhill-sweeping, 584-yard, par-5 eighth, the green complex is button-hooked to the left of the fairway and it houses a putting surface that tilts forcefully to the back and left, its maddening slope obscured by a fronting bunker. Nevertheless, as Richland is a private course, members will soon learn how to navigate the slippery slopes. Reynolds’ Richland isn’t groundbreaking architecture; it’s the equivalent of the tasty comfort food we all crave because it just makes us feel good.

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