The seventh course at this Georgia resort/community blends a bit of old with a bit of new
Make no mistake. Although it utilizes a 9-hole routing that already existed on the grounds at Reynolds Lake Oconee, Tom Fazio’s Richland course is a distinctly new 18-hole layout. After opening on October 25—five years to the day that the north Georgia property rereleased its refreshed Jack Nicklaus-designed Great Waters course—it has vaulted RLO further up the ranks as one of the nation’s largest golf facilities with 126 total holes.
Joining the Creek Club as one of two member-only courses at Reynolds (the other five are accessible to resort guests), Richland comprises the completely renovated Bluff nine, borrowed from The National—Fazio’s former 27-hole contribution to Reynolds—and nine entirely new holes built by Fazio and design associate Bryan Bowers on a 75-acre piece of land distinguished by wide open space, native lovegrass, and more than 100 feet of elevation change.

Golfers begin Richland by facing the first five holes from the new-look Bluff, where the changes included regrassing of greens, removal of trees, and reshaping of bunkers with improved drainage and playability. After starting with two par fours between hardwoods, players approach the green at the par-five 3rd to find an excellent long view of Lake Oconee. At the waterfront par-three 4th—surely a postcard hole, but the only one that plays truly lakeside on this design—tees were repositioned closer to Lake Oconee and trees were removed to create an infinity-edge feel to the green.
“I think it’s just a matter of human nature; you always think you could do something better, especially down the road,” says Fazio of his tweaks to the original Bluff nine holes.
Finishing the par-four 5th, players cross a road to attack the brand-new nine holes before reconnecting to the Bluff for the home stretch from 15–18. The stark contrast between the old holes and the new reveals itself with uninterrupted views over a mostly treeless terrain.

Yes, there is a sameness in the grass types and similarity in the shapes of the bunkers and greens, but it’s hard to think of another course where there is such a juxtaposition of environments between two nines, particularly in the middle of the round. The swaths of lovegrass that frame many of the holes—which Fazio says looks great but is a misnomer and should be called “hategrass” for its lack of playability—give the 6th through the 14th a heathland flare that is unique for the whole of Reynolds Lake Oconee.
Standouts of the new sequence include the course’s three toughest holes on the scorecard in consecutive order—the lengthiest test at the 584-yard par-five 8th, sweeping downhill to a minuscule greensite; the beefy, downhill 451-yard par-four 9th with a creek running down its right side toward the lake and a freshly built turn house; and the heartrate-increasing climb at the steep par-four 10th to a multi-tiered green. Then you reach the short par-four 11th, which begins with an elevated tee box offering views across nearly the entire space occupied by these new additions.
With the exception of the 4th, the best holes of the Bluff nine were kept for a terrific finishing stretch that includes the reachable par-five 15th where a second shot must clear a pond and fronting bunker; the dropshot par-three 16th with a babbling brook running down its right side; the par-four 17th, another signature hole with a cross-cutting creek extending to the front and right side of the green; and the par-four 18th where an approach that bails out left of the hole leaves players with a delicate chip onto a green running away from them toward a bordering pond, making par a formidable score.

“My goal is always to create distinctive, one-of-a-kind golf courses,” says Fazio. “There’s a lot of terrain variation—lots of ups and downs, ins and outs, twists and turns—which is great for golf. That’s what makes this such a fine natural setting.”