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. And when it opens on October 25—five years to the day that the north Georgia property rereleased its refreshed Jack Nicklaus-designed Great Waters course—it will vault RLO further up the ranks as one of the nation’s largest golf facilities with 126 total holes.
One of two member-only courses (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 on a piece of land distinguished by an existing pond and creek, sizable boulders, and more than 100 feet of elevation change.
Golfers begin Richland by facing the first five holes from the new-look Bluff, including the waterside par-three 4th hole where tees were repositioned closer to Lake Oconee and trees were removed to create an infinity-edge feel to the green. After the 5th, players cross a road to attack the brand-new nine before reconnecting to the Bluff for the home stretch from 15–18.
Standouts of the new sequence include the course’s lengthiest test at the 602-yard par-five 8th, sweeping downhill to a minuscule greensite; the beefy, 468-yard par-four 9th with a creek running down its right side toward the lake and a freshly built turn house; and the short par-four 11th, which begins with an elevated tee box offering views across nearly the entire space occupied by these new additions.
“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.”
