By Mike May
georgia golf trail
All Roads in Georgia Lead to The Masters
While the eyes and ears
of the golfing world are focused on Georgia and the Masters in early April, it’s worth noting that the major highways that lead to the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta are filled with great golf courses which are worth playing while en route to the Masters or while you are headed home. If you’re traveling along one of the four major interstate highways – I-95, I-20, I-75, or I-85 – that enter and leave Georgia, consider bringing your golf clubs for an 18-hole pitstop or two along the Georgia Golf Trail, where you will be spoiled for choice when it comes to places to play golf. “The Georgia Golf Trail, which has many locations as you travel to the Masters, offers a wide variety of golf experiences that range from seaside destinations to courses built among the mountains,” said Georgia Golf Trail Founder Doug Hollandsworth. As you enter Georgia from Florida along I-95, there are many places to play golf. Your first stop will be the Jekyll Island Golf Club on Jekyll Island.
Currahee Club GA 10th Hole
The Jekyll Island Golf Club is blessed with four golf courses – a nine-hole layout and three 18-hole courses. The Great Dunes Course is the nine-hole layout. The three 18-hole courses are the Indian Mound Course, Oleander Course, and Callaway Gardens Lake View 10th Green the Pine Lakes Course. Great Dunes was Jekyll Island’s first golf course. The legendary Walter “Old Man” Travis was the architect of this coastal jewel. Indian Mound, constructed in 1975 by veteran course designer Joe Lee, is the shortest of the three 18-hole courses, but it’s no pushover. Oleander, considered the most difficult golf
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course on Jekyll Island, has hosted the Georgia Open four times. Pine Lakes, which opened in 1968, is the longest golf course on Jekyll Island. Pine Lakes meanders through ocean forests and natural marsh hammocks. Just north of Jekyll Island is the Sapelo Hammock Golf Club in Shellman Bluff. Surrounded by tidal marshes, saw palmettos, and live oak trees, this golf course’s greens are a reflection of this club’s commitment to excellence. After leaving Shellman Bluff, keep heading north along I-95 to Savannah. Savannah’s only golf course along the Georgia Golf Trail is The Club at Savannah Harbor, which hosted the Legends of Golf event on the Champions Tour from 2003-2013. As you travel into Georgia from Alabama along I-85, a must-play stop is Callaway Gardens & Resort Golf Central • Volume 22, Issue 11
