NWO Golf Links November 2015

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NWO Golf Links
Mike May
The Lake Oconee Course
OneofGeorgia’sFinest
The quality of the golf experience at The
pure, pleasant, photogenic and peaceful, with
an emphasis on the latter.
When you arrive on the first tee of The Oconee,
you are on the cusp of a magical golf journey,
which won’t finish until you walk off the 18th
green. The uniqueness of this course is such
that you get that special feeling on every tee.
It’s important to admire the breadth and depth
of every hole before you strike your tee shots.
Golf course designer Rees Jones ‘got it right’
when he designed The Oconee, one of six golf
courses at Reynolds Plantation, located 80
miles east of Atlanta.
“The classic golf course that we designed fits
the land perfectly,” says Jones. “The topography
is such that the green sites are natural and the
finishing holes on both nines are spectacular.”
When The Oconee first opened in January
of 2003, Golf Digest named it as one of the
“Best New Upscale Courses.” Since then, The
Oconee has remained in the “Top 100 Resort
Courses” by Golfweek.
In a nutshell, Oconee will create an indelible
memory for anybodywho plays it. The attention
to detail is what sets it apart from other resort
golf courses. Jones did a wonderful job of
incorporating the natural woodlands, rock-
strewn brooks, central Georgia’s natural rolling
terrain, and the breathtaking views of Lake
Oconee. At The Oconee, there are no homes
along the fairways and only two fairways (the
1st and the 10th) are remotely close to one
another. When playing The Oconee, you have
18 distinct golf experiences, which adds to this
course’s overall appeal and attraction.
The Oconee has five sets of tees, marked
simply, ‘one,’ ‘two,’ ‘three,’ ‘four,’ and ‘five.’
The distance from the tips, ‘one,’ is a shade
over 7,000 yards, while the distance from the