Inside the Creation of Richland, the Newest Golf Experience at Reynolds Lake Oconee

Published by Ashley Burns on November 20, 2024

Seeing a golf course under construction is a lot like seeing a clown without his makeup or Santa without his beard. It’s weird and maybe even a little frightening, at least in the sense of “How the hell are they going to turn all of this nasty orange dirt and clay into a big, beautiful green source of all my frustration?” At the same time, it’s a fascinating experience for the average golfer to see the sheer brilliance that goes into developing 18 holes that will very soon be considered among the best in Georgia, the East Coast, and probably the U.S.

When I first laid eyes on Richland, the newest Tom Fazio design at Reynolds Lake Oconee in Georgia, it was a mess of clay, giant grass patches, and construction vehicles of all sizes. It was an exceptionally beautiful summer morning when Lane Singleton, the Vice President of Agronomy, took me for a tour of this vacation destination’s seventh course that weaves its way through, around, and beyond The National’s clubhouse and surrounding areas. To some people, this might sound like the “same old” from what we all expect of Reynolds Lake Oconee — which is not a bad thing — but that’s hardly the case.

In fact, as Singleton drove me across incomplete fairways and past bare patches that would eventually become infuriating sand traps, all while explaining the ins and outs of course construction, I realized this course is very much like the newer neighborhood with which it shares a name. Just as the homes and amenities in Richland Pointe are a glimpse of the future of Reynolds Lake Oconee, this course is a different and refreshing opportunity for the area’s generational visitors, blending the past, present, and future across 18 holes.

What Makes Richland Different from the Other Courses

Four months later, I approached the tee box of Hole 1 at Richland, and I had goose bumps thinking about what it must have meant for Singleton and his team to see us out there. I’m not sure anyone else — golf writers or just your average player — had the opportunity to see “under the hood” like I had, so I found exceptional enjoyment in listening to other people critique the layout of each hole and generally rave about the quality throughout my round.

To create this course, Fazio took the nine holes from the Bluff of The National, moved and added some elements, and then combined them with nine new holes. Because of this, the course initially looks very Reynolds-esque, as Holes 1 through 5 feature a lot of trees and water views; however, the difference in design is immediately obvious with new challenges.

“My goal is always to create distinctive, one-of-a-kind golf courses,” Fazio said of Richland. “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.”

Once you reach Hole 6, you can see the course’s transition, as it gives way to a look and style that immediately separates this course from the others at Reynolds Lake Oconee. Whether Fazio intended this or not, change is very much a theme of Richland.

“The game’s changed a lot,” Singleton told me while explaining how his team was bringing Fazio’s vision to life. “Players have changed, too,” he added, in between explaining why this bunker was “deleted” and this one was pushed back, or why these trees were removed to create more fairway space, while this green was extended to somehow both offer relief to casual players and provide bigger challenges to scratch golfers.

Did it all make perfect sense? Not at all, despite Singleton doing his best to keep everything very simple for me. “It wasn’t broken,” he explained of the existing Bluff nine’s design. “There was nothing wrong with it, but we wanted to come in and make a splash.”

In the present, that splash was evident. I had quite a few moments of appreciative stunned disbelief on the “new 9.” While the fairways look wider and more forgiving, those “ups and downs” that Fazio mentioned were on full display, as elevation plays a significant role here. Straight drives will be rewarded with longer runs, but, as I learned the hard way several times, a bad slice will be punished with visits to the lovegrass that frames some of these holes. (If I had a nickel for every “Why do they call it lovegrass…” remark my fellow golfers made, I could put a down payment on my own vacation home here.)

But that’s exactly what Fazio wanted. “Members will enjoy this golf course because it has character and will never play the same,” he said. “This new course will provide a challenge and have endless possibilities for a fun and captivating golf experience.”

What to Expect When Playing Richland

I didn’t know this when I met him, but Singleton has a bit of a Bill Brasky reputation around Reynolds Lake Oconee. In addition to being a wizard of constructing and maintaining courses, I heard several accounts of how he might also be the best player on them as well. This is info I could have used during my tour, so I could have tapped him for tips for when I finally played Richland. Alas, I teed off as blind to Fazio’s challenges as everyone else that day, but the designer assured us this is “a golf course that is compatible to all levels of players.”

“We have members of all calibers, from very low to high handicap players, to beginners,” he told us. “We also have guests that come here — elite guests, as I call them — meaning how many plus threes, fours, and fives that show up.”

While I cannot say that I played with any elite golfers that day, I was able to enjoy the perspective of my peers who are significantly more consistent in their games. We were all frustrated by “mean” greens, as they were much faster than they looked and led to quite a few double- and triple-bogeys that could have been bogeys or even pars on better days.

Still, that plays into the “endless possibilities,” because all I could think about was playing again with the knowledge I’d built up over this round. Ultimately, as a casual golfer, I wasn’t bitter or disappointed at my mistakes that day — if anything, they made the good shots feel even better. There were plenty of those to enjoy, too, as the slopes are a short-driver’s best friend, and I took advantage of that at every opportunity. As it turns out, this is what Fazio intended.

“It’s not an accident where the tees are positioned in terms of where you hit the ball in the side slopes and away from hazards and placements and where other tees are positioned to bring hazards into play,” he explained. “There’s not tricks, but there’s a lot of design elements that we are capable of providing to create a distinctive golf experience.”

To be prepared for the next visit, I even asked Sean Cain, the Director of The Kingdom at Reynolds Lake Oconee, for the most important piece of advice he’d offer anyone playing Richland for the first time. “Play to your level,” he told me bluntly, before adding that “hero ball” has no place here. He said that players should know which tee box will be best for their games and don’t try to play bigger than you are. No problem there.

Richland is a distinct, high-quality golf experience that feels unique to the other courses designed by Fazio’s peers, like Jack Nicklaus’ Great Waters and Rees Jones’ The Oconee. It’s a spectacular change of pace for a destination that never needs to do anything different. That’s because, from the various styles of homes to the grounds of The Ritz-Carlton Reynolds Lake Oconee, and with all seven golf courses in between, every square inch of this place is packed with spoils.

Some are just a little more frustrating than others.