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I've got a pretty lackluster resume of career golf highlights: a couple of aces, an 'almost' even par round (a 75) and a few random hot streaks.
But I just found another feather in my cap this week: I only lost one ball when I played TPC Southwind, the annual host of the FedEx Cup St. Jude Classic in Memphis, Tenn. Turns out, TPC Southwind's water hazards are a magnet for golf balls hit by professionals (good thing I'm very much an amateur!).
From 2003 heading into the 2023 tournament, the course leads the PGA TOUR with the most balls in the water, a whopping 6,166 splashes and sinkers. The nearest contenders are the PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass (5,089), Muirfield Village Golf Club (5,022), The Champion Course at PGA National Resort (5,005), the Tournament Course at the Golf Club of Houston (4,020) and the Stadium Course at TPC Scottsdale (3,806). The pressure of the playoffs forces many players to go for broke. Losing a ball makes the pros look human, something us hackers enjoy.
In my travels, I've encountered hundreds of courses loaded with water hazards - rivers, ponds, oceans, lakes, burns, marshes and streams. I've left many a golf ball behind (Will you send me the Pro-V1s you find marked 'JSD'?).
Here are the 10 courses I'd consider as dangerous for amateurs as TPC Southwind is for professionals when it comes to water hazards. Make sure you load up with an extra sleeve on two when playing America's most waterlogged public courses. (Editor's Note: I left out Sawgrass and PGA National since they're already well-known as ball gobblers).
Which courses have you played where water stole more balls than you had hoped? Let us know in the comments below.
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Great Waters at Reynolds Lake Oconee - Eatonton, Ga.
Lake Oconee became a reservoir in 1979 when Georgia Power built a dam for the Oconee River. Jack Nicklaus built the community's signature course in 1992 to boldly interact with its many watery inlets and coves. Bailouts toward dry land are wise misses.
![great-waters-2.jpg]()
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Pawleys Plantation Golf & Country Club - Pawleys Island, S.C.
Although there are a dozen other legit contenders along the Grand Strand, Pawleys Plantation, which is undergoing a renovation by original architect Jack Nicklaus, wins out as the region's most watery layout. Ponds and marshy hazards are in play on at least 10 holes. For a list of others, check out this story from my friend Chris King.
Pawleys Island, South CarolinaSemi-Private/Resort -
Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort - Kiawah Island, S.C.
The fearsome Ocean Course features the best of Pete Dye's visual intimidation laid out upon a windswept Lowcountry landscape. Expectations according to your handicap should be carefully managed. Don't lose a ball but shoot 95? That's probably a big win for most of us.
![Ocean at Kiawah Island Resort]()
Kiawah Island, South CarolinaResort -
The Shattuck - Jaffrey, N.H.
The Shattuck is a Brian Silva design built around an endless assortment of marshes, protected wetlands and beaver ponds. The fact it has 36 bridges tells golfers all they need to know about how many balls to bring: Does one extra ball for every five bridges sound like a good fit for your game? Not many other 6,112-yard courses will have a slope of 142.
![Shattuck GC: #6]()
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Deacon's Lodge at Breezy Point Resort - Breezy Point, Minn.
Deacon's Lodge, named after architect Arnold Palmer's father, might be the most scenic course - and perhaps the best? - in Brainerd, one of the Midwest's best golf destinations. That is, if you don't mind some serious target golf over and around the marshes, wetlands and ponds.
![Breezy Point Resort - Deacon's Lodge]()
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Lake Course at Grand National - Opelika, Ala.
Although its sister Links Course along the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail is sometimes considered the better routing, the Lake is the one that delivers the shoreline one hole after another. It's as beautiful as it is challenging. "The Lake is the easier of the two courses, but by no means is it “easy.” Slightly less penalizing, but tons of water involved as well" reads a GolfPass review by 'JoshSmith12', who played all three courses in 2023.
![Lakes at Grand National GC: #15]()
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Island Pointe Golf Club - Kodak, Tenn.
Island Pointe, a 1991 creation of Arthur Hills, hopscotches over the riverbank so many times that it might be wise to wear a life jacket. Three islands within the French Broad River house some gorgeous, albeit dangerous golf holes.
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Lanier Islands Legacy Golf Course - Buford, Ga.
The golf at Lanier Islands Legacy doesn't get much attention because there are so many good courses around Georgia (Sea Island, Augusta, Reynolds, etc.), but it's hard to beat its location on Lake Lanier. Our reviewers certainly recognize the merits of 11 holes right on the lake shore, rating it among the top 20 courses in the state every year since 2018. "This is a must-play for any golfer with so many holes on Lake Lanier. Stunning!" reads a review from June.
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English Turn Golf & Country Club - New Orleans
A past PGA Tour venue in New Orleans from 1989-2006* before TPC Louisiana was built, English Turn boasts water on 17 of its 18 holes. It's the par-5 15th that ends at an island green that everyone remembers most from this Jack Nicklaus design.
* Hurricane Katrina canceled the 2005 event.
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River Course at Blackwolf Run - Kohler, Wis.
The Sheboygan River twists and meanders through the River Course at Blackwolf Run, almost as if Pete Dye dug the riverbank and poured the water in himself. The river's winding bank defines many of the best holes including an extended stretch from no. 5 through no. 13 (except hole 7).
![River at Blackwolf Run: #5]()
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