Jekyll Island Golf Club - Great Dunes Course

Have played all the Jekyll courses for many years, and they were some of my lifelong favorites. Hoped upon my return I could find the course changes enjoyable. However, This new merger of the 9 hole Great Dunes course and 9 holes from Oleander has ruined the Jekyll Island Golf experience. Yes Oleander had some seasonal wetness issues on several holes, it had been that way for years but always looked great. However they used this as an excuse in recent years. The problems here came from poor management & upkeep. In recent years you could find grass growing in the sand traps on all the courses and other easily solved issues as well. This new combines course has no flow to it. Course Conditions will improve with time however Its like playing 18 holes on 3 different designs… just plain weird. They are promoting the 4 hole and the roadside/seaside green as something special when in fact this green has been there for decades and nobody promoted it then. This combination was nothing more than a land grab so that much of Oleanders back 9 could be eventually used commercially by the Island authority. And the promotion of seaside golf is a ploy to justify the new doubled Rates! and it also eliminated affordable golf to the many who played the 9 hole Great Dunes course for years. The beautiful holes from Oleanders back nine were some of the prettiest holes you could find. i find it odd that they say the ‘water problem’ forced them to redesign and eliminate the back 9, yet they turn around and now use the #10 & #18 holes as a driving range. The monstrosity they have created with this new Great Dunes course is a complete joke of a golf course!

I was among the first golfers to play all 18 holes of the newly expanded Great Dunes. Although it still needs time to grow in, the routing laid out to honor original architect Walter Travis couldn't be more fun or interesting. Architects Jeff Stein and Brian Ross took away forested land from nine holes of the former Oleander Course (which is now closed) to tie everything together. The sandy look of the original Great Dunes holes pairs so well with the new holes designed through the trees and around several marshy water hazards. The approach shot between the two massive dunes guarding the par-5 fourth green will always be the signature shot. The ocean views from that green and the par-3 fifth tee are great for a course that's so affordable. It's a thrilling coastal journey from start to finish.