Tom Fazio has completed plans for nine new holes at Reynolds Lake Oconee, near Atlanta in Georgia.
The new nine will join with the existing Bluff nine, which is currently part of The National Course, to create a new private 18-hole course.
Fazio designed the original 18-hole National layout in 1997 and extended the course to 27 holes in 2000. The three nines were named after the terrain of the site – The Bluff, The Ridge and The Cove.
The new nine will be located on land, adjacent to The Bluff, that features a creek, large natural boulders and an existing pond. The site slopes down toward a cove of Lake Oconee and has more than 100 feet of elevation change.
The first five holes of the new eighteen will be from the Bluff routing, followed by the nine new holes, including a new ninth green that will sit along the lake. The final four holes will be from The Bluff.
“My goal is always to create distinctive, one-of-a-kind golf courses,” said Fazio. “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.”
The new eighteen will open in late 2024 as the first course at Reynolds Lake Oconee to traverse both sides of the peninsula and touch the lake from both Richland Creek and Oconee River. It will join Reynolds Lake’s six other courses: The National, Creek Club, The Landing, The Preserve, The Oconee and Great Waters, which reopened in 2019 following a renovation by Nicklaus Design.
“We are fortunate that Tom Fazio again applied his vision to Reynolds Lake Oconee to create nine new holes and integrate them with the world-class golf course he originally designed. It’s an honour for our community,” said Robert Merck, global head of real estate at MetLife Investment Management, investment manager of Reynolds Lake Oconee. “Our members and their guests are certain to be challenged and energized by his latest design.”
Fazio added: “Members will enjoy this golf course because it will have character and never play the same. This new course will provide a challenge and have endless possibilities of capturing your emotions and feelings.”