Georgia’s Reynolds Lake Oconee is among the biggest of the approximately 3,200 golf facilities in the U.S. with a real estate component. And it just got a little bigger.

The luxury community set on a 12,000-acre lakefront property midway between Atlanta and Augusta has officially unveiled its seventh 18-hole course – Richland – to bring its total to 126 holes of golf.

Great Waters, The Landing, The National, The Oconee, and The Preserve are open to public play as well as guests of the on-property Ritz-Carlton, while Richland joins Creek Club as private options for some of the community’s 4,000 member families.

Architect Tom Fazio returned to Lake Oconee to add nine new holes at Richland that are unlike just about anything else on property.

Fazio originally did the three nines at The National, which has been downsized from 27 holes to 18. Richland incorporates the existing nine holes from the former Bluff 9 into its routing, with the new addition set on a 75-acre tract with more than 100 feet of elevation change, open vistas and tall native grasses that frame the holes.

Richland starts with five “Bluff” holes through the trees and along the lake, then crosses a road to a much more open area that was once home to dense trees. Holes 6 through 14 wind and climb through this new section, which has homesites on at least three of the holes, before rejoining the final four holes of the Bluff.

“It was a steeper piece of land than the other areas,” Fazio said at the Grand Opening. “If I didn’t tell you we moved a lot of earth, you would just assume it’s just a hilly piece of land the way it was.

“It’s a pretty wide golf course, but it’s not (with the native grasses) if you go errant,” added Fazio. “If it was dense trees and tight, balls would hit the trees, drop down, and you’d find your ball. It can be easier if it’s tighter, because you can find your ball and play it. So that’s the variety that we have.”

New Era for Golf Real Estate

While U.S. golf development is limited compared to the boom years of the 1990s and early 2000s, new course construction is at its highest levels in more than a decade, according to the National Golf Foundation. Of the current course projects under construction or in-planning, 42% have a housing component, according to the NGF. For context, the 3,200 courses tied to real estate represents just under 25% of overall U.S. golf supply.

The new era in residential golf development is much smarter than it was two to three decades ago, when selling houses was often the primary focus.

At Reynolds, golf demand went up significantly in the post-Covid years, jumping from 132,000 annual rounds to 157,000 and then 190,000. But the new nine had always been “out there for us,” and wasn’t necessarily a direct response to surging demand in recent years, said Reynolds Lake Oconee’s Senior VP of Sales, Marketing, and Strategic Planning Dave Short.

“We have seen almost a complete inversion of our membership demographically and psychographically over the last 10 years,” said Short. “It’s not the 65-year-old guy pensioning off from GM after 30 years who wants to play six days a week. That’s a great member, but that’s not our power alley. When I put up a billboard, it’s a much broader group of people who I’m attracting and are figuring out how to make this their permanent place.”

Of the 3,500 homes in the Reynolds community, about 2% are available on the resale market. The property itself currently has no real estate available but is conducting a lottery in November for future lakefront lots.

About a decade ago, there were 800 dormant lots available within the Reynolds Lake Oconee community. Today, they’ve all been snatched up, including the seven miles of lakefront property in Richland Pointe near the new course. Golf lots ranged from $650,000 to $900,000, while cottage lots in the village sold for between $325,000 to $1.3 million.

Continued Evolution and Growth

The strong momentum at Reynolds is in part due to the continued evolution that started pre-pandemic, including allowing generational members to add their adult kids to the membership. Short said the previous rules had been “very limiting,” and that one small change has been dramatic – lowering the average member age from 63 to 56 and creating a deeper connection between families and the property.

The addition of more amenities, more restaurants (10 in total), more member offerings and events (including concerts by Little Big Town, Vince Gill, Gin Blossoms, and Sister Hazel) doesn’t hurt.

Either does more golf. About 60% of Reynolds members have the highest of the two tiers of membership – Platinum – giving them access to all seven of the courses. And the new nine at Richland gives a new look that’s unlike anything else within the continually growing community.

“There’s a lot of design elements that we are capable of providing to create a distinctive golf experience,” said Fazio. “We have, I’d say, 40 Fazio golf courses within 100 miles of here. Somewhere like that. That’s an important factor for us, because they must be distinctive and unique… one of a kind.”

Kind of like Reynolds Lake Oconee itself.