Outstanding Golf, Unbelievable Value…and so much more at a Collection of Georgia Jewels.
The collection includes two beautiful Georgia State Park Resorts; Brasstown Valley Resort & Spa nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Georgia, about 2 hours from Atlanta and Chattanooga. Perhaps the stud of the group is the Lake Blackshear Resort and Golf Club located right off I-75 about 140 miles south of Atlanta and about 100 miles north of the Florida State line in Cordele, Georgia. If you don’t already know, Cordele is known as the Watermelon Capital of America.
The two properties under the management of Coral Hospitality have recently undergone an $8 million dollar renovation and are pleased to be able to showcase the properties to their golfers and non-golfing guests.
Brasstown Valley Golf Club
The Brasstown Valley Golf Club layout offers up 18 holes of championship Scottish links-style golf in a spectacular mountain setting with scenery as breathtaking as the play is challenging. Designed by Denis Griffiths, the golf course winds through wildlife preserves, ponds and streams framed in by the mountains. With five sets of tees, all skill levels will be able to enjoy a layout that is maintained to standards you’d expect. It’s great for the corporate outing, couple’s getaway or the guy’s weekend. The Brasstown Valley Golf Course has been ranked by both Golf Digest and Leading Golf Courses of America as one of the top Georgia courses to play. The award winning course is managed and maintained by the resort staff, so the guest’s experience is the first priority. Great golf is the goal.
Lake Blackshear Resort and Golf Club is also designed by architect Denis Griffiths and listed on Golf Digest Magazine’s list of four star-rated courses. Georgia Veterans Memorial Golf Course rests quietly on the shores of Lake Blackshear. Strategically placed mounds, water hazards, and plenty of sand bunkers define the holes and enhance the challenge. The Dwarf Bermuda greens are large and sloping and wide Tif 419 fairways wind through mounds and stands of tall loblolly pines. This golf experience is truly the best value in the south.
“We felt once players see the quality of the courses, they’ll appreciate what a huge value they are,” says Heath Carter, Regional Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “These State Park courses are really well maintained, they are interesting layouts, and they have a lot of top-grade amenities that you wouldn’t normally get at a golf course. And then you have the state-park settings, with walking and hiking trails, water activities, fishing…and no homes! It’s a true ‘back to nature’ feeling.”
Lake Blackshear Golf Course
Although for us golfers we like to put golf at the top of our list of things to do! But both Lake Blackshear and Brasstown Valley have so much to offer any visitors. Aside from the Championship golf course there is an 18-hole disc golf course, outdoor fitness center, and a model plane flying field. Water enthusiast check into the Marina, you can do a little boating or explore kayak and canoe tours for groups, maybe a little wave running is in your blood. Fishermen will find themselves on one of the best Bass–fishing lakes in South Georgia.
At Brasstown Valley Resort you will want to make sure that you have some downtime at the award winning 7,500-square-foot Equani Spa, perfect after a round of golf, a little horseback riding, maybe after your hike or whacking some balls around on the tennis courts. All options to pass your time away at Brasstown.
As we are golfers and as part of our quest to find some of the best deals in Georgia our golf tour took us over to Lake Eufaula overlapping the Georgia / Alabama border and visited a more traditional style State Park – George T. Bagby State Park and played the Meadow Links Course.
Crafted by Willard Byrd, who remodelled and designed more than 100 golf courses, including Atlanta Country Club, the layout was ranked by Golf Digest as “the nation’s sixth-best new affordable public course” upon its 1998 unveiling. Creatively woven into the gently rolling contours of the countryside, the links-style layout is loaded with healthy bunkering and memorable views.
Wallace Adams Golf Club
Large greens offer subtle breaks, while lush green fairways are ribboned with long Bahia rough. Two large pecan trees and an old pear tree crown the hill behind the 10th green, where golfers can enjoy one of the finest views in the South.
We then made our way back east and landed for our final round of our journey at Wallace Adams Golf Club situated in Little Ocmulgee State Park in McRae, the town square of which boasts its own version of the Liberty Bell and Statue of Liberty, the course has been rated four-and-a-half stars by Trip Advisor and Golf Advisor, including five stars for conditioning in this, its 50th anniversary year, the secluded track is adorned with pines, willows and magnolias.
Routed through pine forest, shot making skills are required to negotiate the tight front nine. Both of the opening par-3s play in excess of 200 yards, with the daunting sixth featuring a sharp drop-off beyond the putting surface.
Providing more breathing space but no less strategy, the original nine—now the back nine—was designed by O.C. Jones, an extended part of the Robert Trent Jones family.
“The course has a Pinehurst feel, with pine needles all around it and new Tif-eagle bermuda greens,” explains Carter, one of his favorite holes being the opening par-4, with its old stone walking bridge across the pond to the green. “Golf writers refer to Wallace Adams Golf Club at Little Ocmulgee as Augusta National’s cousin.”
So whether you’re making a few stops en route to Florida or targeting Southern Georgia as your primary destination, Carter says you can play favorites among the “Too Good to Be True” foursome of courses, if you like. “You can mix and match however you want to configure your three courses,” he says. “And it doesn’t have to be a guys’ trip. This is also a great destination for couples and families looking to unwind. And don’t forget you can play golf all year long in Georgia!”
CONTACT
Golf Southern Georgia: GolfSoGa.com
Coral Hospitality: coralhospitality.com
SAM Shortline Train: samshortline.com
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January 2017
