Summary:  Value Rating = B+

There are a number ways to measure the golf on the three 18 hole courses on Jekyll Island.  In terms of cost, the golf courses at Jekyll Island offer really great value.  In terms of playability and challenge, I would rate them as better than average, but not exceptional.  In terms of the condition of the courses and convenience, especially if you are staying on Jekyll Island, the courses are excellent.  Our 2003 green fees were under $50 and the replay fee was extremely reasonable at $17.  Prices are only a bit higher today – still good value.

Pine Lakes, Oleander and Indian Mound are the three 18 hole courses.  There is also a 9 hole course (which we didn’t play).  My buddies and I played the three 18 hole courses in late October of 2003.  This review will be shorter than some of the other reviews I’ve written for lifepast50 as my information regarding the courses is a bit dated.  I have not provided reviews of each of the 18 hole courses but lumped them all together in one review because if you do travel to this destination sometime, you will no doubt take in the three 18 layouts while you are there.

In terms of variety, the three courses are similar with slight differences mostly based upon their location on the island. We enjoyed playing the courses having never played them before but they do offer a similar look and feel. After a few rounds on each course, you do get a bit tired of the similarities and I would suggest mixing in a round or two at other courses in the area for a change of pace.

Check out this website – www.jekyllisland.com – under the golf section for additional summary information about the courses.

Play and Value Evaluation Rating Table

Refer to my evaluation criteria – www.lifepast50.ca/topic-list/golf/reviewcriteria

Some Details:

The entire island is a State Park and there is a parking fee to pay as you enter the island.  The area offers lots of accommodation choices with lots of beach areas and a number of restaurants.  Everything on the island is within a 5 to 10 minute drive.  My buddies and I stayed in a condo unit which provided us very easy access to golf and the beach areas.  This was one of the enjoyable features of the trip along with the fact that it wasn’t a peak vacation period and we enjoyed the quiet solitude.

Jekyll Island is located in the south east corner of Georgia, close to Interstate 95 and north of Jacksonville, Florida.

Based upon my personal preferences, Pine Lakes is the best of the three 18 hole courses if you measure challenge, layout and playability, followed by Oleander and then Indian Mound.  Oleander, I feel, has the most interesting layout.  Unfortunately we were only able to play Oleander once because it was being prepared for a big tournament (Florida versus Georgia – an annual event at the course).

Pine Lakes is the longest of the 3 courses and the most recently renovated.  It provides lots of lakes and bunkers along with many pine trees in the forested areas of the course.  It is the most friendly course to errant shots as long as you stay out of the water.  We did see some alligators sunning themselves on the banks near some of the tees.  These were the first wild alligators I had seen so it did add some excitement to the round and made me think about staying away from the water.

Oleander has an interesting layout and is an enjoyable change from the other 2 courses.  It has more dog legs and the wind off the ocean can affect your ball flight.  Parts of Oleander are more open and closer to the ocean so it does provide a different feel.  The day we played Oleander, the course was a bit soggy so that added to the distance you had to hit the ball on 2nd and 3rd shots because you didn’t get much roll on your tee shot.

Indian Mound is the easiest of the three as long as you keep your ball out of the brush areas along the side of most of the holes.  Once you roll or bounce into these area you really have no shot back out because of the density of the brush.  For the most part, Indian Mound is just an average course – probably similar in feel to the course you play at home.  It has some generous fairways.

There was lots of wildlife around including deer, lots of birds and, as I noted earlier, the alligators.  We did enjoy watching a flock of about 10 turkey vultures swooping 10 to 20 feet over our heads around two holes on Indian Mounds.  They are very large birds and as they swooped over our heads around one of the greens and tee blocks, you could hear the swoosh of air flowing over their wings as they glided near us.  An interesting sight as the glided effortlessly above us – I have seen a few of these birds in Eastern Ontario but never up close while they were flying over our heads.  If bugs give you the creeps then you may not enjoy the palmetto bugs – we had some fun at the outdoor bars near the beaches in the early evenings with the palmetto bugs.  We laughed as we watched the bugs carry empty beer cans on their backs across the bar and patio.  They are harmless but big.

My scores varied depending upon how well I was hitting the ball and my putting – pretty much what you would expect any average recreational golfer to say.  I played well on Oleander shooting an 84, pretty average on Pine Lakes with scores of 87, 89 and 92, and then slightly worse on Indian Mound with scores of 91, 95 and 98.  I realize I noted that Indian Mound was the easier of the 3 courses but you do need to avoid the edges and I struggled a bit on a few holes with penalty strokes.  I also wasted a few shots getting use to the fluffy rough in the early round I played during our stay.  I managed to sky a number of shots where the ball was sitting up in the rough by swinging under the ball.  Once I got use to that, I struck the ball much better on later rounds.

Unfortunately I have no pictures.

Lane Smith – Lane@lifepast50.ca