Long Point is the best course on Amelia Island, the locals say.  And we would agree after playing it yesterday, the third we played during our short visit.  Tom Fazio's layout threads its way through the marshes at the south end of the island, emerging for two par three holes onto the ocean, just for variety's (and drama's) sake.  Fazio works best when the land comes to him, and so at Long Point the fairways are as nature intended -- rolling, not funneled.  We forgive the designer for a few uncharacteristically large mounds in mid fairway.  But that's a minor nit on an otherwise brilliant track.
    We had the great good fortune to be matched with three fine gentlemen from the Jacksonville area:  Bill Swerbenski, who arranged the golf; Steve Roberts, a native of Wales; and Jack Hofstetter, a local real estate agent.  All are members at th Sawgrass Country Club.  Bill is a former accountant and, not surprisingly, he wound up on the positive end of the day's wagers.  I paid for a few bad shots, but otherwise had my best round of the week, an 83 (not that you asked).  We played the blue tees at a mere 6,121 yards and a rating of 69.6.  The slope is a modest 125.  The wind blew at about a steady 10 mph, with gusts to 20, and I thought ithe course played harder than the rating.
    Long Point, which is a private club but playable if you are a guest at the Amelia Island Plantation resort, is a must play if you are ever in the area.  The Jacksonville golf community market has heated up in the last few years, and there are many great options.  The area is up and coming area for those who want to live the golf lifestyle; there is much relocation from south Florida to the area, as well as the customary snow bird migration from the north.

Left to right, Jack Hofstetter, Bill Swerbenski and Steve Roberts at one of the two ocean holes at Long Point, both short par 3s and both dead into the wind.

    Old Trail, which sold its first piece of property in early 2005, is somewhat avant garde among its peer Charlottesville, VA, area communities.  The niche for the Crozet, VA, community is more populist than the upscale Keswick or the buttoned up and more dramatically scaled Glenmore, other fine communities in the area which we will review in future posts.  Old Trail will have no gate, manned or otherwise.  The community includes sidewalks and a park area to promote a sense of neighborhood.   When built out, natural spaces will include six miles of walking trails and 75 acres of parkland.  A “town center” will be the central point in Old Trail; the furthest extremity from the 250,000 square foot center will be a mere 10-minute walk.  Plans call for a restaurant, shops and offices; the first shops should be open by early 2008.  The goal is that people from the nearby town of Crozet will also use the town center for shopping and dining.
    The golf course is links style, different in that regard from most other courses in the area.  Condition of the turf was quite good; we liked especially the Zoysia grass fairways in which the ball sat up nicely.  The design by Jerry Kamis, a PGA pro and one of the developers of Old Trail itself, is fairly straightforward, although the layout seemed to require more than typical placement shots from one piece of land to another; we felt as if we had played a dozen par 3s by the end of the round.  The course strikes another odd note in that it includes only eight par 4 holes, two fewer than typical layouts.  The 18th hole is a little strange.  At the midpoint on the dogleg left 406-yard par four (from the men’s tees), the fairway stops abruptly, dropping a good two stories to the level below, the hill padded with thick rough.  We opted for long irons rather than metal, believing a layup would leave us a modest approach to the green way below, and that driver would put us on the hill in the rough.  We wound up on the hill anyway and were left with a lie that put our right foot almost at waist level in the thick rough.  There are better ways to make a finishing hole challenging.  That said, nothing else seemed unusual, with the exception of the llamas that stared at us from the backyard next to one tee box.  
    The Old Trail Golf Club is fashioned after early Scottish clubs in which the public had access and a few “founding” members had extra privileges.  Memberships are available at $4,000 for non-residents and $2,000 for anyone who purchases a lot or house in the community.  Monthly dues are a reasonable $250; property owner association dues add another $47 to $116 per month, depending on whether you own a single-family home or town home.  This week, the modest-sized clubhouse opens; the developers are counting on the town center, not the clubhouse, to be the community’s gathering place.  Even the community pool will be located at the town center.
    More than 100 homes are occupied in Old Trail.  Most of those who have purchased property plan to live there year round.  At full build out, which the developers expect to be in nine years, Old Trail will include 2,000 homes of varying styles and sizes, and more than 5,000 people.  Single-family houses on the larger lots (up to ¾ acre) range up to $1.4 million for the largest home, at 6,000 square feet.  Houses on patio lots are in the $450,000 to $600,000 range.  Town homes in the first phase are sold out, but a new phase is planned for June.  Architectural standards in the community are strict; we were impressed that no garages are permitted to face the street, and that no vinyl will ever line the exterior of an Old Trail home.
    Old Trail is a new concept in golf communities in the Charlottesville area.  It is wide open, embracing of the nearby community, and without pretension.  It will appeal to those who don’t believe good fences necessarily make good neighbors.  The course has a nice links style to it, and a couple of clunky holes do not ruin the fun.  Contact Old Trail Village Sales Executive Jonathan Kauffman at 866-567-8100, or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  Web site:  www.oldtrailliving.com


The Blue Ridge Mountains provide framing for the picturesque Old Trail, designed by PGA pro Jerry Kamis.