Big jumps for Currahee, Spring Island,
Cliffs at Keowee Vineyard and Daniel Island
It was a very good year for golf courses in communities we follow closely. A total of 35 golf community courses made Golfweek magazine’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses for 2014. Wade Hampton, the exclusive club near Cashiers, NC, weighed in at number one overall. Another Cashiers area golf community layout, Tom Fazio’s Mountaintop course, came in at an impressive 12th position.
We were pleased to see that Cuscowilla, the Coore & Crenshaw understated design achievement in Eatonton, GA, just crept into the top 20. If you like classic designs on a walkable layout, you’ll love Cuscowilla. Better yet, if you are in the market for a golf home, you can pair a trip to Cuscowilla with a stop at Reynolds Plantation, where its Nicklaus-designed Great Waters course on Lake Oconee holds down the 71st position on Golfweek’s elite list, a whopping improvement of 21 places since the 2012 list was published. Reynolds, which boasts six excellent layouts, is now two years into ownership by MetLife, and we look for additional improvements as the months roll on. (Click here for golf homes currently for sale at Reynolds Plantation.)
Jim Engh's Creek Club course at Reynolds Plantation might have missed the top 100 list because it isn't walker friendly and it is easier than it looks.
We were a little surprised, though, that Jim Engh’s iconic Creek Club layout at Reynolds did not make the top 100 list. The unusual, somewhat odd layout is beautifully sculpted with distinctive red-tinged bunkers and meandering streams throughout and, according to the golf pro there, is way easier than it appears. Mindful that Golfweek puts a strong emphasis on shot-making challenges, the fact that most sloping at Creek Club tilts toward the holes, even on a few funneled greens, could explain Creek Club’s absence from the list.
