Course Review: The Creek Club - Reynolds Plantation
Golf course architect Jim Engh has spent the majority of his career designing courses out west and dabbled a little in Michigan. Reynolds Plantation had 81 holes of golf from the likes of Cupp, Fazio, Nicklaus and Rees Jones. The first 81 holes are good golf, as you’d expect from those four architects. But Reynolds didn’t have anything that was truly something different than what most courses in the southeast present. Well, when Reynolds brought Engh down to the southeast, he brought a course that really is a departure from the status quo.
Architect: Jim Engh
Year Opened: May 2007
Location: Greensboro, Georgia
Type: Private
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The course features Engh’s distinctive mounding and bunkering. The bunkers are one of two styles - a serpentine, skinny bunker with massive “muscle” mounding around the bunker or a perfectly circular, pot-like bunker. The muscle mounding also appears around the greens and frames the course’s water hazards - many of the creeks have had their banks graded to this style of mounding. The mounding gives the course a very distinct appearance - an aggressive, imposing look that mentally intimidates. Inside one of the cavernous bunkers, it’s a lonely feeling - if you’re fortunate to have a level stance, there’s likely a long carry to escape. But you’re likely to not have a level stance - the width of many of the bunkers is only a few paces, so any shot not in the center of the bunker means one or both of your feet could be around your shoulder.
The course also has a lot of width off the tee - something that is rare in the southeast for any number of reasons. Many of those reasons having to do with the fact most new courses are part of residential development and more width in the golf course means fewer lots on the ground. The width allows for the introduction of a number of strategic golf course design elements. Chief among them are numerous centerline hazards. At least half the holes at the Creek Club incorporate either bunker or water in the middle of the hole. Options abound off the tee - the first timer at the course will greatly benefit from the direction of a member who has been around the course a couple of times.
Last, but certainly not least, the greens at the Creek Club are entertaining. The greens combine the previous two elements in a very interesting fashion - width and mounding. The greens are typically either very wide and shallow or very narrow and deep. Two greens at the Creek Club are in excess of 60 yards long - the second and thirteenth. Most of the greens are very undulating, and some like the ninth and eleventh greens having severe slopes that are in eight to ten feet in difference if you’re on the wrong shelf. Overall the green speeds were slow - much slower than I would have expected given the lack of rain. They aren’t mowing them as low as the other courses at Reynolds and that may be due to the severe undulations - they could become unplayable at higher green speeds. I, however, found myself repeatedly having trouble getting the ball to the hole because I couldn’t convince myself to hit a putt that hard.
There are certainly areas where the course is open to some criticism. The course is repetitive in the sense that nearly every tee shot is played downhill, and many second shots are played uphill to the green. As mentioned earlier, the green speeds are slow - they could be faster without the greens getting out of hand. Nearly every green is in an amphitheater setting and the perimeter grading funnels nearly every ball back into play - it’s hard to find yourself in much trouble even on bad shots. (That’s not really a bad thing - but the funnel effect does add to the feeling of repetition.) Also, for the older members, because of the amphitheater greens and funnel effect of the fairways, it’s a very steep walk back up to cart paths. The course is walkable - one member in our foursome walked the course only hitching rides between a few holes because of the distance from tee to green. The course is also missing a good, short par 4. The second hole could play this role, if it is played from the three tees at 306 yards, but at 352 yards (uphill) from the one and two tees, it doesn’t offer many to be able to reach with a drive. Finally, there are few holes without trouble in the front of the green meaning that there is little opportunity for a ground game.
The Creek Club has four sets of tees - 7,079 yards from the one tees, 6,215 yards from the three tees, 5,489 yards from the three tees and 4,737 yards from the five tees. Even though there are four tees for each hole, the course setup allows for six tee combinations. The “two” tees are actually a mix of 12 three tees and 6 one tees that gives a yardage of 6,490 yards. There is also a combined 11 five tees and 7 four tees that gives a yardage of 5,044 yards. We played the two tees, which, in addition to the designation on the scorecard, is defined by the location of split log benches. It’s an interesting way of cutting down on the number of tees that need to be maintained, but giving the course several options from which it can be played.
The course conditions are good for being so young. Fresh sod can be seen in several areas and the lack of rain has caused some of the grass to show signs of severe stress or, in some areas, the sod has died.
The Creek Club is an excellent addition to the courses of Reynolds Plantation. It was something that Reynolds needed - something different. While the course is artificial, it’s not a bad artificial. The course is quirky, but it is eminently fair. It also is a fun course to play - one you’ll look forward to playing again because of the options off the tee and different course you’ll because of depth of the greens. (What was a 9-iron on one day may be as much as a 5-iron the next, and vice-a-versa.) The Creek Club is certainly one of the more interesting courses in Georgia and is an important course for the southeast for the simple reason that it is different in a good way. Hopefully this will inspire those who build courses in the southeast to take risks in their selection of architects to give the area more diversity in design styles.
Holes of note:
The par 4 second. 352 yards/306 yards/264 yards/211 yards
The hole is short and very wide. The play is up the left side to allow for a view of the green, which is 60 yards deep. The bunker in the upper right is in play, but there is plenty of room to the right of it for the drive.
The par 4 fifth. 474/413/355/297
The hole features a creek as a centerline hazard. Playing the hole to the right side didn’t leave as clear a view of the green as I thought it would.
If the pin is located to the right, the right fairway is the play. If the pin is center or left, the left fairway seems the better option.
The par 4 ninth. 404/337/287/244
This hole is notable mostly for its incredible green. Two distinct tiers, separated by a huge slope make the second shot a very interesting and challenging iron selection.
The par 3 eleventh. 233/199/166/134
Another hole with a huge green - very wide. If the pin is on the far right, it’s a blind shot over the hill. Your target, however, would not be the pin - it’s just to the right of the bunker. The slope in the green will feed the ball right to the pin location.
The par 5 twelfth. 569/512/469/410
A centerline water hazard forces a decision off the tee. Left is the easier driving location to hit away from the water - but will require you to carry the water hazard even with a lay up shot. Right leaves a much easier second approach, but brings the water hazard into play because of the slope.
The par 5 eighteenth. 557/502/454/416
A unique hole because it has three separate greens. Left plays the longest, then middle and finally right. The yardages listed above could vary as much as 40 yards depending on the green and pin location used.
Popularity: 12% [?]
From a Member’s aspect, one totally unfamiliar with Jim Engh previously, there are a substantial number of locals that openly refer to this course at “Mercer’s Folly”…..in other words, this is a HUGE mistake.
My initial round on this new course was with a couple of experienced golfers…….husband and wife……and the wife was a much better golfer than the husband.
When we got to #13, she was finally so frustrated with the layout and undulating greens, and the rewards for sloped fairways that rewarded even poor shots, that she commented to her husband….”this is where they should have put the clowns or the windmill….”
There are no “run-ups” anywhere, so if one cannot get the ball into the air, there is no hope for scoring.
On the other hand, if you can get the ball into the air, you can score quite well, but the initial very high slope ratings will truly skew your handicap if you turn in a lower score than usual.
There were almost 900 people that joined this new course, and perhaps as many as 300, or more, would dearly love to have their money back, as those of us who feel this way do not feel that his course is a legitimate test of golfing skills and worthy of the money that we paid……..Reynolds Plantation, as a company, obviously doesn’t feel this way, but those of us locally feel that if the golfing media begins to award this course with grandious accolades and awards, then it is obvious that the advertising dollar is more important to purchasing these awards than the actual accomplishment of the design and playability.
Jim Engh may very well be talented, but few here think that he has contributed to a legitimate golfing experience with this rather ackward design that otherwise utilizes only the poorest of the real estate offerings that Reynolds allowed him to work with…..yes, it is a “creek course” because it winds its way around all of the severely low lands and/or the severest of hillsides that were otherwise unbuildable for housing……..
I want my money back for this mistake in my personal judgement.
ReynoldsMember, thanks for stopping by and leaving your thoughts on the course.
Your criticisms of the course are certainly fair. I lamented the lack of a ground game in my review of the course. I think that’s unfortunate and a mistake.
If you could expand on a couple of your points, I think it could be an interesting discussion.
You mentioned that the fairways reward even poor shots. This is something I also mentioned in my review - that the containment is repetitive. But the course is very wide, meaning that poor shots would likely stay “in play” without the containment. However, while the course is easy off the tee, as you point out, the greens are an incredible test. To me, I like the philosophy that as you get closer to the green, the greater the challenge. By keeping most shots in play off the tee, it gives you a reasonable chance to take on the greens.
I agree with you that the slope ratings are too high and it’s my understanding that those are in the process of being revised.
I’m surprised to hear that 1/3 (or more) of the membership is so disappointed in the course that they would want their money back. By the same token, I’m curious how many put money down for membership prior to playing the course. This is definitely a “Bobby Knight” course - you either like it or you really hate it. And of those 900 members, how many are members because they bought real estate speculatively to get the membership?
Finally, you mentioned that the course is not a legitimate test of golfing skills. Could you expand on that?
I’m certainly not here to carry the water for Engh, Reynolds or the Creek Club. It’s not a course that I would join or even want to play every day. But I certainly appreciate it’s distinct differences from the other courses at Reynolds.
Again, thanks for sharing your thoughts.
To understand 900 members joining The Creek Club, one must understand the Reynolds Plantation sales tactics: Real estate resales are vital to the members who decide to leave this place, no matter what those varied reasons may be.
In order to maximize the appeal as a resale property, the level of one’s existing membership is paramount because many properties cannot upgrade to a higher level of membership than what currently exists; thus, many people join each new golf course as a hedge for the time that they may want to leave and go elsewhere.
Once someone “passes” on an upgrade of their membership, it becomes frozen at that level. Doing so, thus, limits future resale values as compared to properties that are at the highest existing level.
Management and the sales team are very adept at how this is manipulated in pitting “resales” to new prospective purchasers of land and company owned and developed properties being offered to the market.
That said, the Engh golf course was joined by 900 members who had NOT seen the course in any nearly finished form and had certainly not played it. The requirement to join was a $10,000 deposit payable by April 30, 2006……when very little sod had been laid on the front nine, and the back nine was still being graded, with no real access back there to see it. The balance was due June 1, 2007, and there was no option to back out and get your initial deposit back. In other words, people are “stuck” whether they like to course or not.
When member play begin in May of this year, the word spread very quickly about the overall severity of the course with respect to the mounding, the undulations of the greens and the forced carries to the uphill greens. The green speeds have not gone unnoticed here, either.
While this season’s drought certainly has affected the grow in of the new sod, Reynolds does have accessibility for drawing thousands of gallons of water from Lake Oconee for each of its courses, so members are a bit perplexed that 14, 15, and 16 have not faired nearly as well as the rest of the course…….cart path only on these holes is still in effect.
Even so, many people feel that four golf courses (Plantation, Great Waters, National, and Oconee) are now sufficiently varied enough that the saleability of their properties will not be as diminished in the future the way it has been in the past.
As to my comment about the skills level, my reference there is for the typical golfer in this private setting, where the average age is above 55, and the average handicap is higher than 18. Were I still under 40 and carrying a 8 or better handicap, and I might not have made the comment about the skills test.
On my initial playing of the course, I put a shot into #10 that came up short of the green, but above the bunker. The Zoysia ate the ball, never could locate where it even entered the embankment, and keep in mind the course was not wet……..drought, remember………but none of us could locate the ball. Everyone saw the shot, and everyone knew where it, essentially, landed, but no one could locate it…………….fair test of golf??
Last point, I go back to the more than overly generous slope around each green that feeds even a 20 yard off line shot back onto the green for a potential par. Is this a true test of a golfer’s skill, no matter his handicap?
From a member’s point ov view, and I know this is shared my many members that have now played in more than once, the consensus locally is simply “…it’s tricked up and a bit hokey………….”
As to the new, and not yet officially announced sixth golf course, the local rumor is that Pete Dye is the architect, not Tiger. One member that I know quite well is extremely close to the golf staff and Bob Mauragas, and he implies that Mauragas has confirmed to him that Dye is the architect upcoming for the next course.
Lastly, I have never met Jim Engh, and I have no reason to attack him on a personal level, but there certainly are a lot of very disappointed members in what he created here. Many of us will laugh long and hard if it gets voted anything near a Best of Anything for design. Reynolds gave him some not so prime land to work with, and perhaps he did the best that he could with it, but that still doesn’t make it a jewel.
I hope Dye does the next course at Reynolds - and I hope that it’s just Pete and Alice doing the design work. I think a Dye course for the area is a must, but it would help if the next course were by Doak, Hanse or somebody a little more esoteric like Kelly Blake Moran or Brian Silva.
Anyway, I’d think that if as many members are in revolt over the course as you indicate that the ability to continue to build private courses may very well be in jeopardy with the membership scheme. It’s likely the next course will be public, if for no other reason than that they won’t be able to get the members - even if it is Pete Dye.
While I don’t think an instance of a lost ball is a good litmus test for the fairness of the golf course, I do see your point about continuous feeding of golf balls back to the green. Part of the repetitive problem of the Creek Club are all the punch bowl greens. However, with the mounding around the greens and the severity of the greens, that may have been necessary to keep the course playable. I certainly had some very difficult up and downs from just off the green the day I played.
I hope over time that at least some of those who dislike the golf course come to at least appreciate the uniqueness of the course - of course when we’re talking about the kind of investment that these folks put into it, and the hard feelings associated with the bizarre (but business savvy) membership methods at Reynolds, that may not be possible.
In so far as lists and rankings are concerned, I have no idea where this course will end up since it’s likely that this will be the only course that opened in 2007 that I’ll play. I don’t put much into lists or rankings anyway, which is why you won’t find those here.
Thanks again for the comments.
I played the course on August 30th and here were my thoughts. I said WOW a lot when walking onto each teebox. The course is extremely visually stimulating even without the lake backdrop of some of the other courses. I thought the look and feel of the mounds, trees that come into play in the center of the holes, and the whimsical greens was refreshing. If you’re trying to compare this course to some of the best tournament or championship golf courses, you’re taking it completely out of its proper context. This club is super unique and I found it to be very fun to be able to use my imagination and shotmaking to hit a variety of shots. I’m anxious to play it again because I know that I can play the course completely different each time. I think if the greens were about 20% less extreme, this golf course would be tremendous! The only other dissappointment I had was that on the split fairways, there’s not enough reward for taking the tougher route. You would only take the tougher route if you were just trying to have a good time and do something different. I’d like to see either about 60 or 70 yards gain is distance for taking the tougher route or a slightly wider landing area for the tougher route if I’m only going to pick up 10 yards. The bottom line is that I can safely say that if you are a golfer who can appreciate good architecture, you’ll definitely not want to miss this course!
I think the greens are a bit extreme. I scored the best when it was my 1st time out. Once you’ve seen the track you try to hard. If your game is on then you are in luck, the one thing you don’t want to do is get into those green side bunkers. It’s not pretty. The course is a beauty from the road and the colors when in season are some of the best I’ve ever seen. Walking from the cart path to the greens is an issue. Some changes need to be made, down the line.
I agree with many of the comments above. I’d add that the course is fascinating to view with the varied grass colors and lots of interesting “mounding” and undulation. No one disputed that the course is impressive to view - certinaly like no other in Georgia.
They have increased the length of the rough off the fairways and around some greens. This tends to keep the ball from rolling onto the green “rewarding bad shots” as some dislike.
I’ve never heard that 1/3 of the folks want their membership refunded. I’m not sure that this is all the members favorite course, but my wife and friends enjoy playing it IN ADDITION to the other courses available at Reynolds. I would not want to play it every day but I think that the number of available courses to play at Reynolds keeps it interesting and is certainly part of why one would join and enjoy the facilities.
The other nice thing about the course is the Creek Club clubhouse. It’s a fantastic facility and has excellent food, excellent (and reasonable) wine selection and an excellent, approachable chef. Not that Georgia’s, Linger Longer, Great Waters and Plantation aren’t very good restaurants as well, but like the golf course, the restaurant is unique. The Crow’s Nest is a bar/special events area on the second floor overlooking a great view of the 18th par 5. It’s certainly worth part of the membership.
In terms of the membership money, it’s 100% equity so essentially you’re giving them a loan of $10K that you get back should you leave the entire 5 courses membership. The monthly dues are really what you pay permanently, not the $10K. And as you point out, if/when the 6th course is available you will probably have to have joined the Creek Club to get access (maybe?).
Not every course has to be “kick your butt” difficult. For those of us (and friends) that don’t play every day, it’s nice to go to a course that might give us a break every now and then and walk away feeling like we played a very interesting course and had a score that wants us to come back for more.
Lastly, it’s very easy to get a tee time and a reservation at the restaurant. At some of the other Reynold’s courses it’s more difficult to get reservations especially if you have the 10-day-out membership instead of the 30-day-out.
I LOVE THE CREEK CLUB….. but, I love it as the 5th Course I belong to….
If it were the ONLY club I belonged to…. then I may not have joined because it can, at times, be a bit “hokey….”
I am a good golfer (female, handicap 4-6) and enjoy playing there on a regular basis…. maybe 2-5 times a month. Sometimes I score well… sometimes I do not… it just depends….
Once you know how to play CC it is pretty much a no-brainer… but then all they have to do is move the pin or the tees and you can be SOL on what you “used” to know.
My Husband and I (also a good golfer…) joined there because when we purchased our lot there it was available as an “upgrade” and we knew that if we didn’t join that our lot would be less desirable…. plus the fact that we are avid golfers and “why not” join 5 courses…???…
We do not live at RP and only visit on weekends, however; plan to live there FT in about 3-5 years. We have purchased another lot (on the lake) and plan to build as soon as we can afford it.
The 6th course has been announced and it will be a Dye course…. we are so VERY excited about it and cannot wait to join it as well… but, my only concern is how much they will want and will some of the members say no because they are pissed off about the CC. That’s the rumor… but, we will see.
As avid golfers… we know that ANY money spent at RP toward golf and golf memberships is WELL worth it… people can bitch all they want about the CC but I LOVE IT!!! Like I mentioned at the beginning… if it were the ONLY club I belonged to… then NO WAY…. but as a 5th… it’s great!
I do think they should have let folks had an opportunity to play before they joined but that is the way it is there… nothing we can do about that. But now, it seems unfair that a non CC member cannot even go there as a guest one time to see if he wanted to join. But, then again, that keeps the “private” aspect there.
Most of the members I know are only upset about there being so MANY members as they were told it would be limited to either 300-400 (don’t know) and now there are porbably 1000 and they are pissed about that…. Can’t blame them there… we were never told that so I cannot comment there.
The course is fantastic and I cannot say anything negative except I wish they had simpler “quick” food to eat (i.e. at the turn) or something rather than it being so fancy…