At the turn of the century, Jekyll Island Club built one of Georgia’s first golf courses along its ocean front. Today, Jekyll is Georgia’s largest public golf resort with 63 holes of challenging golf year round in beautiful natural settings.
The Jekyll Island Club Hotel, located less than a mile from the golf clubhouse, is a National Historic Landmark. Luxurious accommodations, excellent service, and fine dining are hallmarks of this Historic Hotel of America.
The 63-hole Jekyll Island Golf complex offers challenge and diversity for novice and experienced golfers alike. Oleander, Pine Lakes, and Indian Mound, the three 18-hole courses, are used for daily and tournament play, and the 9-hole Great Dunes is an ideal short course for those with more limited time. Tournaments are held throughout the year.
November 8, 2008, Jekyll Island celebrates its hundred plus years of golf with the Fourth Annual “Plus Fours Golf Tournament.†Asked to play in period costumes—argyle socks, knickers, and sweater vests for gentlemen; long skirts for the ladies— golfers will experience the game with authentic hickory shaft golf clubs and gutta percha balls reminiscent of the early 1900s. Social events accompany this day of celebrating the heritage of Jekyll Island golf. Visit the website for registration information: www.jekyllisland.com.
Jekyll Island’s four golf courses offer a variety of challenges. Demanding, picturesque and known for its water holes, Dick Wilson’s Oleander design is ranked consistently among the state’s best. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has called Oleander’s 12th hole “the most demanding par 4 of any daily fee course in the state.â€
Pine Lakes, another Wilson design, has recently undergone extensive renovations to improve the golf course’s overall aesthetics and playability. Utilizing U.S.G.A. guidelines for the project, Clyde Johnston Designs, Inc. of Hilton Head, SC, has added two new lakes to the course at the 7th and 9th greens and increased the size of those on the 4th and 18th greens. Changing the topography of the course and using the latest technology for new irrigation and drainage systems has not only improved the condition of the greens, but also has added to the beauty and variation of the course. While new vistas have been created for greater visibility and air movement, the course routings have not been changed on this, Jekyll’s longest course.
Wide fairways and large, sloping greens typify the Indian Mound course designed by Joe Lee. The layout of the course through woods and beside lakes showcases Jekyll’s spectacular scenery.
Historic Great Dunes, a nine-hole course remodeled in the 1920’s by Walter J. Travis, is an authentic links course with elevated tees, small greens and ocean breezes. Some of the holes on Great Dunes were part of the original course laid out in 1898.
Jekyll Island has a staff of PGA teaching professionals available for personal instruction in addition to a driving range, practice bunker and putting greens. The Golf Pro Shop offers a full line of golf equipment and apparel, electric golf carts, pull carts and rental clubs.
The Jekyll Island Club Hotel is the southeastern home of Bird Golf Schools that are considered by many to be the “ultimate in golf learning experience.†Distinctive because of its emphasis on one-on-one instruction, Bird Golf School instructors are LPGA/PGA professionals with pro tour experience. Tour winners themselves, they have extensive teaching backgrounds as well. Their expertise in evaluating each student’s strengths and weaknesses enables them to set the course for permanent improvement. Visit www.birdgolf.com for more information about this excellent golf school.
The Jekyll Island Club, founded in 1886 as an exclusive retreat for the Rockefellers and Vanderbilts, Pulitzers and friends, was faithfully restored to its former splendor and charm 19 years ago. Today, the Hotel offers hospitality and golfing pleasure to guests from around the world.
In addition to complimentary transportation to and from the clubhouse, other resort amenities include a putting green, nearly Olympic size swimming pool, tournament level croquet, 22 miles of flat bicycle paths, summer children’s program, and the beach pavilion. The Hotel’s Grand Dining Room features continental American cuisine in an elegant Victorian setting, and the Courtyard at Crane restaurant offers an intimate, alfresco dining experience among the arcaded loggias of the Cottage’s Italianate courtyard. Attractive options for more casual dining are the Cafe Solterra and the Poolside Bar and Grill which is open seasonally.
BIRDIE GOLF PACKAGE
Especially for golf enthusiasts, the BIRDIE GOLF PACKAGE includes traditional king or double/double accommodations for one night and daily green fees and electric cart for 18 holes on any of Jekyll Island’s three 18-hole golf courses, full breakfast, and all taxes and gratuities on package features. The BIRDIE GOLF PACKAGE is per person/per night/double occupancy (resort fee extra):
03/14/08 – 09/01/08 $169.00
09/02/08 – 11/30/08 $149.00
Jekyll Island golf tickets are reciprocal at seven additional coastal courses off island: Oak Grove Island, Sapelo Hammock, The Lakes at Laura S. Walker Park , Laurel Island Links, Sanctuary Cove, Osprey Cove, and Sea Palms. Stay at the Jekyll Island Club Hotel on one of our golf packages and take advantage of this great offer. Golf tickets are good for an 18 hole round of golf and half an electric cart rental. Jekyll Island replay fee is $21.00 and includes electric cart rental and tax. Replay fee at participating off island courses vary between $15.00 and $25.00 including half an electric cart rental and tax. Advanced tee times are recommended.
Whether you’re planning a leisurely golf vacation or a business conference with golf as an important recreational interest, you’ll find golfing at the Jekyll Island Club Hotel to be a “landmark experience.â€
For further information or reservations contact the Jekyll Island Club Hotel, 371 Riverview Drive, Jekyll Is., GA, 31527 or call 912-635-2600 or 800-535-9547. The Email address is reservations@jekyllclub.com. Visit our website at www.jekyllclub.com.