Great Dunes at Jekyll Island Golf Club in Georgia, USA, has reopened as an 18-hole layout following a restoration and expansion by architects Brian Ross and Jeff Stein.
The original Great Dunes course opened in 1928 and comprised 18 holes designed by Walter Travis. However, the back nine was abandoned in the early 1940s due to coastal storm damage, beach erosion and wartime pressures. For the decades after, the club operated the Travis nine, along with its other courses: Pine Lakes and Indian Mound.
In 2023, Ross and Stein were hired by the Jekyll Island Authority (JIA) to lead a restoration of the Great Dunes nine and reinstate nine new Travis-inspired holes on a portion of the Oleander course and land that was occupied by the front nine of the original Great Dunes.
The redesign formed part of a broader reorganisation of golf at Jekyll Island Golf Club, which operates three courses – Great Dunes, Pine Lakes and Indian Mound – from a shared central complex. As part of the work, practice facilities were also reconfigured to support the revised routing and daily operations.
“We had basic constraints on the routing, as it was required to begin and end at the Jekyll Island Golf Club pro shop,” said Stein. “All three golf courses operate out of the central complex, where we redesigned the practice area, creating a new chipping green, Himalayas putting green, and a double-sided driving range. Knowing that we had to start on the first hole of the former Oleander course allowed Brian and I to narrow down our options for the routing.”
The par-three fifth hole (Photo: Austin Kaseman)
Stein and Ross initially worked independently, each producing separate routing plans. Both arrived at the same solution, which became the basis for the final layout. The course begins with holes one to three of the former Oleander course, crossing to what was previously the fifth hole of Great Dunes, and then continuing through the original Great Dunes property in a revised sequence.
“This turned out to be serendipitous, creating a traditional out-and-in flow,” said Stein. “You walk out through the maritime forest, wander through the dunes for nine holes, then play the final six along the coastal lakes while still in sight of the dunes.”
The routing loops and crosses itself in several locations, including a stretch from the twelfth hole back onto the former Oleander footprint for the final six holes. This sequence required careful attention to maintain strategic balance and to integrate the style of Walter Travis throughout.
The par-three third, a Walter Travis hole that Ross and Stein have restored (Photo: Austin Kaseman)
“The golf course twists on itself in multiple locations,” said Ross. “That was probably the greatest challenge of the project – having six consecutive holes that needed to be remodelled in the style and strategic thinking of Walter Travis.”
Beyond the routing, Stein explains that the objective was to create a coherent playing experience that reflects the site’s varied landscapes.
“The playing experience is a traditional out and in routing like the Old course, moving away from the clubhouse while wandering out to the dunes and back again,” said Stein. “It feels very much like an adventure coupled with a scenic walk through mature pines and live oak trees. There is wildlife and birds of prey all around. It is seemingly like a walk lost in time, as you are surrounded by nature with very little to no intrusion from outside development.
“Golfers interact with three distinct habitats throughout the course of the day, walking through the maritime forest, traversing the rumpled sand dunes and passing along our coastal lakes. I think it’s very easy to get immersed in the architecture without any distraction from the outside world. This is what elevates the Great Dunes experience.”
Of the holes Stein and Ross restored to better reflect their original design principles, Stein identifies the par-five fourth hole as a personal favourite. The hole was shaped to challenge players with a risk-and-reward opportunity. “The green is somewhat reachable, but it requires absolute precision to land your ball between two enormous dunes,” said Ross. “The anticipation starts on the third tee, and by the time you’re standing on the fourth, you’re forced to decide how aggressive you want to be in attacking the green.”
The long par-four fourteenth, on the other hand, is among those designed by Stein and Ross to recreate Travis’ “thinking golf strategy”. The positioning of the tee on the hole is designed to directly influence the golfer’s approach. “The drive is demanding, requiring a straight shot through a relatively narrow corridor, which opens up in the driving zone,” said Stein. “The landing area however is complex as there are bunkers left, right and centre, which require attention and careful shot placement. If you manage to avoid the hazards, the next shot will require a long iron to a green site that terminates at the end of a long dune ridge. The green splits at the end of the ridge into two distinct plateaus, divided by a swale which can suck a ball off the green and into tightly mown turf below the green surface. A back hole location can increase the difficulty of this hole by at least half a stroke because you have to deal with the swale which can capture all but the most squarely struck golf shots.”
Stein says players will “play through the maritime forest, traversing the rumpled sand dunes and passing along our coastal lakes” (Photo: Austin Kaseman)
Accessibility remained a central consideration throughout the project. Jekyll Island has been state-owned since 1947, and Stein says maintaining a range of public options across the club’s three courses was essential.
“Public golf is fundamental to the future of the game,” he said. “With Great Dunes, Pine Lakes and Indian Mound, the club can offer different experiences at different price points, while still hosting junior, high school and collegiate events throughout the year.”
Sustainability measures were also integrated into the redesign, including the removal of more than 70 acres of maintained turf, changes to grass selection and a shift in irrigation strategy.
“We reduced maintained turf significantly and switched to platinum paspalum, which is salt tolerant,” said Stein. “While we don't have any figures yet on that impact it is obvious that we are reducing the maintenance intensity across the facility. Less mowing means less yearly fuel consumption and less input of fertiliser and insecticide. The courses on Jekyll Island were already fairly low input from a maintenance perspective, but we have done everything we could do to reduce this even further.
“Other sustainable initiatives we instituted in the design include switching to Platinum paspalum, which is a salt tolerant turfgrass. We took this decision by decommissioning two freshwater wells, which reduces overall pressure on the freshwater aquifer which runs up the coast from northern Florida and into Georgia. In consequence, we connected our irrigation lake to the adjacent coastal hammocks and will be irrigating the entire golf course with brackish water, which is in endless supply.”