26 Fall Line, a new private club in Georgia’s Sandhills, near the city of Butler, has unveiled its 18-hole East and West courses, as well as its 10-hole short layout – all designed by Ogilvy Cocking Mead (OCM). OCM helped select a site that has consistent undulations, big dunes, long views off the property, pine trees, heathland-like vegetation and sand. “I remember a great black-andwhite photo of Harry Colt building Swinley Forest, and they’re blowing up tree stumps with dynamite, but there are these copses of pine trees and long grades,” said architect Mike Cocking, in an interview with Leighton Walker on The Greenprint podcast. “Parts of our East course look exactly like that. You have no idea you’re in Georgia – we could be in southwest London.” Originally, OCM started out by developing an 18-hole concept for the owners of the 1,500-acre site, before the plan became 27, 35 and then 36. “Parts of the site felt like the old black-and-whites of Sunningdale and Swinley, but there were parts that felt more Sandbelt-like, bigger in scale and similar to Pine Valley,” said Cocking. “The heathland course [East] was intimate while the West was a little more open, with big broad contours. With our routings, the East lent itself to a shorter course – it’s 6,600 yards – whereas the West is a fair bit longer.” OCM went to London for a refresher of heathland layouts and to provide the superintendent and shapers with some exposure to those courses. “I don’t think we would have built the course quite as we did if we hadn’t had done that,” said Cocking. “The greens are fairly simple – a lot of them are at grade, a bit like you’d see at Walton Heath, but the bunkering style is very much inspired by irregular bunkers you see in old pictures of St George’s Hill. They’re more rolled in.” The East has grown in and opened for limited play in October 2023, while the West and short courses are on track to open fully early next year, following soft openings in October 2024. OCM inspired by London heathland and Melbourne Sandbelt for new Fall Line club in Georgia TEE BOX Photo: Jeff Bertch
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzQ1NTk=