21 The fourteenth green is split into two distinct plateaus, divided by a swale which can send balls back off the green to tightly mown turf below the surface Ross and Stein took inspiration from Travis’s twelfth green at Garden City to create a unique transition on the par-three third “The fourth green is somewhat reachable, but it requires absolute precision to land your ball between two enormous dunes,” said architect Brian Ross TEE BOX Great Dunes at Jekyll Island Golf Club COURSE BLUEPRINT Image: Ross Golf Design and Stein Golf Design 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: Oleander, 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. “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,” said Stein. The pair initially worked independently, each producing separate routing plans. Both arrived at the same solution, which became the basis for the final layout. The former Great Dunes nine encompasses holes four to twelve, while the front nine of Oleander was redeveloped to become holes one to three and thirteen to eighteen in the new routing. “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 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.” The course begins with holes one to three of the former Oleander course The former tenth and eighteenth holes on the Oleander course were renovated to become a new driving range and practice facilities Ross and Stein restored a historic walking bridge that links the tenth green to the back tee on eleven
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