Sea Island Golf Club, the Seaside course along the marsh and coast at St Simons Island, Georgia
Ranked · 10 courses · updated 2026

The Best Golf Courses in Georgia

No state carries more golfing aura than Georgia, the home of Bobby Jones, the Masters and Augusta National. But beyond those famous gates lie the coastal resort courses of Sea Island, the modern art of Ohoopee, the Tour Championship stage at East Lake and the lakeside golf of Reynolds Lake Oconee. Here are the ten we rate most highly, ranked, with our verdict on each and how to play it.

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By the GolfForKings editorial desk · How we rank · Last reviewed June 2026

Photograph: Seaside Golf Course, via Google.

How we chose them

A complete Georgia top ten has to balance the unplayable and the bookable. Augusta National is the most important course in the state and one of the greatest in the world, yet only a fortunate few will ever walk it, so we rank it on merit and then turn to the courses a travelling golfer can realistically arrange. The Sea Island resort on the coast and Reynolds Lake Oconee inland are the two great visitor clusters, and Georgia's private rota, from East Lake to Ohoopee to Peachtree, is as strong as any state outside the very top tier. We weighed design quality, conditioning, championship pedigree and the pleasure of the round.

Every fact here, from designers and opening years to host events and restorations, was checked at the time of writing. Where a course is a private members club we say so plainly, and we have flagged the resort and stay and play options that make a Georgia trip possible. The verdicts and the order are ours, and reasonable people will reorder the middle of the list. If you want any of the playable ones built into a costed coastal or Lake Oconee trip, that is exactly what our concierge does.

The ranking

01

Augusta National Golf Club

Alister MacKenzie and Bobby Jones, 1933 · Augusta · private

The most famous course in the world and the spiritual home of the game in America. Alister MacKenzie and Bobby Jones laid it out on a former nursery, opening in January 1933, and every April it hosts the Masters over its azalea framed hills and lightning fast greens. The strategy is endlessly subtle, the conditioning unmatched, and the back nine the most watched stretch of golf on earth. It is an intensely private club, so a round comes only by member invitation, which is why so few golfers will ever play it. On design and importance, nothing else in Georgia is close.

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02

Sea Island, Seaside Course

Colt and Alison, Tom Fazio redesign 1999 · St Simons Island · resort

The jewel of the Georgia coast and the most accessible great course in the state. The original nines by Harry Colt and Charles Alison were reshaped and joined by Tom Fazio in 1999 into a windswept seaside links of marsh, dune and tidal views, and it has hosted the PGA Tour's RSM Classic every autumn since 2010. The closing holes along the sound are as photogenic as any in American resort golf, and because Sea Island is a resort you can book it directly. Pair it with the Plantation course for a coastal stay that rivals any in the southeast.

Sea Island Seaside profile

03

Ohoopee Match Club

Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, 2018 · Cobbtown · private

The most exciting new course in the American south and an instant top fifty national. Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner built it in 2018 on a vast sandy estate in rural Cobbtown, an hour and a quarter west of Savannah, and designed it expressly for match play, with wide fairways, bold sandy waste areas, alternative routes and a loop of extra holes to settle a game. The ground is firm and fast, the greens wildly creative, and the whole place is a love letter to the fun of the sport. A private retreat, so access runs through a member, but on pure design it belongs near the top.

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04

East Lake Golf Club

Donald Ross, 1913 · Rees Jones restoration 1994 · Atlanta · private

Bobby Jones's home course and the annual host of the PGA Tour's Tour Championship, the season ending finale of the FedEx Cup. The current layout, rebuilt by Rees Jones in 1994 on the bones of Donald Ross's 1913 design, is a stout parkland test of contoured greens, strategic bunkering and a famous par 3 finish over water. The restoration of the surrounding neighbourhood through golf is one of the great stories in the modern game. It is a private club in Atlanta, so a round comes through a member, but its tournament pedigree gives it a charge few resort courses can match.

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05

Reynolds Lake Oconee, Great Waters

Jack Nicklaus, 1992 · Greensboro · resort

The marquee course at Georgia's premier inland resort and one of the best Nicklaus designs you can play. Opened in 1992 along the shore of Lake Oconee, Great Waters splits into a wooded, strategic front nine and a thrilling back nine that hugs the water on almost every hole, with the lake threatening tee shots and approaches alike. A 2019 renovation freshened the greens and bunkers without losing the drama. As part of the Reynolds resort, with the Ritz Carlton on site, it anchors a stay and play estate of five courses an easy ninety minutes from Atlanta.

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06

Peachtree Golf Club

Bobby Jones and Robert Trent Jones, 1948 · Atlanta · private

Bobby Jones's second great design, built with Robert Trent Jones in 1948 as the course Augusta might have been on a different site. Set in the wooded hills north of Atlanta, Peachtree was a landmark of postwar architecture, with large, undulating greens, multiple tees long before they were standard, and a parkland elegance that has aged beautifully. It has hosted the Walker Cup and the Ryder Cup, and it remains one of the most admired and most private clubs in the country. Access is by member invitation only, but for the architecture student it is essential Georgia.

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07

Atlanta Athletic Club, Highlands

Robert Trent Jones, Rees Jones renovations · Johns Creek · private

One of the great championship clubs of the south and a regular major host. The Highlands course, shaped by Robert Trent Jones and repeatedly toughened by his son Rees, has staged two PGA Championships and a U.S. Open, a long, demanding parkland test of water, length and pressure that the world's best have wrestled with under the lights of August. The club moved to its present site north of Atlanta and rebuilt around a championship pedigree few can match. A private members club, so a round runs through a member, but its tournament history earns it a firm place in the state top ten.

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08

Sea Island, Plantation Course

Walter Travis original, Davis Love III rebuild 2019 · St Simons Island · resort

The sister to Seaside and a course transformed. The original Walter Travis layout was completely rebuilt by Davis Love III and his brother Mark, reopening in 2019 as a wider, more strategic parkland and marsh course threading through the live oaks of St Simons Island. It is gentler and more sheltered than the exposed Seaside, which makes the two a perfect resort pair for a couple of days on the coast. Fully bookable through Sea Island, with the Cloister and the Lodge on hand, it completes one of the finest golf resorts in America.

Sea Island Plantation profile

09

Reynolds Lake Oconee, The National

Tom Fazio, 27 holes · Greensboro · resort

The Fazio jewel of the Reynolds estate and a 27 hole complex of real variety. Tom Fazio routed three nines, the Bluff, the Ridge and the Cove, over rolling, wooded terrain with the lake never far away, giving resort guests a different eighteen each day and some of the most beautifully shaped golf in inland Georgia. The conditioning is immaculate and the routing endlessly playable, a model resort course that complements Great Waters and the rest of the Reynolds portfolio. As part of the resort it is fully bookable, the easy second round of a Lake Oconee stay.

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10

Cuscowilla

Coore and Crenshaw, 2000 · Lake Oconee · resort

The minimalist counterpoint on Lake Oconee and a quiet favourite of the architecture crowd. Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw opened Cuscowilla in 2000 on a sandy peninsula across the lake from Reynolds, and built a walkable, ground game course of wide fairways, native sandy areas and beautifully natural green sites that reward a creative short game. It feels a world away from the manicured resort norm, low key and strategic, and a stay and play package opens the door to outside golfers. For those who value design over polish, it is the most rewarding round on the lake.

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Designers, opening years and host events verified June 2026. Augusta National, Ohoopee, East Lake, Peachtree and Atlanta Athletic Club are private members clubs; Sea Island, Reynolds Lake Oconee and Cuscowilla offer resort or stay and play access. Course profiles are added across the site as the directory grows. Always confirm visitor access and fees directly before booking. Check tee time availability.

Play the best of Georgia

Tell us which of these are on your list, the Sea Island coast, the Lake Oconee resorts or a private introduction, and roughly when. One concierge arranges the access, the tee times and the base, and costs the trip to the head, with no obligation.

Georgia golf questions

What is the best golf course in Georgia?

Augusta National, Alister MacKenzie and Bobby Jones's 1933 masterpiece and home of the Masters, is the clear number one and one of the most famous courses in the world. It is an intensely private club, so access is by member invitation only, but on pure design and importance nothing in the state comes close.

Can you play the best Georgia courses as a visitor?

The most accessible of the elite are the resort courses at Sea Island, Seaside and Plantation, and at Reynolds Lake Oconee, Great Waters and The National, all of which you can book through the resort. Cuscowilla offers stay and play. Augusta National, Ohoopee, East Lake, Peachtree and Atlanta Athletic Club are private and run through a member. Always confirm access and fees directly before booking.

Where is the best golf in Georgia?

The Georgia coast around St Simons Island, home to Sea Island, and Lake Oconee an hour and a half east of Atlanta, home to Reynolds and Cuscowilla, are the two great resort clusters for a trip. Augusta sits two hours east of Atlanta, and the city itself has East Lake, Peachtree and Atlanta Athletic Club. The Lake Oconee and Sea Island resorts are the natural bases for visitors.

When is the best time to play golf in Georgia?

Spring and autumn are the prime seasons, with warm, settled weather and the courses at their best, which is why April, the month of the Masters, and October book up fast. Summers are hot and humid but perfectly playable with an early tee time, and the coast at Sea Island stays mild and inviting into the winter. Always check the forecast for your dates.

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Researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Course designers, opening years and host events verified June 2026. Last reviewed June 2026.