Masters Week Golf at Champions Retreat

If you're attending the Masters this year and you're looking for an exceptional place to tee up, I've got a terrific suggestion. In many respects, it's possibly the next best thing to playing Augusta National.

At the recent PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, I spoke with Cameron Wiebe, general manager of Champions Retreat, a phenomenal 27-hole private club located 15 miles northwest of Augusta.

Wiebe said the club, which is exclusively private the rest of the year, accepts tee times from non-members during Masters Week (Monday April 3 to Sunday April 9 this year).

Perhaps you may have heard of the designers of the three separate 9 hole layouts? The gentlemen architects who fashioned the layouts are icons Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player, aka The Big 3. Champions Retreat is the only place in the world with nines designed by the former Masters Champions.

Reportedly, Player presented the idea to Arnie and the Golden Bear at the Champions Dinner at Augusta National in 1999. They each selected a parcel of land for their nine and, voila, Champions Retreat was born.

The beautifully conditioned courses, with superb bentgrass greens, are set on rolling landscape dotted with tall pines, old hardwoods and wetlands alongside the Savannah River. 

"Champions Retreat is a pure golf experience," Wiebe said. "It's conveniently just minutes away from Augusta National and you play on wonderfully designed courses in a quiet, scenic setting away from the crowds."

Tee times are for 4 players. Each Masters Week tee time will be accompanied by one (1) forecaddie. The tee time price includes practice facility access, greens fees, forecaddie base fee (required), cart fee, tax, and all you can eat and drink for breakfast and lunch. Selections will include breakfast items, lunch items, snack items, soft drinks, sports drinks, domestic beer and well-liquor drinks. Tee times do not include the forecaddie gratuity.

Tee Time Rates for Champions Retreat Masters Week 2017:

Monday and Tuesday: $2,200

Wednesday--Saturday: $2,500

Sunday: $2,200

Monday, April 10th: Available for private outings.

In addition, there will also be live entertainment and other activities during the week. 

For more information, contact Lauri DeNicolo by email: lauri@championsretreat.net or call 706-854-6966

Great Golf Deals at Georgia State Parks

Wallace Adams Golf Course at Little Ocmulgee State Park

Are you looking for golf deals in all the wrong places?

While cost conscious golf travelers, understandably, flock to golf trails and budget resorts, there are also money-saving deals and great golf to be found at state parks, especially in Georgia.

If you like excellent golf with greens fees in the $25 to $50 price range, I highly suggest you head to Georgia.

Georgia State Parks offer special packages that include lodging and golf.  For example, The Creek at Hard Labor Creek State Park has two day/two night stays in a cabin and two days of golf, starting at $105 per night. To review the packages, click to: Georgia State Parks Golf Packages

Here's the superb menu of courses if you've got "Georgia On Your Mind":

Arrowhead Pointe at Richard B. Russell State Park near Elberton--Bring your camera along with your "A" game to this picturesque 6,800-yard layout that's situated on a peninsula within the state park offering spectacular water panoramas on 10 of the 18 holes skirting the lake. In 2014, Golfweek selected Arrowhead Pointe as the "Sixth Best Municipal Course in the Nation."

Brazell's Creek Golf Course at Gordonia-Alatamaha State Park near Reidsville--Playing to par 71 at 6,821 yards, this unique course has a 1,500-yard winding bridge that connects the two decidedly different nines. The first nine is dominated by tree-lined fairways while the other nine is links-style set on a windswept open landscape.

Georgia Veterans Memorial Golf Course at Lake Blackshear Resort near Cordele--Ranked by Golf Digest as a four-star course, this 6,869-yard Denis Griffiths design on the shores of Lake Blackshear has fairways that wind through mounds and stands of towering loblolly pines.

Lake Blackshear Resort

Highland Walk at Victoria Bryant State Park near Royston--Built on steep rolling hills with wide open, crowned Bermuda fairways, the 6,503-yard Highland Walk is fun and challenging. It has some great deals such as the "All You Can Play" for $50 per day and the twilight rate (after 2 p.m.) for $26 on weekdays and $28 on weekends.

The Creek Golf Course at Hard Labor Creek State Park near Social Circle--While only 6,437-yards long, The Creek offers lots of challenge with narrow tree-lined fairways and Champion Bermuda greens. The first hole, a 434-yard, par 4, is considered by many as one of the toughest opening holes in the state.

The Lakes Golf Course at Laura S. Walker State Park near Waycross--Situated near the Okefenokee Swamp, this 6,596-yard course has three lakes and bunkers and waste areas with native sand. Monday to Friday rates are $27 for 18 holes with cart at The Lakes and an amazing $18 twilight rate for those teeing up after 2 p.m.

The Lakes Golf Course at Laura S. Walker State Park

Meadow Links Golf Course at George T. Bagby State Park near Fort Gaines--Opened in 1998, this affordable 7,007-yard Willard Byrd design is seamlessly woven into beautiful rolling countryside. It has large greens with subtle undulations and fairways rimmed with Bahia rough.

Wallace Adams Golf Course at Little Ocmulgee State Park near Helena--This 6,625-yard layout immerses you in a wonderland of loblolly pines, willows and magnolias with Bermuda fairways and Tif  Eagle Bermuda greens.

For reservations or tee times, call 770-389-7419 or 800-434-0982. For more golf information, click to Georgia State Parks Golf. To access information on accommodations, recreation options, historic sites, special passes, traveling with pets and things to do at Georgia State Parks, click HERE.