Amelia Island Course Options
Amelia Island is what I would call a worthwhile visit for a beach town; this is coming from someone who doesn’t care too much for the beach. From a travel proximity standpoint, it’s a easy transit from Jacksonville airport making up less than a forty five minute drive door to door. The island itself is not large in size spanning only thirteen miles long and two miles wide. The island is comprised of a quaint and unassuming downtown known as Fernandina Beach. Sitting on the west hand quadrant of the island and bordering the intercoastal waterway, the downtown holds a handful of restaurants and shops and that are all easily accessible by foot. The rest of the island is made up mostly of residential and tourist properties combining with sandy beaches and of course a few on island golf courses. I have been fortunate to play a handful of golf courses on Amelia Island. Per my extensive research (ie: excessive googling and studying google maps) there are five golf courses on this peaceful Florida Island, I have played three of them.
A Step Above The Muni: Amelia Island River Club
The Amelia Island River Club was the first course I had a chance to tee it up at on the island. This semi-private course sits on the southern side of the island. One side of the course borders the Fernandina Beach Municipal airport, which is obviously what brings visitors in from all over the country to see. The course was designed by Tom Jackson (who?) and plays 6,860 yards from the back tees. Greens fees are variable and demand based and can vary from $45 all the way up to $150 (a bit steep for this track). Fairways are wide for the most part and there are some nice hole layouts that bring club selection on the tee into play on some of the par fours. I did encounter pretty significant gale force wind on several holes to a level I had not experienced before on a golf course. Outside of the gale force wind, a few holes stood out at this course. First, one of the more memorable holes comes on the back nine and plays directly along the airport. If you time it right, you may be able to time your tee shot at the same time a plane accelerating for take off. Where else can you get that experience for $50? The real signature hole on this course is number 17. Similar to another famous 17th in Florida, this hole plays to a island green requiring carry over water. Next stop, TPC Sawgrass? I would look at The Amelia Island River Club as a nice warm up course if you are on the island for multiple days and wanting to play several rounds of golf.
The 17th at Amelia Island River Club carriers similarities to another famous Florida island green, though is a bit more forgiving
The Course Not To Miss: Oak Marsh
Oak Marsh is my favorite course I have played on Amelia Island. The course sits on the southern most part of the island and is part of the Omni Amelia Resort. The Omni property also houses a members owned 18 hole course, Long Point, as well as a 10 hole short course. Oak Marsh is a public course, open to resort guests and non resort guests alike. Oak Marsh was designed by one of the greats Pete Dye and has the characteristics one thinks of in a Dye design and is a classic wet land course layout. The course was constructed in 1972 shortly after the well known Hilton Head Dye designed Harbour Town Golf Links which is home to annual PGA tour event. While it may not have the narrow passage way fairways of Harbour Town it carries many water hazards like Harbour town that come into play on fourteen holes. Oak Marsh is not a long course playing 6,607 yards from the tips with a slop rating of 134. Don’t let the short yardage fool you here as the wetland design brings many hazards into play and requires well placed drives and approaches to put down a good score. The back nine is tranquil, peaceful and beautiful as it weaves it’s way in and out of coast land and is draped along the way by Amelia Island live oaks and moss. The three finishing holes rival any on the island. If you have 24 hours on the island, make sure you get a round in at this under the radar Dye gem.
Oak Marsh has fourteen holes with water hazard and many holes that play along Amelia Island marsh land
The par three 17th at Oak Marsh is short but a beautifully designed golf hole
The Resort Course Classic: The Golf Club at Amelia Island
While Oak Marsh is considered a resort course as well, I thought The Golf Club at Amelia Island had more of the classic resort course feel. The Golf Club at Amelia Island is part of The Amelia Island Ritz-Carlton. Tee times are available to resort guests and members of the club. A small clubhouse sits in front of the property and a driving range is adjacent across the street and sits close to the first hole. The Golf Club at Amelia Island was designed by Mark McCumber and Gene Littler. The course is marked by two very different nine holes. The front nine is completely inland and most holes are lined by tight trees. There are a fair number of water hazards and driving accuracy is critical piece for success. The front nine is an okay nine holes of golf but really did not have any stand out holes. The back nine is a much more memorable set of golf holes. Maybe that was in part that I had one of my better nines of the year carding a one over par on the back. Number ten gets things going right away with a beautiful straight away and open par four. The next several holes wind away from the hotel; marshland comes into play for the last six or so holes giving the back nine some nice character. One of my favorite holes was a relatively short par four which requires a lay up tee shot before carrying marshland to one of the largest greens on the course; picture below. While the course runs very close to the ocean, there is no ocean view or holes on the course which was a little bit disappointing. The back nine was very enjoyable, but I was overall somewhat disappointed for the quality of course I was expecting for a Ritz-Carlton. I would certainly recommend the course it for a resort guest given the opportunity, but wouldn’t go out of my way to play this one again.
The par four fourteen requires carry on the approach shot to one of the larger greens on the course
In Summary
Two other courses round out the island; the local ‘muni’ Fernandina Beach Golf Club and the member owned Long Point Course. Amelia island is probably not looked at as a sought after golf destination but offers a solid variety of golf course options for a relatively small island. If you are heading to Amelia Island, there are worth while options if you are looking to tee it up.