The Golf Club of Amelia Island: A pleasing stroll through nature

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. -- The Golf Club of Amelia Island lives in a perfect marriage with the Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island right next door.

Playing the 6,696-yard course comes off like a stress-free day at the luxurious Ritz spa. Architects Gene Littler and Mark McCumber made broad strokes to create wide fairways and receptive greens, while utilizing the natural beauty of this barrier island. Golfers never quite see the Atlantic Ocean, but they can hear it from several spots.

The golf club, which opened in 1987, hosted the 1998 Liberty Mutual Insurance Legends of Golf won by the team of Charles Coody and Dale Douglass. A career day can be had from the short, 6,156-yard blues if amateur golfers can stay out of the marshes of the back nine. The greens roll pure, but they’re tough to read.

"Some of the greens are very tricky. They take a lot of local knowledge," club member Jim Badenoch said. There are several excellent stretches on this playable resort layout. The fourth and sixth holes play brilliantly over ponds to their respective greens.

Sandwiched in the middle is the photogenic signature hole, the 160-yard fifth, featuring more water.

The Golf Club of Amelia Island's back nine turns magical at No. 14, where a marsh demands a forced carry to a massive green. No. 15, a short, 490-yard par 5, requires several heroic shots over wetlands just to reach an elevated green.

"It's a good layout. It's fun," Badenoch said. "It's not just easy. It has a lot of nice holes."