RBC Heritage

Harbour Town Golf Links



    Ocean Forest Golf Club

    Sea Island, GA Private

    Overview

    Ocean Forest occupies one of the premier oceanside settings on the East Coast. Originally designed by Rees Jones, the fairways laterally traverse the site’s interior pines, skirting marshes and breaking out in memorable moments to the shore of the broad Hampton River inlet before finishing along the Atlantic Ocean at 17 and 18. The course has been a fixture among our top 200 courses nationally (and in the top six in Georgia), but by 2023 it was in need of updates and revisions so the club opted to have Beau Welling initiate some major changes. The main order of business was to try to better connect the formerly perched up green sites to the low, rambling terrain to be more accessible for members, enlarging them in the process. Welling also removed most of the Bermuda roughs and added open sandscapes along the holes to emulate the beach atmosphere, reconceived the par-3 17th on the water and elevated the 18th fairways so the ocean was visible above the dune line. The alterations combine to give the architecture a stronger seaside character that’s on par with the magical property.

    About

    Holes 18
    Length 7321
    Slope 144
    Facility Type Private
    Year Opened 1995
    Designer Rees Jones, ASGCA/Beau Welling (2023)

    Awards

    100 Greatest the Second 100
    Best Courses in Every State

    Ranking history:

    Second 100 Greatest: Ranked since 2013.
    2023-'24 ranking: 160th.
    Previous ranking: 162nd.
    Highest ranking:
    No. 128, 2013-'14.

    100 Greatest: Ranked for 12 years from 1999-2000 and 2003-'12.
    Highest ranking: No. 66, 2005-'06.

    Best in State: Ranked fourth, 2011-'12. Ranked fifth, 2013-'20. Ranked inside the top 5, 1997-2010. Ranked sixth, 2021-'24.

    Current ranking: Sixth.

    Golf Digest Logo Panelists

    Ratings from our panel of 1,900 course-ranking panelists

    4.5

    100 GREATEST/BEST IN STATE SCORES

    Shot Options
    7.2644
    Character
    7.5363
    Challenge
    7.4799
    Layout Variety
    7.2341
    Fun
    7.2885
    Aesthetics
    7.5687
    Conditioning
    7.4727

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