The Golf Club at Cuscowilla

Cuscowilla was one among the first group of jobs Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw took on after the opening of Sand Hills, the No. 8 course on America's 100 Greatest Courses ranking, and a design that vaulted the duo to the top of the profession. The sites couldn't be more different. Cuscowilla is located on the shore of Lake Oconee, a large manmade reservoir that's home to the five courses of Reynolds Lake Oconee. To give an example of how Coore and Crenshaw think differently from other architects, they recommended the developer of Cuscowilla use the majority of the shoreline for homesites. Most architects would fight for water holes, but they preferred the more rolling uplands for golf rather than the flatter land on the water. Nevertheless, two holes do play along the lake, the Cape-like 10th with a downhill drive across an inlet, and the miniature par-3 11th to an elevated green, but the other parts of the design are stronger. The first six holes comprise one of the most rhythmic and engaging opening runs of any course in their remarkable portfolio and include the uphill drivable, split-fairway par-4 fifth that is now something close to a template hole. Late in the round, the loop of 15, 16 and 17 is almost as strong. Cuscowilla was also shaper extraordinaire Jeff Bradley's coming-out party, and early showcase of his distinctive style of grassy, gnawed-edge bunkers, replete with Georgia's red clay sand.