University of Georgia Athletics
UGA Golf Course
October 08, 2007 | General
| Length: | 7,240 yards |
| Par: | 72 |
| Built: | 1968 |
| Designed by: | Robert Trent Jones |
Address | Directions:
2600 Riverbend Road
Athens, GA 30605
Boyd Golf Center | Official Web site
Lumpkin Practice Facility | Scorecard
The Bulldogs' home layout stretches over 7,000 yards and plays to a par of 72. Golf Digest has rated it as one of the top 50 public courses in the nation, and rightfully so. Despite its public status (indeed, it gets heavy play, over 45,000 rounds per year), general manager Dave Cousart and his staff keep the course in championship condition.
The UGA Course is characterized by lush bermuda fairways best known for their length. Water guards four of the holes while strategically placed bunkers border quick, bent grass greens. In the past seven years, it has undergone large-scale renovations, making the greens larger and more undulating. Mounds and pot bunkers have also changed the look of the greens and enhanced the challenge of getting to the pins, as well.
Opened for play in 1968, the UGA Course was designed by famed architect Robert Trent Jones, a personal friend of Dr. O.C. Aderhold, UGA president from 1950 until 1967. Jones donated the plan to the University, and construction of the course was funded primarily by student-generated activities fees.
The layout at UGA requires a lot of carry-on approach shots; it's not a bump-and-run course. Many of the greens are elevated and hard to reach, and there aren't many places to run the ball up. The recently-added mounds, designed by architect John LaFoy, help keep the ball in play, improve drainage and provide visual definition of the holes.
Perhaps the best example of UGA's multitude of choices occurs at the 12th hole, a panoramic, par-5 whose third (or second) shot carries a small pond onto an island green. Many players have been just as awed by the beauty of this hole as they are confounded by its supreme challenge.
In addition to the championship course, the UGA facilities include a three-tiered driving range, a large bermuda chipping green, a bent grass putting green and three practice bunkers with a bermuda green. This practice and teaching area rank among the most extensive in the nation. Things only get better for Georgia golfers with a state-of-the-art practice center already at the team's disposal along the UGA Golf Course property.
