For decades, Georgia’s Reynolds Lake Oconee, located halfway between Atlanta and Augusta, has thrived on its reputation as an exceptional golf community, and for good reason—the 12,000-acre development is home to 117 golf holes designed by some of the game’s best architects: Jack Nicklaus, Tom Fazio, and Rees Jones. The private residential development is also home to The Kingdom, a one-stop destination for all golfing needs, including a world-class academy (see “ School Holidays” in the Instruction section of this guide). There’s so much more to experience at Reynolds Lake Oconee, including watersports on the 19,000-acre Lake Oconee, 11 restaurants, a tennis center, and extensive programming for their more than 4,000 members.

“I was blown away by the caliber and diversity of the courses here,” says Dave Short, the community’s senior vice president for strategic planning, marketing, and sales, as he reflects on his initial visit. “I still am today, seven years into my membership. I’ll never be disappointed with whatever course I’m playing.”

Short discovered, not long after he began living at Reynolds, that the community’s eponymous, 19,000-acre lake is an amenity of equal allure. For one, it’s enormous. Its 374 miles of shoreline measures four times the length of oceanfront property found along Georgia’s entire southeastern coast. “I bought a house on the golf course when I first moved here because I didn’t have the appreciation for the lake,” he says. “So maybe when I retire I’ll move to the lake. A lot of people go through that evolution.”