The Ritz-Carlton Lodge at Reynolds Plantation occupies an enviable setting—35 acres on Lake Oconee, 75 miles from Atlanta, in the heart of Reynolds Plantation. One of the South's most exclusive gated communities, Reynolds Plantation has a host of amenities, including three full-service marinas and five golf courses by top designers.

In the early 1900s, Mercer Reynolds, Sr. acquired 7,000 acres on the lake and built himself a hunting and fishing camp that he called Linger

The Ritz-Carlton Lodge at Reynolds Plantation occupies an enviable setting—35 acres on Lake Oconee, 75 miles from Atlanta, in the heart of Reynolds Plantation. One of the South's most exclusive gated communities, Reynolds Plantation has a host of amenities, including three full-service marinas and five golf courses by top designers.

In the early 1900s, Mercer Reynolds, Sr. acquired 7,000 acres on the lake and built himself a hunting and fishing camp that he called Linger Longer. In the 1930s, he and his cousin combined their 10,000-acre holdings into a trust that was released to the Reynolds grandchildren in 1985. The heirs began developing Reynolds Plantation out on a jagged peninsula with countless inlets and miles of shoreline. A golf designer's boon, the fingers of water have been incorporated into many holes and add immeasurably to the character of the courses.

The first course built on the lake was a 1986 Bob Cupp design for a residential community that was later acquired by the Reynolds family. The Reynolds Landing Course is a hilly, links-style track with aggressive mounding and bunkering and heather-like rough reminiscent of Scotland.

In 1988, Cupp struck again with the Plantation Course. He returned in 2004 to revise some of the penal bunkering, leaving only 20 sand traps and swales where bunkers once lay. It's a kinder layout, with wide, banked fairways. However, there's still an abundance of natural hazards and the greens are small targets where false fronts and drop-offs abound. Colorful plantings and frequent glimpses of the lake make for an enjoyable round.

When Jack Nicklaus finished Great Waters in 1992 it was praised as second only to Augusta National. It's arguably the most scenic course on the plantation, and not just because it's beautifully landscaped. All of the courses are. Great Waters builds momentum through nine forested holes, then bursts onto the lakefront for nine holes, with greens perched on fingers of land and three carries over water. (Note that Great Waters is closed during 2009 for renovations.)

The Golden Bear was a hard act to follow, but Tom Fazio put his artistic eye to good use on the Reynolds National Course, a 27-hole layout opened in 1997. True to form, the architect mined the course with more than 100 bunkers, especially around the rolling greens. He also made good use of the terrain's 60-foot elevation changes, streams and ponds, and the lake. Wooded fairways often fall off at the sides into an undercover of wild dogwoods and azaleas.

In 2002, Rees Jones' contribution to the magnificent mix was the Oconee, a steely strategic challenge disguised in natural beauty. Decisions, decisions. Go for the green over water or take the long route through the trees? Five holes tangle with the lake and the interior ponds and streams pose constant dangers.

For more than 20 years freelancer Dale Leatherman has specialized in golf and adventure travel. Assignments take her all over the world, but she's always happy to be back home playing mountain courses in West Virginia. She is president-elect of the Society of American Travel Writers.