Among Forbes’ blog pick of the best private golf communities in the US, Mayacama and Reynolds Plantation, two high-profile communities anchored by a Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course, were featured. According to Forbes:
Mayacama in Santa Rosa, Calif., features the finest Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course in the American wine country, and easily the best in the most prestigious Napa and Sonoma region. For that reason, big name vintners and well-to-do Bay Area residents – it’s less than 60-miles from the Golden Gate Bridge – have embraced the place, making it one of the most desirable private clubs in the nation – and one of the most intimate. There are only 31 home sites within Mayacama’s gates. Just over an hour outside of San Francisco, with a pool, a beautiful and lavish clubhouse with spa, the main features at Mayacama are the golf course. It’s walking only with caddies and ranked in the most prestigious Top 100 list, public or private, and the extensive wine program. Every member gets a second locker just for wine, temperature controlled, and many of the vintner members make special releases just for the club, with the wine list boasting bottles you cannot buy anyplace else.
Georgia’s second largest lake, the 20,000-acre Oconee was entirely manmade by hydroelectric efforts in the 1970s and is home to one of the most impressive golf communities anywhere, Reynolds Plantation, which offers six golf courses by top designers including Jack Nicklaus, all of them very good, including standouts Great Water, Oconee, and Creek Club. The community is home to Taylor Made’s The Kingdom, a unique Tour player experience offering the same high-tech diagnostic testing Taylor Made’s sponsored athletes get, complete with computerized club fitting and customization unlike any you have seen. There is a Ritz Carlton Lodge on site, great restaurants throughout, and endless amenities from tennis to the lake itself. No private club in America has the breadth of golf that Reynolds Plantation boasts, all just an hour from Atlanta.