Solid and Scenic: Amelia Island Plantation’s Oak Marsh
Compared to Ocean Links, Amelia Island Plantation’s other (now deceased) resort course, Oak Marsh is both more solid and less interesting.
The holes follow a standard real estate development configuration, playing through wooded condos on the inland side of Highway A1A along the Amelia River and Intracoastal Waterway. Each nine starts slow, flowing in counterclockwise and clockwise rotations on either side of the clubhouse, before building toward nice climactic finishes out on the marsh.
This is classic Lowcountry golf, with narrow oak-framed holes calling for point-to-point precision. The early round lazes through five Hilton Head-like holes, then tightens up with three holes hugging water hazards banked with vintage-era Pete Dye bulkhead supports.
There are several good short and medium-length par fours that tempt you into being more aggressive off the tee than you should, and three demanding postcard holes to finish off capped by the par-5 18th where the green is separated from the fairway by a swampy inlet of Walker Creek. (85)
Amelia Island Plantation—Oak Marsh
Fernandina Beach/Jacksonville
Architect: Pete Dye/renovated by Bobby Weed in 1998
Year: 1973