Architect Brian Ross has been in the golf industry for a long time and has worked with many talented designers on numerous courses. Still, when he and partner Jeffrey Stein were given the chance to revive Walter Travis’ long-forgotten layout in the sand dunes of the Georgia coast, he didn’t hesitate.
“That was one of the main motivations for taking this job,” Ross said during the recent grand reopening of Great Dunes Golf Club, which bears the same name when it opened in 1928. This design was the last by three-time U.S. Amateur Champion Travis, and was completed shortly after his death.
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“Travis didn’t take a lot of courses, certainly not a lot of public courses,” Ross said. “He worked primarily in wealthy private clubs, most famously the Garden City Golf Club, so bringing back one of his few public designs felt both an honor and a heavy responsibility. I think we would have made him proud.”
The original Great Sand Dunes spanned rugged coastal terrain overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. But like many courses of that era, it didn’t last. Storms in 1942 and 1954, combined with continued beach erosion, reduced the number of holes to nine. After many more decades of wear and tear, even its remains eventually folded into another local layout, which was later acquired by the state of Georgia.
The more than $6 million restoration, which began in 2024, relied heavily on archival photographs to recreate Travis’ original appearance, including its bold dunes, dirty sand, rugged contours and ocean views. The team also resurfaced the course with paspalum grass from tee to green, a choice suited to the island’s climate.
With the help of archival photos… Polite and wonderful dunes
…Great Dunes has returned to its irts roots. austin caseman
“Looked at from the ground today, the land may look flatter than it used to be,” Stein said. “But old photos taken from the dunes and bridges reveal the undulations and green shapes that Travis originally laid out.”
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The result is no Lido-like reproduction, recreating the 1928 design to within a fraction of an inch. But Ross and Stein say Travis has left an unmistakable mark on a scale that few public golfers have experienced.
“It was a big challenge and a big responsibility,” Ross said. That was also really fun.
To guide their research, they consulted the Walter Travis Society, along with local historians on Georgia-owned Jekyll Island. Ross’ research found that only three public courses were designed by Travis, an Australian who also won the British Amateur: Great Dunes, Potomac Park East in Washington, D.C., and a layout in Buffalo, New York.
The island’s historic hotel, with its distinctive round turret, opened in the early 1900s and once catered to the nation’s wealthiest travelers. The Travis course followed shortly after, with distinctive features such as towering dunes, sandy beaches, and ocean views in the distance.
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The new Great Dunes maintains the throwback spirit of the layout while adding modern improvements. This is, for example, the first course in Georgia to be irrigated with a brackish water system designed to reduce freshwater use, control chemicals and minimize environmental impact. A new wildlife corridor built along the old railroad tracks near the course has also introduced new species to the site.
The layout, which is now open to the public, is a par 72 measuring 7,014 yards from the back tees and 4,818 yards from the forward markers, roughly mirroring what Travis envisioned as a seaside playground a century ago.
“We hope to host college tournaments, community events, public theater and local island memberships,” said Mark Williams, executive director of the Jekyll Island Authority. “This layout makes me feel like I’m back in the future.”
The article How this long-forgotten Golden Age classic was revived in Georgia appeared first on Golf.
