Ocean Forest Golf Club
Ocean Forest Golf Club is an 18 hole golf course located in Sea Island, Georgia. The course is private and non-members must be accompanied by a member when playing.
Ocean Forest Golf Course first opened for play in 1995. The course was designed by Rees Jones and Greg Muirhead. Ocean Forest is the only Rees Jones-designed course ranked among the world's top 100 courses.
The course sits on the northern end of Sea Island where the Hampton River meets the Atlantic Ocean. The grounds have pine trees, sand dunes, oak trees, marshes, wetlands and a river estuary.
The greens are small, averaging less than 5,500 square feet. Add to the small size the fact that the greens are raised with slopes around the green making “sticking the green” problematic.
The course is primarily routed among marsh and wetlands.
#1 is a short, relatively easy hole, however, water is in play.
#2 plays along a stand of trees, #3 plays by the dunes and #4 plays by the wetlands.
#9, a 151 yard par-3 requires a precise tee shot over water and offers no bailout option.
#10 a 545 yard par-5 is a classic risk-reward shot. The further to the right you can successfully hit, the closer to the green you are. A marsh along the entire right side of the hole intimidates. The green is protected by bunkers with a lateral hazard on the right and to the rear.
#13 is a 381 yard par-4 that is bordered by the Hampton River and has a stream running through the fairway.
#15 a 165 yard par-3 requires you hit the entire distance over marsh grasses to the green.
#16, a 425-yard par-4 is a dog-leg left. You have to hit through a chute of trees. The hole requires you to shape your shot off the tee and land on the left side of the fairway. The book The World's 500 Greatest Golf Holes ranks this hole as one of the hardest in the world to get on in regulation.
#17, is a 217-yard par-3 that borders the Atlantic
#18, a 480-yard par-5 also plays along the Atlantic from tee to green. 18 has a small green that slopes back to front and is well bunkered.