Valdosta

Accommodations:

Comfort Inn Conference Center

Location:

Kinderlou Forest                                                                                                                   One of the best new golf courses in Georgia in a long time. The first time I stepped foot on the property, I couldn't get over how green everything was and this was in the month of January.  This time of the year most everything is dormant, but the overseeding of rye, the color just glimmers.  "Created by nature, designed by Love" is the slogan for the Kinderlou Forest Golf Club. A nice take off on the designer, Davis Love III.    The dominant feature of this course is an old borrow pit that comes into play early on. The dirt from the ravine was used to help build U.S. Highway 84, which was started back in the 1920s and which now reaches to Colorado, with one extension running to the Texas/Mexico border.  The deep ravine is a dramatic, man-made feature, with its red Georgia clay, and gives some holes an almost, canyonesque, Southwest feel.  The front nine feature wide open holes with long-range views. Plenty of mature hardwoods adorn the landscape. A creek along numbers 2, 3 and 4, the deep ravine on number 2 and changes in elevation are most dramatic here. You won't soon forget playing around the ravine. By the time you get to Hole 12, you find yourself in a pine forest with an understory accented with dogwoods. The back nine combines flat, long holes set in a a planted pine forest with rolling terrain that begins at Hole 15, and a mix of pine trees and hardwoods bringing the course around full circle. Measuring 7,781 yards from the back tees is the longest in the state and even the pros from the Hooters Tour aren't crazy enough to play it from all the way back there unless they have to.  Choose one of the forward tee boxes and you'll enjoy the course even better ... in fact you'll Love it.

Stone Creek Golf Club
This semi-private course is nestled among towering Georgia pines and centuries-old hardwood trees.  Designed by Jeff Burton in 1992, Stone Creek features 6,705 yards of golf from the longest tees for a par of 72.  The course rating is 72.5 and it has a slope rating of 130.Grass and sand bunkers come into play almost all the holes and the greens are large and fast and the fairways are fairly narrow.  The pro Bob Burke says', "there's just enough water to get your ball wet."

Francis Lake Golf Club
This Willard Byrd design was a neglected relic and now it’s back!  The Leonard family has taken great love and care to this old treasure.  This course was built on flat terrain, so it's easy to walk.  Water hazards come into play on five holes.  Everything sort rotates around the picturesque lake.  The greens are small and undulating, but very receptive and putt true.  A fun and challenging day!