Free Golf on an Island That Just Got a Lot Better
Book an oceanfront suite at Jekyll Ocean Club and two adults get two complimentary 18-hole rounds at Jekyll Island Golf Club. That is the Golf on Us package, and right now it might be the smartest golf deal in Georgia.
Most free-golf offers in the Southeast send you to the course the resort could not sell. Not here. Jekyll Island just wrapped a roughly $20 million overhaul of its golf, starting with a full renovation of Pine Lakes and finishing with the resurrection of a Walter Travis course that had been half-buried since World War II. Your free rounds land on the freshly renovated Pine Lakes and the quiet, wooded Indian Mound. The restored Travis course, Great Dunes, is an upgrade away.
Golfers who make the drive to this state-owned barrier island, about 90 minutes south of Savannah and a world away from Hilton Head traffic, will find a place that never got the condo-tower memo. Wide beaches, live oaks, Gilded Age history, and now golf that finally matches the setting.
Great Dunes: The Travis Course the Architecture Geeks Are Chasing
Walter Travis built Great Dunes in the late 1920s for the members of the Jekyll Island Club, a winter hideout for families named Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, Morgan and Pulitzer. It turned out to be the Old Man's final project. The original 18 opened in 1928, but storms, beach erosion and World War II claimed the back nine by the early 1940s. For the next 80 years, Great Dunes was a scruffy nine-hole curiosity most visitors drove right past.
In 2023 the Jekyll Island Authority hired architects Brian Ross and Jeff Stein to bring it back. They dug the surviving Travis holes down to native grade, rebuilt greens and bunkers from archival photos, buried power lines, cleared out invasive brush to reopen the Atlantic views, and built nine new Travis-inspired holes on part of the old Oleander course. The new 18-hole Great Dunes opened to the public on November 1, 2025.
Here is why that matters. Travis designs almost always live behind a private gate. Garden City, Westchester, Ekwanok - good luck getting a tee time. Great Dunes is one you can actually book.
"The restoration team did an amazing job, and architecture geeks are flocking here to play it. Most of Travis's masterpieces are private clubs, so we are one of the rare ones the public can play. Checking off a Travis course is bucket-list worthy. The real feat is navigating the two dunes guarding the fourth green." - Kevin Baker, Sales and Marketing Manager
The Fourth Hole, a.k.a. Mae West
The hole everybody raves about is the par-5 fourth. Back in the 1920s, members nicknamed it "Mae West" after the two large dunes that guard the entrance to the elevated green, which sits up overlooking the ocean. I will let you work out the rest of that one on the drive down.
The play is simple to describe and hard to pull off. Long hitters can think about getting home in two, but Ross himself says it takes absolute precision to land the ball between those two dunes. Everyone else is lining up a third shot through the gap. Lay up to a comfortable wedge yardage, or take dead aim at the cleavage and hope. Either way, you will want a photo from the fairway.
If you take the Great Dunes upgrade, and you should, ask about pricing when you book, since it varies by season and tee time. The package already covers your other two rounds, so the splurge stings a lot less.
Your Free Rounds: Pine Lakes and Indian Mound
The two courses in the package are not consolation prizes. All three Jekyll Island courses, Great Dunes, Pine Lakes and Indian Mound, are stops on the Georgia Golf Trail, the state's collection of public courses worth building a trip around. And one of your free rounds is on the first course Jekyll fixed.
Pine Lakes
Pine Lakes has a solid pedigree. Dick Wilson laid it out, Joe Lee finished it after Wilson died, and it opened in 1968. Clyde Johnston redesigned it in 2002. Then in January 2024 it closed for the first phase of the island's golf overhaul, reopening in October 2024 with new turf, irrigation, tees, fairways, greens and bunkers.
It is the longest course on the island at about 6,700 yards from the back tees, par 72, winding through maritime forest and marsh hammocks. The renovation was good enough that the Georgia Four-Ball came back to Jekyll to play it. Bring a few extra balls for the water and keep an eye on the alligators, who do not care about your pace of play.
Indian Mound
Indian Mound is the shortest of the island's 18-hole courses at roughly 6,469 yards, par 72, and it is the one locals point you to when you want a peaceful round. Joe Lee built it in 1975 through live oaks and longleaf pines, with no houses lining the fairways. The signature is the 11th, a downhill par 5 that finishes at the edge of the marsh.
Do not let the scorecard fool you. The par 5s play tougher than the yardage suggests, and only one of the par 3s lets you off easy. It is a great morning-after round when the bourbon from the night before is still making decisions for you.
Where to Stay: Jekyll Ocean Club
Jekyll Ocean Club is the beachfront sister to the historic Jekyll Island Club Resort, and it is all suites. Every one runs roughly 600 to 700 square feet with a separate living area, a sleeper sofa, Eurotop mattresses and a private patio or balcony.
Couples should grab an Ocean View King Suite and drink their coffee watching the Atlantic. Buddy trips should look hard at the Two Queen Suites, which sleep up to six. That is a foursome plus room for the guy who always shows up a day late. Poolside versions of both are available if you would rather keep an eye on the cabanas.
You do not have to leave the property for dinner either. Eighty Ocean Kitchen and Bar sits right on site with a view of the pool.
After the Round
The sister property, Jekyll Island Club Resort, sits in the island's historic district a short drive from the Ocean Club, and it is where you want to spend your evenings. Settle the day's bets over a drink at the Alexander Bar and Boar's Head Lounge, where the millionaires once did their own version of the same thing. Then walk down to The Wharf for seafood on the river at sunset, or dress up a bit for the Grand Dining Room.
On your off day, rent bikes and ride some of the island's more than 24 miles of paths. Driftwood Beach is the photo every visitor takes, and the Georgia Sea Turtle Center is worth an hour, especially if your partner has been patient through three rounds of golf. The spa at the Club Resort is the other way to earn that goodwill back.
The Golf on Us Package: How to Book
- Stay: oceanfront suite at Jekyll Ocean Club, 80 Ocean Way, Jekyll Island, GA
- Golf: two complimentary 18-hole rounds for two adults
- Courses included: Pine Lakes and Indian Mound
- Upgrade: Great Dunes available at an additional cost
- Promo code: GOLFONUS
- Book online: jekyllclub.com/offers/golf-on-us
- Call: Jekyll Ocean Club reservations at 866.342.3683
Blackout dates and restrictions may apply. Not valid with other promotions or packages.
So is it the best golf deal in Georgia? Free rounds on a newly renovated course, a resort suite on the beach, and a shot at one of the only public Walter Travis designs in the country. You tell me what beats it.
