Royal Amelia Golf Links:
Amelia Island's Newest Golfing Experience
By Charles Litrico

     This fall Amelia Island will welcome another beautiful golf course into its already impressive family.
Royal Amelia Golf Links, located just south of the Fernandina Beach Airport, will offer a memorable golfing experience to players of all abilities.

The par-72 course, which plays to a yardage of 6,823 from the back tees, was designed by Tom Jackson, whose credits include courses at the Sandestin Resort in Destin, Florida, and Cliffs of Glassy near Greenville, South Carolina. Jackson incorporated the area's natural flora into the design of Royal Amelia, as the course contains many live oaks, pines, palmettos and wax myrtles.     The first hole at Royal Amelia is located along the border of the airport, as are # 5 and #13. These holes are wide open, giving the golfer an image of a traditional Scottish "links" course. Enjoy these open holes while you can because the rest of the holes contain individual trees and groups of trees that, while adding beauty to the course, require cautious ball placement.   The sixth hole is a good example of this. The landing area off the tee is very wide.

Many holes at Royal Amelia include an individual tree that will come into play quite often ____________________

However, an uphill fairway requires a blind shot to the left of the green. At the top of the hill, a group of trees on the left means that you must hit a high, long shot in order to reach the green. As if that isn't enough difficulty to make the hole a challenge, four bunkers are located along the front and left of the green.

Large greens and rolling fairways are a trademark of Royal Amelia. __________________

Another hole at Royal Amelia, the 13th, is memorable for a more pleasant reason. This par-5 is quite remarkable for its tranquil beauty.     At the next hole, however, the tranquility is broken by the fact that you have water from the tee box all the way to the green. The tee area arcs around the lagoon to the right, leaving a simple challenge - decide how much water you think you can cross with your tee shot and hit to that part of the fairway.

     Another beautiful water hole is the par-3 17th. An accurate shot to this island green is a must if you want to stay dry.

The finishing hole brings you to the edge of the Amelia River and its expansive tidal marsh. Here is where Royal Amelia's clubhouse will be located. This 5,000 sq. ft., southern-style building, complete with wide verandas overlooking the river, is scheduled to be completed in the near future and will be available for corporate outings.        The practice facilities at Royal Amelia are very large and include areas for almost every type of shot. Full PGA instruction programs will be offered.

The island green at the par-3 17th hole is both beautiful and challenging. _______________________

     W. Scott Womble is the head teaching professional. Scott has been in the golfing business for 18 years, the last three of which were spent on Amelia Island at the Long Point Golf Club.
     While always open to the public, Royal Amelia also offers a variety of memberships. For more information and tee times, call (904) 491-8500. Royal Amelia is located at 4477 Amelia Road. www.royalamelia.com