Reynolds Lake Oconee vs The Landings (Savannah, GA) as places to live and play

[Newbie15]

We are considering moving to one of these two places when we retire in a few years. They are both golf communities with a couple thousand houses and 6 golf courses. We've been to Reynold a few times and love it. We are at the Landings now and will play twice this week. 

 

Does anyone have any experience with these two communities? Either the quality of the golf courses or anything else that would matter to someone looking to move there? Thanks

[balladm]

I would probably vote for Oconee as the golf is top notch with Reynolds courses, Cuscowilla if you meet a member or join, and Harbor Club. Don't forget Athens is nearby and Atlanta is not far away as well. However, would you rather go to the beach or the lake on an off-day? Perhaps that will help guide your decision. 

[Newbie15]

9 hours ago, balladm said:

I would probably vote for Oconee as the golf is top notch with Reynolds courses, Cuscowilla if you meet a member or join, and Harbor Club. Don't forget Athens is nearby and Atlanta is not far away as well. However, would you rather go to the beach or the lake on an off-day? Perhaps that will help guide your decision. 

Thanks. We are at the Landings now. We've played 2 of the courses. Very nice but they don't compare to Reynolds. That's not the only consideration but it's one of them.

 

Unfortunately in order to get to a beach here we would either need a boat or a 45 minute drive. That's kind of frustrating.

 

It also seems like you get more house for your dollar in Reynolds.

 

Thanks for the feedback.

[david.c.w]

Oconee is amazing, and I think is more "premium" than The Landings (have never been).  Probably depends on if you like the remoteness of Oconee vs. the relative full development of the Savannah area.  Reynolds really is in the middle of nowhere.  

 

Also might depend on the style of golf you like.  Personally I don't love coastal style courses, and prefer parkland layouts.  I would imagine that The Landings is more coastal, but again have never played.

[caniac6]

We considered The Landings until I found out the elevation was 10 feet. Being surrounded by water, a storm  with a full moon and a high tide, could be an issue in parts of the neighborhood. The summer humidity would be pretty tough, too.

[Newbie15]

Yea, that concerns me too. In general I feel like renting near the ocean is better than buying near the ocean. And I would imagine (hope) that the insurance rates reflect that.

 

Did you end up in a southeastern state in a golf course community?

 

Edit: I think we prefer Oconee because the community and amenities are nicer and the houses are both nicer and a little less expensive. I would pay up to be near Savannah but my wife didn't care for the city.

 

The other knock on the Landings is that getting to the beach involves a 45 minute car ride which feels wrong considering that you have all the risks of being near the ocean but few of the benefits.

Edited July 3, 2023 by Newbie15

[caniac6]

We are in NC, but not in a golf community. We looked at Savannah Quarters in Pooler, Ga., and we really liked the community, but we didn’t care for the area outside the community. We also toured Savannah latter in the week, and 5/5/22, it was 93 degrees. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like in July and August.  We might look at Woodside in Aiken, and several places near Wilmington, NC, but I’d be very surprised if we leave Winston-Salem.

Edited July 3, 2023 by caniac6

[Newbie15]

2 hours ago, caniac6 said:

We are in NC, but not in a golf community. We looked at Savannah Quarters in Pooler, Ga., and we really liked the community, but we didn’t care for the area outside the community. We also toured Savannah latter in the week, and 5/5/22, it was 93 degrees. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like in July and August.  We might look at Woodside in Aiken, and several places near Wilmington, NC, but I’d be very surprised if we leave Winston-Salem.

We had an appointment with a realtor at Savannah Quarters. We drove around the outskirts the day before and decided that we too didn't like what was around it, so we cancelled.

 

My daughter went to Wake Forest under grad, Wake Forest med school and she's now a resident at Wake Baptist Health. We've spent a lot of time in W-S. Nice little city.

 

My wife is on-line now looking at golf communities in the Cary NC area. Do you have any experience there?

[caniac6]

Just now, Newbie15 said:

We had an appointment with a realtor at Savannah Quarters. We drove around the outskirts the day before and decided that we too didn't like what was around it, so we cancelled.

 

My daughter went to Wake Forest under grad, Wake Forest med school and she's now a resident at Wake Baptist Health. We've spent a lot of time in W-S. Nice little city.

 

My wife is on-line now looking at golf communities in the Cary NC area. Do you have any experience there?

I went to turf school at NC State, so I’m familiar with the area. The Raleigh area is a great area, but it’s grown a bunch. I worked at Raleigh Country Club while in school, and it was a great Donald Ross course that had fallen on hard times. John McConnell bought it, and turned it into a fantastic course. They did a big renovation project, and it looks great, but you wouldn’t want to live close to it. Two courses in Cary that I would look at would be Prestonwood, 54 holes, and hosts a Champions Tour Tournament, and MacGregor Downs.

   There is another course in Raleigh that is owned by McConnell that is in a nice neighborhood. McConnell owns a lot of courses in the Carolinas, Tennessee and Virginia, and if you are a member at one, you have access to all, and there are some very good ones. Just google McConnell golf.

[Newbie15]

I think you are thinking of Wakefield Plantation. Do you have any experience with their golf, pool, fitness and dining facilities? We may go and take a look at it.

[caniac6]

10 minutes ago, Newbie15 said:

I think you are thinking of Wakefield Plantation. Do you have any experience with their golf, pool, fitness and dining facilities? We may go and take a look at it.

Don’t know anything about the facilities. It was built after I was long gone. I believe they played a Korn Ferry tournament there, so the course must be pretty good. They played that tournament at Raleigh CC this year.

[subcrazy12]

We've had a family house at Reynolds since the late aughts and it's a great place.  The golf is all great and they are building another 9 holes that Fazio is doing to round it to 7 total courses.  Lots of great food both in Reynolds and in the surrounding area.  It's really a great place to have a home, it's also super easy to get to Atlanta if you want to fly anywhere, and lots of great golf in the area.  Plus you can be to either the Gulf or Atlantic ocean fronts rather easily.

 

The only downside I would say is that post-covid Reynolds has kinda blown up and is way more trafficked now than it used to be and can be just super crazy during the big holidays like 4th of July.

[Newbie15]

3 hours ago, subcrazy12 said:

We've had a family house at Reynolds since the late aughts and it's a great place.  The golf is all great and they are building another 9 holes that Fazio is doing to round it to 7 total courses.  Lots of great food both in Reynolds and in the surrounding area.  It's really a great place to have a home, it's also super easy to get to Atlanta if you want to fly anywhere, and lots of great golf in the area.  Plus you can be to either the Gulf or Atlantic ocean fronts rather easily.

 

The only downside I would say is that post-covid Reynolds has kinda blown up and is way more trafficked now than it used to be and can be just super crazy during the big holidays like 4th of July.

We've been there twice and we love it. The only thing that concerns us is that it feels isolated. Atlanta would be too far to go for a quick dinner or show. Otherwise we really like it.

 

I feel like post covid that all of the nice places to retire to have blown up in popularity. Seaside on the Fla panhandle is another place we go where it's packed now.

[subcrazy12]

18 hours ago, Newbie15 said:

We've been there twice and we love it. The only thing that concerns us is that it feels isolated. Atlanta would be too far to go for a quick dinner or show. Otherwise we really like it.

 

I feel like post covid that all of the nice places to retire to have blown up in popularity. Seaside on the Fla panhandle is another place we go where it's packed now.

 

I'll be honest I don't really feel like it's super isolated.  I live on the NW side of Atlanta in Vinings and I can be door to door in about an hour and 20 depending on traffic.  I've done lots of day trips to the lake to play a round of golf or sometimes I've needed to pop back home because we forgot something and doesn't feel overly burdensome. Sure it's not my favorite drive but it's not awful.  It wouldn't be a quick dinner but wouldn't be bad to make a day of it.  There's also Athens right up the round that has a lot of good and fun stuff to do.  Madison has its own set of charms and is nearby. Oconee Brewing in downtown Greensboro is great and also some good little restaurants there.  I guess it just ultimately depends on how far is too far to drive to some of the surrounding areas for you.

 

We also have a family place down in Rosemary, and I've always hated how crowded it was down there even pre-covid it honestly doesn't feel much more crowded to me now, but I also avoid that area like the plague in the summer so it very well could be worse now.

[david.c.w]

On 7/3/2023 at 10:14 AM, Newbie15 said:

Yea, that concerns me too. In general I feel like renting near the ocean is better than buying near the ocean. And I would imagine (hope) that the insurance rates reflect that.

 

Did you end up in a southeastern state in a golf course community?

 

Edit: I think we prefer Oconee because the community and amenities are nicer and the houses are both nicer and a little less expensive. I would pay up to be near Savannah but my wife didn't care for the city.

 

The other knock on the Landings is that getting to the beach involves a 45 minute car ride which feels wrong considering that you have all the risks of being near the ocean but few of the benefits.

 

If you don't like Savannah then go for Oconee.  Great location and great people.  Also, above this very important line!

 

[Newbie15]

1 hour ago, subcrazy12 said:

 

I'll be honest I don't really feel like it's super isolated.  I live on the NW side of Atlanta in Vinings and I can be door to door in about an hour and 20 depending on traffic.  I've done lots of day trips to the lake to play a round of golf or sometimes I've needed to pop back home because we forgot something and doesn't feel overly burdensome. Sure it's not my favorite drive but it's not awful.  It wouldn't be a quick dinner but wouldn't be bad to make a day of it.  There's also Athens right up the round that has a lot of good and fun stuff to do.  Madison has its own set of charms and is nearby. Oconee Brewing in downtown Greensboro is great and also some good little restaurants there.  I guess it just ultimately depends on how far is too far to drive to some of the surrounding areas for you.

 

We also have a family place down in Rosemary, and I've always hated how crowded it was down there even pre-covid it honestly doesn't feel much more crowded to me now, but I also avoid that area like the plague in the summer so it very well could be worse now.

That's all very helpful. Thanks. If we were to drive from Reynolds towards Atlanta on Rt 20, how deep into the city or suburbs would we have to go to find shopping malls and restaurants?

 

We "discovered" Seaside about 15 years ago. We were the only Yankees down there and that's one thing we loved about it. Now when we go we sometimes see Syracuse University (my town) garb and it fills me with dred. We introduced good friends to the place this spring and after one visit they are in the market for a place there. None of that is good. We used to ride our bikes to the ocean and dump them on the grass next to the path, now there is a bike PARKING GARAGE and tickets if you leave your bike in the wrong place. The place has changed.

[LostEngineer]

3 hours ago, Newbie15 said:

That's all very helpful. Thanks. If we were to drive from Reynolds towards Atlanta on Rt 20, how deep into the city or suburbs would we have to go to find shopping malls and restaurants?

 

We "discovered" Seaside about 15 years ago. We were the only Yankees down there and that's one thing we loved about it. Now when we go we sometimes see Syracuse University (my town) garb and it fills me with dred. We introduced good friends to the place this spring and after one visit they are in the market for a place there. None of that is good. We used to ride our bikes to the ocean and dump them on the grass next to the path, now there is a bike PARKING GARAGE and tickets if you leave your bike in the wrong place. The place has changed.

 

For good or bad, Lake Oconee is sort of in the middle of nowhere.  I think your best bet for shopping malls might be Conyers or Athens (about an hour away), but shopping malls all suck so I don't know why you'd want to go there.

 

The Lake Oconee area has tons of restaurants off of the Reynolds property.  What exactly are you looking for?  Atlanta will be the closest area to find a new James Beard winner.

 

If it were me, I would choose Reynolds over the Landing simply because there will be 7  18-hole course to play once Tom Fazio finishes turning the 27 hole National Course into two separate 18 course.  You'll never get bored with all those courses.

 

If you really want to live near the coast, then St. Simons would be better than Savannah simply because joining Sea Island gives you access to 3 amazing courses and meeting people there will surely get you invites to Ocean Forest and Frederica on a regular basis.  Non-Sea Island property members do need to pay a hefty initiation fee, however. 

[Tyrus Webb]

\

4 minutes ago, LostEngineer said:

 

For good or bad, Lake Oconee is sort of in the middle of nowhere.  I think your best bet for shopping malls might be Conyers or Athens (about an hour away), but shopping malls all suck so I don't know why you'd want to go there.

 

The Lake Oconee area has tons of restaurants off of the Reynolds property.  What exactly are you looking for?  Atlanta will be the closest area to find a new James Beard winner.

 

If it were me, I would choose Reynolds over the Landing simply because there will be 7  18-hole course to play once Tom Fazio finishes turning the 27 hole National Course into two separate 18 course.  You'll never get bored with all those courses.

 

If you really want to live near the coast, then St. Simons would be better than Savannah simply because joining Sea Island gives you access to 3 amazing courses and meeting people there will surely get you invites to Ocean Forest and Frederica on a regular basis.  Non-Sea Island property members do need to pay a hefty initiation fee, however. 

 

[Newbie15]

4 hours ago, david.c.w said:

 

If you don't like Savannah then go for Oconee.  Great location and great people.  Also, above this very important line!

 

Is that for real? Gnats are a problem below that line? My wife got swarmed in Savannah while golfing. We had to pack it in they were so bad.

[Newbie15]

41 minutes ago, LostEngineer said:

 

... shopping malls all suck so I don't know why you'd want to go there.

 

The Lake Oconee area has tons of restaurants off of the Reynolds property.  What exactly are you looking for?  Atlanta will be the closest area to find a new James Beard winner.

 

If it were me, I would choose Reynolds over the Landing simply because there will be 7  18-hole course to play once Tom Fazio finishes turning the 27 hole National Course into two separate 18 course.  You'll never get bored with all those courses.

 

If you really want to live near the coast, then St. Simons would be better than Savannah simply because joining Sea Island gives you access to 3 amazing courses and meeting people there will surely get you invites to Ocean Forest and Frederica on a regular basis.  Non-Sea Island property members do need to pay a hefty initiation fee, however. 

 

I agree about the malls. Believe me that I wasn't asking for myself.

 

In terms of restaurants around Reynolds, I'm not looking for anything in particular. I just want to have options. We've been there twice and didn't see a lot but maybe we need to know where to look.

 

Sea Island looks beautiful but probably beyond our budget.

[subcrazy12]

4 hours ago, Newbie15 said:

That's all very helpful. Thanks. If we were to drive from Reynolds towards Atlanta on Rt 20, how deep into the city or suburbs would we have to go to find shopping malls and restaurants?

 

We "discovered" Seaside about 15 years ago. We were the only Yankees down there and that's one thing we loved about it. Now when we go we sometimes see Syracuse University (my town) garb and it fills me with dred. We introduced good friends to the place this spring and after one visit they are in the market for a place there. None of that is good. We used to ride our bikes to the ocean and dump them on the grass next to the path, now there is a bike PARKING GARAGE and tickets if you leave your bike in the wrong place. The place has changed.

The shopping mall question will very much depend on what kind of shopping you are wanting.  Restaurants you can find some really good ones in Decatur and Grant Park that are right there either on 20 or not far off.  Traffic will impact the time to get there, but if you are retired you can likely time that up fairly well to avoid a bunch of the worst of it.

 

In terms of restaurants around Reynolds, Silver Moon is a great local place, but you gotta get there earlier or be prepared to wait. Sweat Kneads is great for breakfast food or grab-and-go food like quiche and chicken salad. I haven't been to the new gastropub that just opened but it looks decent and reviews seem to be it's good but service is a bit slow, but honestly that's sorta life at the lake. Jalissco is a solid mexican place right by the Publix. There's another new place called Table at the Lake that some folks who moved down during the pandemic that just opened and they are very nice and food is supposed to be good.  Honestly with the influx of all the new full time residents there is just more and more being opened there.

 

If you have specific things in mind let me know and I can likely tell you how far it is to get to them.

[david.c.w]

51 minutes ago, Newbie15 said:

Is that for real? Gnats are a problem below that line? My wife got swarmed in Savannah while golfing. We had to pack it in they were so bad.

 

It is real, for sure.

 

Also keep in mind that some courses in Savannah area close July and August due to heat/gnats/humidity.  I am sure not all, but some do.  I know 2 clubs outside Savannah (Ford and Secession) that are closed.

 

 

[Newbie15]

14 hours ago, david.c.w said:

 

It is real, for sure.

 

Also keep in mind that some courses in Savannah area close July and August due to heat/gnats/humidity.  I am sure not all, but some do.  I know 2 clubs outside Savannah (Ford and Secession) that are closed.

 

 

The realtor didn't mention the gnats. I think that seals the deal. Savannah is out.

[Newbie15]

17 hours ago, subcrazy12 said:

The shopping mall question will very much depend on what kind of shopping you are wanting.  Restaurants you can find some really good ones in Decatur and Grant Park that are right there either on 20 or not far off.  Traffic will impact the time to get there, but if you are retired you can likely time that up fairly well to avoid a bunch of the worst of it.

 

In terms of restaurants around Reynolds, Silver Moon is a great local place, but you gotta get there earlier or be prepared to wait. Sweat Kneads is great for breakfast food or grab-and-go food like quiche and chicken salad. I haven't been to the new gastropub that just opened but it looks decent and reviews seem to be it's good but service is a bit slow, but honestly that's sorta life at the lake. Jalissco is a solid mexican place right by the Publix. There's another new place called Table at the Lake that some folks who moved down during the pandemic that just opened and they are very nice and food is supposed to be good.  Honestly with the influx of all the new full time residents there is just more and more being opened there.

 

If you have specific things in mind let me know and I can likely tell you how far it is to get to them.

I think you are right about how the influx of new people will bring additional services. We're still 2.5 years out from retirement but we would like to have a plan. Are there any obvious dos/don'ts in terms of buying/building that a newcomer wouldn't know about? Areas? Builders? Features? Etc?  

 

Thanks for all your help.

[david.c.w]

1 hour ago, Newbie15 said:

The realtor didn't mention the gnats. I think that seals the deal. Savannah is out.

 

Uh oh, I hope I did not change a family's entire life trajectory because I made a post about bugs.

[caniac6]

Have you considered Woodside in Aiken? Two 36 hole clubs in the community, and Aiken looks like a very nice small town. Homes seemed to pretty reasonably priced. 

[Newbie15]

1 hour ago, david.c.w said:

 

Uh oh, I hope I did not change a family's entire life trajectory because I made a post about bugs.

LOL. We've made bigger life decisions based on more flimsy data than that!

[Newbie15]

33 minutes ago, caniac6 said:

Have you considered Woodside in Aiken? Two 36 hole clubs in the community, and Aiken looks like a very nice small town. Homes seemed to pretty reasonably priced. 

Yes, as a matter of fact we were paired for golf with a couple at Reynolds who were developers/builders in that area. They suggested Woodside. We have it on our list of places to explore.

[caniac6]

1 hour ago, Newbie15 said:

Yes, as a matter of fact we were paired for golf with a couple at Reynolds who were developers/builders in that area. They suggested Woodside. We have it on our list of places to explore.

We are thinking of looking there, too. We are not sure we could adjust to such a small town. We thought about the Pinehurst area, but don’t think there would be enough for my wife to do, and Aiken might be the same. Anyway, please post your feelings about Woodside and Aiken after your visit.

[Newbie15]

18 minutes ago, caniac6 said:

We are thinking of looking there, too. We are not sure we could adjust to such a small town. We thought about the Pinehurst area, but don’t think there would be enough for my wife to do, and Aiken might be the same. Anyway, please post your feelings about Woodside and Aiken after your visit.

Have you toured woodside? The pictures make it look like everyone is older than us - we are 56 and 59. We would like more of a mix of ages.