On June 15, Gary Player flew to Augusta, Ga. where he met mote than 200 guests at the grand opening of Champions Retreat Golf Club. Unexpectedly, Player’s schedule allowed him to be able to attend the festivities and hit the inaugural tee shot.
Player, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, with 13 green jackets between them, have each designed nine holes of golf at Champions Retreat. This masterful 27-hole course is carved from 1,200 acres of Georgia pines and century old hardwoods. The diverse settings and individual design styles in the Player Creek Nine, Nicklaus Bluffs Nine and Palmer Island Nine offer golfers three unique challenges in the same round.
The exclusivity of Champions Retreat lies not only in the three legendary names that are associated with the club, but in the concept of Champions Retreat Golf Village. Developers E.G. Meybohm, Robert Pollard and Wayne Millar created a village setting, architecturally inspired by the late Hays Town, whereby each clubhouse amenity (pro shop, cart barn, dining room, locker room and lodging facilities) is housed in a separate building. Natural materials, metal roofs and reclaimed bricks from the early 20th century were used in the construction of the buildings.