PUTNAM COUNTY
When Michael Benton casts his gaze across Uncle Remus Golf Course (URGC), he sees more than just fairways, water hazards and greens.
As superintendent of the Putnam County owned-and-operated property, he’s also become the facility’s unofficial historian and recognizes the course as a piece of Eatonton history that began 60 years ago this week.
Originally named Pine Knoll Country Club, Benton explained URGC was designed and built as a private course by local golfer/entrepreneur Bubba Ellis for a little over $1,500, funded by founding members who pitched in $100 apiece.
A black-and-white photo prominently displayed in the URGC clubhouse shows Ellis cutting the ribbon on Nov. 10, 1962, to officially open Pine Knoll for play. He’s surrounded by inaugural members/ benefactors, a few onlookers, and one lucky golfer ready to send the first official drive up the No. 1 fairway.
The name change to Uncle Remus came in the mid-1980s when the county took over the course, said Benton, who’s held his position about a year and a half now.
“I’m not really sure about the details, exactly when or why it happened, but this is your community golf course, our big thing is we are here to serve the community,” he said. “We are here to provide the chance for people to participate in outdoor recreation and to learn golf. It’s really the only sport/game you can play from a child all the way into old age. We have patrons who bring their kids in the single digits (age) to play and our oldest patron who comes regularly is 92, and he comes twice a week.”
Benton marvels at the thought of the variety and a sheer number of players who have hit off the URGC tees or dropped a putt for par on the nine-hole course since it opened.
“A lot of people seem surprised we’re not an 18-hole course, but they don’t realize this was built in the golden age of nine-hole course construction before 18 holes became pretty much the standard in the late-‘70s to mid-‘80s,” he said.
He stressed, however, that Uncle Remus is no par-3 “pitch-n-putt” executive course that typically consumes less than 3,000 yards total distance.
“Our course touches about 3,500 yards from the tips, so if you take that as 18 holes—because you can play it twice and do a round of 18 from two different sets of tee boxes— that ends up being almost 7,000 yards,” Benton said. “So, it's actually a full-fledged golf course where you'll use every club in your bag. And that's been one of our unique selling points, we can offer people that full golf experience, but do it on a much smaller footprint within the city here.”
Most holes are listed as par 4 or 5 with a couple of 3s along the way; par for the course is 35 the first time around and 37 the second.
Benton estimated the average golfer will take one-and-a-half to two hours to play a round of nine holes.
“One of the things I have noticed over the last year or so tracking our patronage is that we serve two very distinct demographics,” he said. “One of them is our local community, local Eatonton and Putnam County residents and even some who come from Milledgeville and Madison. But we also serve a whole separate demographic of lake community people, a lot who are just here seasonally, just for spring and summer.
“And it's a fantastic thing to me. I think it's a very special thing about this place, that we draw from both of those very different groups, but everyone enjoys it just as much.”
URGC (uncleremusgolf.com) operates year-round and is open from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. every day each week, except Tuesdays and holidays.
Season passes that provide unlimited golf (walking, with carts available to rent), plus discounts on merchandise and other perks go on sale Dec. 1, at $499 annually or $49 per month. Walk-ins can play a round of nine holes for $20 each— including the cart fee—or 18 holes for $30 each. There also is a 260-yard driving range with various-sized buckets of balls available for $4 to $15 each.