The excellence of a golf course designer is always reflected in the goodness of his creations. But in the case of the Amelia National Golf and Country Club in Ferandina Beach, Fl., the golf vacation destination did not only showcase the genius that is Tom Fazio. More than that, it highlighted the nature’s endowment of the Amelia Island area, where it abounds of tropical vegetation, and a unique natural topography that makes golfing here more interesting.

Tom Fazio and his team of experts from his design firm worked on the natural attributes of this part of Amelia Island, and added a good helping of smooth bunkers, swales and lakes to make the course both challenging and visually stunning. He closely followed the existing terrain, thus creating a course that seems to have come straight out of Mother Nature’s hands themselves exactly for those golf vacations made in heaven. The Amelia National Golf and Country Club opens with a par-4 hole guarded by a large lake, and ends with a dramatic 18^th hole that is heavily guarded on both sides of the green, overlooked by the grand clubhouse.

The Amelia National Golf and Country Club was designed to be a Championship course, and it is by its own merit. But the course is forgiving and generous enough to make room for players of all skill levels; another proof of Fazio’s skill in golf architecture. The golf trip haven plays for a par of 72 and measures 7,166 yards from the back tees, and opened in 2006.