Lanier Islands Legacy Golf Course

Overview: Lanier Islands Legacy Golf Course is an 18-hole Billy Fuller design at Lanier Islands Resort in Buford, Georgia. The resort course plays to par 72 and 6,580 yards from the black tees, with wooded fairways, shaped bunkers and Lake Lanier appearing repeatedly beside the routing. The setting gives the layout a strong lakeside identity, but the interest comes from how the holes approach the water from different angles. Some stretches frame the lake from elevated ground, while others bring the shoreline close enough to affect both club selection and the preferred side of the fairway. Fuller’s design combines broad scenic views with a practical resort rhythm, so the course can be enjoyed for its landscape while still rewarding players who manage the many changes in line and distance.

History: The current Legacy course opened in 2009 after a major renovation and reworking of golf at the Lanier Islands property. Billy Fuller created the new course and brought to it experience from a long career in course development and agronomy, including fifteen years at Augusta National Golf Club. The project introduced MiniVerde Bermuda greens, zoysia-lined “Billy Bunkers” and a new championship routing intended to make Lake Lanier the central visual feature. Lanier Islands has continued to invest in the golf operation, and the Legacy course remains the resort’s main 18-hole layout as the surrounding destination has expanded.

Did You Know? The resort’s current course description says that 14 of the 18 holes play along the water. Fuller’s bunker concept is also distinctive: the zoysia-lined “Billy Bunkers” were developed from ideas he refined during his years at Augusta National.