Bishop, GA

Just a few minutes out of Athen or Watkinsville you will find Lane Creek Plantation, a golf, tennis and swim community. The community is over 300 homes on nicely wooded lots from 3/4 of an acre to seven acres. These homes and lots are situated along streams, overlooking lakes or along the golf course.

Lane Creek Plantation is convenient to shopping and dining in Athens and Watkinsville, as well as the University of Georgia, and Highways 78 and 316 to Atlanta and other areas. You can play golf, lounge by the pool on a hot day, play tennis, or just kick back in your own yard. There is also an entertainment pavilion with full cooking facilities.

So, if you are looking for a quiet community for an active, or a laid back, lifestyle, Lane Creek Plantation just might be the place for you. Homes are priced from the high $200,000's to the high $600,000's and there are some of the market now.

For more information about Lane Creek Plantation, or about buying or selling your home in Lane Creek Plantation or anywhere in Oconee County, Athens-Clarke County or the adjacent counties and communities, please call me at 706-207-5290 or you can click here to email me with your questions. To search for homes in or near Lane Creek Plantation, or any of the nearby towns and counties please visit my website, The Athens Real Estate Page.

The Athens - Clarke County area boasts several excellent golf courses. Located just 15 minutes away from central Athens is Lane Creek Golf Course in Bishop and neighboring Oconee County. A great par 71 course that holds up well in all seasons and especially through the recent drought the area has been experiencing. The course has been designed to be enjoyed by all levels of golfer, from 0 handicaps to the very high.

Lane Creek is located in the Lane Creek Plantation, a golf and tenniis community. The course has a very nice clubhouse with a fully equipped pro shop and a nice snack bar that is open whenever the course is. It is opened to the public as a daily fee course with very reasonable green fees.

Before starting out on the first tee you can hit the practice area which includes a putting green, chipping area including sand bunker and of course the driving range. Pick up your range balls in the pro-shop. After warming up, enjoy the next 18 holes of golf on a course that is both visually appealling and both fun and challenging to play.

8th Green at Lane Creek

The fairways are generally open, but mostly tree lined, with water and bunkers in places to challenge and frustrate you. The greens are generous and undulating and hold up well in all weather. But they can get quite fast at times.

4th Green Approach at Lane Creek

I have been enjoying this course, in all seasons for over three years and it is always one of my first choices to play when I get the chance. You can find out more about Lane Creek golf course by going to it's website, www.lanecreekgolfclub.com. Stop in, say "Hi!" to owner operator Butch Foust. Enjoy the view from the deck behind the clubhouse while recapping all the highlights of the 18 holes that you have just completed.

View From Deck Behind Lane Creek Clubhouse

My Golf Buddy Ernie at the 16th Tee Box

To find out more about golf and other things to do in the Athens area, or if you are interested in buying or selling a home in Lane Creek Plantation, or any of the 5 counties that make up the greater Athens area, please call me at 706-207-5290. Or, you can click here to email me with your requests for information. To search for homes in the Athens area, including Lane Creek Plantation, please visit The Athens Real Estate Page.

I like to play golf and at every golf course that I have played I have one or more favorite holes. They may be my favorites because of the way they set up for my game or because of their aesthetic qualities. The 8th hole at Lane Creek Golf Club is one of those that fits both qualities.

Hole 8 is a PAR 3 with the distance varying from about 100 yards from the red tees to 170 yards from the tips. The tees are elevated and you need to carry your ball high across a marsh and a creek to land softly on the green. The approach from tee to green looks wide but there is forest on either side and a slight push or pull from the back tees will guarentee a lost ball. Once you cross the creek you still aren't safe. A hook or a slice will require a tricky pitch onto the green.

The green has two levels with the right side being a bit higher than the left. There is a small ridge dividing the two. It slopes from back to front and from left to right. Carry the ball a little long and you end up on a step slop chipping back down to the green, unless you end up in the bunker where you will require a tricky sand shot to hold the green. If you are short left of the green you end up in a deep sand bunker that will require you to get your ball up quickly out of the sand.

The pin on the day this picture was taken was in the middle back of the right side of the green. You can just make out the white flag looking like a bright spot in the middle of the bunker. I must have been feeling some adrenaline on this tee shot because I ended up about 18 feet to the right and above the pin.

Lane Creek Golf Club is located in Bishop, just a few miles from Watkinsville and 20 minutes from Athens. Butch Foust is the owner manager and always like to discuss golf.

By the way, my birdie put slipped just below the hole leaving me about 6" for my par.