Not Your Average Tennis Community!
When you think of Lake Oconee the first thing that probably comes to mind is golf. While Lake Oconee is home to several of the best golf courses, many people forget that Lake Oconee is also home to a large tennis community. The lake area’s tennis association, Lake Oconee Tennis Association or LOTA, was formed in 2000. They started off with only 150 members. Today, the LOTA has over 250 members and covers Greene, Morgan, Baldwin, and Putnam Counties. For the experienced player, there are 4 different leagues: mixed doubles, ladies’ doubles, ladies’ singles, and men’s doubles. If you are just learning how to play tennis LOTA offers “Let’s Play LOTA”, a beginner’s league of sorts. Both Kim and Lin, as well as two of our buyer’s agents are members of LOTA. We had the pleasure of interviewing James Derrick, PBI Head Tennis Professional at Reynolds Lake Oconee. When asked what he liked most about the Lake Oconee tennis community he replied, “The tennis community here at the lake is one of the most welcoming, fun groups of people I have had the privilege to be around! Whether they are playing on the courts, out on the lake, or simply enjoying each other’s company, the tennis players at Lake Oconee truly know how to make a genuine and fun community.”
Reynolds Lake Oconee has one of the finest tennis facilities in the southeast and is affiliated with Peter Burwash International. The Lake Club Tennis Center has a Pro-Shop, 2 stadium sized courts and 6 champion-sized courts. These 8 courts consist of 4 hard surface courts and 4 state of the art Har-Tru clay courts. At the Pro-Shop you can find PBI tennis professionals, Dave Neuhart (Director of Tennis) and James Derrick. They offer several different clinics for all ages. They also offer numerous USTA leagues that play at the tennis center. You do have to be a member, a guest of a member, or a guest at the Ritz to attend the clinics provided. However, non-members can still receive lessons – just call the Pro Shop at (706) 467-1298. Over the years the Lake Club Tennis Center has received numerous awards. Some of them include the #1 PBI Facility of the year in 2006, USTA Facility of the year in 2009, and just recently the Real Estate Scorecard’s “Bliss Award” for Best Tennis Community of the Year.
There are several other areas around the lake that have excellent tennis facilities. These include: Sebastian Cove, Harbor Club, Cuscowilla, Town Creek Apartments and Greene County Recreation Courts. You can also find courts in Milledgeville and Madison. You can find directions for all of these courts here.
