Bellemeade/Plantation at Valdosta Country Club

Valdosta Country Club's Bellemeade and Plantation courses serve the golf community in south Georgia's Lowndes County, where the region's characteristic pine forests and gently rolling terrain provide the setting for these layouts. Joe Lee, a prolific Florida-based architect who designed numerous courses across the Southeast during the latter half of the twentieth century, created the original routing. Bobby Weed, who worked extensively in the region and maintained connections to Florida golf architecture, later contributed design work to the facility.

The courses reflect the design sensibilities common to southern Georgia golf, where architects work with modest elevation changes and incorporate the area's natural vegetation—longleaf pines, live oaks, and native grasses—into strategic considerations. Water features typically appear on several holes, and the sandy soils characteristic of this transitional zone between Georgia's coastal plain and piedmont regions influence drainage and turf conditions. The layouts accommodate a range of skill levels while providing enough variety in hole lengths and angles to test better players.

Valdosta itself sits near the Florida border and serves as a regional hub for south Georgia, giving the club a membership base drawn from the surrounding agricultural and commercial community. The facility functions as a traditional private country club, offering both golf and social amenities to its members. The dual-course setup allows for flexibility in tournament hosting and member play, a configuration that became popular at many American country clubs during periods of growth and expansion.