A new Hyatt Lodge golf resort is being planned on the shores of Okhissa Lake near Meadville in Franklin County southwest Mississippi. The design is a collaboration with design associate lead Bruce Charlton of Robert Trent Jones II collaborating with golf architect Nathan Crace.
The site offers the potential for memorable lakeside golf. The final seven holes will play on the water of the approximately 1,100-acre lake. The course has a preliminary tracking year of 2027 or 2028 rather than a confirmed golf opening date.
Okhissa Lake is surrounded by the landscape of the Homochitto National Forest, which encompasses approximately 190,000 acres. The planned golf and hospitality development is located near Meadville in Franklin County. The lakefront terrain and the proposed closing stretch over or beside the water could distinguish the new course from other golf destinations in the region.
View the project location on Google Maps. Coordinates: 31.419106, -90.851046 (approximate project reference point; not a confirmed clubhouse or course entrance).
The proposed golf course forms part of the wider Okhissa Lake resort vision. During a February 20, 2026 groundbreaking for the resort's entrance road, local officials confirmed plans for a Robert Trent Jones golf course at the property. That milestone related to access infrastructure; it should not be interpreted as the start of golf-course earthworks.
Source: Franklin Advocate / U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, February 2026.
Robert Trent Jones II (RTJ II) has a busy schedule. His design firm has new golf course construction and renovation projects worldwide. In the United States, Three Bridges Salem, Utah designed with Mark Voss is under construction by Landscapes Unlimited with a planned 2027 opening. International projects include Green Paradise East Sunset in Can Gio, Vietnam, a new course under construction for 2028; Mulan Grenada National in Grenada with Mike Gorman; and the Four Seasons Resort in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt where Bruce Charlton and Mike Gorman are opening a new course in 2027. Additional RTJ II projects include the renovation of Cotton Bay on Eleuthera in the Bahamas, the ongoing renovation of Birnam Wood Golf Club in California, and a new short course in Quito, Ecuador. Projects in planning include Thai Country Club's second course near Bangkok and the Mena House redesign in Egypt.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Nathan Crace (@nathancrace)
The golf project will be complemented by Okhissa Lake Lodge, planned as Mississippi's first Destination by Hyatt branded property. Hyatt and the Scenic Rivers Development Alliance announced a 200-room lodge with cabin suites, a conference center accommodating 1,000 people, spa, pool, restaurants and a marina-side boardwalk.
The hotel was initially announced for 2027. A subsequent February 2026 project update from hotel architect DLR Group, working with WBA Architecture, identifies 2028 as the expected lodge debut. The hotel's projected opening should not be assumed to be the golf course opening date.
Sources: Hyatt announcement and DLR Group's 2026 project update.
Planning for a lakeside lodge and conference center has been underway for several years. In 2025, public notices described access-road and resort work on a roughly 144-acre site on the north shore of Okhissa Lake. The February 2026 entrance-road groundbreaking was an important early step for the overall development. By October 2026, Nathan Crace had shared a new site visit and golf design collaboration with RTJ II.
Sources: Franklin Advocate public notice and February 2026 infrastructure announcement.
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