Atlanta Course Reviews and Conditions

[Browns71213]

The slant on the article was that these are best public or accessible semi-private courses that anyone can play. I don't see a a state park, Arrowhead Pointe, paying to get on this list, but who knows.

[ferreta]

Played the frog last weekend and it was in really shape. They need to add more sand to their bunkers though.

 

Played Marietta two weeks ago and the greens were being watered all through the day for some reason, anyone know why? Plugged balls everywhere.

 

 

 

So they don't lose them. Marietta had bent greens. Roots must stay cool to stay alive. Hence the reason for fans and watering all the time.

 

So it is interesting that they have two practice greens and one is Bermuda. Talked to the assistant pro and he wants to get them to change to Bermuda. Not sure if he would really get any traction as it is a county course.is Bermuda cheaper to maintain? Anyone know?

[GTgolf]

Played the frog last weekend and it was in really shape. They need to add more sand to their bunkers though.

 

Played Marietta two weeks ago and the greens were being watered all through the day for some reason, anyone know why? Plugged balls everywhere.

 

 

 

So they don't lose them. Marietta had bent greens. Roots must stay cool to stay alive. Hence the reason for fans and watering all the time.

 

So it is interesting that they have two practice greens and one is Bermuda. Talked to the assistant pro and he wants to get them to change to Bermuda. Not sure if he would really get any traction as it is a county course.is Bermuda cheaper to maintain? Anyone know?

 

It's super expensive to change. Bermuda is a hardy grass and much cheaper to maintain

[hollabachgt]

Played the frog last weekend and it was in really shape. They need to add more sand to their bunkers though.

 

Played Marietta two weeks ago and the greens were being watered all through the day for some reason, anyone know why? Plugged balls everywhere.

 

 

 

So they don't lose them. Marietta had bent greens. Roots must stay cool to stay alive. Hence the reason for fans and watering all the time.

 

So it is interesting that they have two practice greens and one is Bermuda. Talked to the assistant pro and he wants to get them to change to Bermuda. Not sure if he would really get any traction as it is a county course.is Bermuda cheaper to maintain? Anyone know?

 

It's super expensive to change. Bermuda is a hardy grass and much cheaper to maintain

 

My understanding is the change is between $2500 and $5000 per green to change from bent to bermuda, while the cost of replacing lost bent greens is approximately 10 times higher per green. The grown in time for bermuda is also must faster, but them being cheaper and easier to maintain is a bit of a misnomer. The care for bermuda is just a bit different from bent, with one of the big areas being cold weather care. The greens will need to be covered before the temperature drops below 38-40 to ensure enough heat is held in to keep the roots from freezing. For some courses they don't want to lose the potential rounds, when they have to close the course at 3 to tarp the greens before it gets cold.

[thejuice]

Fellas, my group had it's end of season 2-day tournament this past weekend at the UGA Course (Saturday) and The Georgia Club-Red/Black (Sunday). The fellas were raving at how well manicured both courses were and how true the greens rolled.

 

UGA - Saturday, Sept 24

From the 1st tee to the 18th green, this course was in fantastic shape. The design is traditional with many elevated greens (definitely RTJ in feel) while being longer than many courses some would consider parkland style. Some of the guys complained about seeing multiple 400+ yard par 4's, however after the round they were cool. They realized that the length was made fair with a hilly layout and nice, rolling fairways. If you hit the fairway, your ball will roll. If you hit it in the rough, the hole would play LONG! I liked that a lot and so did the fellas. The greens were quick...not lightning but quick. Loved them! The fellas all said they wanna come back.

 

The Georgia Club - Sunday, Sept 25th

Played the Red/Black courses. Again, from tee to green, this course was in fantastic shape. One of my playing partners found a bunker on just about every hole and he mentioned how consistent the sand was in each of them. I tried to take his word for is as much as possible and avoid the bunkers (I did get into one and the sand wasn't too fluffy and definitely wasn't hard). Similar to the UGA course, the rough was thick while the fairways provided rollout. The course isn't as hilly as the UGA course, so you wouldn't get too much roll, but you definitely have a better chance to score from the fairway than not being in the short grass. The greens were faster than UGA's, which was scary. I missed out on four skins because of my ball missing the hole and rolling passed by four or five feet. Easier course than UGA with faster greens, which made it a great second round for my guys.

 

All in all, a great weekend of golf!!!

[skmcclure]

Played the frog last weekend and it was in really shape. They need to add more sand to their bunkers though.

 

Played Marietta two weeks ago and the greens were being watered all through the day for some reason, anyone know why? Plugged balls everywhere.

 

 

 

So they don't lose them. Marietta had bent greens. Roots must stay cool to stay alive. Hence the reason for fans and watering all the time.

 

So it is interesting that they have two practice greens and one is Bermuda. Talked to the assistant pro and he wants to get them to change to Bermuda. Not sure if he would really get any traction as it is a county course.is Bermuda cheaper to maintain? Anyone know?

 

It's super expensive to change. Bermuda is a hardy grass and much cheaper to maintain

 

My understanding is the change is between $2500 and $5000 per green to change from bent to bermuda, while the cost of replacing lost bent greens is approximately 10 times higher per green. The grown in time for bermuda is also must faster, but them being cheaper and easier to maintain is a bit of a misnomer. The care for bermuda is just a bit different from bent, with one of the big areas being cold weather care. The greens will need to be covered before the temperature drops below 38-40 to ensure enough heat is held in to keep the roots from freezing. For some courses they don't want to lose the potential rounds, when they have to close the course at 3 to tarp the greens before it gets cold.

 

It doesn't seem like City Club has that kind of budget but I have no way of knowing that. All summer long the courses I've played with Bermuda greens have been in great shape and they are all firm surfaces which on a public course at least seems to translate to few ball marks. City Club's Bent greens are always soft and it seems to be very difficult for players to fix their ball marks. The greens have been in better shape than they were last year, which is a little surprising given the very hot summer we've had, but that isn't to say they have been in good shape.

[Browns71213]

This was in the Atlanta Business Chronicle this AM. Echelon takes top spot for most difficult course in the ATL.

 

Three golf courses in the Peach State are among Golf Magazine’s top 100 in America.

 

The Seaside course at Sea Island Golf Club in St. Simons Island, Ga., scored top honors in Georgia at No. 22. Sea Island has three 18-hole championship courses, but Seaside, the site of the PGA Tour’s RSM Classic, is what gained the mention from Golf Magazine. Seaside was designed by Harry S. Colt and Charles Alison in 1929 and updated in 1999 by Tom Fazio.

 

 

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The Great Waters course at Reynolds Lake Oconee in Greensboro, Ga., ranked No. 41 on the list. The par 72 course is 7,073 yards, and was designed by Jack Nicklaus in 1992. Great Waters, along with The Landing, hosted the 41st PGA Professional National Championship in June 2008 and the Andersen Consulting World Championship of Golf (now known as the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship) was played at Great Waters from 1995 to 1997.

 

Reynolds Lake Oconee's Oconee course came in at No. 63 on the list. The par 72 course has hosted the Linger Longer Invitational collegiate championship, 2007 PGA Cup and the annual Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge. It was designed by Rees Jones in 2002.

 

Click here for the Golf Magazine top 100 rankings.

 

Atlanta Business Chronicle's May 6 issue featured Atlanta’s Toughest Golf Courses, which was ranked by the United States Golf Association (USGA) course rating for men. Course rating is the USGA mark that indicates the evaluation of the playing difficulty of a course for scratch golfers under normal course and weather conditions. The source for this listing was the Georgia State Golf Association.

 

Echelon Golf Club in Alpharetta tops the listing, with a course rating of 77.3. Atlanta Athletic Club – Highlands course takes the No. 2 spot, followed by Hawks Ridge Golf Club in Ballground, Ga.

 

Four courses tie for the No. 4 ranking on the List: Ansley Golf Club – Settindown Creek, Atlanta Athletic Club - Riverside course, Eagle’s Brooke Country Club, and East Lake Golf Club.

[shakey]

Not exactly the ATL area, but I played Barnsley Gardens today and it is in amazing shape. Greens were firm and fast.