[G Jones]

Hi,

Does anyone know anything about the golf club of georgia? Apparently one of their two courses holds some competition around the time of the masters, between the amateur champions of the uk and usa... from google maps it seems to play through a housing development. Does anyone have any photos or know anything about the course's history or architecture or how it's rated/reviewed?

cheers,
Gordon

[Michael Christensen]

they play a british vs us amateur champ match the monday before the masters....i think they are both given honorary memberships

golf club of georgia is a high-end housing/golf development in Alpharetta......the courses are usually in very good condition....they have had ownership issues through the years, I believe old Pitt/Falcon guard Bill Fralic is leading the current ownership group

nothing really special in my eyes...typical high end private golf

[Chris Cupit]

Mr. Doak was not too enamored with this Hill effort!  Lakeside course he gave a 5; Creekside a 0!

In hope I don't get in trouble for this but two quick quotes from The Confidential Guide are:  "Named the best new private course in the nation...Lakeside, is one of the most overrated I've seen." and "If this is the project that rocketed Hill to prominence, he should be forced to give it all back."

Golf Club also has the dubious distinction of having its fifth hole on the Creekside course included as one of "The Worst 18 Holes".  It really is bad.

On the positive side, Randy Waldron and his crew do a wonderful job keeping the course in pristine condition.  I've officiated numerous events at the club and it is simply amazing the job and commitment they have made to keep the course in nearly perfect condition.  

Also the club has been a generous supporter of amateur golf through their commitment to the Georgia Cup (proceeds raise money for the Yates Scholarship program in GA) as well as their support of college golf--annual college event and hosted this years east regional for the NCAA.

They have had membership issues (not enough to support the operations) since their inception.  The membership found financing through Textron who should be a good lendor for them.

Trouble is that this one time very expensive private club (you can join now and defer 100% of the ID for 8 years and theoretically never pay a penny of ID for 7 years 364 days of "use") did not have two great courses that could command those fees.

Beautiful setting, perfect greens, nice facilities but 1 pretty bad course (Creekside) and one very blah course (Lakeside).  

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

I have not been there but Art Hills feels he did some good work there. Our local colleges guys played there in the East Reg and loved it.

[Chris Cupit]

Tiger,

I was at both the US Intercollegiate and the East Reg.  

The US intecoll. is the damndest thing I've ever seen--courtesy cars for the teams, caddies for the players (yes, college players NOT carrying their own bags), enormous hospitality tents, incredible food, electronic scoreboards as well as free shirts, hats, raingear..etc, a course in perfect condition--bent grass tees that were better than anything I ever putted in college and greens rolling 12-12.5 easy!!

For the East Regional no caddies but I am telling you, Golf Club of GA put on a great show and hosted a great event.

While I don't think that the architecture is anything to speak of, it is a first class development that anyone should be proud to be a part of.  What Doak was saying was that as "THE BEST" new private of 1991 it was very overrated.  And, as you know, he is splitting hairs among higher end clubs.

It is fist class all the way, just nothing special or interesting about the Lakeside course.  As someone who is not an architect I appreciate that I may have no clue about the environemntal restrictions Art Hills had on the Creekside course and maybe that is the best anyone could do with that land; but, Creekside is a bad course with some awful holes.  

IMO they would have been way better off just having the single 18 hole course.  Also, I think they only get 10-12,000 rounds a year on Creekside--no one really wants to play it and I am sure they spend a ton of money taking care of it.

PS  FWIW, as a college kid I know i would have been greatly impressed by all the "stuff" and the great conditioning--I am not sure I had much of an eye or care for the design or architectural merits of the course.

[jim_lewis]

My evaluation of the Lakeside course is the same as Tom Doak's except that I think his "5" is a little high. It has been a while since I played it, but I remember having no clue where to try and hit my tee shot on several holes. I kept asking my host for suggested target lines. He was litle help.

Never played the Creekside and don't plan to.

Jim lewis

[David Ownby]

I played there about a year ago at a retirement party for my former boss. Lakeside course.

Very nice club and great conditioning (especially the greens), but nothing special architecturally. Many holes seemed awkward or shoehorned into the housing development.

[Phil_the_Author]

Interesting comment by David that, "Many holes seemed awkward or shoehorned into the housing development..." Actually it is quite ironic as the vast majority of the homes weren't there when the courses were built.

I may be incorrect, but if I remember correctly the minimum plot size for houses there was reduced sometime after they opened as well.

[SB]

Chris is right about the intercollegiate being an amazing event.  Certainly not what you are used to seeing at a college event, even by today's high standards.

The membership owns the club, and have for almost 10 years now, although a number of members were initially very instrumental in that effort.  It was purchased from the Japanese who developed it.  They have fewer numbers than other clubs with 36 holes, but most of the members would say they like it that way.

[Ken Fry]

I caddied here for about a year in 1991-92 time frame.  The clubhouse wasn't built yet and the Creekside 18 was just opening.

There were no homes on any of the golf course at the time except the golf cottages that sit on the fairway of the Creekside 18th hole.  I returned to play the Lakeside course in 2000 and couldn't believe how much things had changed with the addition of all the homes, streets and neighborhoods.

When I caddied there, it was an exciting time because the course won "Best New Private" and was receiving a lot of attention.  The original owner was looking to host some form of a "major" championship as most owners wish.  A regional U.S. Open Qualifier was held there and Tim Simpson refered to the greens as "Mickey Mouse" and stormed off the course, if the story was accurate.

Lakeside is a pretty course.  The original owner was trying to capture an "Augusta" feel with flowers everywhere, immaculate conditioning and the caddies running around in white coveralls.  They were rather hot in the Atlanta summers.

Creekside was controversal from day one.  It had some fun holes and some not so fun.  We never did figure out how to play the 5th hole which has the dubiouos honor of making Tom Doak's list as mentioned above.

The original owner was a very nice man from Japan but like many of these kinds of projects from the '90's, finances just didn't work out going forward.

Ken

[Chris Cupit]

Ken,

Here's and irony--the cottages along Creekside have been sold to make room for more residential development!  I am not sure what is going in there but the club needed the $$$

The original pro was a guy from Virginia I think--can you remember his name?

[Ken Fry]

Chris,

Original pro was Archie Lemon with Roger Cherico and Andy England as the assistants.  Sadly I heard Andy passed away, but I'm not sure of this.  Nice guy.  Last I knew Roger was the head pro at Dunwoody CC.  I ran into Archie in Myrtle Beach at the Legends complex quite a few years ago.  He was Director of Golf at the time.  Not sure what he's up to now.

Ken

[G Jones]

Ok, so that's a pretty damning assessment then...  
I might be playing there sometime so just wondered!

cheers all.

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

Chris these are great young men but not students of architecture.

[Chris Cupit]

Ken,

Thanks--Archie Lemon was a friend of my golf coach (Clem King) at UVA--super nice guy--thanks.

Tiger,

They are great kids and they can flat out play.

[John_Cullum]

I think the Creekside course is the hardest course I have ever seen. The two holes I remember best are 3 and 5. 5 is difficult, but 3 is well nigh impossible.

Lakeside is a little more manageable. The par 3 17th can be a killer.

The locker room/ mens grill is about the size of a high school gymnasium.

[SB]

The locker room is awesome.  It's worth the price of admission alone.

I think the cottages are going to be moved/rebuilt between the parking lot and 1st tee - Creekside.  The old site was a lot of land worth a lot of money.

I don't feel the #5 creekside is a terrible hole.  Just one where you better hit a good drive, or you will be punished by a full stroke.  I'd go after #3 first.  However, John remembered both, so maybe that means that hard can be good?

[Tommy Williamsen]

I played both about eight years ago.  I really liked the Lakeside but was extremely disappointed in Creekside.

[Chris Cupit]

From Golf Club of Georgia's web site about #5 Creekside (I only added smilies to the complete quote):

"No question, this can be one of the most challenging holes in the world, but here’s a simple solution: hit your driver or 3-wood to the right of the pine tree. Then hit a wedge or short iron to the edge of the fairway. From there, pretend the hole is now a long par 3 and play a fairway wood or a long iron to the two-level green. Lots of trouble in front and to the left of the green, so bail out to the right of the green or onto the bailout area itself. Go for the green in two shots, however, if your tee shot finds you well into the fairway and within your reach. But come up short and then face another challenging shot—this time through the pine corridor of the drop area."

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