[Kenny Baer]

I have thoroughly enjoyed studying GCA for more than 5+ years.  I first discovered it by accident when researching Sand Hills golf club in Nebraska.  (This was when the 1st Sand Hills profile was up (I believe it said 2003).
 
I play the majority of my golf at Atlanta Country Club in Marietta, GA; a Willard Byrd and Joe Finger design;  I also a play quite a bit at Wolf Creek in Atlanta (Mike Young) and Atlanta National golf club (Pete Dye). 

I have played most of my golf in the State of the GA but have ventured out of the state to play around 15 of the USA’s top 100 according to GD. There very few things I enjoy more than great architecture and fun golf.

To give you an example of the wide variety of courses that I have played and my love for the game I will try to list where I have played in the last 3 months.  Starting with the most Recent. (I was able to play this many courses due to my current job in sports: I work for the Atlanta Hawks and Thrashers,  so when we are not in season I have time to travel and play golf)
 
                                                                             
Long Shadow GC  Mike Young   
Cuscowilla  Coore and Crenshaw 
Reynolds Plantation The Creek Club  Jim Engh       
Reynolds Plantation Great Waters   Nicklaus       
Reynolds Plantation The Oconee     Rees Jones                                         
Double Eagle Golf Club        Weiskopf & Morrish                       
Highland Cove                 Tom Jackson                                     
#6 at Wade Hampton        Tom Fazio                                           
Atlanta Country Club          Willard Byrd       
Atlanta National            Pete Dye                                             
White Columns               Tom Fazio                                           
Sea Island Golf Club (Seaside)    Tom Fazio                                         
Sea Island Golf Club (Retreat)        Davis Love                                   Hampton Club              Joe Lee                                                 
Longaberger    Arthur Hills                                         
Red Hawk Run      Arthur Hills                                         
Ocean Course @ Hammock Beach      Jack Nicklaus                                     
The Conservatory @ Hammock Beach    Tom Watson                                     
Wolf Creek      Mike Young                                       
Wolf Creek     Dennis Ryder        Mesquitte, NV
Falcon Ridge    Kelby Hughes      Mesquitte, NV
Coral Canyon  Keith Foster        St. George, UT
 
I truly love the game of golf and love this web-site.  I have been reading past post wishing I could put my 2 cents in. 
 
Kenny Baer

[John Kavanaugh]

Please rank the following five courses on your list with 1 being your personal favorite and 5 being the least.

Long Shadow GC  Mike Young   
Cuscowilla  Coore and Crenshaw 
Reynolds Plantation The Creek Club  Jim Engh       
Reynolds Plantation Great Waters   Nicklaus       
Reynolds Plantation The Oconee     Rees Jones   

War Eagle!

[Shane Wright]

Yes - I am interested in the same 5 rankings as well.  My father keeps saying every year we are going to go down and play the Reynolds courses, but have not been able to make it work out yet. 

[Kenny Baer]

1. Cuscowilla (Just an awesome golf course that flows well from the 1st to the 18th; I personally enjoy everything about it.)  Also the 12th is maybe one of my favorite holes I have ever played)

2. Great Waters (Holes #9-18 make the golf course; how Nicklaus routed the back nine IMO was spectacluar.  The 2nd shot from the middle of the fairway on #9 is inspiring and the tee shot from the tips on 18 feels like you are almost standing in the middle of the lake; but holes 1-4 and 6-8 are almost bad golf holes; they reminded me of Sea Pines tight fairways with houses bordering each side.

3. Long Shadow (Great golf course, I absolutely loved walking it; there is not a bad hole on the course, but it was in pretty terrible condition at the time, 18 was basically grassless.  Given time I think this could be one of my favorite golf courses, hole for hole on architecture it is the best of the five)

4. Creek Club (I enjoyed it and had fun but to be 100% honest I thought it was over the top.  Some of the design elements were great and there were some great golf holes but as a whole it was just a little too much for me to think that highly of it; there is a 70 yd deep green that looks like it has about 2 pinnable spots)

5. Oconee (This is my 5th by quite a bit; some of the least interesting greens out there IMO; literally there is nothing too it.  It is a way overpriced resort golf course that has almost zero memorable holes; I played it 3 weeks ago and only remember #17.  The greens are so flat and boring that I didn't even get what RJ was trying to accomplish wiht them.)

[Kenny Baer]

By the way... Go Dawgs

[John Kavanaugh]

1. Cuscowilla (Just an awesome golf course that flows well from the 1st to the 18th; I personally enjoy everything about it.)  Also the 12th is maybe one of my favorite holes I have ever played)

2. Great Waters (Holes #9-18 make the golf course; how Nicklaus routed the back nine IMO was spectacluar.  The 2nd shot from the middle of the fairway on #9 is inspiring and the tee shot from the tips on 18 feels like you are almost standing in the middle of the lake; but holes 1-4 and 6-8 are almost bad golf holes; they reminded me of Sea Pines tight fairways with houses bordering each side.

3. Long Shadow (Great golf course, I absolutely loved walking it; there is not a bad hole on the course, but it was in pretty terrible condition at the time, 18 was basically grassless.  Given time I think this could be one of my favorite golf courses, hole for hole on architecture it is the best of the five)

4. Creek Club (I enjoyed it and had fun but to be 100% honest I thought it was over the top.  Some of the design elements were great and there were some great golf holes but as a whole it was just a little too much for me to think that highly of it; there is a 70 yd deep green that looks like it has about 2 pinnable spots)

5. Oconee (This is my 5th by quite a bit; some of the least interesting greens out there IMO; literally there is nothing too it.  It is a way overpriced resort golf course that has almost zero memorable holes; I played it 3 weeks ago and only remember #17.  The greens are so flat and boring that I didn't even get what RJ was trying to accomplish wiht them.)

Fantastic response, thanks.

What caused you to play Longaberger and how does it compare the the Reynolds courses?  If you were to catagorize Longaberger, what would you call it?

[PThomas]

By the way... Go Dawgs

welcome Kenny

and an important issue:  how's the new mascot for the team?  i know last years passed away..

I saw on ESPN once how they have a little area where they bury the little guys after they've gone to the great doghouse in the sky

[John Kavanaugh]

By the way... Go Dawgs

welcome Kenny

and an important issue:  how's the new mascot for the team?  i know last years passed away..

I saw on ESPN once how they have a little area where they bury the little guys after they've gone to the great doghouse in the sky

Paul,

Never ask a guy who works for the Hawks how his dog died.  Didn't work out so well for the Falcons.

[Kenny Baer]

Paul,
UGA VII is just fine, thanks for asking, he seems to be a sleeper since he has slept in his dog house for the 1st 2 games. There is a small little area in the corner of the stadium where a plaque for each UGA (I-VI) says a little about them and the teams record during their years as the active UGA.

John,
My wife is from Columbus so I travel up that way quite a bit; that is why I played Longaberger; I have actually played it 2x.  

I thought it was okay; it is not very memorable and the 8th hole is goofy; the green looks like 18 at Congressional and the hole itself is in such a good spot that it has potential to be a great hole but the tee shot is borderline goofy.  I like it better than Oconee because it is more unique.  I decided to play it because I was looking for a golf course that was public and well known somewhere near where my in-laws live.  (They are not golfers)  Both times I played I was the first to tee off and I was back by lunch.

[Kenny Baer]

Paul,

The Falcons have nothing to do with us (seperate owner, seperate organization) so technically if they are down that helps us out; but I am from Atlanta so I don't cheer against them.  That would be bad Karma

[Mike Hendren]

and an important issue:  how's the new mascot for the team?  i know last years passed away..

I heard they shot him after the Tennessee game.  Go Vols.

Bogey

[Kenny Baer]

Whatever we did after that game it worked; we haven't lost since. 

I can't wait until October 11th. 

[PThomas]

and an important issue:  how's the new mascot for the team?  i know last years passed away..

I heard they shot him after the Tennessee game.  Go Vols.

Bogey

Mike, don't ever go there to watch a game, as I think they will target Uga to go after you like the famous clip of a previous Uga nearly biting a player in his you-know-whats!

[Kenny Baer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foGHh14uvKk 

We are training the UGA to do this on command; the Tennessee players will be afraid to score touchdowns.

[PThomas]

By the way... Go Dawgs

welcome Kenny

and an important issue:  how's the new mascot for the team?  i know last years passed away..

I saw on ESPN once how they have a little area where they bury the little guys after they've gone to the great doghouse in the sky

Paul,

Never ask a guy who works for the Hawks how his dog died.  Didn't work out so well for the Falcons.

i actually saw someone wearing a Vick jersey the other day....so i guess that idiot still has at least one fan

Vick has to be one of the stupidiest human beings ever...can you imagine having a contract worth $100 M plus, along with endorsements...and then doing something illegal and cruel as what he did....

i hope he never gets the chance to play again in the NFL

[Mike_Young]

Michael Hendren,
You know as aGT fan living in downtown Athens I find out a lot of internal stuff that doesn't come out regarding that mascot.....from what I hear you don't have to worry about this one being very aggressive....seems he really likes to smell the flowers, has his nails done, will not raise his leg to pee, has an overbite and is extremely fat.....he reads a lot of poetry and is extremely allergic to bees.....

[Mike_Young]

By the way... Go Dawgs

welcome Kenny

and an important issue:  how's the new mascot for the team?  i know last years passed away..

I saw on ESPN once how they have a little area where they bury the little guys after they've gone to the great doghouse in the sky

Paul,

Never ask a guy who works for the Hawks how his dog died.  Didn't work out so well for the Falcons.

i actually saw someone wearing a Vick jersey the other day....so i guess that idiot still has at least one fan

Vick has to be one of the stupidiest human beings ever...can you imagine having a contract worth $100 M plus, along with endorsements...and then doing something illegal and cruel as what he did....

i hope he never gets the chance to play again in the NFL

Paul,
One of the "Humane Society" type auctions actually bid one of his jerseys last year down here....so somebody out there has one

[PThomas]

By the way... Go Dawgs

welcome Kenny

and an important issue:  how's the new mascot for the team?  i know last years passed away..

I saw on ESPN once how they have a little area where they bury the little guys after they've gone to the great doghouse in the sky

Paul,

Never ask a guy who works for the Hawks how his dog died.  Didn't work out so well for the Falcons.

i actually saw someone wearing a Vick jersey the other day....so i guess that idiot still has at least one fan

Vick has to be one of the stupidiest human beings ever...can you imagine having a contract worth $100 M plus, along with endorsements...and then doing something illegal and cruel as what he did....

i hope he never gets the chance to play again in the NFL

Paul,
One of the "Humane Society" type auctions actually bid one of his jerseys last year down here....so somebody out there has one

on the other hand Mike some wise entreprenaur made Vick dog chew toys...wonder how many of them were sold!

[Kenny Baer]

Mr. Young,

I think you have your information all wrong; I have heard from a solid source in the UGA program that UGA VII is more than your average dog.  

The rumor is that he has been mating with a horse because he is to manly to mate with other dawgs.  To train him to be tough they put yellow jackets in his cage with him so he can get used to being stung; but the thing about those yellow jackets is they are afraid to sting him.

[Mike_Young]

Mr. Young,

I think you have your information all wrong; I have heard from a solid source in the UGA program that UGA VII is more than your average dog.  

The rumor is that he has been mating with a horse because he is to manly to mate with other dawgs.  To train him to be tough they put yellow jackets in his cage with him so he can get used to being stung; but the thing about those yellow jackets is they are afraid to sting him.

You could be correct....I heard he really enjoyed stallions.....and the yellow jackets they put in the cage with him actually were laughing so hard at his polshed toenails they couldn't sting.....

[Kenny Baer]

Great speaking with all of you; I have to head to a meeting and will be out the rest of the day.

I look forward to many future post.

Mike,

By the way UGA does 2 Philly's at the same time; rumour has it that he has already fathered a young 1/2 breed that may win the Derby. 

[Bill_McBride]

Kenny, I hope you got to play Athens CC some when you were at UGA, it's one of my favorite courses.  And you might run into Mike in the grill room. 

[Michael Dugger]

Kenny

Do you have any family who works in the golf biz?

[Paul Jones]

Kenny,

I use to live in Atlanta and miss all the nice courses. 

Did you have a chance to play Rivermont and The Standard since Mike Riley has redone both?

Athens CC, Lookout Mnt and The Honors are my 3 favorites with in driving distance.

Paul

[Paul Jones]

Almost forgot - GO LSU Tigers !!!

Let me know if you are making the trip to Tiger Stadium for the game in October.

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