"I would have to concur that it's at least two or three shots easier now--if only because of the absence of gunshots and screaming ambulances."

Carlyle Rood:

I've always been a big fan of interchangeable hazard features that influence play but that one really took me by surprise. We're thinking of novel and economically ways of doing various hazard features on a new golf course and that one is worth trying and very economical too. After-all how much would it cost to set off an ambulance siren a dozen or so times a day intersperses with asking someone on the maintenance crew to fire off about a hundred gunshots a day, perhaps even whizzing through the tops of the trees?

Thanks for the tip. It's amazing the things one gets to know on GOLFCLUBATLAS.com  

A.G.

It was probably around 1991-2 that on the day after the Coleman tournament at Seminole many of us were still hanging around and I got paired with this nice man I'd never heard of who told me during the round about his plans for this course I'd never heard of and the environs around it in Atlanta. Being the broken down old liberal from New York I am of course it sounded interesting to me.

That was Tom Cousins and East Lake. I never saw him again but I sure did remember that day after he sure did carry out his vision.

But since I never saw him again, let me ask you something. What happened to all the people who lived in that crime-ridden section around East Lake before Tom Cousins did what he did there? Are most of them still there or did they get relocated somewhere else to make that neighborhood rejuvenation possible?

Tom,
I don't know that I have a definitive answer about the neighborhood former residents, but I THINK that most are still there.  There have been grants made to help residents renovate houses, etc.  The neighborhood is still overwhelmingly African-American, but looks nothing like what it did just 6 or 7 years ago.  The whole deal was set up so that all of the club profits go right back into the neighborhood.  

I am also a broken-down liberal; this is one of the really impressive govt.-business marriages that I have ever known of, and Tom Cousins is the guy who seems to have strong-armed both into doing the right thing.

Bobsee:

I must've missed that story the first time around. That's the funniest thing I ever heard. Ain't America wonderful? Stuff like that is why I'm still a broken down old liberal from NY. Here you had "Honkie" thinking he could just fence the riff-raff out as he pursued his trivial little rich-man's game in the middle of an urban DMZ but the Brothers turned it all around on Hoinkie since all Honkie really accomplished was to fence himself in so the Brothers could take advantage of Honkie. You just gotta love this country. Only in America!  

Furthermore, I admire that Honkie for having the wherewithal to even play golf to the turn---forget about the bogies. If it were me I think I'd be sprinting down #5, #6, #7, #8 and #9 in my best USMC evasive action broken-field pattern on the way to the Men's room.

Tom, I had a slightly different reaction to the story.  I was imagining a more open, free-wheeling America, where golfers who play such courses take measures to protect themselves:

"Throw your wallet over the fence, honky!"

"Sure thing, it's in my bag," the golfer says agreeably, as he pulls out his .45 special.

Gunfight at the East Lake Corral.  

I'm joking, though I wonder how many robbers would challenge would-be victims, if they knew they were armed?

"I'm joking, though I wonder how many robbers would challenge would-be victims, if they knew they were armed?"

Jim,

Any relation to Ted?  

... What happened to all the people who lived in that crime-ridden section around East Lake before Tom Cousins did what he did there? Are most of them still there or did they get relocated somewhere else to make that neighborhood rejuvenation possible?

Some neighborhood advocacy groups raised a big stink in the media at the time - probably legitimate concerns about poor people being forced out of their housing to make way for a rich man's golf club.  If I recall correctly, it may have even held up the project for a while.  

Cousin's must have handled the situation with great care as those concerns were eventually alleviated.  Obviously people had to be relocated during the demolition and construction, but I don't think anyone can argue that what the community has in place is not miles better than what was there before.

If you take a look at the aerial:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=1+Lakeside+Village+Dr+SE,+Atlanta,+GA+30317&ll=33.743541,-84.312279&spn=0.007848,0.020385&t=k&hl=en

(OK, copy and past the above into your browser)

You can see the neighborhood just to the west of East Lake.  There are 4 areas of mixed income housing - it is mostly apartments, condos, townhouses, etc.

You can also easily see the Charlie Yates course - the clubhouse is the small dark building just north of the driving range tee.  Number 1 is just NW of the maintenance shed & the front 9 circles CCW.  Number 10 is across the street (has the bunker that looks like "3" and the back 9 circles clockwise.

The large building with the white roof is Drew Charter School and the East Lake YMCA.

All of this has spurred development in the surrounding neighborhood - a lot of renovations and a few new houses being built.  

Andy

pacgd

I don't know which way you drove to get to Druid Hills but it must not have been the most direct route, which is basically north/northwest. I live just a mile north of East Lake and the neighborhood and area couldn't be nicer. You must have either hit a bad little pocket, or you're easily scared.

What's been happening in the East Lake area is really the same type of gentrification that's been happening in many areas of in-town Atlanta over the last 15 or so years. People, including many young professionals, are buying old homes and bungalows and renovating them, building nice little communities and neighborhoods. East Lake is actually moving slightly slower than some other neighborhoods. Most of the influx of new homeowners and residential renovation is occuring north, northeast and northwest of East Lake; the area to the south hasn't seen as much turnover.