Atlanta Country Club All 18 Now Posted

[Kenny Baer]

Atlanta Country Club was built in 1964 and designed by Willard Byrd with some slight modifications done over the years by RTJ and Jack Nicklaus, in 2001 Mike Riley rebuilt our greens and by all accounts he has done a fabulous job.
 
Atlanta Country Club was host to the first ever players championship won by Jack Nicklaus in 1977 (Don't quote me on the year).  It also hosted the Atlanta Classic for 20+ years won by players such as Tom Kite, John Daly (1994 w/ a bald head), Larry Nelson, (Who lives on #18 fway), Corey Pavin, etc...; it last hosted the event in 1997 won by Paul Stankowski. It was in the Top 100 for many years in Golf Digest and reappeared briefly after the Riley redo; it is currently ranked 5th in the state of GA by Golf Digest the 4 ahead of it are in the top 100.



#1 Tee


#2 Tee Box
Par 5 approx 575 from Tips
A fun par 5 that ask you to attempt to cut the corner and possibly have a go in 2; if you hit your second shot poorly you can end up in an ackward bunker around 60yds out....


#2 Approach


#3 Tee
Drop Shot par 3 with the yardarge around 190 from the back tees and plays around 170; a very subtle green that slopes from right to left.

[Kenny Baer]

#4 Tee (Par 4) Approx 425 from the tips
One of the 2 or 3 toughest holes on the course; this is a tee shot with the smallest margin of error, OB right and Water left the preferred tee ball is a draw off of the right fway bunker.


#4 Approach
A pretty undulating green sloping back to front and towards the water left


#5 Tee (Par 4)
One of my favorite holes on the course from the traditional mens tee; hit is over the 2 bunkers on the right and have a 100 yds in.


#5 Approach


#6 Tee (par 3)
A green that sits in a natural spot playing around 200 from the back tees and 10 from the men's tees

[Chris Cupit]

Kenny,

Thanks for the pics.  ACC is a ton of fun to play and Mark Esoda keeps the course in phenomenal condition.  It is hard to tell from the pics but several years ago (maybe 7-8) Michael Riley began working with the club as their architect and they have made a bunch of great improvements.  Mike re-did all the greens and took some pretty weird/sharp contours out and created some really interesting greens.  #9 green for example went from an unputtable, chopped up and tiered "thing" to a 100% improved hole with a green that blends so much better into the natural ampitheater.

I think he'd admit they are more traditonal greens than what he has done since then but his re-do of the greens, bunkers and addition of new tees has really pumped life back into the course.  And, again, Mark Esdoa keeps the course absolutely pristine.  I never hesiatate to jump at the opportunity to play ACC

[Kenny Baer]

#7 Tee
A fun short par 4 that allows you to hit any number of clubs from the tee; the green is severely sloped from back to front and around 35 yds deep, it is imperative you are in the correct section


#7 Approach


#8 Tee
Up hill tee shot that if you are playing the correct tees the best tee ball is over the bunker on the Right


#8 Approach/2nd Shot
If you go you must be able to clear the bunker short or you will have a difficult 3rd; the best angle for approach depends on the pin location; if it is left then from the right is best.

[Kenny Baer]

#9 Tee
Another difficult hole if you do not hit the correct tee shot; a draw around or over the bunker right; the difference in yardage can be extreme if you are not able to your tee ball in the correct spot.

[Mac Plumart]

Kenny...

If you've got some good shots of those greens, please post them.  They are, arguably, the best greens in the state of Georgia.  Perfection!!

[Jim Eder]

Thank you for posting this as I have always wanted to see more of the course after being enamoured with it from television those years ago. I can't wait to see the back nice.  Thanks!!!

[Kenny Baer]

#10 Fway Par 4 playing as one of the toughest holes on the course


#10 Looking back up fway


#11 Tee Par 5 Reachable with an excellent drive but now plays 585 from the new back tee.


#11 Fway Approach


#12 Tee Blind tee shot aim at the two trees on the right (Dog leg left)


#12 Fway

[Kenny Baer]

#12 Green (Tough to show countour but did my best)


#13 Tee Par 3 that has to be one of the most beautiful spots in the state; in the winter you can see the old mill which printed money during the civil war


#14 Fway looking back at #14 tee (Great short par four where position off of the tee is huge; anything left you will have an ackward lie with the ball above your feet)


#14 Approach


#15 Tee (Great hole probably the toughest on the course; very natural golf hole that looks like it could be in Philly)

[Kenny Baer]

#15 Fway


#15 Approach from Closer


#16 Tee Par 3 (Toughest par 3 on the course; plays longer than it is with a tough back to front sloping green)


#17 Tee (I really like this tee shot, par 4 that if you can turn it over just a hair you will find a speed slot and be left with under 130; lay back and you may have a partially blind approach)


#17 Approach


#18 Tee (This hole was listed as one of the 500 best holes in America by some book; great risk reward par 5 playing only 505 from the tips, if a tournament was held here now it would almost certainly be a par 4


#18 Approach

[Kenny Baer]

#18 Approach Up Close


#18 Fway Looking at Club House

[Pat Burke]

Thanks for posting these pictures!  ACC was one of my favorite courses my first year on tour.
It was also one of the caddy killer courses .  That hill up #9 induced a lot of whining!
The elevation changes on ACC were incredible.
Lots of variety off the tees, and on approaches, I was really sad when they moved to the TPC, I loved this course

[Wade Schueneman]

Kenny...

If you've got some good shots of those greens, please post them.  They are, arguably, the best greens in the state of Georgia.  Perfection!!

Mac, I suspect that a certain club in Augusta might not be prepared to concede that point

[Adrian_Stiff]

Great pictures, which copied who ANGC or ACC? theres a couple of great ringers in there. ACC seems to have a lot of great looking holes.

[jonathan_becker]

Great pictures, which copied who ANGC or ACC? theres a couple of great ringers in there. ACC seems to have a lot of great looking holes.

I had to do a double take on the photo of #6.  I thought it was a mistake at first.

Thanks for the tour Kenny. 

[Eric Smith]

Looks really fun, when are we going?

[Kenny Baer]

Thanks for the comments; I obviously love ACC, IMHO there is not a bad hole out there; I have been playing it for 20+yrs and have yet to tire of it.

For those not familar with the history it was built in 1964 and designed by Willard Byrd with some slight modifications done over the years by RTJ and Jack Nicklaus, we rebuilt our greens in 2001 with the help of Mike Riley and w/o question he did a great job.
Atlanta Country Club was host to the first ever players championship won by Jack Nicklaus.  It also hosted the Atlanta Classic for 20+ years won by players such as Tom Kite, John Daly, Larry Nelson, (Who lives on #18 fway), Corey Pavin, etc...; it last hosted the event in 1997 won by Paul Stankowski. It was in the Top 100 for many years in Golf Digest and reappeared briefly after the Riley redo; it is currently ranked 5th in the state of GA by Golf Digest the 4 ahead of it are in the top 100.

Pat when it hosted the tour event I think I remember an article that stated ACC and Augusta were the 2 most difficult walks on tour.  Coming up the hill on 9 is no easy task.

PS-Feel free to offer criticsm as I can take it and am interested in others opinions; also anybody who contacts me has an open invite and can see it in person, just send me a PM.

Mark Esoda our Super does an incredible job; he was just inducted into the GA Hall of Fame.

[Kenny Baer]

Great pictures, which copied who ANGC or ACC? theres a couple of great ringers in there. ACC seems to have a lot of great looking holes.

I had to do a double take on the photo of #6.  I thought it was a mistake at first.

Thanks for the tour Kenny. 

That is funny you say that because I haven't really thought about it that much; it really does in that picture.  The difference is that our green is angled away from the golfer much more severely than ANGC #12 and it also quite a bit deeper, from the back tee it is 212 yds as to where ANGC I think is around 150.

[Bruce Wellmon]

Funny what I think I remember from TV years ago on the past Tour events.
But 13 looks very familiar. 

[Bill_McBride]

This is where Pensacola's Jerry Pate won the U. S. Open in 1976, right?  He stuck a 5 iron from 190 to tap in range on #18 to win.

 

[David Camponi]

Nope that was Atlanta Athletic Club

[Kenny Baer]

Bill, that was Atlanta Athletic Club which is a par 5 for the members that plays as a 4 in the tournaments.

Atl CC 18 has history of it's own and IMO is a far superior hole, if you search in the archives there was once a good discussion comparing the 2.

Many an Atlanta Classic came down to the 18th and produced a lot of drama. The one that sticks in my memory the most was when Brian Henninger made Eagle on 18 and forced John Daly to make birdie which he did.

[Kenny Baer]

Looks really fun, when are we going?

U tell me; name the time.

[Eric Smith]

Thanks Kenny! I'll be in touch soon. 

Also, congrats on the win a couple of weeks ago...

[Gary Daughters]

"For those not familar with the history it was built in 1964 and designed by Willard Byrd with some slight modifications done over the years by RTJ and Jack Nicklaus, we rebuilt our greens in 2001 with the help of Mike Riley and w/o question he did a great job."

Several years back a man who had a hand in constructing the original course insisted to me that Joe Finger had a bigger role in creating ACC than actually Willard Byrd did.  This surprised me, but the man who related the story is a GCA and offered some fairly vivid detail.  He said another GCA who played a substantial role at ACC was the late Arthur Davis, who then was just getting going and went on to design some fine courses in Georgia, including Stonebridge in Rome and Royal Lakes, which is featured in the "In My Opinion" section.   

I have some very fond memories of ACC and the old Atlanta Golf Classic.  Arnie, Jack, Trevino.. they all showed up.  Once saw Bear Bryant and Joe Namath play in the pro-Am.  Great stuff.