East Lake Golf Club

Beauty!

Great day on the course. Bags and shoes were taken care of. Items bought at the shop were put in our lockers. And of course the course was great. They’re currently putting in some drainage and other things to get ready for the FedEx Cup, but the greens were awesome.

I’ve never played East Lake and likely never will. This review is based on being a spectator at the PGA Tour Championship, the culminating event in the FedEx playoffs.
East Lake is a beautiful, almost immaculate golf course. Maybe it isn’t always that way, only showing its best colors when the PGA tour comes to town, but I suspect it is the rest of the year, too. The layout, the greens, the fairways — all great. Walking the course would be a quite a nice way to spend a few hours even if there weren’t all those professionals smacking golf balls around you.
The other aspect to comment on is how the club handles the championship event, with all the people, the concessions, the security, the viewing stands and managing the spectator experience. Here, I can compare East Lake to a few other events I’ve attended, such as the French Open tennis tournament. East Lake Golf Club excels in this respect, too. Watching and following the play is easy and enjoyable. There are plenty of concessions and facilities around the course so you don’t have to leave the action long to get what you need.
Decent food and drink. Fox Bros BBQ and Goose Island IPA were my choices.
If you like to watch golf even a little bit, go to the 2016 PGA Tour Championship at East Lake.

East Lake is the permanent home of the PGA Tour Championship. Located in Atlanta with spectacular views of the downtown skyline, It is the home course to the legendary Bobby Jones and the oldest course in Atlanta. Historic yes, but also philanthropic. Proceeds from the operation support the East Lake Foundation.
The purchase of the club and course reconstruction was led Atlanta businessman and avid golfer Tom Cousins which explains why it is truly a «golf club» and sincere to the game being a caddie required walking course. The vision was for the club to be a catalyst for change and spearhead neighborhood transformation.
As a pure golf club playing here is not only challenging but engenders a more gentile experience of privileged gentlemen golfers and is a first class operation.
A par 72 6,469 yard course from the blue markers with gentle elevations, doglegs and well placed sand traps it plays ell for the more experienced golfer as and offers particular challenges for the weekender like myself.

One of the finest private golf courses in the country to play. Home to Bobby Jones and the original site for The Atlanta Athletic Club.

If you like great conditions, impeccable service, a club steeped in history, and a challenging but fair golf course, then this is your place. If you don’t like those things, you have issues my friend.
Played thirty six here the other day. Love the course. Love the clubhouse. Really enjoyed every minute of it. Kyle was one of the best caddies I have ever had. The course reminds me of some of the other great golf venues I have played (think Kinloch and Pine Valley having offspring). Couldn’t have been happier. I won’t offer up any tips on how to play the course because, really, when are you going to play here?
And when my buddy and I got done and asked for a cab back downtown… they called us a limo for the same price. Just old-​school classy done the right way. And by that I mean their goals of improving the community and spreading golf to all. And, yes, you can skip a ball across the water on nine and still make par.
Outstanding.

I write this review as a spectator only for East Lake Golf Club. I have never played here, though I have attended two Tour Championships. I think East Lake is a fine venue for the Tour Championship and I hope the club remains the tournament’s home for many years to come. The Tour Championship has been held at East Lake every year since 2004.
East Lake is a par 70 course that stretches over 7,300 yards (tournament setup). It’s a Donald Ross-​designed course and is unique in that it uses Bermuda grass for its rough and greens, but Zoysia grass for its fairways.
The course is rather compact compared to other PGA Tour courses, IMO, making it easier to walk and get to multiple holes quickly as a spectator. This is especially true on the back nine where many of the holes just go back and forth with one another. This allows you to cross over several fairways in no time so you can walk from hole 10 to hole 15 in a matter of a few minutes.
The course is not very hilly nor woodsy, though there are several fairway undulations. The course is packed rather tightly within the grounds of East Lake Golf Club. Some tee boxes (e.g. 12, 14, 16, 17) are right up next to the fence, which is right next to the street. Strategically placed trees conceal most of the «outside» world, though.
Every time I’ve been to East Lake, the course has been in immaculate and pristine condition. Then again, just about every course on the PGA Tour’s rotation is.
The front and back nines are separated by a large lake, which comes into play on several holes, such as the famous par 3 6^th and the finishing par 3 18^th. East Lake’s finishing hole is one of the rare par 3 finishing holes on Tour.
The club also has a bit of interesting history behind it. It was the home club of legendary golfer and Georgia Tech grad Bobby Jones. The course originally belonged to the Atlanta Athletic Club, directed by Georgia Tech football coach John Heisman (whom the Heisman Trophy is named after). When AAC moved to Johns Creek, East Lake Golf Club was formed.
The course is also neat in that it’s within Atlanta city limits, just 5 miles east of downtown. On certain holes of the course, you can see the downtown Atlanta skyline. East Lake is Atlanta’s oldest golf course. It’s plopped down in a sketchy, developing neighborhood, of which the East Lake Foundation is trying to redevelop and revitalize.

This is just a unique experience. I had the pleasure of playing here courtesy of work and this place is wonderful. There is a ton of history in the clubhouse and the course was in great shape. Playing golf with a caddie carrying your clubs is something everyone should try. There are no cart paths and deep bunkers, but the caddies are there to give great advice.
I want to go see the Tour Championship played here now.

On #16, the wind is always blowing harder than you think from left to right up by the green, or maybe it’s just what I think, as I always end up in that greenside bunker. No matter what. Always. That wind, it tricks me. Or maybe it’s because of the fairway slope. Or maybe there’s a golf ball magnet hidden in that bunker…

Disclaimer: I am not a golfer. I took a few lessons but just couldn’t get past the idea of wearing bermuda shorts and was angered by the fact that they no longer make saddle shoe-​style women’s golf shoes.
However, my dad and my brother are golfers. And they loooooooooove East Lake. So much so that it was here that we took my dad (or, rather, since he’s a member, he took himself) for Father’s Day brunch. The clubhouse area is lovely: a complete shrine to Bobby Jones and every facet of his life. It’s all very old and traditional: this isn’t a place to go for those looking for something flashy and in-​your-​face impressive. But for someone who loves golf, especially the history of golf, East Lake is like a museum.
The food was pretty solid but seemed to be pretty typical country club fare. My parents have hosted events here and have always been very pleased so I would definitely recommend it for that, especially if you’ve got nice weather and can spend time appreciating the true beauty of this place. Which lies, understandably, on the course itself.

How do you do a review of Heaven on earth? I speak of course from a golfers perspective. I have had the opportunity to play on some pretty outstanding Southern California gold courses as well as a world class golf resort in Miami and one in Orlando. In California I have played Torrey Pines, Pelican Hills, Trump National, Emerald Bay, PGA West and many other fine courses. In Arizona I have played TPC Scottsdale, In Nevada, Primm, In Florida, Doral and private country clubs in California, Arizona and Georgia and Kentucky. I have also played a gorgeous resort course in Cabo San Lucas. Why do I mention all this? Not to brag, but to make it clear to the reader that I have played some extremely nice courses over the years which will make this review all the more impressive.
In spite of these world class courses, East Lake is head and shoulders above them all. This is the home of the famed Bobby Jones. It is here where he got his start and here where he ended his fabled career. This course is so amazing, the PGA tour has decided to make it the permanent home of the now famous year end Tour Championship. If the PGA ever decided to call for a 5^th «major», this would likely be it. The winners purse for this years tour championship was $ 11.5 million, including the year end prize of $ 10 million for the Fed Ex cup. To play at such a storied course was just phenomenal.
The fairways were in top shape. Every blade of grass perfectly cut. It felt like I was walking on tight carpet. The greens were hard, fast and very true. The best greens I have ever putted without a doubt. Add to that the fact that there are no carts allowed. It is an all caddie environment. I have never golfed with a caddie, so it was quite a treat. These caddies were very knowledgeable, so that made it easy. Well, not easy, but easy decision making. It was an awesome experience to say the least. Almost spiritual! If you are not a golfer, then you will never understand, so don’t sweat it. If you are a golfer, then you know exactly what i am talking about. This was an experience I will treasure forever.