Northside Atlanta Folks

driveandputtmachine · January 16, 2018

I have posted on this forum numerous times looking for information and joining the "correct" private club for myself. I have to thank all of the members here for putting up with numerous posts and not destroying me in flames. I played/joined or looked at the following.......

I will start off by saying....A. I do not care about or want much to do with my club's pool. I drink beer by the pool, and I have one in my neighborhood I can walk to and not worry about having a beer too many.

B. I already have a neighborhood Tennis group I play with, and again it is walking distance from my house. I am not a huge Tennis buff and I am not joining ALTA or anything similar.

These two things add nothing for me as far as the "country club" experience.

I was a member of Alpharetta Athletic Club which then became Crooked Creek and Milton Country Club. I went through their bankruptcy and left. The course (Crooked Creek) was nice and had a good layout. The greens in the summer ran into issues and had a fungus and I just never felt truly at home there. It was a bit farther away from my home than I liked, however the original 9 at Milton was great for walking in the afternoons.

I played and went to a few events at Atlanta National. While I loved most of the course and conditions many of the members I met were total douchebags. Even some of the staff were a bit pretentious, which is not at all what I am looking for. The course I grew up on my father complained about this there for years. It was close to his office, and I was playing all the time so he kept his membership, but there were numerous people that he despised at the club that thought they were better than everyone else. Those same guys hated it when I beat them in the club championship every year, so much so that they created a rule that only the primary male member could play in the Men's Championship. They made a junior one, but I was already 18 and no longer

Settindown....Gorgeous course, good practice facilities, but the dues and initiation were a bit higher than I expected. A couple of members I spoke to when I said I was interested in joining only Settindown and not the entire club actually walked away from me. Now every club has a few of those type of people and some of the other members I met there were very nice. Range and practice facilities were top notch. This was the leader for quite a bit of time. Settindown was a close second to my final choice. Very close to my house.

Roswell Country Club was full of great members, and had a club that stayed in fantastic shape. The range blows, and the course has quite a few very quirky holes. They are charging monthly dues just short of the dues at Cherokee Town Club. $645 was the last number I received from them and that is a complete joke for what I want out of a club. Not trying to be mean to any members, but I want a big golf course with some distance and a good practice facility where I can hit all of my clubs, for many this may be your nirvana, but not what I was looking for.

Brookfield....One of the Closest courses to me. Rather expensive for what you get. Old school layout, always in great shape(based on the 3 or 4 times I have been out there). Clubhouse isn't over the top and relatively nice. Range and practice facilities are not up to snuff for what I wanted.

Manor and White Columns were both more than I wanted to spend. The courses were good, but the Manor is a good bit farther than I wanted to drive. ATL NATL was on the border of distance, and White columns was closer than the Manor but the cost was not what I wanted. Settindown and ATL National were both better choices for me. One of my best friends is a member of the ATL NATL, Manor, and WC memberships with Clubcorp and he really wanted me to join one of them. After the distance I drove to Crooked Creek, I wanted to be closer.

Echelon the MGA was great and the course is always fantastic. The drawback was the fact that they weren't even halfway full to be able to become private and afternoon quick rounds are out of the question. Plus walking there is difficult(Back 9 is the main issue)

Woodmont has been trying to go private for 2 years now and still has not gotten enough members. Their greens have issues in the summer being bent and not having PDC or Peachtree money to keep them in great shape. Shoot even Cherokee Town Club changed both 18's to Bermuda.

Pinetree. I have just finished signing up and am officially a member. I got a course with the greens that are as good or better than Cherokee or even East Lake, a layout with a huge variety and decent length(7100 from the tips) and only one quirky hole. A great group of members that I have met so far, with no pretentious DBags in membership or working there. The clubhouse is not the biggest and it is not the nicest. Don't get me wrong there are TV's galore, nice seating, locker room is awesome, but it is not as fancy as say.....The Manor's clubhouse, or Cherokee Town. The monthly dues are affordable, and they have piles of different levels. From a single to a 2 people to unlimited family, there is a level for everyone. The range isn't as good as say Cherokee or ATL National, but it is long enough for me to hit a driver, and relatively level. The Srixon Tour Rep is a member there and their range balls are always in great shape. Never been a huge fan of Srixon/Cleveland (other than their wedges) but seeing a tour trailer at your club and the ability to be fit by him if you want is pretty cool. They MGA has a pile of events throughout the year and the General Manager there is the best of any club I have spoken to.

So in short, all of the clubs have their perks and reason to join. Taking someone's word for it on here will never get you what you want. You need to go and spend a day on site and try and make it to a members event for dinner and play in a group on the weekend, whether it's the ladies group or the men's group.

jpthreesticks · January 16, 2018

Congrats on your decision. From seeing your previous posts, I think that is the club that probably best fit what you wanted, although, I think you have two quirky holes out there! You are correct in the greens out there, they are pretty darn good and can get about as quick as anywhere I've seen. The price point of their dues/membership is tough to beat for the quality that you receive on the golf course, which is what it sounds like you want rather than everything else. Hope you enjoy it.

driveandputtmachine · January 16, 2018

Congrats on your decision. From seeing your previous posts, I think that is the club that probably best fit what you wanted, although, I think you have two quirky holes out there! You are correct in the greens out there, they are pretty darn good and can get about as quick as anywhere I've seen. The price point of their dues/membership is tough to beat for the quality that you receive on the golf course, which is what it sounds like you want rather than everything else. Hope you enjoy it.

The quirky hole to me is number 9. Which two did you feel were quirky?

jpthreesticks · January 17, 2018

Congrats on your decision. From seeing your previous posts, I think that is the club that probably best fit what you wanted, although, I think you have two quirky holes out there! You are correct in the greens out there, they are pretty darn good and can get about as quick as anywhere I've seen. The price point of their dues/membership is tough to beat for the quality that you receive on the golf course, which is what it sounds like you want rather than everything else. Hope you enjoy it.

The quirky hole to me is number 9. Which two did you feel were quirky?

9 and 11. On 11, if you don't get your drive out there far enough to give the green a go in two, you are pretty much laying up with a wedge (or less) to put your third shot in at 150 from the top of the hill. Anything down in the bottom is hitting off of some of the thinnest grass around even when the course is in perfect shape and it's an extreme uphill shot. I think that hole would make a really good par 4 though. Just as a par 5, it's kind of a goofy three shot hole. And OB is pretty tight around the green, especially on the right side there. I think if you shortened it up to a 450 yard par 4, it would be tons better. But that's just my opinion.

driveandputtmachine · January 17, 2018

Congrats on your decision. From seeing your previous posts, I think that is the club that probably best fit what you wanted, although, I think you have two quirky holes out there! You are correct in the greens out there, they are pretty darn good and can get about as quick as anywhere I've seen. The price point of their dues/membership is tough to beat for the quality that you receive on the golf course, which is what it sounds like you want rather than everything else. Hope you enjoy it.

The quirky hole to me is number 9. Which two did you feel were quirky?

9 and 11. On 11, if you don't get your drive out there far enough to give the green a go in two, you are pretty much laying up with a wedge (or less) to put your third shot in at 150 from the top of the hill. Anything down in the bottom is hitting off of some of the thinnest grass around even when the course is in perfect shape and it's an extreme uphill shot. I think that hole would make a really good par 4 though. Just as a par 5, it's kind of a goofy three shot hole. And OB is pretty tight around the green, especially on the right side there. I think if you shortened it up to a 450 yard par 4, it would be tons better. But that's just my opinion.

I give 11 a pass. It is only 518 from the tips, and 493 from the blues. At that short of a length, it needs some defense. You shouldn't be able to hit a bad drive and still have an easy time of it. However you are correct, if you get down to the bottom of that area it is really uphill to that green. I have seen this at a few other courses too. The Manor has a par 5 very similar.

If 11 was 580 or even 540ish from the tips I would agree with you.