Best courses in atlanta area

[Tipsy McHooker]

Hello fellow golfers and my southern brothers. Coming down from chicago march 18-20th looking for best courses to play. Give me insight on any hidden gems or places that have excellent or spotty conditioning. I need local knowledge to avoid overrated, or poorly conditioned crap. Possible stops: Stone Mountain, The Frog, Heron Bay, Cobblestone,Barnsley Gardens, Achasta, Heron Bay, echelon, St. Marlo, Cherokee Run, Smoke Rise, Georgia nat'l. and summergrove. Any input greatly appreciated.--Thanks in advance

[RolandofGilead]

I met my dad in Atlanta to see the Ravens in November. We narrowed it down to Smoke Rise, Stone Mountain, and The Frog; went with The Frog and loved the course. I remember being properly over from overpumped kegs at the aforementioned pregame festivities and blame the gorgeous scenery for lifting my spirits. The Frog is a nice looping layout with 8-10 really strong holes and is not overly difficult (132 slope I played felt about right). The old man and I walked the course and independently thought some holes on the front were reminiscent of Augusta with tall pines framing a few tees and greens. We also ran into a group of ~20 living turkeys. Who knew? There is a pair of back to back par fives on the front but there is a great par 3 (#8) and a very good reachable par 5 to finish the round. I think we paid around $85 apiece through golfnow.com.

[dukeman]

Barnsley Gardens and The Frog are probably the two top from this list. At that time on the calendar conditioning is probably going to be spotty anywhere you go. Barnsley is the most "upscale" of these courses, but it's also the furthest north so its conditioning could be a bit below its usual standards.

I haven't played Summergrove recently, but I remember enjoying it. It's also the furthest south, so its conditioning might be closer to mid seaason form.

These courses span a wide geographic area....probably over 100 miles from Barnsley Gardens or Achasta to Summergrove. Do you in what part of town you'll be staying?

[Tipsy McHooker]

We will be staying in locust grove. have canongate access through package. looks like heron bay and georgia national are on roster. ive heard nothing but good things about frog. on saturday we are playing 36 as part of package we have sun city at peach tree in am. They were talking a replay that im not really interested in, i.e. playing same course twice. other possibilities are River Forest, Summergrove, and Whitewater creek. Either that or we go rogue from package and book some thing on golfnow.com. close to Griffin,Georgia. Any Thoughts on that would be appreciated. Also by spotty conditions do you mean dormant grass, sloppy/wet??

[dukeman]

[quote name='Tipsy McHooker' timestamp='1299004889' post='3016207']
We will be staying in locust grove. have canongate access through package. looks like heron bay and georgia national are on roster. ive heard nothing but good things about frog. on saturday we are playing 36 as part of package we have sun city at peach tree in am. They were talking a replay that im not really interested in, i.e. playing same course twice. other possibilities are River Forest, Summergrove, and Whitewater creek. Either that or we go rogue from package and book some thing on golfnow.com. close to Griffin,Georgia. Any Thoughts on that would be appreciated. Also by spotty conditions do you mean dormant grass, sloppy/wet??
[/quote]

Late March around Atlanta will not look like Augusta in early April.....definitely still a transition time of year.

Your best bet might be to stay on south side and play the most expensive courses on golfnow.com. They will probably have the best conditions.

[dukeman]

Another thought....try The Brickyard golf club on the north side of Macon. It's a very nice semi-private facility. You're much closer to it than you are to some of the courses you mentioned on the north side of town.

[url="http://brickyardgolf.com/"]http://brickyardgolf.com/[/url]

[Tipsy McHooker]

Shouldn't most of the Private/semi-private canongate courses be in better shape than the publics? The private clubs in Chicago are way better than publics as far as maintenance. Package provider suggested Canongate Riverforest. Instead of playing Peachtree twice. As of right now: 1st day Heron bay, 2nd day Sun city/peachtree in a.m. & Riverforest in afternoon. Final day Georgia National 8 a.m., may try to play 36 Book something close to Mcdonaugh seperate from package...any ideas there?? Anything warm and playable is gonna be a nice reprieve from the blizzards(24" snow in 12 hour period) and 20 degree weather up here!

[mshills]

Heron Bay is good. Tough from the tips. If you're staying in Locust Grove also check out Crystal Lake - really good course with a three-hole stretch on the front nine that will give you all you want from the tips.

If the Canongate package you have gives you access to River Forest in Forsyth (towards Macon but not far at all from Locust Grove) definitely play that course. I used to have a Canongate membership and IMO it's the nicest of all of their courses by a huge margin. Great layout.

[Tipsy McHooker]

Thats awesome news about River Forest in forsyth. i definitely wanted to play two different courses the day we are playing 36 and river forest is now on the roster. Thanks to everybody for suggestions. Also if anyone has ideas for good BBQ places and steaks/seafood, or bars. my group is all irish guys 250-275 lbs that like to indulge in great meals and pound back some cold ones. So if there are any suggestions we'd love to hear em'