Most people in the North Georgia/metro Atlanta area are quite familiar with Chateau Elan, a popular wedding and conference destination with pleasant golf and mediocre wine. The two resort courses, Chateau and Woodlands, both designed by local architect Denis Griffiths, represent the ubiquitous style of hilly residential and development golf found throughout the region. The resort’s third course, Legends, also designed by Griffiths, is private,…
The Frog was easily one of the top two or three public venues in the greater Atlanta area until a few years ago when a large multi-club organization acquired it and put into mostly private rotation. I haven’t met too many people who enjoy driving long distances through heavy traffic to play disjointed, real…
The design at Mystery Valley, near Stone Mountain about 30 minutes east of Atlanta, is attributed to Dick Wilson but I suspect his then-associate Joe Lee is responsible for pretty much all of this course. After a struggle with his health and alcoholism, Wilson died in 1965, a year before Mystery Valley officially opened, and Lee and Robert Von Hagge…
On paper, Shark’s Tooth Golf Club has the ingredients that can combine to make a great course. Located just off the breezy Gulf of Mexico west of Panama City Beach in Florida’s Panhandle, the holes sit on sandy soil, cut through a backdrop haunted by dense hardwoods and ominous undergrowth. The course stretches over some nice, gentle…
Sod-wall bunkers with crisp upper lips. Wall to wall fairways. Sandy areas bleeding into the underbrush. Greens that bubble out like last gasps of the fairways. When this describes a course in Australia, our mouths water thinking of clubs like Commonwealth, Victoria or Metropolitan. When they describe a golf course in Naples you start thinking “gimmick.” I suppose there’s no…
Turnberry Isle in North Miami is a tale of two resorts. The first was a swinging 70’s-era “Love Boat” style romper frequented by Hollywood luminaries (according to photos — I wasn’t there) like Jack Nicholson, James Caan, Elizabeth Taylor, O.J. Simpson, Burt Reynolds and an international cadre of sheiks and princes. It was a place where personalities made the accommodations irrelevant — they were the…
Raptor Bay, near Naples, begins with an interesting idea: there will be no bunkers. That’s the most notable thing about the course — and also its biggest flaw. Even that premise isn’t completely fulfilled. In lieu of formal bunkers are large sandy beaches running alongside fairways and greens, so there’s still sand, even if you’re allowed to…
Regatta Bay is a pretty good name for a golf course, calling to mind swift vessels, salty ocean air and the sporting life. It doesn’t particularly have much to do with this course. You can almost see Choctawhatchee Bay from one of the holes but otherwise there’s no sea or sea-like qualities, and the marina where all the really big…
The Destin drive-in market isn’t known for great golf sites or great golf courses. Real estate is king here, and the only reason golf courses exist at all is to help sell homes. Even though Kelly Plantation is one of the more sophisticated planned developments in the area, that’s barely saving grace. I usually respect what architect Gene…
Of the two courses at Orange Country National, Crooked Cat has more appeal to me than Panther Lake. Both courses are built in former citrus groves west of Orlando over nice natural topography and very little tree cover. The soil is arid and sandy with no development anywhere near, and it lends a rustic, country aura to the entire establishment. Crooked…