Ansley Golf Club at Settindown Creek (Private)

5500 Settindown Drive, Roswell
770-6404625; www.ansleygolfclub.org

STAFF: Phil Taylor is the Director of Golf; Randy Brooks is the Golf Professional

PAR/YARDAGE: Settindown Creek is a par 72 with five sets of tees: Gold (7,119 yards); Silver (6,601); Blue (6,160); White (5,802); and Red (4,964).

COURSE RATING/SLOPE: 74.8/146 (Gold); 72.4/141 (Silver); 72.4/141 (Blue); 68.8/130 (White); 70.8/127 (Red).

ABOUT THE COURSE: One of Georgia’s most respected and demanding layouts, Settindown Creek will give the state’s top amateurs all the challenge they want this month in the GSGA Championship. Designed by renowned Atlanta-based architect Bob Cupp in the mid-1980s, the course has thrived since it was acquired by Ansley Golf Club in 1999. Settindown Creek has hosted many high profile events, including the Nike Tour Championship, Georgia Open, U.S. Open sectional qualifiers and the 2005 U.S. Women’s Amateur. Cupp’s ingenious layout will test every element of your game, with the hefty Course Rating and Slope numbers more a result of the amount of trouble in play as opposed to length. Settindown Creek is not an especially long course, with no monster par 4s and just one par 3 over 200 yards. With a few exceptions Cupp’s design is not overly narrow off the tee, but there are severe penalties on a number of holes if you stray off the fairway. Settindown Creek requires some thought and precision to handle, and the Georgia Amateur participants will have both their mental and physical games fully examined. Water hazards border the quick and sloping putting surfaces on about half the holes, with some potentially unpleasant bunkers also making things difficult.

Cupp mixes up things nicely, offering scoring opportunities along with the possibility for disaster, frequently on the same hole. Some of the best examples of that approach are found early in the round. The short, tight, par-4 2nd has trouble off both sides of the fairway and a tiny green guarded by water off one edge and a penal bunker on the other. The 4th is an easily-reachable par-5 for longer hitters, but water lines the left side of the fairway all the way to the green, causing some concern for those hitting a long iron or fairway metal. Both nines begin with long par 5s that share a green, a water hazard and design style, and make opening birdies very difficult to come by. You will rarely find a more diverse group of par 3s, varying from long to short and watery to sandy, with the under-140-yard 7th a superb example of how perplexing a hole of that length without water can be. Simply a great golf course.