The Georgia Club (Semi-Private)

1050 Chancellors Drive, Statham
770-725-8100; www.thegeorgiaclub.com

STAFF: Mike O’Malley is the PGA Golf Professional; Dennis Echols is the Superintendent.

PAR/YARDAGE: The Georgia Club is a 27-hole layout with the Red and Black nines playing to a par of 36 and the Silver nine a par 35. Each nine has four sets of tees. Yardages are: Red – 3,598 yards (Black tees); 3,297 (Silver); 3,075 (White); 2,585 (Red). Black – 3,865 (Black); 3,372 (Silver); 3,174 (White); 2,567 (Red). Silver – 3,428 (Black); 3,194 (Silver); 2,964 (White); 2,403 (Red).

COURSE RATING/SLOPE: The average for the three combinations (Red/Black, Red/Silver. Black/Silver) are: 73.4/131 (Black); 71.6/128 (Silver); 69.4/124 (White); 69.4/114 (Red).

ABOUT THE COURSE: Since it opened in 2001, the outstanding Denis Griffiths-designed layout has taken its place among the state’s top daily fee layouts, with nine holes added in 2006. Griffiths incorporated the new holes into one of the two existing nines, with the original back nine (Silver) remaining intact. The new holes, which are part of the Red and Black nines, gave the course some added length, with the nine new holes a hefty 3,775 yards from the tips and 3,450 from the next set of tees. The new holes work well with the originals, with the overall design among the best on Griffiths’ growing list of Georgia courses (St. Marlo, Brasstown Valley, Chateau Elan, Chestatee, RiverPines, Georgia National, Chicopee Woods, Crystal Lake among them). Seven holes on the Silver nine are originals, with the new fifth hole recently being renovated with the removal of some trees and addition of several fairway bunkers.

Most of the new holes are part of the Black nine, which also includes the 8th and 9th from the original Red nine. For the most part, the course is very generous off the tee, but with a sizeable number of dogleg holes, positioning is vital to keep some of the longer holes from playing even longer than they are. Water is in play on a modest number of holes, among them a pair of par 3s on the Black nine that play in opposite directions around a pond. For the most part, the bunkers are more of a factor than the water, producing some decisions from the tee and on lay-up shots, as well as requiring precision to reach some pin positions on the typically large, moderately undulating greens. As usual, Griffiths’ layout includes a diverse mix of some holes, with several very strong par 4s, an interesting group of par 3s and enough scoring opportunities to offset the more daunting challenges. Conditions are consistently first rate, and the location just off Georgia 316 makes it easily accessible to metro Atlanta as well as Athens.