Post by Richie3Jack on Jun 17, 2011 15:45:23 GMT -5
I know when I did a bunch of reviews for the Canongate courses in Atlanta, there were some readers who wanted to find out more. Essentially, when I lived in Atlanta, I was a member of Canongate...which is a corporation that owns 25 courses around Atlanta and you become a member at each course. Most of these courses are former destressed properties as when I moved to Atlanta in 2000, the city was filled with these rich, upstart private clubs that were unaffordable, but designed by people like Fred Couples, DL III, Arnie, etc. Those courses were going belly up and Canongate bought them out and made an affordable membership for them.
Anyway, Canongate has re-done their Web site and it's pretty impressive and you can get all of the scorecards and other information at www.canongategolf.com.
As far as getting overviews of the hole, they have decent illustrations at www.canongategolf.com/Play-Golf/Play-it-Like-the-Pros-873.html
I'll give a rating for each course with a grade of 'C' being average and I generally grade tough.
Bentwater (B-) very tough course, almost every hole is uphill or just very long. Was in fantastic condition every time I played it. #10 is a gem. Typical, solid Ga. golf course...about 15 good-to-solid golf holes and then 2-3 clunkers.
Cateechee (A-). Fantastic conditioning and really an excellent course all around. And, no houses on the course. Has a couple of screwy holes like #10 which ain't awful, but its almost ridiculously hard for the average player. If you want to just relax and get away from it all, take a vacation there because there's nothing in Hartwell, GA.
Chapel Hills (D+) - short course and not very difficult. Some screwy holes, but some really good holes. Greens in fantastic condition. Screwiest driving range setup, ever. PLay is ridiculously slow. On a good day (good condition, quick pace of play) it's a C+.
Eagle Watch (B). When it's in good condition it's an A or so with only the practice area and the cart paths preventing it from being an A+. Awesome, fun course to play. I don't think I ever played a round there that took more than 4 hours and that's including weekend play. Course condition struggles because of the trees. Blast to play though.
Georgia National (C) Very tough and the typical 14-15 good to great holes and about 3-4 atrocious ones. I recall liking the back 9 for the most part. Condition is unpredictable.
Hamilton Mill (C+) Generally a fun time to be had, although the 18th hole is hideous and a simple fix would solve that, but they won't do it. I remember playing with a friend of mine on a Friday on a picture perfect day and going -4 on the front and we played in 1 hour 15 minutes. Then they let a 2-some and a single out in front of us on the back 9 and they took 45 minutes to play the first 2 holes and I went par-double. Play can be deathly slow, but generally a fun time to be had outside of #5 and #18.
Healy Point (C) I actually liked this course quite a bit, but the 18th hole is completely and utterly stupid.
Heron Bay (B+) good overall golf course, but no real memorable golf holes.
Mirror Lake (D) 27 holes, some good holes but too many goofy ones. At best it's in decent condition.
Olde Atlanta (D) - Extremely tough course to putt on because of the green design. Need to re-do the greens because of that and because the turf is old and they play on average 55,000 rounds a year there. Some holes are not for the feint of heart off the tee.
River Forest (B+) Great condition and generally a lot of good holes, but it gets a bit screwy on the back 9.
Smoke Rise (D-) Simply not meant for the long player, even from the back tees. Tons of issues with course conditioning. #9 is about as crazy of a hole as it gets and IMO, is a bit dangerous (goes straight up hill)
Summergrove (B+) Fun course in great condition. Awesome practice facilities. #18 is crazy, a 480 yard par-4 with a huge bunker right in front of the green. You tee off a giant cliff and the fairway slopes uphill, so you get 0 roll.
The Frog (B+) Generally a good time, but IMO, a very easy Fazio design course. Has a weird ebb and flow to it with #4 and #5 being back-to-back par-5's and really a good player can birdie #2 and then #4, 5 and 6. Not in the condition it once was, but still very good.
Traditions (C+) a bit of an underrated course because #18 is a screwy hole and then they have a screwy par-5 #4 and then have 2 good designs in #10 and #11, but they are back-to-back par-5's. But, it's generally in good shape now (it used to be in rough shape) and the greens are often only 2nd best to Cateechee. And you can usually get around there pretty quickly.
Whitewater Creek (C+) Only played there once, but the back 9 is quite good. Front 9 is a little goofy. Generally good condition except for the geese chewing up some of the greens on the front 9. Arnold Palmer design.
Windermere (D+) Kinda depends on the condition which is never predictable. It's a course that if you play it a lot you start to enjoy it more and more, but it takes awhile to get to like it because it has a lot of good individual holes, but the ebb and flow is all screwy (3 par-3's in the first 5 holes). I generally think they have some solid par-5's. Even #9 because the big tier in the middle of the green can force the issue. Back 9 has too many screwy holes. Play can be painfully slow there.
3JACK
Anyway, Canongate has re-done their Web site and it's pretty impressive and you can get all of the scorecards and other information at www.canongategolf.com.
As far as getting overviews of the hole, they have decent illustrations at www.canongategolf.com/Play-Golf/Play-it-Like-the-Pros-873.html
I'll give a rating for each course with a grade of 'C' being average and I generally grade tough.
Bentwater (B-) very tough course, almost every hole is uphill or just very long. Was in fantastic condition every time I played it. #10 is a gem. Typical, solid Ga. golf course...about 15 good-to-solid golf holes and then 2-3 clunkers.
Cateechee (A-). Fantastic conditioning and really an excellent course all around. And, no houses on the course. Has a couple of screwy holes like #10 which ain't awful, but its almost ridiculously hard for the average player. If you want to just relax and get away from it all, take a vacation there because there's nothing in Hartwell, GA.
Chapel Hills (D+) - short course and not very difficult. Some screwy holes, but some really good holes. Greens in fantastic condition. Screwiest driving range setup, ever. PLay is ridiculously slow. On a good day (good condition, quick pace of play) it's a C+.
Eagle Watch (B). When it's in good condition it's an A or so with only the practice area and the cart paths preventing it from being an A+. Awesome, fun course to play. I don't think I ever played a round there that took more than 4 hours and that's including weekend play. Course condition struggles because of the trees. Blast to play though.
Georgia National (C) Very tough and the typical 14-15 good to great holes and about 3-4 atrocious ones. I recall liking the back 9 for the most part. Condition is unpredictable.
Hamilton Mill (C+) Generally a fun time to be had, although the 18th hole is hideous and a simple fix would solve that, but they won't do it. I remember playing with a friend of mine on a Friday on a picture perfect day and going -4 on the front and we played in 1 hour 15 minutes. Then they let a 2-some and a single out in front of us on the back 9 and they took 45 minutes to play the first 2 holes and I went par-double. Play can be deathly slow, but generally a fun time to be had outside of #5 and #18.
Healy Point (C) I actually liked this course quite a bit, but the 18th hole is completely and utterly stupid.
Heron Bay (B+) good overall golf course, but no real memorable golf holes.
Mirror Lake (D) 27 holes, some good holes but too many goofy ones. At best it's in decent condition.
Olde Atlanta (D) - Extremely tough course to putt on because of the green design. Need to re-do the greens because of that and because the turf is old and they play on average 55,000 rounds a year there. Some holes are not for the feint of heart off the tee.
River Forest (B+) Great condition and generally a lot of good holes, but it gets a bit screwy on the back 9.
Smoke Rise (D-) Simply not meant for the long player, even from the back tees. Tons of issues with course conditioning. #9 is about as crazy of a hole as it gets and IMO, is a bit dangerous (goes straight up hill)
Summergrove (B+) Fun course in great condition. Awesome practice facilities. #18 is crazy, a 480 yard par-4 with a huge bunker right in front of the green. You tee off a giant cliff and the fairway slopes uphill, so you get 0 roll.
The Frog (B+) Generally a good time, but IMO, a very easy Fazio design course. Has a weird ebb and flow to it with #4 and #5 being back-to-back par-5's and really a good player can birdie #2 and then #4, 5 and 6. Not in the condition it once was, but still very good.
Traditions (C+) a bit of an underrated course because #18 is a screwy hole and then they have a screwy par-5 #4 and then have 2 good designs in #10 and #11, but they are back-to-back par-5's. But, it's generally in good shape now (it used to be in rough shape) and the greens are often only 2nd best to Cateechee. And you can usually get around there pretty quickly.
Whitewater Creek (C+) Only played there once, but the back 9 is quite good. Front 9 is a little goofy. Generally good condition except for the geese chewing up some of the greens on the front 9. Arnold Palmer design.
Windermere (D+) Kinda depends on the condition which is never predictable. It's a course that if you play it a lot you start to enjoy it more and more, but it takes awhile to get to like it because it has a lot of good individual holes, but the ebb and flow is all screwy (3 par-3's in the first 5 holes). I generally think they have some solid par-5's. Even #9 because the big tier in the middle of the green can force the issue. Back 9 has too many screwy holes. Play can be painfully slow there.
3JACK