Post by Richie3Jack on May 9, 2010 9:30:02 GMT -5
Olde Atlanta Club (OAC) is an Arthur Hills design course that is a bit shorter but much tighter than Windermere. I had never heard of Arthur Hills until I started playing OAC, but he's apparently a well known designer (http://www.arthurhills.com/courses.aspx)
OAC is another hilly North Georgia course although most of the course features a straight dowhill lie or a small sidehill lie. It took me a year of playing there to finally realize it, but the reason why OAC can be tough is that the greens are extremely hard. Lots of swales and small hills. I noticed this once I started to focus on leaving my approach shots with an uphill putt and found out that it was too hard to do at OAC because of the undulating greens.
From the back tees the course is about 6,700 yards and has something like a 73.3 index with a 139 slope. It only has 3 par-5's which also makes it a little more difficult to go low on.
The course doesn't drain well and IMO, they needed to re-do the greens since they were not growing well. But they appear to be following Windermere's method of letting the greens grow more, making for better conditioned but slower greens.
The good holes on the course are #1 (not from the back tees though), #12 and #16.
The bad holes are #2, #5, #6 and #10
The questionable holes are #9, #15, and #18
#12 is my favorite hole on the course, a 530 yard par-5 that goes steadily uphill. There are some fairway bunkers well position on the right side to punish drives off to the right. Then there's a bunch of bunkers about 30-80 yards from the green to punish those who go for it and don't hit it all. It's also a pretty hole, particularly as the sun starts to set.
#2 and #10 kind of typify my issues with OAC. #2 is 400 yards long, but is straight downhill and extremely tight with both O.B. left and O.B right. You can hit a shot that hits the left side of the fairway and watch it bounce O.B. You can also hit a driver well right down the middle and if you go too far you are in the rough with a 40 yard pitch from a tough downhill lie.
#18 is a hole people either love or hate. It's a par-5 that is about 525 yards long, but doglegs almost 90* to the right. Sometimes the ball just flies longer than normal and you can hit a good drive that goes dead straight and wind up going too long and into the water. It's a pretty finishing hole on the approach, but the drive is a bit goofy and I can see why there are people who don't like the hole.
To go low on this course I think you need to hit at least 16 greens because you only have 3 par-5's and the greens are so tough. Probably the strength of OAC is that it doesn't give an advantage to one style of golfer and the golfer who plays the best will likely shoot the lowest score.
3JACK
OAC is another hilly North Georgia course although most of the course features a straight dowhill lie or a small sidehill lie. It took me a year of playing there to finally realize it, but the reason why OAC can be tough is that the greens are extremely hard. Lots of swales and small hills. I noticed this once I started to focus on leaving my approach shots with an uphill putt and found out that it was too hard to do at OAC because of the undulating greens.
From the back tees the course is about 6,700 yards and has something like a 73.3 index with a 139 slope. It only has 3 par-5's which also makes it a little more difficult to go low on.
The course doesn't drain well and IMO, they needed to re-do the greens since they were not growing well. But they appear to be following Windermere's method of letting the greens grow more, making for better conditioned but slower greens.
The good holes on the course are #1 (not from the back tees though), #12 and #16.
The bad holes are #2, #5, #6 and #10
The questionable holes are #9, #15, and #18
#12 is my favorite hole on the course, a 530 yard par-5 that goes steadily uphill. There are some fairway bunkers well position on the right side to punish drives off to the right. Then there's a bunch of bunkers about 30-80 yards from the green to punish those who go for it and don't hit it all. It's also a pretty hole, particularly as the sun starts to set.
#2 and #10 kind of typify my issues with OAC. #2 is 400 yards long, but is straight downhill and extremely tight with both O.B. left and O.B right. You can hit a shot that hits the left side of the fairway and watch it bounce O.B. You can also hit a driver well right down the middle and if you go too far you are in the rough with a 40 yard pitch from a tough downhill lie.
#18 is a hole people either love or hate. It's a par-5 that is about 525 yards long, but doglegs almost 90* to the right. Sometimes the ball just flies longer than normal and you can hit a good drive that goes dead straight and wind up going too long and into the water. It's a pretty finishing hole on the approach, but the drive is a bit goofy and I can see why there are people who don't like the hole.
To go low on this course I think you need to hit at least 16 greens because you only have 3 par-5's and the greens are so tough. Probably the strength of OAC is that it doesn't give an advantage to one style of golfer and the golfer who plays the best will likely shoot the lowest score.
3JACK