Post by Richie3Jack on May 28, 2010 12:24:52 GMT -5
Heron Bay is one of Canongate’s strongest courses and was host to the 2009 Atlanta Open. It’s a Jeff Burton design that plays 7,300 yards with a 143 slope from the back tees. All around it may be Canongate’s best course with a great practice facility, terrific clubhouse and excellent golf course.
The course is in great condition from tee to green and the greens are usually a steady 10 or 11 on the stimpmeter. From what I’ve heard, the greens were reading 14-15 on the stimpmeter in the Atlanta Open. It’s also a very long golf course, but the most I ever get into an approach shot is a 3-hybrid. There are quite a few holes that can potentially call for that club into the approach for me, but usually what happens is depending on the wind direction, half of those holes will call for a 3-hybrid and the other half will call for a 5-iron or so.
The course is also on the Cole Reservoir and holes 3 and 12 sit beautifully on the scenic reservoir. There is water that comes into play on 8 of the 18 holes.
Both sides are probably equally difficult. On the front 1, 4-6 and then #9 can be really difficult. On the backside, 12 and 13 are about as difficult of back-to-back holes you’ll ever see on a championship quality golf club. But there are some birdie opportunities like #2, #3 (if you hit a good drive), #7, #13, #14 and #18. The course is relatively flat for North Georgia, but wasn’t quite designed for walking as some of the holes have long distances to walk from the green to the next tee.
The best holes on the course are #3, #6, #12 and #14. I think all of the par-5’s are quality golf holes. The weaker holes are probably #7 and #15.
#12 is their signature hole and is an extremely difficult par-3 (see pic above). The water hugs the right edge of the green and there’s a difficult bunker and difficult lies to the left of the green. It also plays about 200-215 yards. IMO, you really need to be confident in a 1-way miss with this hole in order to feel confident about hitting the green. Otherwise you’ll bail out to the left to avoid the water on the tee shot, but the lie over to the left can cause you to dump it into the drink on the second shot.
Heron Bay is a course without any glaring flaws and is really a hidden gem of the Atlanta Metro area.
3JACK