North Atlanta golf membership

[Jimi Thing]

Hi GolfWRX members,

 

I hope you can help this Dutch guy out with the following. I'm in the final stages of migrating with my family (wife and 2 kids of 7 and 9) to the US as I'll be taking up a new job in Buckhead Atlanta. Office is right of GA400 close to Lenox Square.

 

We're in the middle of searching a place to live where schooling is good but also where we can start enjoying golf and maybe country club life. We are looking at Roswell, Johns Creek, Alpharetta, Suwannee but not necessarily limited to this. I have been browsing here for Atlanta course information. I definitely could use your experience and assistance.

 

Criteria that I'm looking at (I'm looking for the proper mix and can compromise on most of these):

1. Besides a proper golf course, tennis and swimming facilities

2. I am not looking for an overly posh and expensive place. We have some money to spent but within reason. All in all we go for the family experience rather than the ability to talk about us "being a member"

3. Practice facilities

4. How easy it is to walk the course.

5. I'm a 7 handicap and like to play some competitive golf.

 

All help would be greatly appreciated.

 

thanks

Paul

[GTgolf]

Golf courses galore in roswell, Alpharetta, johns creek, Suwannee.

 

Golf club of ga

Atlanta athletic club

Horseshoe bend

Cc of roswell

The manor

White columns

Standard club

River club

 

 

We need a budget ($) that you would like to stick with.

[Jimi Thing]

With regards to budget. Monthly fee up to 500. Ideally little to no initiation fee. Say max 5000.

 

Thanks for your help!

[Browns71213]

Here is a thread from an ATL member that just went through this process.

 

http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/1383636-not-your-normal-should-i-join-thread-in-atlanta/page__st__30__p__14228366__hl__+cobblestone#entry14228366

[hollabachgt]

It sounds like Berkeley Hills would be a good fit for you. Good quality course, often considered the best greens in the region, Easily walkable with a high quality playing membership (~60+ single digit players). Full pool and tennis facility. Dues below $500 a month.

[Jimi Thing]

Thanks for this! Berkeley Hills has made it to the short list:)

[GTgolf]

Polo - cumming

Berkeley hills - Duluth

 

Both are walkable, in your budget, and are in good shape. Berkeley has some nasty fast greens. Polo has a better layout IMO. Very similar.

 

[thejuice]

If you like the option of playing multiple courses, join Canongate/ClubCorp with your home cluster as Olde Atlanta/Windermere. Both of those locations have a great pool and tennis atmosphere and both have really good golf courses. Monthly fee well below your budget.

[Jimi Thing]

Thanks for this. I had not looked into Polo yet and that looks interesting.

 

I guess I have another decision to make, do I want to join the ClubCorp group or rather not? Me being a golf fanatic it looks really great from a golfing perspective. I get the impression though that it is less of a community feel on the club you are a member at. It being a national organization I can imagine that you'll get to see many different faces constantly. And the courses might be a lot more crowded. Not necessarily a bad thing but I can imagine that for the family a stand alone club would score higher on the social aspect of it. A smaller group of people to get acquainted with.

 

Any first hand experience and insights on this are welcome.

Thanks a lot for all the help!

[Spicoli]

If you like the option of playing multiple courses, join Canongate/ClubCorp with your home cluster as Olde Atlanta/Windermere. Both of those locations have a great pool and tennis atmosphere and both have really good golf courses. Monthly fee well below your budget.

 

They are just too busy there...all the time. I changed my home club, also club Corp, to Laurel Springs. Much happier now. I will also note the members are very active...Lots of events and dog fights.. and they take care of the course. Can't say either about Olde A/Windermere. It's all about volume.

[Matt J]

I grew up not too far from Berkeley Hills in Gwinnett County and it was a great place to raise a family.

 

This has been repeated over and over, but I will do it again....

 

You should bite the bullet and hammer out all of the logistics of your commute, where you live, where your kids go to school, and where you play before deciding on any of the three.

 

I lived in Brookhaven for several years and the 400 / 285 exchange can be some of the worst traffic in the city. Don't underestimate the power that traffic will have on your life. It's a very different life in Atlanta if you have any flexibility in your hours or if you have a banker's hours commute. Get a great real estate agent and emphasize your desire to strike a balance between schools, location, and being near a club with a very specific budget. There are a lot of options from a longer commute with above average public schools to nearly walking distance commute, expensive private schools, and very expensive private clubs. Some people would probably value public golf and no commute while others who telecommute a few days a week don't mind an hour drive to live somewhere affordable and join a club. Good luck and enjoy the city! There are worst places to land IMO.

[GTgolf]

Thanks for this. I had not looked into Polo yet and that looks interesting.

 

I guess I have another decision to make, do I want to join the ClubCorp group or rather not? Me being a golf fanatic it looks really great from a golfing perspective. I get the impression though that it is less of a community feel on the club you are a member at. It being a national organization I can imagine that you'll get to see many different faces constantly. And the courses might be a lot more crowded. Not necessarily a bad thing but I can imagine that for the family a stand alone club would score higher on the social aspect of it. A smaller group of people to get acquainted with.

 

Any first hand experience and insights on this are welcome.

Thanks a lot for all the help!

 

I can promise you this... Polo is definitely a country club feel. Great members, competitive $ games, super walkable course as it sits in a valley, and my rounds are always south of 4hrs. Usually play in 3.5 on the weekend, 2.5-3 on the weekdays.

 

Windermere and olde Atlanta suck. Windermere is super crowded and super slow.

 

Polo is running some pretty good membership deals right now. Give em a call,

[Jimi Thing]

Thanks for all the great info here. It has put me on a more focused search quest to find the right spot. I get the impression there is no such thing as the "ClubCorp" experience. Most all the clubs within their management seem to have their specifics. Some busy, some more private some more open. I think the best thing to do is to go and visit a couple of them to get a first hand feel of the club, the environment, the community.

 

Currently I am working with the dutch branch of the company I will work with in the US. In NL flexible working hours and working from home is not an issue. I kind of expect it to be similar when I work in the US branch. As a result I expect I will not have to join in on the traffic fun daily.

 

I'm not really sure what bad traffic is for US standards. To me it is quite normal (not fun) to have a commute time which is double the nominal time to get there. So 30 minute commute taking an hour. Is this what bad traffic is in the Atlanta area or....

[hollabachgt]

So 30 minute commute taking an hour. Is this what bad traffic is in the Atlanta area or....

 

On a good day yes. Most days your commute will be 3x or 4x the distance traveled.

[Matt J]

So 30 minute commute taking an hour. Is this what bad traffic is in the Atlanta area or....

 

On a good day yes. Most days your commute will be 3x or 4x the distance traveled.

 

That's what is so insidious about Atlanta traffic. On any given day an accident, convention, sporting event, cultural event or festival, etc. can change traffic patterns dramatically. I grew up there, but then came back and took a job in sales driving all over the city to meet clients. Sometimes I'd leave two or three hours early for an important meeting that was less than 20 miles away. You never know. If you put yourself in a position where you have to drive a lot (at least 30 miles everyday) buy a nice car. Always have your phone loaded up with podcasts and new music. Talk on the phone, listen to tunes, and don't let it bother you. If traffic bothers you, Atlanta is not the place to live. I'd imagine it is especially bad if you don't know the city although I'm sure the smart phone and navigation helps.

 

Trust me, I don't encourage paralysis by over-analysis, but where you live is a huge decision in the ATL. Huge. The suburbs have very different cultures and you must remember that your kids will turn out like their kids.

 

If you want to chat with another Dutchman about it, I have a cousin who is Dutch and lives there. He's a member of club and could tell you about it. They're pretty far out on the northside. PM me if you want me to put you in touch.

[Jimi Thing]

So 30 minute commute taking an hour. Is this what bad traffic is in the Atlanta area or....

 

On a good day yes. Most days your commute will be 3x or 4x the distance traveled.

 

Wow. And does it make any difference where you live north of town? Or is traffic from all directions bad going into buckhead?

[Matt J]

Traffic between 400/285 and Buckhead can be terrible. But, a lot of people call a big area on the northside "Buckhead" that isn't actually Buckhead. The worst traffic in the city when I was there was between 400 and 75 on 285.

 

Buckhead and the north side of the true "downtown" close-in urban has terrible traffic, all the time and from every direction. The question quickly becomes budget and schedule as mentioned earlier. You need to talk to a real estate expert, not guys on a golf message board, no offense. The exact office where you work and when you commute will directly effect the neighborhoods and golf you should be looking into.

[abergervt]

Atlanta Country club is a great layout and walk able. Would also suggest looking into Druid Hills, Rivermont,

[Matt J]

ACC used to be real expensive, has that changed? If money were not an object and I worked in Buckhead I would probably live in Brookhaven an play Capital City Club or Peachtree Golf Club. But, those are pretty high echelon clubs. I think if you're considering joining them you've heard of them before.

[scs1070]

ACC is only $85K to get in.....

[jpthreesticks]

ACC used to be real expensive, has that changed? If money were not an object and I worked in Buckhead I would probably live in Brookhaven an play Capital City Club or Peachtree National. But, those are pretty high echelon clubs. I think if you're considering joining them you've heard of them before.

 

ACC is still expensive. Looking at approx. $85k initiation and $600+ monthly dues before you do anything last I heard. Capital City is (I believe) up over six figures initiation and probably pretty high on the dues. You aren't joining Peachtree Golf Club (assuming that's the one you are referring to).

[Matt J]

ACC used to be real expensive, has that changed? If money were not an object and I worked in Buckhead I would probably live in Brookhaven an play Capital City Club or Peachtree National. But, those are pretty high echelon clubs. I think if you're considering joining them you've heard of them before.

 

ACC is still expensive. Looking at approx. $85k initiation and $600+ monthly dues before you do anything last I heard. Capital City is (I believe) up over six figures initiation and probably pretty high on the dues. You aren't joining Peachtree Golf Club (assuming that's the one you are referring to).

 

Edited the original post to get the name right. Yes, Peachtree Golf Club, was what I was thinking about. My place in Brookhaven was about half way between CCC and Peachtree. I'd really like to play the Bob Cupp revision of CCC. Peachtree, too, for that matter :)

 

Looking at it on the map there's kind of a "golf belt" from ACC across the north side ending at Berkeley Hills. Didn't realize that Roswell is kind of the "golf suburb." Given a lot of the courses east of Roswell weren't there when I was a kid.

[Howardz3]

Alright. So here's the deal, like everyone before me has said, atlanta traffic isn't bad, it isn't terrible, it's terribly bad. I've lived here all of my life and traffic is always a big pain in my rear end. I currently live in roswell off of 400. Get used to seeing a bumper in front of you! I work down in Brookhaven but fortunately I start at 6 or 10, so I avoid most of the traffic there and back. There are a lot of great courses around north atlanta, but most are very $$$. Capital City Club is nice if you have 100k just sitting around, super nice layout, easily walkable and has a great sister course up north. Peachtree in this area like said before is also quite expensive. I'm going to suggest that you look at your options in this order: COMMUTE, SCHOOL DISTRICT, then golf course. Where ever you may end up, I'm sure there will be a nice layout around. Just two cents from a local guy.

[GTgolf]

Here in lies the real issue.

 

If you choose to LIVE in town, the commute to work is nice, but the schools (public) are a coin flip at best. Not to mention any "country club" (pool and golf) are going to cost 20k minimum to get in.

 

If you choose to live north of town, your commute to work will suck, but you'll usually get good schools, and have access to nice golf courses that meet your requirement. 0-5k initiation, <$500 per month dues.

 

Are you bound to certain "office hours"? Before my wife quit her desk job to stay at home with the kid, she negotiated 7am-4pm work hours. Beating traffic in am and pm for the most part.

 

The thing I like about club Corp is the plethora of courses I can play. And I take full advantage. Manor, polo, Atl national, white columns, cc of south, Windermere, Laurel springs.

 

I play most of these on the regular, with polo being my "home club". I play in the Friday polo $ game and all the member tournaments. GREAT group of guys. There's Zero pretentious a****** types that you can get at lots of clubs.

 

Bunch of good ol boy regular guys who like to pound the pill, drink, and have some friendly competition.

[Mr_71]

Well, you can forget about joining Peachtree. You don't join Peachtree ... if you are connected, you are *asked* to join. Well, unless you are a member of Augusta - that would make it a little easier since there is a good bit of overlap in their memberships.

 

And Capitol City Club has a multi-year waiting list right now (even with their $85K initiation).

[lucky_gypsy]

Pinetree is very nice. Greens are fantastic and dues are inexpensive (and it looks like they'll be having a membership drive soon). It checks all your boxes and is about as close to the freeway (assessable) as you can get. There are a good number of players around your handicap so you would have a decent amount of competition.

[jkaiseresq]

We belong to Country Club of Roswell...great club, awesome people and fits your price criteria.

[GTgolf]

We belong to Country Club of Roswell...great club, awesome people and fits your price criteria.

 

CCR has an initiation under 5k?

[driveandputtmachine]

From where you are working many of these courses people have suggested will be out. Going from Buckhead to Pinetree in the afternoon? Yeah right. Based on your info I would think that rivermont, horse shoe bend, and CC of Roswell should be on your short list. Indian Hills is not bad either, they have 27, and aren't too far up 400. can of Roswell is the most expensive when I checked of these four courses.

 

Anything beyond exit 7 on 400 is too far, IMHO, unless you leave work at or before 3:30 everyday. I joined Crooked Creek and while it is a great deal with 36 holes, it is almost too far up 400 for me and I work in Sandy Springs. I live just in Cobb county off of exit 7 (HWY 92), and commute to Sandy Springs, it is a 15.4 mile distance. It takes roughly 25 minutes in the morning(I go in at roughly 6:30) and just about 40 minutes in the afternoon if I leave before 4pm. If I leave the house at 7am instead of 6am it takes an hour to get in to the office, and if I leave work at 5pm instead of before 4pm it takes at least 70 minutes to get home.

 

Traffic more than anything will help you make your choice. Driving between the hours of 7 and 9am in the morning and 4pm to 6pm in the afternoon at the very least triple what most would assume a should take. Shoot me amessage if you have specific questions, I have quite a bit of pricing info on the majority of the courses between rivermont to woodmont to Pinetree to Indian hills.

[sagobro]

I may be late to this..but I've been a member at St. Ives for over a year now and I have no regrets joining. To the OP, i'm a 8 hcp and I play in a competitive group with handicaps ranging from +1 to 12.

 

Half of them live in Brookhaven or Buckhead, some with kids and some newly married. I spent months looking at different clubs (Horseshoe Bend, DCC, Rivermont, Berkley Hills and even ACC) I can honestly say the vibe at St Ive's is second to none. We always have good games and we have play some competitive golf while having a good time. Depending on your age, you can get in under 5k initiation and 250-450/month base dues.

 

I have friends at ACC and Capital City and although their respective courses are immaculate, the vibe sucks...I don't do well with pretentious people so I knew I wouldn't fit in.

 

Feel free to PM me and I can get you a complimentary round.