TPC at Sugarloaf - Atlanta Golf
Speaking of drops, the TPC at Sugarloaf, Greg Norman's creation which has
hosted the BellSouth Classic since 1997, has one of the best finishing holes anywhere
on what is a magnificent track. The course has prompted raves from Tour players and
helped establish Norman as a golf course architect of truly exceptional artistic skill.
The 18th, a 776-yard exercise in terror starts from a tee box back on a level wooded plain. At about 300 yards out the fairway slopes some 70 feet down to the right and around a lake to the green. A large bunker and some trees stand sentinel on the right while the lake yawns left, so that bold hitters have a nervy second shot of 240-180 yards. From the green on one of the most exciting holes you'll find anywhere, the fairway with its undulations and curves resembles a furled green ribbon.
The hole is the crown jewel of a diadem of precious gems. They include the 541-yard 5th which features a tall oak smack in the middle of the fairway and a creek that crosses the fairway twice to make both the tee shot and second a nervy task. The 412-yard 6th is perhaps The Shark's best hole. From a recessed tee box you drive to a crest of a hill flanked by bunkers right. From there, you are left with a wedge-8 iron to a green that is sloped steeply back to front and is fronted by a stream with a steep bank. A bunker in back captures long approaches on a hole whose wooded green complex reminds you a little of the 12th at Augusta.
The 9th is a 470-yard dogleg right through a tunnel of trees with a green that slopes sharply from left to right, making it arguably the most difficult on the course. Norman was criticized for the hole but he kept the hole as is, in spite of the fact he doubled the hole twice and bogied before parring it on his fourth try, according to Club Marketing Director Chris Nowak.
As for Norman's choice as architect, Chris Nowak explained that the owners
of the project wanted a renowned golf architect but not from the list of usual suspects like Nicklaus, Fazio, and
Palmer who already had courses in the Atlanta area. Norman designed many beauties throughout Asia and Australia.
Aside from his collaboration on his private Florida club, The Medalist, with Pete Dye, Sugarloaf was his first North
American effort. As of late 1999, the Aussie was putting the finishing touches on a third nine that promises to
be the equal of the first 18.
As for the club itself, it is in a country club community of lavish homes that first sold for around $300 K when it opened in the mid-1990s. In rural Gwinnett County, this was a princely sum, but buyers gobbled the homes up so quickly that builders raised the ante. Now, the average home is close to seven figures.
The country club includes a family sports center featuring exercise facilities, arcade and movie theater, three swimming pools and tennis facilities. A kind of Tara on the turf, the classic Southern styled golf clubhouse is as ornate as many of the homes. It sits Parthenon-like atop a hill overlooking the 18th green, offering a magnificent vista for the visually minded.
If Sugarloaf has a flaw, it is that too many homes have been built too closely to the golf course. Though they sit atop bluffs well away from play, they are very much in evidence throughout the round. Windstorms have taken down a lot of trees that would otherwise have provided a thicker partition.
The 1500-acre community lies on the former horse farm of businessman Wayne Rollins. The site was briefly owned by the Eastern Airlines employee retirement fund until Crescent Resources, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, bought it in 1994. It is one of the showcase TPC's that has been a worthy host of the BellSouth Classic since that PGA event moved from the Atlanta Country Club in 1997.
NOTE: Propelled by the success of Sugarloaf and lured by the potential for development in
Gwinnett County, Jack Nicklaus is about to launch one of his most ambitious projects yet.
In November 1999, he announced that he would build in the county a course composed of
the best holes in his portfolio. According to the announcement, no detail will be spared to
make each hole a carbon copy of his favorites from Muirfield Village and other of his
signature designs. 
Atlanta Golf
Cock your wrist up (not back), swing your arms back, turn your shoulders and rotate your forearms
Rotate around your axis and maintain the same posture throughout your swing in order to pivot properly
CHRIS TOULSON demonstrates pitching basics including set up, wrist hinge, turning of the body and finish position
Play the ball back, aim right, close your clubface and swing inside out
From the top of the swing the right arm has to stay on top and throw around the body to the left, do not start down with your right arm pulling down.
If you want to become a shotmaker who can control his ball, you must learn this great technique for drawing and fading the ball for the situation at hand
