Introduction to Atlanta Golf

For all its diversity, Atlanta is not known as a major golf destination. But that is changing. Some visionaries, golf enthusiasts with capital, are recognizing that Atlanta's stature as a corporate capital, major gateway city, and desirable place to live means there's a big market for golf. In a Field of Dreams in reverse, their refrain is: "They're coming. Quick, let's build it!"

Deploying pans and scrapers like Romel's panzers in the North African desert, they've enlarged and reshaped the landscape of Atlanta with attractive courses and resorts like Reynolds Plantation, White Columns, The Georgian Resort, Château Élan, Callaway Gardens, and the private and spectacular Tournament Players Club (TPC) at Sugarloaf.

Given Georgia's place in golf history, the trend is inevitable. After all, its largest city was the birthplace of Bobby Jones, whose legacy to the game is arguably unmatched. Today, a fair contingent of PGA and Senior PGA Tour players live in the area, and both tours have annual events here. In 1998, The Tour Championship was held at East Lake, Jones' old club, and the 2001 PGA Championship will be hosted by the Atlanta Athletic Club.

"In the few years since I moved here," one nouveau Atlantan told me, "golf in this area has exploded."

Atlanta Golf

• Introduction to Atlanta Golf
• Reynolds Plantation
• The Georgian Resort
• White Columns
• TPC at Sugarloaf
• Château Élan
• Callaway Gardens