Author’s note: This was first published several years ago.

Golf is one of the most popular outdoor sports in the world. In the United States, there are more than 18 million golfers who spend some $600 million each year on equipment for this much-loved sport.

Atlanta boasts more than 100 golf courses. Several Atlanta communities were built around golf courses and many prominently feature a golf course. The most obvious advantage to living around a golf course is, not surprisingly, that it can make it easier to play golf. That italicized qualifier is important because some of the clubs in Atlanta are private and their memberships are by invitation only. Furthermore, such exclusive clubs often have long waiting periods.

However, public and semi-private golf courses are available throughout the city and, according to Golf in Georgia, a chapbook put out by the Georgia State Golf Association (GSGA), “Public golf is by far the fastest growing segment of the industry.” A public golf course is one that is open to anyone for a “green fee” paid at each visit. A semi-private golf course is also open to the public for a green fee but it has the option of obtaining a membership that will allow special amenities like reduced green fees.

Chateau Élan is a 3,500-acre northeast Atlanta resort community in Barrow county that is built around three-and-a-half golf courses. Those courses are the 18-hole courses of Chateau, Woodlands, and Legends and the 9-hole walking course of Par 3. Chateau and Woodlands are public courses, and Legends is private. Neighborhood homes range in price from $400,000 to $1,000,000.

Philip Mulherin, Vice-President of development of Chateau Élan says the golf courses “are a very important amenity. There are four levels of golf club membership and the majority of homeowners in the area have some level of membership in at least one of the clubs. Although only a small percentage of homeowners actively play golf, all of them appreciate the views and vistas and open green space that the golf courses create.”

Does anyone fear the stray golf ball? “Living on the fairway, you could have some concern with being hit by a golf ball,” Mulherin replies, “but our fairways are wide, our lots are large, and we have significant setbacks in the homes around the course so that alleviates that concern.”

Other amenities in the area include an equestrian center, a European-style health spa, an inn and conference center, a tennis center by Stan Smith, and an award-winning winery.

Several Fulton county neighborhoods in metro Atlanta are adjacent to the Golf Club of Georgia. The most prominent of these is Lake Shore. Mary Clark Caldwell is a sales associate for Windward Realty which developed Lake Shore (amongst other neighborhoods). “The golf course is a drawing card because of the privacy it offers and the view of the green fairways,” Caldwell says. “However, the Golf Club of Georgia is exclusive (private memberships are available) so the majority of homeowners in Lake do not join.” Caldwell does not see any disadvantages to living in a golf course community. She believes the chief attractions of the Windward development, of which Lake Shore is one neighborhood, are its location within metro Atlanta and the value of the homes offered for sale which range widely in price from the low $200,000s to over a million dollars.

People living in the area around the Golf Club of Georgia have easy access to a 195 acre human-made lake stocked with fish. No gas-powered motors are allowed on the lake but sailboats, fishing boats and pontoon boats can be there. There are also four swimming pools, a large water-slide feature, a sports park, a soccer field, sixteen tennis courts and a tennis center in the development.

Kay Williams is director of marketing for BridgeMill Llc. The BridgeMill golf course is in Canton in North Atlanta in Cherokee County. It is semi-private with plans to go public once it reaches a desired membership level. Ms. Williams believes that the course helps make the BridgeMill neighborhood a very attractive place in which to reside. “Anytime you have a golf course, it enhances the community,” she explains. “If you’ve got a golf course lot, then the view from your backyard is going to be very well-manicured.”

The homes in BridgeMill run from $120,000 to the $600,000s. The neighborhood features a two-acre aquatic center, 27 tennis courts, basketball and volleyball courts, an open-air pavilion, jogging trails and a workout facility.

No article about golf course communities in metro Atlanta would be complete without a mention of Peachtree City, the famous home of the golf cart. There are three golf courses inside their city limits: Flat Creek, Braelinn and Planterra Ridge. Members must be residents of Peachtree City and everyone who lives in Peachtree City is eligible to join. According to Betsy Tyler, public information specialist for Peachtree City Hall, “The [golf course] people join is Flat Creek and that makes them a member of all three.”

What is most distinctive about Peachtree City, of course, is the use of golf carts for ordinary transportation needs. “Most of our streets allow golf carts,” says Tyler. “Although our two highways and two of our main roads do not. If a path is available, a golf cart must use a path instead of a street.” The “paths” are multi-purpose, constructed for pedestrians, bicycles and golf carts. Peachtree City has a network of about 70 miles of public paths. Almost half the households in Peachtree City own golf carts. “We have 11,000 households and about 6,000 golf carts,” adds Tyler.

Peachtree City residents also enjoy two two-acre lakes, an ALTA-approved tennis center, the Kedron Field House and Aquatic Center, an amphitheater, as well as several smaller parks.

Chuck and Debbie Shelton have lived in Henry County’s Eagle’s Landing for three years. They enjoy the proximity to the nationally recognized Eagle’s Landing Country Club, a private, members-only, 18-hole course home to the annual LPGA Chick-fil-A Charity Championship hosted by Nancy Lopez. “My husband plays a lot of golf. In the summer, he plays three or four times a week and in the winter as much as he can,” says Debbie Shelton, a real estate agent for Metro Brokers. “We’ve had a great time here. It is a friendly and diverse community.”

For many Atlantans, golf course communities provide the best of all worlds-pristine views and accessibility to some of the city’s best golf courses. For more information about Atlanta’s golf courses and golf course communities contact the Georgia National Golf Club or the Georgia State Golf Association.

The Georgia National Golf Club
404-257-8821
http://www.golfatlanta.com

The Georgia State Golf Association
121 Village Parkway, Building 3
Marietta, Georgia, 30067
770-955-4272 or 800-949-4742
FAX 770-955-1156
http://www.gsga.org

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