Atlanta's Golf Communities

KNOW Atlanta's Golf Communities

Atlanta offers an arrsafaay of opportunities to live and play in the same golfing community. From Chateau Elan north of the metro area to Crystal Lake Golf and Country Club in Henry County, residential golf developments abound. It's not just the championship courses that draw residents to these communities, amenities include tennis, swimming, shopping, dining, spa treatments and equestrian centers. The clubhouse is the heart of each community, a place where residents gather to enjoy each other's company.

"We have a lot of people in here who like to have fun," says Bob Baker, a resident of Chateau Elan. "It's kind of like a good old Southern hometown."

This issue, KNOW Atlanta has picked a few premier golfing communities in the metro area to give you a feel for what this golf enthusiast town has to offer.

Crystal Lake Golf and Country Club

Customer service is the focus of Crystal Lake Golf and Country Club, on and off the course, says owner's consultant Megan Holland. When players arrive, their cart, bags, water and even a sandwich will be waiting.

"You don't have to wait on a beverage cart. You don't have to go to my restaurant or bar." Holland says.

Top-of-the-line Club Car carts include global positioning for no additional fee. Holland says Crystal Lake is one of the only courses in Georgia to offer GPS.

Internationally renowned golf architect Denis Griffiths created the Crystal Lake Golf Course. The design includes challenging water elements and the signature Hole 15 waterfall. Golfers of all skill levels can enjoy the course. The experienced staff is available for all of your needs at the putting green and driving range. The course will be open to all and fully staffed in March 2006.

"The clubhouse will not be large and intimidating like those in some golf communities," Holland says. It will be outfitted with warm woods, fireplaces and comfortable furniture-a place residents want to spend time and socialize.

"Our is very intimate and open so that everything flows into gathering areas," Holland says.

The center will pay host to tournaments and golf clinics. But it will also have more creative activities such as trunk shows for clothing brands such as Tommy Bahama, along with cocktails and hors 'oeuvres. A personal trainer will be available for residents and a gym open all hours and days of the week. Two rooms are slated for massage, hair cutting and possibly facials.

The 500 homes will be situated along the 80-acre lake, golf course or in a wooded vista. Buyers can choose from seven approved builders specializing in four-sided brick and masonry homes, says real estate office manager Barbara Kulik.

Four model homes are under constructions and will be completed by the spring. Houses are priced from $329,000 to $1.5 million.

The community also includes two satellite neighborhoods. The Villages will be an active adult community for seniors. The Heritage will offer eight floor plans, all brick, starting at $306,500.

The 850-acre property is conveniently located next to the Henry County Soccer Complex and near Interstate 75.

Governor's Towne Club

When Russ and Karen Howard moved to the Atlanta area from Dallas, Texas, a year and half ago , they chose Governor's Towne Club in Acworth because of the golf course.

"My husband has always played and appreciated the people developing a golf course that is fairly challenging for golfers," Karen Howard says.

The course, which opened May 2004, is filled with a variety of elevation changes as well as, long, medium and short part threes that cater to different levels of skill. It features natural creeks and is surrounded by forest.

The course was designed by Curtis Strange-who won the U.S. Open twice and was the 2001 Ryder Cup Captain- and Michael Riley Design of Atlanta.

Aside from the course, the 64,000 square-foot clubhouse offers plenty to entertain residents. Amenities for the active resident include a competition swimming pool with waterslide, splash pool and spray fountains, eight outdoor and two indoor tennis courts, baseball and sand volleyball fields, indoor/outdoor basketball, picnic areas, creek side trails and exercise facilities. A full-time activities director co-ordinates events for the community. For a day of relaxation, residents might shop at the pro shop, dine at the Golf Course Grill or take advantage of the club's massage services, facials, men's and women's steam/sauna and whirlpool facilities.

The clubhouse is the neighborhood center, uniting residents with couples and children with similar interests and ages. The feeling of community is the best thing about Governor's Towne Club, Howard says.

"It's very close knit and fun," she says.

Governor's Towne Square offers shopping, restaurants and office space. Publix opened there in 2004. The 725-acre gated community also has its own private preschool, Sunbrook Academy, whose director has years of experience in educating young children.

While the houses have the aged character of Savannah or Charleston, they include automation technologies so residents can control the air conditioning, lighting and irrigation settings while on vacation.

Located in northwest Cobb and Paulding counties, Governor's Towne Club is convenient to Interstate 75 and Lake Allatoona. Southern style estate homes are priced $500K to more than $1 million and manor homes from $400K on large, wooded lots. At completion, the community will have 550 houses.

Echelon, Home of the Georgia Tech Club

Echelon is an elite new development set in the wooded, rolling hills of Cherokee and northwest Fulton Counties on 610 acres in Alpharetta. Ultimately the community will have 225 luxury homes starting at $850K and topping out at over $3 million. The development is expected to be completed in 2007.

The golf course, opening this season, was designed by Rees Jones and will be a practice and tournament site for the Georgia Tech men's golf team, as well as open to Echelon residents who have purchased golf memberships. The development will also include a clubhouse with a pro shop, locker rooms and a dining area, a golf learning center, a junior Olympic swimming pool and a tennis center designed by Stan Smith, a former U.S. Open and Wimbledon champion.

Among luxury golf course communities in Atlanta, Echelon is unique because of the tie-in with Georgia Tech. The university's Alumni Association and Athletic Association, which are nonprofit organizations separate from the school, are marketing partners with the developer, University Clubs by Melrose. The organizations will receive a portion of the club's operating revenue and membership sales, although they are not funding the development.

The Tech connection will be visible only in the golf learning center, and membership in the club and residence in Echelon are not restricted to alumni.

Windermere

Windermere's 14 neighborhoods surround the 18-hole championship golf course designed by Georgia native Davis Love III. The beautiful Forsyth County scenery at the foot of the North Georgia Mountains makes for challenging topography.

"You wouldn't want to walk and drag your bag at Windermere's course," says Kristy Yule, regional marketing director for Newland Communities.

This public course opened in June 2000. The golf clubhouse includes a practice range, putting green, Bill Madonna Golf School, full-service Plateau Grille and pro shop.

Resident Carolyn Jennings says there is no shortage of activities for the non-golfer at Windermere. Since moving with her family from Nashville, Tenn. four years ago, Jennings has enjoyed outdoor concerts on the grassy ampitheater, yoga classes in the fitness center and all the Village Center has to offer.

"We have an activities director so there are planned events you can go to," Jennings says.

The Village Center contains a 7,500 square-foot clubhouse, 12 lighted tennis courts, basketball court, children's play park. Also inside is the Aquatic Center with lap poop, zero-entry pool, mega waterslide, water toys, fountain and kiddie pool. On the western end of the development is another recreation area with two tennis courts, another play park and picnic areas.

In addition, the developers of Windermere left 87 acres of greenspace for Windermere County Park. Residents enjoy 15 miles of pathways and sidewalks.

Situated in Forsyth County, one of the nation's fastest growing counties, this 1,400-acre community still manages to feel like a small town, Jennings says. The traditional brick houses are designed with large front porches so neighbors can enjoy close conversations.

Neighborhoods vary from Grandview homes with the highest elevation in the community, to Newgate townhomes overlooking the 10th and 11th holes. Most neighborhoods are connected by walkways to the Village Center.

Though Windermere is still under construction, it will top out at 1,400 homes, Yule says. Prices range from $200K to over $700K.

Sugarloaf Country Club

Sugarloaf Country Club has the honor of playing host to Atlanta's only annual PGA Tour event, the BellSouth Classic. The Tournament Players Club and Greg Norman-designed course attracts high caliber players, but is playable for those just starting to swing a club.

The 27-hole course was honored by Golf and Travel as the nation's 10th best real estate golf course, and by Golfweek as one of the top 100 modern courses in the world.

Sugarloaf's developer, Ed Weinlein, says there is no finer moment that the arrival of the PGA players at the 18th hole on the last day of the tour, with thousands of fans screaming in the sky boxes on a gorgeous spring day.

"That's when I knew that we had been successful with everything we'd intended 12 years ago," Weinlein says.

Weinlein designed Sugarloaf around the idea that families need a place to connect. Suburbia doesn't offer the sense of Southern community that it did when folks gathered at the soda fountain downtown.

The Family Sports Center is build in an old horse barn, reminding residents that the property once housed Sugarloaf Farms. The center includes a competition sized pool and a children's pool, 14 lighted tennis courts, fitness center with an aerobics studio, children's movie theater, supervised Kids Play Korral and a computer study library, Junior tennis, swim and golf teams are available for the neighborhood's 600 children.

Sugarloaf also captures the feeling of the Old South with its architecture. Before developing Sugarloaf, Weinlein noticed that there were no Southern country club communities in Atlanta, the unofficial capital of the South. They modeled the houses with columns and Greek Revival features instead of the the A-frame and Rocky Mountain stone designs popular at the time.

"We did a lot of investigation into Southern plantation homes, the ones that were remaining," he says.

Pat Tate and husband Len moved to Sugarloaf eight years ago after surveying several local golf communities in their hometown of Duluth. Tate says the quality of the builders and variety of amenities persuaded them to choose Sugarloaf.

"It's right off (Interstate) 85, so it's very convenient if you have to go to the airport or anywhere you need to go'" Tate says.

This gated community of bout 1,000 homes is located in Gwinnett County with easy access to Gwinnett Place Mall, the Mall of Georgia and Discover Mills. Prices start at $689,000 for 3,100 square foot homes and range above $2 million for the largest estate homes.

Chateau …lan

Chateau …lan could be considered a golf heaven. It has not one, but four courses from which residents can choose. That's 63 challenging holes of golf.

"I can't think of any place that has four golf courses associated with it," Golf Club Drive resident Bob Baker says. His wife, Jan Baker, is the immediate past president of the Georgia Association of Realtors. The couple moved to Chateau …lan five years ago to be closer to family and to enjoy the resort's high-class amenity package.

The courses include the 18-hole Chateau and Woodlands courses, Par 3, 9 Hole Executive Walking Course and Legends. Top-ranked Golf Digest teacher Tom Ness leads The Golf Academy, Chateau …lan's practice facility.

The par-71 Chateau course was designed by Denis Griffiths and opened in 1989. The course features large greens, 87 bunkers and water hazards on 10 holes. Also designed by Griffiths and opened in 1996, Woodlands takes advantage of the land's natural elevation changes and hazards, such as the tree-lined holes. Golf Digest gave Woodlands four and a half stars.

The 9-hole Par 3, 9 Executive Walking Course is located just behind the Inn, ideal for a quick round after lunch. Holes range from less than 100 yards to 200 yards. The Legends private course is designed by Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead and Kathy Whitworth in the architectural style of courses from the early 1900's. Hole 18 is a combination of the three champions' all-time favorite holes.

After a day on the course, the Chateau …lan Spa mansion offers 33,000 square feet of pure pampering with steam, sauna, whirlpool, indoor resistance pool, fitness area and fine dining. And of course, residents and guests are always welcome to unwind at the winery, the first in the region since the days of prohibition.

Residents can choose from 2,000 homes ranging in price from $400K to more than $1 million. Country estates, executive estates and manor homes have classic Southern architecture and are interspersed with neighborhood parks, trees and sidewalks.

This 3,500-acre gated community is located 40 minutes away from Atlanta and 10 minutes from the Mall of Georgia.