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East Lake Golf Club

February 16, 2024

East Lake Golf Club is a private golf club 5 miles east of downtown Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1904, it is the oldest golf course in the city.[3] East Lake was the home course of golfer Bobby Jones and much of its clubhouse serves as a tribute to his accomplishments.

East Lake Golf Club
Club information
Established1904[1]
TypePrivate
Total holes18
Events hostedThe Tour Championship
Ryder Cup (1963)
U.S. Amateur
WebsiteEastLakeGolfClub.com
East Lake Golf Course
Designed byTom Bendelow (1908)
Donald Ross (1913)
George Cobb (1959 renovation)
Rees Jones (1995 & 2008 renovation) Andrew Green (2023 renovation)
Par72/70
Length7,346 yards (6,717 m)
Course rating76.2[2]
Slope rating144[2]
Course record60 – Zach Johnson (2007)

Since 2004, East Lake has been the permanent home of The Tour Championship, the culminating event of the PGA Tour Playoffs for the FedEx Cup.[1] The Tour Championship was first played at the course in 1998. The reigning Tour Championship and FedEx Cup champion is Viktor Hovland.

All proceeds from operations at East Lake Golf Club—more than $20 million to date[3]—go to support the East Lake Foundation, which has helped transform one of the nation's worst public housing projects into a thriving community.[4]

History edit

Early years edit

 
Old postcard of the course at East Lake.

The Atlanta Athletic Club (AAC) was formed in 1898 and due to its popularity it gained 700 members in only four years. The director of the club's athletic program was John Heisman, the famous football coach for whom the Heisman Trophy is named. In 1904 the AAC bought property at East Lake to build a country club which included a golf course. Course architect Tom Bendelow was asked to lay out the course.

 
Bobby Jones age 9 shown playing golf at his home course at East Lake.

The course's first holes were built in 1906 and were initially only seven holes, then nine. In the summer of 1907, the course was expanded to 17 holes, and later that year the 18th hole was built to complete it. Also in 1907, the first significant tournament was hosted at East Lake, the Southern Amateur, won by Nelson Whitney. In 1908, Tom Bendelow opened his "No. 2" course at East Lake.

In 1913, famed golf course architect Donald Ross redesigned the course at East Lake. The new plan provided for each of the nine holes to conclude at the clubhouse. Ross also redesigned the No. 2 course in 1928.

A tragic fire destroyed the original clubhouse at East Lake in 1925. Following the fire, famed architect Philip Shutze, who is known for constructing the famous Swan House in Buckhead, was hired by the club to build East Lake's present day two-story Tudor style clubhouse.

 
Stewart Maiden golfing at East Lake

Golfer Bobby Jones is said to have played his first and last games of golf at East Lake.[5] Jones won golf's Grand Slam in 1930, claiming the U.S. Amateur, U.S. Open, British Amateur and British Open titles in the same year. Jones's father, "Colonel" Robert P. Jones, served as the president of East Lake from 1937–42 and as a director for 38 years. Bobby Jones himself also served as president of East Lake from 1946–47.

Other notable East Lake players around the same time were amateurs Watts Gunn, Perry Adair, Charlie Yates and Alexa Stirling Fraser many of whom were assisted by East Lake's golf professional Stewart Maiden.

In 1963, East Lake hosted the 15th biennial Ryder Cup where Arnold Palmer served as the playing captain of the winning US Team.

Redevelopment edit

East Lake began a downward slope when the surrounding neighborhood deteriorated in the 1960s and became victim to suburban flight. The Atlanta Athletic Club became a part of this when it sold the No. 2 course to developers and moved to its current home in Johns Creek. The original course and clubhouse were saved by a group of 25 members, led by Atlanta businessman Paul Grigsby, who purchased them and created East Lake Country Club in 1968.

In 1970, the East Lake Meadows public housing project was built on the site of the No. 2 golf course and became a center for poverty, drugs and violence. Middle-income homeowners fled the surrounding neighborhood, replaced by low-income renters. By the 1980s, East Lake became a mostly forgotten golf course in a seemingly hopeless neighborhood.[citation needed]

This all changed in 1993 when a local charitable foundation headed by Tom Cousins purchased East Lake with the intent to restore it as a tribute to Bobby Jones and the club's other great amateur golfers. The East Lake Foundation was also created and has used the renovation as a catalyst for revitalizing the surrounding community.

In 1994, Rees Jones, son of golf course architect Robert Trent Jones,[6] restored Donald Ross' original golf course design at East Lake to its current layout.

In 1998 the Tour Championship was hosted at East Lake for the first time. In 2005 East Lake was named the permanent home of the Tour Championship. East Lake has hosted the tournament 23 times since 1998.

Today edit

 
Jordan Spieth and Henrik Stenson on the 17th Green during the 2015 Tour Championship

Golf with a Purpose edit

All of the profits from East Lake Golf Club go to support the East Lake Foundation which in turn helps to support the health, education, safety and productivity of the East Lake neighborhood.[7] Because of this, East Lake Golf Club's motto is "Golf with a Purpose".

Based on the success of the East Lake model, a new organization, Purpose Built Communities, was established in 2009 to help fight concentrated segments of poverty in communities throughout the United States. Today, Purpose Built Communities is present in 14 cities in the US.[8]

Charlie Yates Golf Course edit

In 1998 East Lake's No. 2 golf course was transformed into the Charlie Yates Golf Course, a 9-hole "executive" public course that provides golf education to children living in the city of Atlanta.[9] The course was rated one of the top 10 short range courses in America by Golf Range Magazine and all profits from the course go to benefit the East Lake Foundation.[10]

Charlie Yates was an East Lake golfer who won the British Amateur at Royal Troon Golf Club in 1938. Charlie grew up on Second Avenue, the street which separated East Lake's main course from its No. 2 course. His boyhood hero was Bobby Jones, whom he knew and played with on the course at East Lake.

The Tour Championship edit

 
East Lake Golf Club is home to the Tour Championship

Since 2004 East Lake Golf Club has been the permanent location of the Tour Championship, the finale of the PGA Tour Playoffs and the FedEx Cup. The Tour Championship is also one of the largest supporters of the East Lake Foundation.

East Lake Cup edit

In May 2015 it was announced that East Lake would be the site of a new collegiate golf tournament, the East Lake Cup. In partnership with the Golf Channel the East Lake Cup invites the top men's and women's teams from the previous season to compete in a match play championship each November. The tournament is broadcast on the Golf Channel. The inaugural East Lake Cup was played November 2 and 3, 2015. The champions of the first year's tournament were Illinois (men's) and USC (women's).[11]

The 2016 the tournament added a day of stroke play to the competition with Illinois winning on the men's side and Duke winning on the women's side. The men's and women's winners of the 2017 East Lake Cup were respectively Vanderbilt University and the University of Southern California. The 2018 winner's were Auburn for the men's side and USC on the women's side.

Course edit

Course records edit

  • Par 70 – Zach Johnson, 60 (−10) on September 15, 2007, at the Tour Championship, set at 7,154 yards (6,542 m).
  • Par 72 – Robert "Bullet" Godfrey, 63 (−9) on August 20, 2001 at the U.S. Amateur after bogeying the final two holes. The course's length was 7,267 yards (6,645 m).

Scorecard edit

East Lake Golf Club
Tee Rating/Slope 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Black 74.0/137 469 197 391 479 442 525 481 455 235 3674 424 214 389 440 520 211 454 430 590 3672 7346
Blue 72.2/132 465 170 369 366 403 471 418 373 207 3242 394 164 372 387 526 150 365 322 530 3210 6452
Green 69.1/125 421 147 345 317 399 456 397 332 167 2981 394 140 325 350 475 130 333 304 455 2906 5887
Gold 66.4/121 415 136 319 317 365 414 371 267 110 2714 329 105 247 342 383 94 288 255 448 2491 5205
Par 4 3 4 4 4 5 4 4 3 35 4 3 4 4 4 3 4 4 5 35 70
SI 6 18 14 12 4 10 2 8 16 7 17 11 3 9 15 1 13 5

[2][12]

Tournaments hosted edit

East Lake has hosted many prestigious tournaments including:

  • East Lake Cup

References edit

  1. ^ a b "About the club". Retrieved May 12, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "Course Rating and Slope Database – East Lake Golf Club". USGA. Retrieved May 12, 2017.
  3. ^ a b "East Lake Golf Club". Retrieved May 12, 2017.
  4. ^ "Who We Are". East Lake Foundation. Retrieved May 12, 2017.
  5. ^ Hopkins, Linton C. (1996). Where Bobby Learned to Play. McGuire Publishing. ISBN 978-0962838118.
  6. ^ "About Rees Jones – Biography". Rees Jones, Inc. Golf Course Design. Retrieved May 12, 2017.
  7. ^ . East Lake Foundation. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
  8. ^ "Our Network". Purpose Built Communities. July 16, 2019.
  9. ^ . Archived from the original on October 20, 2015. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
  10. ^ . East Lake Foundation. Archived from the original on April 2, 2016. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
  11. ^ a b "Eyes on NCAAs after Illinois, USC win East Lake Cup - Golf Channel". November 4, 2015.
  12. ^ "Golf Course Information". East Lake Golf Club. Retrieved May 12, 2017.
  13. ^ "East Lake Cup". East Lake Golf Club.
  14. ^ . Golf Channel. Archived from the original on December 3, 2016. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  15. ^ "East Lake Cup". Golf Channel.

External links edit

  • Official website
  • Tour Championship coverage

33°44′35″N 84°18′11″W / 33.743°N 84.303°W / 33.743; -84.303

February 16, 2024
east, lake, golf, club, private, golf, club, miles, east, downtown, atlanta, georgia, established, 1904, oldest, golf, course, city, east, lake, home, course, golfer, bobby, jones, much, clubhouse, serves, tribute, accomplishments, club, informationestablished. East Lake Golf Club is a private golf club 5 miles east of downtown Atlanta Georgia Established in 1904 it is the oldest golf course in the city 3 East Lake was the home course of golfer Bobby Jones and much of its clubhouse serves as a tribute to his accomplishments East Lake Golf ClubClub informationEstablished1904 1 TypePrivateTotal holes18Events hostedThe Tour ChampionshipRyder Cup 1963 U S AmateurWebsiteEastLakeGolfClub comEast Lake Golf CourseDesigned byTom Bendelow 1908 Donald Ross 1913 George Cobb 1959 renovation Rees Jones 1995 amp 2008 renovation Andrew Green 2023 renovation Par72 70Length7 346 yards 6 717 m Course rating76 2 2 Slope rating144 2 Course record60 Zach Johnson 2007 Since 2004 East Lake has been the permanent home of The Tour Championship the culminating event of the PGA Tour Playoffs for the FedEx Cup 1 The Tour Championship was first played at the course in 1998 The reigning Tour Championship and FedEx Cup champion is Viktor Hovland All proceeds from operations at East Lake Golf Club more than 20 million to date 3 go to support the East Lake Foundation which has helped transform one of the nation s worst public housing projects into a thriving community 4 Contents 1 History 1 1 Early years 1 2 Redevelopment 2 Today 2 1 Golf with a Purpose 2 2 Charlie Yates Golf Course 2 3 The Tour Championship 2 4 East Lake Cup 3 Course 3 1 Course records 3 2 Scorecard 4 Tournaments hosted 5 References 6 External linksHistory editEarly years edit nbsp Old postcard of the course at East Lake The Atlanta Athletic Club AAC was formed in 1898 and due to its popularity it gained 700 members in only four years The director of the club s athletic program was John Heisman the famous football coach for whom the Heisman Trophy is named In 1904 the AAC bought property at East Lake to build a country club which included a golf course Course architect Tom Bendelow was asked to lay out the course nbsp Bobby Jones age 9 shown playing golf at his home course at East Lake The course s first holes were built in 1906 and were initially only seven holes then nine In the summer of 1907 the course was expanded to 17 holes and later that year the 18th hole was built to complete it Also in 1907 the first significant tournament was hosted at East Lake the Southern Amateur won by Nelson Whitney In 1908 Tom Bendelow opened his No 2 course at East Lake In 1913 famed golf course architect Donald Ross redesigned the course at East Lake The new plan provided for each of the nine holes to conclude at the clubhouse Ross also redesigned the No 2 course in 1928 A tragic fire destroyed the original clubhouse at East Lake in 1925 Following the fire famed architect Philip Shutze who is known for constructing the famous Swan House in Buckhead was hired by the club to build East Lake s present day two story Tudor style clubhouse nbsp Stewart Maiden golfing at East LakeGolfer Bobby Jones is said to have played his first and last games of golf at East Lake 5 Jones won golf s Grand Slam in 1930 claiming the U S Amateur U S Open British Amateur and British Open titles in the same year Jones s father Colonel Robert P Jones served as the president of East Lake from 1937 42 and as a director for 38 years Bobby Jones himself also served as president of East Lake from 1946 47 Other notable East Lake players around the same time were amateurs Watts Gunn Perry Adair Charlie Yates and Alexa Stirling Fraser many of whom were assisted by East Lake s golf professional Stewart Maiden In 1963 East Lake hosted the 15th biennial Ryder Cup where Arnold Palmer served as the playing captain of the winning US Team Redevelopment edit East Lake began a downward slope when the surrounding neighborhood deteriorated in the 1960s and became victim to suburban flight The Atlanta Athletic Club became a part of this when it sold the No 2 course to developers and moved to its current home in Johns Creek The original course and clubhouse were saved by a group of 25 members led by Atlanta businessman Paul Grigsby who purchased them and created East Lake Country Club in 1968 In 1970 the East Lake Meadows public housing project was built on the site of the No 2 golf course and became a center for poverty drugs and violence Middle income homeowners fled the surrounding neighborhood replaced by low income renters By the 1980s East Lake became a mostly forgotten golf course in a seemingly hopeless neighborhood citation needed This all changed in 1993 when a local charitable foundation headed by Tom Cousins purchased East Lake with the intent to restore it as a tribute to Bobby Jones and the club s other great amateur golfers The East Lake Foundation was also created and has used the renovation as a catalyst for revitalizing the surrounding community In 1994 Rees Jones son of golf course architect Robert Trent Jones 6 restored Donald Ross original golf course design at East Lake to its current layout In 1998 the Tour Championship was hosted at East Lake for the first time In 2005 East Lake was named the permanent home of the Tour Championship East Lake has hosted the tournament 23 times since 1998 Today edit nbsp Jordan Spieth and Henrik Stenson on the 17th Green during the 2015 Tour ChampionshipGolf with a Purpose edit All of the profits from East Lake Golf Club go to support the East Lake Foundation which in turn helps to support the health education safety and productivity of the East Lake neighborhood 7 Because of this East Lake Golf Club s motto is Golf with a Purpose Based on the success of the East Lake model a new organization Purpose Built Communities was established in 2009 to help fight concentrated segments of poverty in communities throughout the United States Today Purpose Built Communities is present in 14 cities in the US 8 Charlie Yates Golf Course edit In 1998 East Lake s No 2 golf course was transformed into the Charlie Yates Golf Course a 9 hole executive public course that provides golf education to children living in the city of Atlanta 9 The course was rated one of the top 10 short range courses in America by Golf Range Magazine and all profits from the course go to benefit the East Lake Foundation 10 Charlie Yates was an East Lake golfer who won the British Amateur at Royal Troon Golf Club in 1938 Charlie grew up on Second Avenue the street which separated East Lake s main course from its No 2 course His boyhood hero was Bobby Jones whom he knew and played with on the course at East Lake The Tour Championship edit nbsp East Lake Golf Club is home to the Tour ChampionshipSince 2004 East Lake Golf Club has been the permanent location of the Tour Championship the finale of the PGA Tour Playoffs and the FedEx Cup The Tour Championship is also one of the largest supporters of the East Lake Foundation East Lake Cup edit In May 2015 it was announced that East Lake would be the site of a new collegiate golf tournament the East Lake Cup In partnership with the Golf Channel the East Lake Cup invites the top men s and women s teams from the previous season to compete in a match play championship each November The tournament is broadcast on the Golf Channel The inaugural East Lake Cup was played November 2 and 3 2015 The champions of the first year s tournament were Illinois men s and USC women s 11 The 2016 the tournament added a day of stroke play to the competition with Illinois winning on the men s side and Duke winning on the women s side The men s and women s winners of the 2017 East Lake Cup were respectively Vanderbilt University and the University of Southern California The 2018 winner s were Auburn for the men s side and USC on the women s side Course editCourse records edit Par 70 Zach Johnson 60 10 on September 15 2007 at the Tour Championship set at 7 154 yards 6 542 m Par 72 Robert Bullet Godfrey 63 9 on August 20 2001 at the U S Amateur after bogeying the final two holes The course s length was 7 267 yards 6 645 m Scorecard edit East Lake Golf Club Tee Rating Slope 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In TotalBlack 74 0 137 469 197 391 479 442 525 481 455 235 3674 424 214 389 440 520 211 454 430 590 3672 7346Blue 72 2 132 465 170 369 366 403 471 418 373 207 3242 394 164 372 387 526 150 365 322 530 3210 6452Green 69 1 125 421 147 345 317 399 456 397 332 167 2981 394 140 325 350 475 130 333 304 455 2906 5887Gold 66 4 121 415 136 319 317 365 414 371 267 110 2714 329 105 247 342 383 94 288 255 448 2491 5205Par 4 3 4 4 4 5 4 4 3 35 4 3 4 4 4 3 4 4 5 35 70SI 6 18 14 12 4 10 2 8 16 7 17 11 3 9 15 1 13 5 2 12 Tournaments hosted editEast Lake has hosted many prestigious tournaments including The Tour Championship2023 nbsp Viktor Hovland 2022 nbsp Rory McIlroy 2021 nbsp Patrick Cantlay 2020 nbsp Dustin Johnson 2019 nbsp Rory McIlroy 2018 nbsp Tiger Woods 2017 nbsp Xander Schauffele 2016 nbsp Rory McIlroy 2015 nbsp Jordan Spieth 2014 nbsp Billy Horschel 2013 nbsp Henrik Stenson 2012 nbsp Brandt Snedeker 2011 nbsp Bill Haas 2010 nbsp Jim Furyk 2009 nbsp Phil Mickelson 2008 nbsp Camilo Villegas 2007 nbsp Tiger Woods 2006 nbsp Adam Scott 2005 nbsp Bart Bryant 2004 nbsp Retief Goosen 2002 nbsp Vijay Singh 2000 nbsp Phil Mickelson 1998 nbsp Hal Sutton East Lake Cup2018 Auburn University men and University of Southern California women Individual medalists Viktor Hovland Oklahoma State University men and Albane Valenzuela Stanford University women 2017 Vanderbilt University men and University of Southern California women 13 Individual medalists Will Gordon Vanderbilt University men and Robynn Ree University of Southern California women 2016 University of Illinois men and Duke University women 14 Individual medalists Scottie Scheffler University of Texas men and Andrea Lee Stanford University women 15 2015 University of Illinois men and University of Southern California women 11 Ryder Cup 1963 nbsp United States U S Amateur 2001 nbsp Bubba Dickerson U S Women s Amateur 1950 nbsp Beverly Hanson Southern Amateur 1907 Nelson Whitney 1910 F G Byrd 1915 Charles Dexter 1922 Bobby Jones 1933 Jack Redmond 2002 Lee Williams Other tournaments 1919 Southern Open won by Jim Barnes 1920 Southern Open won by J Douglas Edgar 1927 Southern Open won by Bobby Jones 1997 Western Junior won by Nick CassiniReferences edit a b About the club Retrieved May 12 2017 a b c Course Rating and Slope Database East Lake Golf Club USGA Retrieved May 12 2017 a b East Lake Golf Club Retrieved May 12 2017 Who We Are East Lake Foundation Retrieved May 12 2017 Hopkins Linton C 1996 Where Bobby Learned to Play McGuire Publishing ISBN 978 0962838118 About Rees Jones Biography Rees Jones Inc Golf Course Design Retrieved May 12 2017 The East Lake Story Community Redevelopment Atlanta Georgia East Lake Foundation Archived from the original on March 7 2016 Retrieved April 2 2015 Our Network Purpose Built Communities July 16 2019 About Archived from the original on October 20 2015 Retrieved April 2 2015 East Lake Partners Community Redevelopment Atlanta Georgia East Lake Foundation Archived from the original on April 2 2016 Retrieved April 2 2015 a b Eyes on NCAAs after Illinois USC win East Lake Cup Golf Channel November 4 2015 Golf Course Information East Lake Golf Club Retrieved May 12 2017 East Lake Cup East Lake Golf Club Duke Illinois take East Lake Cup titles Golf Channel Archived from the original on December 3 2016 Retrieved December 2 2016 East Lake Cup Golf Channel External links editOfficial website Tour Championship coverage 33 44 35 N 84 18 11 W 33 743 N 84 303 W 33 743 84 303 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title East Lake Golf Club amp oldid 1173529260, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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