Cherokee Town & Country Club - South Course Review

An Atlanta Golf Course Review

Off-season review on 02/18/2026

Cherokee Town & Country Club- South Course

Private

Guest Rates: $295-$350 (Weekday/Weekend) Caddie Fee: $50-$100 (Forecaddie/Walking)

35 minutes North of Atlanta

Cherokee is easily within the top 5 best private clubs in Atlanta and some would argue top 3. Receiving an invite to play is a special honor and it definitely lives up to the hype. On this day, I got the opportunity to play the Par 70 South Course - Golf Digest's 33rd Best Course in Georgia.

What.A.Clubhouse.

Pictures can't do it justice. It's enormous and classy. It was recently renovated in 2020 which included an expansion to the Champions Grill, upgrades to the ladies locker room, pro shop, and a few other rooms. The front architecture gives the feeling of strength with sharp angles, while the side facing the course features rounded openings reminiscent of the Roman Coliseum.

Don't get confused though... CTCC also has an in-town clubhouse in Buckhead. If you simply search Google Maps, you'll see both pop up. The golf course is basically in Roswell.

Upon entering the front, double doors you're met with a life-sized Cherokee Native American statue and rich, dark wood tastefully used throughout. I walked around and sort of got lost in all of the memorabilia, art, and pictures. I walked out onto the terrace, overlooking the golf courses and it was stunning. What a spot to enjoy a post-round meal. Eventually I found my way to the locker room.

The locker room is two-stories with a beautiful staircase connecting the two. On the lower-level you'll find the bathroom amenities and lounge area. Pretty sure it's the only two-storied locker room I've been in.

The only critique is that there wasn't really a dedicated, private lounge. Just one area in the locker room with a few nice, leather chairs, and a small TV. Other top-tier clubs I've visited feature impressive lounges that are essentially private sport bars with huge TVs, full bar, billiards, darts, and more. However, those other clubs didn't have a dedicated in-town club with a ton of amenities. So that may be the give/take. (the in-town club will positively impact the facilities score)

Hospitality was top notch as well. Everyone was very accommodating, called you by your name, and took care of every need you could have.

Practice Facilities

The practice facilities were very good: Double-sided range, expansive putting green, and chipping/pitching green. There's also another pitching green with a practice bunker, but it's tucked behind the 10th tee (I didn't even know it existed until we got to that hole). Everything was still dormant so we were hitting off of mats. That said, I wasn't overly impressed. The pitching/chipping green is near hole 1 of the South course so it really ends up as the de-facto putting green before teeing off. Not ideal chipping into folks dialing in their putts. The actual putting green runs right up to the 1st tee on the North course, so it's somewhat inconvenient if you're playing the South course. Additionally, the practice bunker/pitching area is down and away from the rest of the practice facilities - wasn't surprised I didn't see anyone using it. Also from the mats there was a 250 yard limit. We didn't actually adhere to that because there wasn't anyone on the opposite side of the range, but still. I would say compared to the practice areas at other top-tier clubs, it falls short.

The South Course

Designed by Joe Lee in 1956 and reworked by Tom Fazio in 2015 with new greens and bunkers. For my grass nerds, the greens are Champion Ultradwarf, approaches and collection areas are Tifgrand Hybrid Bermudagrass, fairways are Tifway Hybrid Bermudagrass, and the tees are a mixture of Zeon Zoysia and Tifway. The sight-lines were amazing. There were just enough trees to shape the holes, but thinned out to allow you to catch unique perspectives of many of the holes.

The conditions were immaculate from tee to green. All of the basics were as expected... even tee boxes cut tight, manicured bunkers, fast-healthy greens, and even with dormant grass the fairways had their trademark checker-print. The rough was minimal and easy to play out of. Around the greens there were plenty of run offs, but thick rough wasn't a feature. The greens while fast, they weren't as fast as I know they can be in the peak season - I would estimate they were running around a 10 or 11. Reading the greens was pretty challenging (and I consider myself pretty good at reading greens). Thankfully we had a caddie because there were multiple times that I saw the slope going the complete opposite direction. If I had to critique, I believe 1 or 2 of the par 3 tee boxes were slightly more worse off than the others. Also, there was nothing special about the bunkering or how the bunkers were used.

As for the layout, the front 9 and back 9 couldn't have been more different.

The front 9 was fairly standard. Lots of elevated tee shots down to the fairway, only for the hole to head back uphill to an elevated green. There weren't a ton of bunkers, but there was always 1 expertly placed off the tee. No par 5s on the front. I didn't love that 4/7 par 4s played right to left.

To the eye, the par 3s on the front were pretty basic, but miss in the wrong place and you're scrambling for a bogey at best due to massive drop-offs. My favorite hole on the front was probably 9. Having the clubhouse in the backdrop above the green makes for a pretty cool approach shot.

On the turn I grabbed an excellent chicken salad sandwich. They also have alcoholic slushies (will have to snag one of those next time).

The back 9 starts off with a BANG. Absolutely epic downhill par 3. 200 yards, playing down to around 180. It's followed up by the first par 5 with the course's largest elevation drop from the tee. It's very gettable, but a lot of risk reward to go for it in 2 with water all up the left side of the green. The 12th is another par 5 that starts uphill, but then significantly drops downhill towards the green. A great reveal walking up the fairway. 15 was also a lot of fun - a hard dog leg right with water short, left, and long of the green. The other two par 3s were solid, but pretty standard. The par 5 finisher is epic. There's a huge drop off on the right side of the fairway that really puts the pressure on you to hit a great second shot if you decide to take it on. It'll even gobble up a mis-hit layup if you're not careful. However, even if you are able to avoid the drop-off, there are two fairway bunkers expertly placed before the green. The hole is pretty much begging you to layup (which I did).

Our caddie said that the front 9 of the North and back 9 of the South are the two best 9s on the property and it's easy to see why.

Membership & Value

I have heard from multiple members that membership initiation has just increased from $150k to $175k with an estimated waitlist of 3 years. I'm not privy to the monthly dues or any other details.

It's pretty much impossible for me to comment on the value members receive, but from the outside looking in... 36 holes of immaculate golf, incredible clubhouse, PLUS the main clubhouse in Buckhead; I'm sure the members feel very taken care of. There's a reason for the waitlist.

As for the value of just the round of golf... Maxed out price would be a weekend round with a walking caddie which would be $450 before tip. Is it worth that? Absolutely, but I wouldn't say it's an amazing "bang for your buck", but that's not what you're signing up for. You're paying a premium, for a premium experience. Obviously, if you're able to play on a weekday ($295) and only have a forecaddie (~$50) you're definitely coming out ahead. I would also say getting to play with a caddie increases the value.

That said, most agree the North Course is better (Golf Digest ranks it 21st in the state), so if given the choice, your money will go a touch further at the North Course. Hoping to review the North Course soon!

If given the opportunity, do whatever you can to make it happen.

Course video: