East Lake Golf Club Course Review

An Atlanta Golf Course Review

Off-season review on 03/23/2026

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East Lake Golf Club

Private

Corporate membership rate: $650 + $93 Caddie fee

Accompanied guest rate: $170 + $93 Caddie fee

Atlanta

A course that needs no introduction... if you watch golf you already know the holes and the layout. You've seen the locker room on TV and Bryson on the range. And yet, it's a course that also feels unattainable.

Full disclosure, I provided some marketing for a local charity tournament and as payment they allowed me to play in the tournament. I don't take lightly how fortunate I am to have had that opportunity.

Clubhouse

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Driving up to the clubhouse feels surreal. Once you pull up there are multiple bag attendants helping with your bag and then valet your car. First class. The entire staff for that matter were incredible. So kind. So welcoming. It's not a stuffy vibe. You feel more reverent than worried you're going to screw up some unwritten golf rule. Like walking into St. Peter's Basilica.

The clubhouse is old school extravagant. You walk in and you take off your hat... not because you were told to, but because you just simply feel like you're supposed to. (and you are fyi)

Hang a left and you can walk into the restaurant or up the stairs to the locker room.

The lockers are classy, with the shoe drawer beneath. I took a moment and made sure to look out the window... a window I'm sure I've looked at from the outside, but never dreamed I'd be looking out of.

Walking to the Champions Locker Room

The cherry on top was being given the opportunity to view The Champions Locker Room. This locker room is reserved only for previous champions. So yes... Tiger Woods, Scottie, Mickelson, Tommy, and so many others had their named etched on a locker.

The Champions Locker Room

Practice Facilities

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I have to admit... the practice facilities were a bit underwhelming. The range is nice of course. But there was just one chipping green, one practice bunker, and one putting green. Things got busy quick.

Compared to other tier 1 private courses in the area, the practice area is on the weaker end.

The Course

Playing East Lake is weird. While you're playing the holes you remember what they look like on TV, which creates a sort of out of body experience. Very surreal.

I've had many people ask if I enjoyed the course and my answer was usually... "I'm not sure." Having gone back and reviewed the round and the holes, I can definitively say yes, but it's not above critique.

If you've read my reviews you'd know that I really value variety. 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 12, and 13 are all basically straight away par 4s. Hit a good drive, avoid the bunkers and hit an iron, and then deal with greens surrounded by bunkers. Yeah, some are uphill, and some are downhill, but that's about it.

Hole 9 green looking back at the tee box

The par 3s are very good. 2 is kind of meh, but 9 is epic. The longest par 3 of the bunch with the majority of that carry over water. Since the hole plays so long, you kind of just hit a club you know will carry and deal with the results.

Hole 15

15 feels completely different, even though it is also a forced carry over water. 15 felt more of a mental battle. You'll usually have a shorter iron in hand so you "feel" like it's a shot you should be able to pull off... but that green looks tiny off the tee box and the lake looks enormous.

Hole 18 approach

In my opinion the par 5s steal the show. 1 is a wonderfully designed hole. The green complex really gives you a ton to think about on the approach. I love how 6 tempts you to cut the angle off the tee. 14 is just an epic downhill tee ball, but the bunkers short of the green really make you 2nd guess going for it in 2. And then of course there's 18. One of my favorite finishing holes I've ever played. I love a gettable par 5 finisher... throw in the water, the bunkering, and one of the best looking clubhouses on tour... and I'm in heaven.

Conditions

It's East Lake. The conditions were impeccable... However, at this price point I'm going to be extra critical.

Hole 1 Tee Box

The tee boxes were obviously cut short, but they lacked character. The tee markers are just your standard colored spheres and the area around the tee boxes was just short rough. I can appreciate the idea that East Lake doesn't have to do anything special and can lean into simplistic class, but in my opinion they were just vanilla.

Hole 16 Fairway

The fairways were like carpet. I love hitting off of Zoysia. Feels like the ball sits up a touch. However, again, there wasn't anything that stood out. You know it's Peachtree GC from the checkered fairways, or the wide lines of Cherokee T&CC.

Bunkers were awesome. I especially loved the signature look - essentially a wall of thick rough surrounded each bunker.

One of the runoffs around the green

Greens were immaculate and so tough to read. The breaks were very subtle around the hole. The greens were one of the major changes from the recent renovation. Rough around the greens was basically non-existent, now. Instead, you'll find runoffs akin to Pinehurst. Tight lies EVERYWHERE. When I missed the green I was fighting for my life!

Membership & Value

East Lake is pretty much all corporate memberships at this point. Not sure on the price point for the corporate membership or what it includes. (please email me if you have any details on that! joe@atlgolfs.com)

I do know that individual membership is a $250,000 initiation fee + $150,000 donation to the East Lake Foundation. Of course you can only have the opportunity to join via invitation. There are only a little over 100 individual members (I've heard as many as 140). Not sure on the number of corporate memberships, but it feels like a lot in my experience.

If you happen to know one of those members, you can get on for around $170 + $93 Caddie fee which is an INCREDIBLE deal. (related, I need to make fast friends with a member 😅)

But most people playing East Lake will only get the opportunity via the corporate membership rate.

At $650 + $93 caddie + tip, East Lake is easily the most expensive tee time in Atlanta. I should say the caddies were awesome. There are no carts at East Lake (unless you have a medical issue), so everyone walks with the caddies carrying 2 bags each. I would suggest a $100 tip at a minimum.

Now the rate does come with complimentary valet, food and drink (including alcohol), and locker. However, even with all of that stuff included doesn't make it an great value, but does it need to be?

Courses like East Lake aren't intended to be great values. They're intended to be first class experiences from start to finish where no expense is spared. It's a bucket list course that you splurge on because it's probably a once in a lifetime opportunity.

If it's not going to put you in a financial hole, do it. You won't regret it.

Yes, of course I recommend East Lake GC.

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Course video: