Fairways of Canton Review

An Atlanta Golf Course Review

Reviewed on 10/15/2025

Fairways of Canton

Public

$59-$79

45mins north of Atlanta

As with most courses with a bit of quirk, Fairways of Canton has its lovers and haters. Despite only tipping out at under 6500 yards, this mountain course will throw some challenges at you, but the reward is the best finishing hole in all of Metro-Atlanta.

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This review is brought to you by Explore Canton. Canton, GA blends small-town charm with scenic North Georgia beauty, offering a vibrant downtown, great dining, and easy access to outdoor adventures along the Etowah River.

Watch the highlights of my day in Canton

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The clubhouse definitely has that rustic mountain cabin vibe that fits perfectly with the scenery. The pro-shop was stocked and they had a full bar and kitchen. We didn't stop for food on the turn, but the restaurant reviews are very high.

The practice area had a range (mats only), chipping green, practice bunker, and putting green. Despite the range being mats only, a separate chipping green and practice bunker go a long way with me. The putting green was spacious enough, but it rolled about ~3 stimps faster than the greens on the course.

(Note: range balls are not included with the round)

Hole 1

In general, I felt the course conditions were above average from tee to green. Tee boxes were even, with plenty of grass and cut short. Fairways were full and firm, framed with a few yards of rough. Greens were healthy and rolled at a medium speed, although the exact speed of the greens wasn't 100% consistent from hole to hole. Despite the bunker practice, I never once found myself in on. While large bunkers feature on holes 1 and 10, they are the exception not the rule - 10 holes don't have bunkers and I would argue that bunkers are in play on only 3/8 holes that do feature a bunker. Bunker conditions looked good enough overall - a few you could see the lining near the top and I think they've just let the former bunker on 9 turn into a waste area.

I also appreciated the use of tall grass/fescue on some of the holes. Overall, the course is very aesthetically pleasing.

Please remove this tree!

EDIT: Tree is removed!

The layout is really THE hot topic. There are definitely a couple holes that cross over from quirky to gimmicky - the blind shot par 3 - 14th and the U-turn par 5 - 15th the greatest examples. Additionally, some have called a few of the greens "mickey mouse" due to the tiers and dramatic slopes.

My biggest issue was the tree blocking the tee shot on hole 3 - which is already the hardest tee shot on the course!

(EDIT: It's been removed! Massive props to the course for taking some constructive feedback!)

Overall, I would consider the layout fun and challenging - just leave driver in the bag if you can! There's a good mix of right and left doglegs, 3/4 par 5s are gettable in 2, great variety of par 3s - from the tips I hit a 6i, 8i, PW, and 7W, and 18 is just a perfect finishing hole - unreal views, risk-reward par 5, and VERY gettable in 2 for even shorter hitters. Watch me play hole 18

(note: this course is not walkable)

At $59 M-TR, $69 Fr, and $79 wkd pricing, I would say the weekday price is fair, but not an amazing deal, and the weekend is a touch over-priced. There is twilight pricing after 5, but I've never seen a twilight tee time listed - maybe they just get booked up. It's also NOT on Golf Now - so no Hot Deals.

(Note: Value score of 5/10 is fair, 5+ is good, under 5 is poor)

I would recommend Fairways of Canton. To make the most of it... play on a weekday, embrace the challenging greens, use your favorite fairway finder off the tee, grit through 15 and soak it all in on 18.

Course videos:

Front 9

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R341m9Rutl8

Back 9

https://youtu.be/lWlPQLjqrFc?si=H2e_IWVOWHc8pJUC