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Mystery Valley Golf Club - Course Review
- Atlanta Golf
- Mar 13
- 3 min read
An Atlanta Golf Course Review
Off-season review on 02/25/2026 by Joe Davis (@atlgolfs)
Mystery Valley Golf Club
Public
Rates: $53-$63 ($6 off if you're a Dekalb County Resident)
Lithonia, GA
30 minutes East of Downtown Atlanta
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Mystery Valley is one of two courses owned and operated by Dekalb County - the other being Sugar Creek. The county does a pretty good job overall. In 2025 the county installed Tif Dwarf Bermuda Greens, renovated the bunkers, and did some updating to the clubhouse. If I lived nearby, I could see it being in the rotation, but even with all of the recent renovations, I wouldn't go out of my way to play there in its current condition.
This was my first time visiting Mystery Valley, so I'm not sure what the clubhouse looked like pre-renovation, but in my opinion it was still pretty dated. I did appreciate the local support though! I specifically saw items from our friends at Swing Chic and Renegade. The kitchen wasn't fully open for some reason so I grabbed a cold sandwich from the fridge on the turn. Wasn't great tbh.
Practice Facilities
The range and practice area are conveniently located just across the cart path from the clubhouse. Friday-Sunday you can hit off grass, while the other days are on mats. Range balls were adequately priced
Sm: $8
Med: $12
Lrg: $15
The practice area consisted of a putting green and chipping green. There wasn't a practice bunker or pitching area.
The Course
The layout was fine overall, with the back 9 miles better than the front. The par 5 hole 10 really kicks things into gear with a forced carry over water and strong dog leg left. A few other highlight holes include the short downhill par 4 15th which provides a lot of choices off the tee, The hard dogleg left 12 was also a great hole where the approach runs downhill to the green.
Most disappointing were the par 3s. Not a single one played downhill - and in fact most of them played uphill if anything. For a course with a good number of elevation changes on other holes it felt like a shame to not use them for more dramatic/interesting par 3s.
Conditions
Tee boxes were very good. Some of the most level tee boxes I've played recently. The custom Mystery Valley logo tee markers were also a nice touch. Plenty of grass as well, including the par 3s.
The fairways were fine down the middle, but there were quite a few runoff areas that were worn away on the outside. Luckily, my ball rarely found those areas, but they were a regular occurrence throughout the round.
Bunkers were in very good condition. Plenty of sand. No noticeable lining showing or anything like that. Looks like they did a good job with this renovation.
The greens were disappointing. I had high hopes knowing that they renovated them just last summer, but they fell short. Granted, Bermuda is dormant until things start to heat up, but I've played many other Bermuda greens this winter that were in much better condition. They were slow, bumpy, and quite a few looked very unhealthy - hole 6 and 12 in particular.
Value
As I walked off the course I wasn't disappointed or ecstatic with the overall experience. I felt like I pretty much got exactly what I paid for to the dollar and nothing more. And even if I was a Dekalb resident and saved the $6, I'd feel essentially the same.
There are better courses in the $50-$60 range, but there are also worse. Like I said at the beginning, if I was local I'd have it in the rotation. But If you're driving more than 30-45 minutes, there's probably a course within that driving distance that will give you a better bang for your buck. Perhaps the greens will bounce back once the Bermuda starts growing again. We'll definitely be doing an in-season review this summer to find out.
In the end, I recommend Mystery Valley, but temper expectations in the off-season.
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