East Lake Golf Club is a private golf club 5 miles east of downtown

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. Established in 1904, it is the oldest golf course in the city. East Lake was the home course of golfer Bobby Jones and much of its clubhouse serves as a tribute to his accomplishments. Since 2004, East Lake has been the permanent home of

The Tour Championship The Tour Championship (stylized as the TOUR Championship) is a golf tournament that is part of the PGA Tour. It has historically been one of the final events of the PGA Tour season; prior to 2007, its field consisted exclusively of the top 30 ...

, the culminating event of the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

Playoffs for the

FedEx Cup The FedEx Cup is a championship trophy for the PGA Tour. Its introduction marked the first time that men's professional golf had a playoff system. Announced in November 2005, it was first awarded in 2007. Rory McIlroy is the 2022 champion. Th ...

. The Tour Championship was first played at the course in 1998. The reigning Tour Championship and FedEx Cup champion is Rory McIlroy. All proceeds from operations at East Lake Golf Club—more than $20 million to date—go to support the

East Lake Foundation The East Lake Foundation is a non-profit organization located within the city of Atlanta, Georgia. The purpose of the Foundation is the revitalization of the East Lake Community. History In the 1960s the East Lake community fell victim to white ...

, which has helped transform one of the nation's worst public housing projects into a thriving community.

History

Early years

The

Atlanta Athletic Club Atlanta Athletic Club (AAC), founded in 1898, is a private athletic club in Johns Creek, Georgia, a suburb 23 miles north of Atlanta. The original home of the club was a 10-story building located on Carnegie Way, and in 1904 a golf course was bui ...

(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 John William Heisman (October 23, 1869 – October 3, 1936) was a player and coach of American football, baseball, and basketball, as well as a sportswriter and actor. He served as the head football coach at Oberlin College, Buchtel College ...

, the famous football coach for whom the

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

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 Tom Bendelow (1868–1936), nicknamed "The Johnny Appleseed of American Golf" and "The Dean of American Golf", was a Scottish American golf course architect during the first half of the twentieth century. He is credited with having designed some ...

was asked to lay out the course. 200px, 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 The Southern Amateur is an amateur golf tournament. It has been played since 1902 and is organized by the Southern Golf Association. From 1902 to 1963, it was played at match play. Since 1964, it has been played at stroke play. In December 2021, ...

, won by Nelson Whitney. In 1908,

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 Philip Trammell Shutze (August 18, 1890 – October 17, 1982) was an American architect. He became a partner in 1927 of Hentz, Adler & Shutze. He is known for his neo-classical architecture. Designed the HM Patterson & son spring Hill chapel ...

, who is known for constructing the famous Swan House in

Buckhead Buckhead is the uptown commercial and residential district of the city of Atlanta, Georgia, comprising approximately the northernmost fifth of the city. Buckhead is the third largest business district within the Atlanta city limits, behind Downt ...

, was hired by the club to build East Lake's present day two-story

Tudor style Tudor Revival architecture (also known as mock Tudor in the UK) first manifested itself in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture ...

clubhouse. left, 180px, Stewart Maiden golfing at East Lake Golfer Bobby Jones is said to have played his first and last games of golf at East Lake. Jones won golf's

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

in 1930, claiming the

U.S. Amateur The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...

, U.S. Open,

British Amateur The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

and

British Open The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

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 Watts Gunn (January 11, 1905 – November 5, 1994) was an American amateur golfer. He had a long golf career that began in his high school days at Lanier High School in Macon, Georgia. He went on to become a successful player in college at Ge ...

Perry Adair Oliver Perry Adair (1899 – May 30, 1953) was an American amateur golfer from Atlanta, Georgia, who grew up playing golf at East Lake Golf Club with his friend Bobby Jones. He was a very accomplished player, having won the 1921 and 1923 Southe ...

Charlie Yates Charles Richardson Yates (September 9, 1913 – October 17, 2005) was an American amateur golfer. He is noted for winning the 1938 Amateur Championship, captaining the United States Walker Cup team and being the long-time Secretary of Augusta Nat ...

and

Alexa Stirling Fraser Alexa Stirling Fraser (September 5, 1897 – April 15, 1977) was an American-Canadian amateur golfer. She won the U.S. Women's Amateur golf championship in 1916, 1919, and 1920. She also won the Canadian Women's Amateur title in 1920 and 1934. ...

many of whom were assisted by East Lake's golf professional Stewart Maiden. In 1963, East Lake hosted the 15th biennial

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...

where

Arnold Palmer Arnold Daniel Palmer (September 10, 1929 – September 25, 2016) was an American professional golfer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Dating back to 1955, he won numerous ev ...

served as the playing captain of the winning US Team.

Redevelopment

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 Johns Creek is a city in Fulton County, Georgia, United States. According to the 2020 census, the population was 82,453. The city is a northeastern suburb of Atlanta. History In the early 19th century, the Johns Creek area was dotted with ...

. 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. This all changed in 1993 when a local charitable foundation headed by

Tom Cousins Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

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 Rees Jones (born September 16, 1941) is an American golf course architect. Life and career Born and raised in Montclair, New Jersey, the son of legendary golf course designer Robert Trent Jones and the younger brother of golf course designer R ...

, son of golf course architect

Robert Trent Jones Robert Trent Jones Sr. (June 20, 1906 – June 14, 2000) was a British–American golf course architect who designed or re-designed more than 500 golf courses in 45 U.S. states and 35 countries. In reference to this, Jones took pride in sayi ...

, restored Donald Ross' original golf course design at East Lake to its current layout. In 1998

the Tour Championship The Tour Championship (stylized as the TOUR Championship) is a golf tournament that is part of the PGA Tour. It has historically been one of the final events of the PGA Tour season; prior to 2007, its field consisted exclusively of the top 30 ...

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 16 times since 1998.

Today

Golf with a Purpose

All of the profits from East Lake Golf Club go to support the

which in turn helps to support the health, education, safety and productivity of the East Lake neighborhood. 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.

Charlie Yates Golf Course

In 1998 East Lake's No. 2 golf course was transformed into the

Charlie Yates Golf Course In 1998 East Lake Golf Club's No. 2 golf course was transformed into the Charlie Yates Golf Course, a 9-hole "executive" public course that also provides golf education to children living in the city of Atlanta. The course was rated one of the t ...

, a 9-hole "executive" public course that provides golf education to children living in the city of Atlanta. 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.

was an East Lake golfer who won the

Royal Troon Golf Club Royal Troon Golf Club is a Links (golf), links golf course in Scotland, located in Troon, South Ayrshire, southwest of Glasgow. Founding and early years The club, which now has a total of 45 holes, was founded in 1878, initially with five holes ...

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

Since 2004 East Lake Golf Club has been the permanent location of the

Tour Championship The Tour Championship (stylized as the TOUR Championship) is a golf tournament that is part of the PGA Tour. It has historically been one of the final events of the PGA Tour season; prior to 2007, its field consisted exclusively of the top 30 ...

, the finale of the

Playoffs and the

. The Tour Championship is also one of the largest supporters of the East Lake Foundation.

East Lake Cup

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 Golf Channel (also verbally referred to as simply Golf) is an American sports television television network, network owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Founded in Birmingham, Alabama, it is currently ...

the East Lake Cup invites the top men's and women's teams from the previous season to compete in a

match play Match play is a scoring system for golf in which a player, or team, earns a point for each hole in which they have bested their opponents; as opposed to stroke play, in which the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 h ...

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 Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

(men's) and

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

(women's). The 2016 the tournament added a day of

stroke play Stroke play, also known as medal play, is a scoring system in the sport of golf in which the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 holes. In stroke play, the winner is the player who has taken the fewest strokes over the ...

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

Course records

*Par 70 –

Zach Johnson Zachary Harris Johnson (born February 24, 1976) is an American professional golfer who has 12 victories on the PGA Tour, including two major championships, the 2007 Masters and the 2015 Open Championship. In 2023, Johnson will captain the U ...

, 60 (−10) on September 15, 2007, at the

, set at . *Par 72 – Robert "Bullet" Godfrey, 63 (−9) on August 20, 2001 at the

after bogeying the final two holes. The course's length was .

Scorecard

Tournaments hosted

East Lake has hosted many prestigious tournaments including: *

**2022 Rory McIlroy **2021

Patrick Cantlay Patrick Cantlay (born March 17, 1992) is an American professional golfer. He had a successful amateur career and was the number one golfer in the World Amateur Golf Ranking for 55 weeks. He has won eight times on the PGA Tour as well as the 2021 ...

**2020

Dustin Johnson Dustin Hunter Johnson (born June 22, 1984) is an American professional golfer. He has won two major championships, the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club with a 4-under-par score of 276 and the 2020 Masters Tournament with a record scor ...

**2019 Rory McIlroy **2018

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records. * * * Woods is widely regarded as ...

**2017

Xander Schauffele Alexander Victor Schauffele (; born October 25, 1993) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour, having won seven times since turning professional in 2015. Schauffele's best major finish is tied second at both the 2018 Open Ch ...

**2016 Rory McIlroy **2015

Jordan Spieth Jordan Alexander Spieth (born July 27, 1993) is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour and former world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking. He is a three-time major winner and the 2015 FedEx Cup champion. Spieth's first majo ...

**2014

Billy Horschel William John Horschel (born December 7, 1986) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour. Early years and amateur career Horschel was born and raised in Grant, Florida. He attended Bayside High School in neighboring ...

**2013 Henrik Stenson **2012

Brandt Snedeker Brandt Newell Snedeker (born December 8, 1980) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He won the 2012 FedEx Cup with a victory in the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club. After this victory, he moved into ...

**2011

Bill Haas William Harlan Haas (born May 24, 1982) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and won the 2011 FedEx Cup. He is the son of former PGA Tour player Jay Haas. Early life Haas was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, and was r ...

**2010

Jim Furyk James Michael Furyk (born May 12, 1970) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. In 2010, he was the FedEx Cup champion and PGA Tour Player of the Year. He has won one major championship, the 200 ...

**2009

Phil Mickelson Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970), nicknamed Lefty, is an American professional golfer who plays for LIV Golf. He has won 45 events on the PGA Tour, including six Men's major golf championships, major championships: three Masters To ...

**2008

Camilo Villegas Camilo Villegas (; born 7 January 1982) is a Colombian professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. Early years Villegas was born in Medellín, Colombia, and took up golf as a child. After several different National Junior Championships in ...

**2007

**2006 Adam Scott **2005

Bart Bryant Barton Holan Bryant (November 18, 1962 – May 31, 2022) was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions. Early life Bryant was born in Gatesville, Texas, the son of a Baptist pastor. He attended New Mex ...

**2004

Retief Goosen Retief Goosen (born 3 February 1969) is a South African professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He has won two U.S. Opens, in 2001 and 2004, headed the European Tour Order of Merit in 2001 and 2002, and was in the top ten of th ...

**2002

Vijay Singh Vijay Singh ( hif, विजय सिंह ; born 22 February 1963), nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer. He has won 34 events on the PGA Tour, including three major championships: one Masters title (2000) and two ...

**2000

**1998 Hal Sutton *East Lake Cup **2018

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

men and

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

women ***Individual medalists:

Viktor Hovland Viktor Hovland (born 18 September 1997) is a Norwegian professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He won the 2018 U.S. Amateur and then became the first Norwegian to win on the PGA Tour (at the 2020 Puerto Rico Open) and on the European Tou ...

(

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

men) and

Albane Valenzuela Albane Valenzuela (born 17 December 1997) is a Swiss professional golfer and a two-time Olympian. She was born in New York City to a Mexican father and French mother. She became a Swiss citizen at age 14. Amateur career Valenzuela took low ama ...

(

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

women) **2017

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

men and

women ***Individual medalists: Will Gordon (

men) and Robynn Ree (

women) **2016

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

men and

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

women ***Individual medalists:

Scottie Scheffler Scott Alexander Scheffler (born June 21, 1996) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. From March to October 2022, he was World Number 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking. He won the 2022 Masters Tournament. Early life Sc ...

(

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

men) and Andrea Lee (

women) **2015

men and

women *

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

**2001

Bubba Dickerson Benjamin Gordon "Bubba" Dickerson (born May 6, 1981) is an American professional golfer who was previously a PGA Tour member and currently plays on the Nationwide Tour. He is best known for winning the 2001 U.S. Amateur. Dickerson was born in ...

* U.S. Women's Amateur **1950

Beverly Hanson Beverly Hanson (December 5, 1924 – April 12, 2014) was an American professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour. Hanson was born in Fargo, North Dakota in 1924.Southern Amateur The Southern Amateur is an amateur golf tournament. It has been played since 1902 and is organized by the Southern Golf Association. From 1902 to 1963, it was played at match play. Since 1964, it has been played at stroke play. In December 2021, ...

**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 James Martin Barnes (April 8, 1886 – May 24, 1966) was an English golfer and a leading figure in the early years of professional golf in the United States. He is one of three native Britons (with Tommy Armour and Rory McIlroy) to win three di ...

**1920 Southern Open won by J. Douglas Edgar **1927 Southern Open won by Bobby Jones **1997

Western Junior The Western Junior is the oldest national junior golf tournament in the United States. It was founded in 1914 and is organized by the Western Golf Association. It is played at a different course each year, primarily in the midwest. From 1914 to 1 ...

won by Nick Cassini

References

External links

*
Tour Championship coverage
{{Coord, 33.743, -84.303, type:landmark_source:enwiki-googlemaplink, display=title Buildings and structures in DeKalb County, Georgia Golf clubs and courses in Georgia (U.S. state) Golf clubs and courses designed by Donald Ross Ryder Cup venues Sports venues in Atlanta Golf clubs and courses designed by Rees Jones Golf clubs and courses designed by Tom Bendelow Sports venues completed in 1906 1906 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)