JoelCrow

Took advantage of the "member for a day" privalege through Golf Now and had an overall great day of golf today. The course is very long from the Black tees (+7200), but still very playable for average golfers with Blue (+6200) yards still offering a couple 500 yd par 5s and a 185 yd par 3. Like other players, we were told to play the back nine first (obviously to avoid interrupting members morning play on the front nine). Checkin was easy, with a beautiful club house and lots of fun memorabilia for those interested in swag. The course condition was fair (not as nice as I expected honestly); seems the members DO NOT REPAIR their ball marks on the greens as many of them looked terribly pocketed. The fairways were dead/hard in some spots (including around the greens) and the staff were actually rolling INSIDE the bunkers...and cutting/blowing grass clippings all over us during the round. The course has hardly any signage or yardage markers (only on tee boxes [to the front], and a very sparce number of sprinkler heads. Otherwise, there were no 150 stakes, numbers on the cart path, nor any colored domes in the fairway...you will need a yardage book, laser, or gps watch for this course. The greens were really soft and you could tell they were capable of being absolutely gorgeous, I felt really bad for them and kept repairing dozens of ball marks to try and help myself and others. The cart girl and grill kid at the turn were all very nice and had lots of good choices for burgers, dogs, chips and drinks. Overall it was fun to experience this private course, but I dont think I'll go out of my way (or pay $100 a person again) to play it. There are LOTS of nice courses in North GA that are as nice or better and half the price. If you live in this community or area, it's certainly a serious contender for a nice home course though.

Just moving here from Atlanta and was having a hard time finding courses that were actually nice (many have 4 star ratings on GolfNow, but are not very good). This course deserves 5 full stars. It such a beautiful course, with impeccable grass/tees/greens. The starter was awesome and you could tell he was keeping control of the groups to ensure rounds were on point. The clubhouse is every bit as nice as a private country club, they have lots of nice amenities and overall you are treated very luxuriously during your round. Examples of this are the carts having towels, tees, ball markers, and they even give you a cool towel to clean of when the round is done, they both take your clubs from the drop area to the cart and from the cart back to the drop area when you're done. They had a ladies clinic the day I visited (with the dining area nicely setup) and I was impressed at how well they were treated and coordinated while I was warming up. So far, this is one of the best golf courses I've played within 30 miles of DC (along with Blue Mash). It's a great choice, especially if you get a hot rate.

Sugar Hill is one of the nicest city-run courses in NE GA. It's a little slow because it's a hilly short course and new players come a lot (tip: don't hit driver into the woods on every tee, try a hybrid or an iron instead). When it rains it gets pretty squishy on the tee boxes and around the greens (tip: leave yourself a nice 100-150 shot into each green, instead of trying to hit driver on every hole, but into the mud and shooting an 8). Every hole has both a steep uphill and downhill as well as sloping on both sides into woods or water - play position golf! The greens are very very smooth, fast and nice. It's one of my favorite courses in the state. In the fall, you get beautiful elevated views of the foliage. For good exercise, walk it - especially if cart path only. But caution, it's over 4 miles of constant and substantial elevation change.

Good
Fun course, a lot of holes on water, good views, elevation change, challenging uneven lies, some tight holes, really friendly staff, beautiful bar/restaurant in clubhouse with fireplace, lots of wood, tvs and pooltable, lots of discounts for residents and walking, expect it will be beautiful in March to November time.

Bad
Long cart drive to separated 9 holes makes me question walkability
Range uses limited flight balls off matts and it's a long cart drive from the clubhouse
4 or 5 greens had some dead spots
Par 5s require awkward little 2nd shots to set up big 3rds because of ditches or water
Fee to enter park (reimbursed at club though)
Using rangefinder with slope I found that sprinkler heads and rocks give "plays like" yardages, so you shouldn't adjust any further for elevation

Overall
One of the better courses within 20-30 min drive of the city, if it turns out to be as nice as I'm imagining. I was really impressed with potential that I expect to see in the summer. I played today as a single in 3 hours. The staff treated me like a VIP and we're very friendly. Looking forward to going back when it's greener/warmer.