Bear's Best Atlanta

Greens aerated. Tee boxes bare and aren’t level. Fairways need some more grass .

The course is in truly horrible shape. Half the tee boxes were mud or dirt, grass around the green is also nonexistent in many cases, and several bunkers are literal asphalt with a few piles of fresh sand waiting to be spread. Also the golf shop interior is nonexistent and undergoing a complete renovation. Paid a “discounted” $90 rate because greens were punched this past week, but it’s truly playing like a $35 municipal course.

Jack Nicklaus would weep if he saw his namesake course is playing closer to Bear’s Worst than Bear’s Best.

This course needs a change of management or something. Way too overpriced for what it’s worth, greens were just aerated so we got a discount rate of $96, which is double what the course should be charging. Normal price is around $130 and having played more than 20 public courses in the area with price ranges from $40-$130, this place is below average.

Starter is always rude and thinks he’s the Marshall for pine valley. Guy held the keys for the cart from us until he thought we could go up to #1 (2 mins before tee time) so we were left walking between practice areas when we had paid for a cart already

Liked the concept. Enjoyed see and playing different Nicklaus holes.

Course was in rough shape, clubhouse was closed and they charge an exorbitant amount for a run of the mill course. Bunkers were probably the only decent part of the course, minus the ones they had as ground under repair. Would not pay $150 again to play here and that DOESNT include range balls.

In ATL on business in April 5, I wanted to play Bear’s Best as a lifelong fan of Jack Nicklaus. I paid $100 for tee time on GolfNow and, while the layout is very interesting and challenging, feel like they overpriced the experience by about $50.

The clubhouse is closed for renovations due to an interior flood. The fairways were ok for early April and the greens rolled well, despite having plenty of weeds in them. Many parts of the course were under repair. There were no water coolers on the course, though the beverage cart came around from time to time. On one back nine hole a bulldozer was being used next to the green and the operator was screaming into his phone nonstop the whole time we were putting.

I realize work has to be done and the course certainly needs it. However, for $100 I would expect so much more, particularly from a course affiliated with Nicklaus.

If you’re staying in downtown ATL, find a municipal course and save your time AND money. I can’t overstate how good this design is, but upkeep is sorely lacking.

Bears best was a great track! Staff was super friendly and the course layout was interesting with holes inspired by courses around the world!

Great track! BUT…. Understand they are making improvements. Quite a few bunkers under construction and marked appropriately as ground under repair. That doesn’t give you a pass to ignore all the other bunkers. For the price, is it too much to ask to have the bunkers not under repair to be raked once in the morning?

Bears Best is consistently one of the more expensive rounds out there but it doesnt come close to justifying the cost. No grass on many tee boxes, beat up greens, no sand in the bunkers, Maintenance folks running out to work on the greens mid-swing, and hardly any grass on the course. It could be that we caught them at a bad time but if this is the normal condition, then I would be shocked if they are still in business in 3 years.

Going through a bunch of renovations. It looks like they are putting a lot of money into this course. All new sand traps., New grass.
I just wish players would respect the tee box and greens more. Please fix divots and pull out your tees. Might be a good idea to have a sand refill directly on tee box and a box to throw broken tees into.
What about extra divot tools right at the green. Magnetize them to the flag?

Could use a little bit of netting between range and #18 fairway.

One day courses carts will have bottles of prosecco, and uncrustiable PB&j sandwiches for vegetarian options.

This is one of the favorite local courses. Managed very well. They seem to care about your experience here.

I've played this course in the past and it was really nice. It's fallen into disrepair. My round was met with much construction and the grounds crew was driving in the way and operating machinery on many holes. We waited for them. It appears the work on the bunkers and traps will have a very nice result.

The club house had an unfortunate water main break over the Holidays so the club house was closed along with much of the inside except a small pro shop.

Overall, I think the club and grounds will be much improved at my next visit. But I would choose another course in the short term.

Staff was working hard to make the round enjoyable.

I think they could have discounted the round while under this much construction.

Course was soggy due to all the rain. Greens were in good shape as the Bermuda showing signs of greening. Over all a good round for this time of year.

This course was a huge let down. I was so excited to get there. When we got there it was like any other golf course except the renovations. Seems pretty normal at this time of season. The staff was great. The driving range was full of sand and the spots were super close together and there were not many spots to begin with even with the huge driving range they have. The practice chipping and putting was great however. The start was terrible we had to wait on two groups and that caused a two group pile up behind us. Then the group behind us started hitting in on us. The course was cart path only so of course it took longer but these guys didn’t care apparently there was a fire to put out. The fairways were half flooded so you were just hitting out of mud all day. The layout is great and interesting and super fun but I just dont understand how they can book so many people so close together. They need to spread the times out and not sacrifice quality for quantity. All in all I will not be going back to this course. For $100 the facilities and pace are just not worth it. You can drive an hour to cobblestone or west pines and have a way better experience for half the price. There are a lot better courses out there.

Have played Bear's Best for years. This is the first time that we experienced very wet fairways on every hole. I never realized that this course has such poor drainage issues. The course should have been closed due to the conditions.