Echelon Golf Club

I've played this course a few dozen times and I think this last time was my last .

The course is stunningly beautiful but frustrating in that it seems to get the least out of what it was given to work with. Holes 1 through 8 and 16-18 are incredible and rival any stretch in the area but the rest are pretty unenjoyable to play.

Hole 9 from the blues is a 430 par 4 from the blues and easily plays 50-60 yards uphill. Your second shot is mostly blind and you're almost definitely hitting off a sloped lie - fun!

Hole 10 is straight down hill and once again there isn't really a flat spot to land the ball - you're forced to hit a short wedge off a downslope into a green far below you with a hazard directly behind and sand in front.

Hole 11 is a 3-shot par 5 that for some reason has a bunker 245 yards straight out. So you either hit a draw into a tight fairway with a hazard on the left or hit a par 3 to stay short of the trap - all so you can hit a lay up 5-7 iron on your second shot?

Holes 12 and 14 are more of the same - straight up and down, blind shots into greens, no real flat spots to land the ball, bunkers in dumb places. The green on 14 is a bit ridiculous as well with a huge spine that splits the green.

On top of all that, the greens are soaked 24/7 pretty much every day between April and October which makes every single wedge plug. Even 25-30 yard pitch shots leave an impression and check up. You basically have to land the ball inside of 5-6 feet if you want to get close to the hole - forget thinking about spin / release / green contour. It just makes the course way less interesting and the greens like mine fields. They also seem to like to put a ton of flags within 4-5 paces of the fringe.

16/17/18 is a great finishing stretch.

One other thing - over the 30 rounds that I have played at this course I have never seen a ranger addressing pace of play so there are definitely 4+ hour rounds on the regular.

Overall, if you are just playing it once it's a great course but it's far too gimmicky for it to be a regular.

Outstanding course.
Obviously other people have realized. Pace of play an issue.
Cart path only-5.5 hour round.
Play the correct tees people!

The course overall is nice with the exception of the greens which were not in the best shape. Mostly the issue was ball marks and they were bumpy.

Course drains poorly, they’ll close the range and playing this course as cart path only can be exhausting due to the elevation changes.

Sand traps had not been raked, many washed out by previous days of rain. Greens had serious ball mark issues, and if you’re in the rough good luck in finding your ball.

I’d like to play it again after a few dry days. The course isn’t bad, it’s not the easiest, but it could be better maintained.

Challenging course in great condition. Tee boxes, greens, and traps were all near perfect.

Over all was great course. The driving range was closed when I played. It would have been nice to hit some balls before going out. The couse was in great shape. Very challenging course. Beautiful scenery.

Best daily fee option in Metro Atlanta. Greens always in good shape, fun and challenging lay-up and never over-booked so a 4 hour round or less is possible, at least on weekdays.

This course is in incredible shape with the greens just perfect. Course is challenging with lots of elevation changes but also very fair. This is a must play course and would highly recommend. Really enjoyed the day

This is still the best public course in the area! Everything is so good here: the greens, the overall conditions, the layouts, the fun, the challenges, etc. If you only want to play a public course in the Atlantic area, this is the one!

It was super wet and cart path only. That made it a tough day. But course is always in great condition and greens were rolling great.

I like the way this course presents The front nine is challenging, but fair for the most part. However, the back nine is too severe for the average golfer. The elevation changes are far too severe and in some cases borders or even reaches unfair. Perhaps the fact that this courses was designed to serve as the golf club for Georgia Tech influenced its design, but it needs a “softening” now that it’s open to players of different skill levels. Rees Jones must have thought he was building another US Open course. Most top designers find a way to challenge the better players, but create a playable track for the average player. The front nine delivers on that goal for the most part, but the back nine is brutal in stretches and misses the mark for the average golfer.