Heritage Golf Links - Legacy Nine

I wish I could keep this pithy, but HGL has a number of issues that need addressing, so I'll do it point by point per the rating system of GN. Also, I used to play here frequently as a pseudo member when it was managed by Affiniti Partners, but this place has fallen far from that lofty standard of 2010-2012ish.

Pace of Play -- pretty much always awful on the weekends and Friday, especially Heritage since it is the first nine you normally play when doing 18. Legacy thins the herd I guess as maybe several groups defect to Tradition for an easier time on their second 9. Still that is just a crutch. HGL needs to hire a marshal to go with the starter to protect their pace of play on the main 18 at least until twilight. There seems to be no commitment to such and it's just "cram as many players as you can and consequences be darned!"

Stop over-booking and duping people into playing Tradition if they want to move it along. Why not market a cheaper ($15 less) Tradition to Heritage round of 18 starting late morn \ midday that will cross over to the "back" as the morning times on Heritage are turning to Legacy? And otherwise limiting early morning and late afternoon on Tradition to 9-hole and twilight play? Then start your early afternoon 18 rounds on Legacy turning onto Heritage later. There's gotta be a way to do it, or just limit Tradition to 9-holers and beginners.

Course Layout \ Conditions -- to dovetail with the PoP issues, it might behoove you guys to tell your super to stop setting the course up with ridiculous hole locations that have no business on this tricky layout, at least not with any frequency. With nary a flat lie on the golf course, what good is it to tuck pins on shelves and humps on greens that really should have been re-designed the week after the course was opened? I love the challenge of the greens when they are in good shape and rolling smoothly, but there are too many high-handicappers on this course to be using certain portions of these greens, or tucking pins on the side of a shelf of a multi-tiered green. Certain spots should just be off-limits for pins on Fri-Sun.

For example, front right on the down slope of Heritage 1, extreme left edge on Her 3, just under the top of the spine on Her 6 where it is severely sloped, back left on Her 7 where you're just begging for pull hooks into the bunker, that stupid false front shelf on Her 8 behind the bunker (I know it's a risk / reward hole, but come on, you could hit a Jason Day high-ball with an 8-iron from 180 and have no chance of stopping it anywhere near the hole even after a heavy rain), extreme left front side of Leg 1 where to the right is a 6 foot drop-off, right behind the edge of the false front on the bottom tier of Leg 3 where you will putt right off the green from the middle tier etc. I could go on but I think you get the idea.

It's fun to have maybe one or two of those locations in a round but when you put several into the Saturday set-up and many back to back, how in the world do you expect foursomes to play in less than 5 hours??! It's just insanity. Stop setting it up on the weekend like it's a US Open Sectional Qualifier!!

Oh, conditions...I realize the course is mostly Bermuda so you get a pass on patchy grass in the fairways as it takes time in the spring for it to come into its ideal lushness and thickness. The greens could be a bit faster, but by in large, they are healthy and seem ready for a summer of heavy traffic. Obviously the poa annua makes it a challenge to keep them smooth all day, but they seemed a bit too furry for late April. Also, the Heritage side always seems 1 to 2 feet slower than the Legacy side...not sure if there is any way to get them closer in speed since there is more stress on the Heritage greens due to less ventilation and more greens with shade.

But if there is anything you can do to impress upon people to fix ball marks such as little signs near the greens as you walk up or having the starter add it to a short opening spiel like "Pin position 2 today, 90 degrees and fix your ball mark plus one more!" would be nice and might help. Sucks that so many crappy golfers disregard this and abuse the course (yet still play agonizingly slow), but again, if there is more attention paid to the little things (free pitch mark device instead of two draft beers with a greens fee!), and a roaming marshal, it might help to incentivize some folks to be more mindful.

Value for Your $ -- perceived value is dwindling fast as rates seem to be creeping up AFTER the spring ramp up to the Masters. Seriously? I know it's almost summer and people will pay a premium to beat the heat in the morning, but you had early afternoon times advertised on GN last Saturday for $73!!?? Are you kidding? Unless you get the greens in better shape, stop tucking pins and grow some grass, you might want to re-think that. The sweet spot for this course (when it's in great condition) is $55-65 in morning and $50-30 (declining towards twil) during the afternoon. Especially with the PoP issues you will have invariably from being pretty much the only good public course around for miles. But I bet you know why you've lost some afternoon business to Smoke Rise)...at least you don't have to hammer a putt from 30 feet up a slope to get it to the hole, or putt through 4 pitch marks or wait 5 minutes on a 4some to putt out to a US Open hole location.

Perhaps I'm delusional and asking too much, but I rarely paid more than $55 (for a non-member guest) when Affiniti managed this place and it was in great condition, had great staff who made you feel at home in the grill room and a Superintendent, who had the place looking pretty darn immaculate (although David did like the sneaky hard pin placement almost as much as this current guy...is that you David??)

Surely this place can make a good profit with an average of $55 peak-time rounds without having to overbook it and make everyone miserable with tedious and torturous hole locations on huge greens that are challenging on any day with 10 pins in the middle, 4 in the back and 4 in the front. Get the course in excellent shape, price it fairly for a fun day and I'm sure you'll make very good money from the golf-hungry masses of Atlanta.

Greens are better than ever out there but people still never fix their divots. Didnt see a true putt all day. Fairway is firm with no grass. Not worth $89 but worth 49

Five hours for a Wednesday afternoon round. Unacceptable. Need to enforce pace of play. Four ladies took FOREVER. No reason to tee off at 12:30 and finish at 5:30 on a weekday afternoon round ever. Golf is not meant to be played this way. Also some of the funkiest pin locations I’ve ever seen, akin to putt putt where your ball would roll back down on an uphill putt. I gave the course another chance but never again. PTSD from these five hour rounds nothing has changed.

Condition of greens and sand traps are poor. Most sand traps have little to no sand in them and many are filled with ankle deep water. Some greens OK but most won't allow you a level put due to bare spots.

I came to ATL for work and decided Friday morning I had some free time to play. I called in advance to ensure they had rental clubs they shared with me the clubs were Callaway strata, and rent for $40, which was 3/4 of the cost for the round. Strata are the most basic starter clubs you can find and at that rental cost it lacks much credibility. From time to time when on travel I have played several courses which typically have a very nice set of clubs to be utilized, these were covered in red clay mud which the clubhouse manager whipped them off and the driver had a massive dent in the bottom. The course layout is very challenging and don't recall a single Par 3 under 180 yards as I played from the blue tees. Would I play this course again, absolutely but definitely with my own clubs. I would highly recommend not using these rental clubs as the cost of approximately $130 for the round and rental are totally not worth it.

Incredibly hard course but tons of fun to play. Most greens in good shape. Bent grass with poa annui mix.. Great practice facility.

Dumbest pin placement I’ve ever seen, oh and it’s $130 for 1 person and a cart in the dead of winter. Conditions also trash

Greens are terrible and pace of play is very and I mean very slow .

Played 18 on a weekday morning. It had rained the two days prior. There were a few soggy places, but it was in overall good condition. I rented clubs which weren’t all that great (Strata?), but they got the job done. I played the Legacy and Heritage courses. Both had a lot of hills and undulations. There were water hazards involved in 3-4 holes. Greens were really good for the winter conditions and played fast. The gentleman I was paired with tells me that one of the courses will be closed for a year for renovations, and then The Traditions course will be closed and sold for housing development. Too bad. I’m glad I got to play while it was still good.

so many divots on green every holes and too slow green speed. it seems got worse than before. won't be going here again. sorry.