Atlanta Country Club

Atlanta Country Club in Marietta, Georgia, is a Willard Byrd design that opened in 1966 and hosted the PGA Tour's Atlanta Classic for nearly three decades, including the inaugural Tournament Players Championship in 1974. The course was comprehensively renovated by Beau Welling in 2023, restoring Byrd's original design intent while modernizing greens, bunkers, tee complexes, and infrastructure throughout the championship layout along historic Sope Creek.

Atlanta Country Club was founded in 1964 and opened for play in 1966 in the Chattahoochee Plantation section of East Cobb in unincorporated Cobb County, Georgia, northwest of Atlanta near Marietta. The club was the vision of Atlanta business leader Jim Clay, who sought to build a championship-caliber golf course and bring a PGA Tour event to the Atlanta area. The course was designed by Willard C. Byrd, a respected architect based in Atlanta who had designed and renovated numerous courses throughout the southeastern United States. Byrd routed the course through rolling, wooded terrain adjacent to historic Sope Creek and the ruins of a Confederate paper mill from the Civil War era. The natural topography provided significant elevation changes and mature hardwood forests that frame the fairways and create a sense of seclusion despite the course's proximity to suburban Atlanta. The club's PGA Tour connection materialized quickly. In 1967, just one year after opening, Atlanta Country Club began hosting the Atlanta Classic, which became the PGA Tour's annual stop in the Atlanta metropolitan area.

The tournament underwent several name changes during its three-decade run at the club: the Atlanta Golf Classic (1967-1981), the Georgia-Pacific Atlanta Golf Classic (1982-1988), the BellSouth Atlanta Golf Classic (1989-1991), and the BellSouth Classic (1992-1996). In 1974, Atlanta Country Club hosted the inaugural Tournament Players Championship, which was won by Jack Nicklaus. The TPC would evolve into The Players Championship and relocate to TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, but its origin at Atlanta Country Club cemented the club's place in professional golf history. The Atlanta Classic was not held in 1974 or 1976 when other major events occupied the schedule. Jack Nicklaus returned to Atlanta Country Club not as a competitor but as an architect in 1983, when he was engaged to renovate the course. Nicklaus's changes updated the layout to better accommodate the modern professional game and the demands of hosting a PGA Tour event, while working within the framework of Byrd's original routing. After the BellSouth Classic departed Atlanta Country Club following the 1996 season, the club continued to operate as one of the leading private clubs in the Atlanta area. Over the ensuing decades, various renovations and modifications were made to the course, and some of these changes moved away from Byrd's original design intent.

The most significant recent chapter in the club's history began in February 2023, when architect Beau Welling and senior designer Scott Benson commenced a comprehensive renovation of the course. During the early phase of the project, Welling discovered Willard Byrd's original design plans for the course, which had been preserved in the club's archives. These plans revealed that several tee boxes had been shifted and design features altered during previous renovations. Armed with Byrd's original drawings, Welling was able to restore a number of tee boxes and design elements to their original positions and configurations. The 2023 renovation was extensive in scope. Welling reoriented and added bunkers throughout the course, expanded and rebuilt all greens, and redesigned the third and eleventh holes, which had long been considered the layout's weakest. The greens were converted from Bermuda grass to 007XL bentgrass, with a Hydronics temperature control system installed beneath each putting surface to allow the cool-season grass to thrive year-round in Atlanta's hot climate. Fairways were converted from Bermuda grass to Zorro Zoysia, and the entire drainage and irrigation infrastructure was overhauled.

Welling also added 13 forward tees throughout the course, including multiple elongated "ribbon" tee complexes designed to improve accessibility and pace of play. The renovated course reopened at the end of 2023 and earned immediate recognition, finishing fourth in Golf Digest's 2024 Best Renovation award. From the Classic tees, the course now plays 7,110 yards with a course rating of 75.6 and a slope of 147, while six sets of tees provide options from 5,303 yards (Red tees) to the full championship distance. The club is situated adjacent to the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, and the property's connection to Civil War history — including the nearby ruins of the Sope Creek paper mill, which was a target during Sherman's March to the Sea — adds a layer of historical significance to the setting. Atlanta Country Club maintains a membership of Atlanta-area families and continues to operate as a full-service private club with golf, tennis, swimming, and dining amenities.