Renovation of East Lake Golf Club well underway

The massive course renovation at East Lake Golf Club is well underway.

Trees have been removed. All the grass – on the greens and fairways – is gone. Mounds of earth are being moved. Water has been removed for the time. Construction equipment is everywhere.

The construction began days after the Tour Championship ended in August.

The aim is to make the course more closely resemble the one that Bobby Jones and others played decades ago. Andrew Green, of A.H. Green Design, is doing the renovation. The plan was for extensive tree removal on the property. Bunker shape and locations will be changed. There will be more mounding and greens will be redesigned to be more characteristic of the former era.

Several holes will have major changes. The green at No. 9, the par-3, will be lowered and moved to the left to bring water into play. The lake that presently is part of the driving range will be extended to be more in play on No. 18. Several holes will be undergo adjustments to more closely resemble Donald Ross’ original routing.

The work is scheduled to be done by the summer of 2024, in time for the next Tour Championship.

East Lake was first designed by Tom Bendelow in 1904. It officially opened in 1908. The course was completely redesigned by Donald Ross in 1913, changing the original routing and hole orientations. The course went some changes before the 1963 Ryder Cup. After Tom Cousins purchased the club in 1993, Rees Jones was hired to restore the course. In 2008, the putting surfaces were changed from Bentgrass to Bermudagrass and the greens at No. 8 and No. 16 were repositioned. In 2016, the nines were reversed and the course now ends with the par-5 18th as opposed to the par-3 9th.