Course of the Week: East Lake Golf Club

By Golfdom Staff| August 13, 2019 0 Comments

Five miles east of downtown Atlanta is where you will find the home of the 2019 PGA Tour Championship, East Lake Golf Club.

Not only is it the location of this year’s PGA Tour Championship — it’s been the permanent home of the Tour Championship since 2005. It also hosted the 1950 U.S. Women’s Amateur, 1963 Ryder Cup and 2001 U.S. Men’s Amateur.

East Lake Golf Club (Photo: David Mjolsness/John Deere)

East Lake Golf Club was established in 1904, with its grand opening on July 4, 1908. It went through various redesigns in 1913 and 1928 before Robert Jones, father of legendary golfer Bobby Jones, took over as president of the club (1937-1942).

Photo: David Mjolsness/John Deere

In the 1970s, the East Lake Meadows public housing project was built nearby, contributing to an increase in violence, drugs and poverty, according to East Lake. By the 1980s, East Lake was a forgotten golf course.

A local charitable foundation purchased East Lake in 1993 and started renovations to help bring the course back to its former glory. Today, the club acts as the driving force behind the effort to revitalize the surrounding neighborhood.

The crew at East Lake feels the pressure as they prepare for the 2019 Tour Championship. Typically given 12 months to prepare, the crew only had 11. According to Ralph Kepple, director of agronomy at East Lake, “Losing one month feels like we lost two.”

Learn more in the video below.