Atlanta Athletic Club

Atlanta Athletic Club

Club information
Location	Johns Creek, Georgia, U.S.
Established	1898 (1904 for golf course)
Type	Private
Total holes	45
Events hosted	U.S. Open (1976) PGA Championship (1981, 2001, 2011) U.S. Women's Open (1990) U.S. Amateur (2014) Women's PGA Championship (2021)
Website	Atlanta Athletic Club
Highlands Course
Designed by	Robert Trent Jones, back 9 Joe Lee, front 9 Rees Jones (2006 & 2016 redesigned)
Par	72
Length	7,613 yards (6,961 m)
Course rating	77.0
Riverside Course
Designed by	Robert Trent Jones Rees Jones (2003 redesign) Tripp Davis (2022 redesigned)
Par	71
Length	7,152 yards (6,540 m)
Course rating	76.2
Par 3 Course
Par	27

Atlanta Athletic Club (AAC), founded in 1898, is a private country club in Johns Creek, Georgia, a suburb 23 miles north of Atlanta. The original home of the club was a 10-story building located on Carnegie Way, and in 1904 a golf course was built on Atlanta's East Lake property. In 1908, John Heisman (the Georgia Tech football coach for whom the Heisman Trophy was named) was hired as the AAC athletic director.

While it was downtown, its team placed third in the 1921 Amateur Athletic Union National Basketball Championship defeating Lowe and Campbell Athletic Goods 36–31 in the third place game. At the time colleges, athletic clubs, and factory-sponsored clubs all competed in the same league.

It built 3 9-hole golf courses in 1967, in a then-unincorporated area of Fulton County that had a Duluth mailing address and would eventually become Johns Creek in 2006. In 1968, the AAC sold the East Lake property. The vacated East Lake site became East Lake Golf Club and was refurbished during the 1990s. It is now the home of The Tour Championship, the final event of the PGA Tour.

AAC hosted the 1950 U.S. Women's Amateur and 1963 Ryder Cup at East Lake, the 1976 U.S. Open, the 1981, 2001 and 2011 PGA Championships, and the 2021 KPMG PGA Women's Championship on its Highlands Course, and the 1990 U.S. Women's Open on its Riverside Course. The AAC used both of its current regulation courses to host the 2014 U.S. Amateur, with stroke-play qualifying on the Riverside and Highlands Courses and match play on the Highlands Course. The Riverside course, renovated by Rees Jones in 2002, was recognized among the top 10 new private courses in 2004 by Golf Digest. It as renovated again in 2022 by Tripp Davis.

AAC has hosted many non-golf events including the first two Southeastern Conference men's basketball tournaments in 1933 and 1934. In 1984 and 1985, AAC hosted the U.S. Open Badminton Championship. During the 1990s, AAC hosted the AT&T Challenge, Atlanta's ATP professional tennis stop.

AAC has two 18-hole golf courses, a fitness center, indoor and outdoor tennis, a par-3 course, Olympic-sized pool, as well as dining.

Famous members of AAC include golfers Bobby Jones, Charlie Yates, Alexa Stirling, Watts Gunn, Dot Kirby, and Tommy Barnes; tennis players Nat Thornton and Bitsy Grant; and basketball player Bob Kurland.

In the 2004 film Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius, many of the golf scenes were filmed at AAC.

Pictures

• 
  Statue of Bobby Jones at the entrance to Atlanta Athletic Club.
• 
  The 15th green on the Highlands course.
• 
  #17 on Highlands.
• 
  Behind the 17th green on the Highlands course.
• 
  Back of the clubhouse from the practice putting green.

Key dates

• 1898 – First organizational meeting and granting of club charter
• 1899 – Official opening of 56 Edgewood Avenue facility
• 1902 – Move to new clubhouse at 37 Auburn Avenue
• 1924 – Purchase of Carnegie Way property (10 story downtown club)
• 1926 – Opening of Carnegie Way property
• 1930 – Winning of Grand Slam by Bobby Jones Jr.
• 1963 – Purchase of River Bend property in Duluth
• 1967 – Opening of the new 27-hole golf course at River Bend
• 1968 – Vote by stockholders to sell East Lake Country Club
• 1969 – Selection of Atlanta Athletic Club Country Club as name for River Bend
• 1971 – Decision to sell Carnegie Way town club
• 1973 – Destruction of Carnegie Way town club
• 2003 - Second redesign of Riverside, by Rees Jones
• 2016 – Second redesign of Highlands, by Rees Jones
• 2022 - Third redesign of Riverside, by Tripp Davis

Scorecards

Atlanta Athletic Club – Highlands Course

Tee	Rating/Slope	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In	Total
1976 U.S. Open	-- / --	455	450	460	205	540	440	175	420	415	3560	370	480	510	390	415	215	410	205	460	3455	7015
1981 PGA	-- / --	456	458	469	210	546	445	185	422	419	3610	374	470	510	390	415	215	410	213	463	3460	7070
2001 PGA	-- / --	430	471	469	204	541	425	183	463	416	3602	439	454	547	364	442	227	441	207	490	3511	7213
2011 PGA	-- / --	454	512	475	219	565	425	184	467	426	3727	442	457	551	372	468	260	476	207	507	3740	7467
Par	U.S.Open & PGA	4	4	4	3	5	4	3	4	4	35	4	4	5	4	4	3	4	3	4	35	70
Champ	77.0 / 152	446	543	478	219	567	426	197	470	429	3775	436	457	555	391	468	260	485	210	576	3838	7613
Gold	75.9 / 149	442	540	475	194	548	425	183	446	426	3679	421	443	523	387	451	227	409	207	557	3625	7304
Blue	73.9 / 141	398	512	445	165	541	403	179	421	407	3471	405	421	495	364	413	204	373	186	528	3389	6860
Tournament	72.6 / 142	398	471	407	142	541	403	179	376	407	3324	379	393	474	364	365	204	373	154	528	3234	6558
White	71.3 / 134	368	471	407	142	501	370	162	376	372	3169	379	393	474	339	365	175	336	154	500	3115	6284
Green	68.8 / 127	324	448	363	128	469	330	135	349	351	2897	362	339	448	307	335	145	296	124	462	2818	5715
SI	Men's	13	3	5	15	1	9	17	7	11		12	6	2	14	8	16	10	18	4
Par		4	5	4	3	5	4	3	4	4	36	4	4	5	4	4	3	4	3	5	36	72
SI	Women's	9	3	7	15	1	13	17	5	11		6	8	2	12	10	18	14	16	4
Green	74.5 / 142	324	448	363	128	469	330	135	349	351	2897	362	339	448	307	335	145	296	124	462	2818	5715
Tournament	73.3 / 136	310	441	324	128	436	330	135	295	351	2750	353	339	389	292	323	145	296	124	397	2658	5408
Black	71.6 / 131	310	441	324	92	436	296	90	295	307	2591	353	318	389	292	323	103	266	103	397	2544	5135
Silver	70.1 / 129	310	399	289	92	405	296	90	253	273	2407	353	318	389	266	283	103	266	95	358	2431	4838

Atlanta Athletic Club – Riverside Course

Tee	Rating/Slope	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In	Total
Gold	74.9 / 141	602	444	168	398	584	197	481	215	488	3577	407	179	554	417	311	440	456	243	567	3574	7152
Blue	73.2 / 137	571	421	155	370	555	179	446	192	462	3351	384	165	529	403	389	430	440	217	544	3401	6752
Tournament
White	70.6 / 133	547	398	125	348	540	148	397	160	423	3086	362	141	499	370	276	409	390	181	508	3136	6222
Green	67.5 / 125	490	358	104	316	472	121	348	135	381	2722	330	115	454	319	249	369	340	153	445	2774	5496
SI	Men's	5	4	3	4	5	3	4	3	4		35	4	3	5	4	4	4	3	5
Par		5	4	5	4	4	3	4	3	4	36	4	3	4	5	4	4	4	3	5	36	71
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Green	73.6 / 130	480	367	461	320	336	122	332	133	372	2923	322	113	370	418	301	346	317	154	449	2790	5713
Silver	{{{1}}}	{{{ 2}}}	{{{ 3}}}	{{{ 4}}}	{{{ 5}}}	{{{ 6}}}	{{{ 7}}}	{{{ 8}}}	{{{ 9}}}	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	{{{12}}}	{{{13}}}	{{{14}}}	{{{15}}}	{{{16}}}	{{{17}}}	{{{18}}}	{{{19}}}	{{{20}}}	{{{21}}}	{{{22}}}
Black	64.9 / 122	450	295	80	260	424	102	325	122	338	2396	298	95	416	273	225	312	305	131	405	2460	4857

Major tournaments hosted

Year	Tournament	Course(s)	Winner
1950	U.S. Women's Amateur	East Lake Country Club	Beverly Hanson
1963	Ryder Cup	East Lake Country Club	USA - Arnold Palmer
1976	U.S. Open	Highlands	Jerry Pate
1981	PGA Championship	Highlands	Larry Nelson
1990	U.S. Women's Open	Riverside	Betsy King
2001	PGA Championship	Highlands	David Toms
2011	PGA Championship	Highlands	Keegan Bradley
2014	U.S. Amateur	Riverside (stroke play) Highlands (stroke and match play)	Gunn Yang
2017	Arnold Palmer Cup	Highlands	U.S. 19.5–11.5
2021	Women's PGA Championship	Highlands	Nelly Korda

External links

• Official website
• Highlands Renovation in Preparation for 2011 PGA Championship
• AAC voted #1 Athletic Club