East Lake Golf Club

East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia, is famously considered the oldest golf course in the city and carries a colossal historical identity in sporting history. This is where legendary golfer Bobby Jones learned to play golf, thus etching East Lake as one of the seats of golf heritage. Other than this, East Lake Golf Club is pretty famous for being associated with philanthropy. These operations support various charitable activities, with perhaps the most important being the East Lake Foundation, which has transformed one of the most troubled public housing projects in the country into a safe and thriving community.

East Lake Golf Club was originally chartered in 1898 as a part of the Atlanta Athletic Club to serve the needs of a rapidly growing interest in amateur athletics. Though not founded at the start of the opening with a Golf course, soon this very popular game came to this club too. The club took to forming the East Lake Country Club in 1904 on a 178-acre tract in DeKalb County, the site of an old amusement park. The golf course was designed to be the creation by Tom Bendelow himself when the club was first founded.

The course underwent significant transformations over the years. In 1913, the golf course had the original Bendelow layout replaced by golf course architectural work done by Donald Ross. For decades, Ross's design lay essentially unmodified, except for minor changes by George Cobb in 1959 for the 1963 Ryder Cup. In 1993, Rees Jones brought East Lake back to life after years of neglect. Adding another layer to its history of change, a complete restoration led by architect Andrew Green will get underway in 2023, armed with photographs newly discovered for guidance.

East Lake Golf Club has hosted such well-known national and regional championships as the Southern Amateur and the Georgia State Amateur, as well as the U.S. Women's Amateur and the Ryder Cup. It has been since 2005 that East Lake has permanently been home to the TOUR Championship, the final event of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedEx Cup, further cementing its position as a major venue within the world of golf.

The East Lake Golf Club is a remaining reminder of a rich sporting history that draws an envious balance between tradition and commitment to service to the community. This is not just another of the leading golf courses, but rather a leader in making a positive contribution to society, where the feel of the game merges with the spirit of giving back.