Bear's Best Atlanta

The hype of the course is real. It has some great character. However, practice tee was closed. Chipping green was open. Putting greens were open as in great condition. However when teeing off, almost all 18 tee boxes were in poor condition with lots of sand on them or so wet that the grass was not growing. The fairways were in great condition but unfortunately, the greens were not as good as the practice greens. The question is are they ever on any course out there?

However, my overall rating would probably be a 3. My advice to anyone out there, do not pay the money just because it’s a Jack Nickolas course by name only! It does not reflect the character of the man. It only reflects the character of the people “trying” to take care of it.

Wish I could say I want to go back. But it is not worth the price of admission

For $120+ the range balls should be included. The range was beat to heck and there wasn’t grass for practice. Felt like a ripoff to pay $10 extra to hit shots off a cratered dirt pit. Several tee boxes in very bad shape. TONS of unprepared pitch marks on the greens. Water coolers on the front nine but either empty or non existent on the back. Cart service came around frequently. Staff was very friendly and helpful. Fairways were excellent. Overall fun round but tee boxes/range/lack of water made me doubt the value for the price.

Just now right off the bat, this is an out and back course. You will not hit the clubhouse after nine so get what you want before you tee off or you will be waiting for the cart girl. Besides that, I can’t complain about a single thing. The course was in great shape, played from the white tees and could have backed up a tee for sure. From the whites it’s short. Greens were perfect! Lots of beautiful houses around the course and some pretty drives through the trees will help get your mind off the game for a minute.

Course was beautiful and everything I had hoped for Atlanta visit. Played late in the day and pase was good.

Conditions were very good. Some t boxes were beat up and golfers need to fix their divits.

Recent rains made sand play hard packed. Recommend play conservative and steer clear. Taking on the challenge shots will likely cost you and frustrate some.

Experience was excellent and thanks to my partnered pair who were gracious and very friendly regulars to steer me around some blind hill shots.

Recommend playing.

Came across deer on one hole. Conditions were excellent but traps require" more sand. Hard pack and to many stones.

Greens are well maintained. T box a little worn and cut tight.

Tee boxes were a mess. The greens were lumpy and super slow. Not as good as it was 6 months ago when I last played.

Took my son to Bears Best for his birthday. Pace of play was worst ever. Waited 10+ mins to tee off at every hole.

Paid $60 for a hat. Outrageous.

Staff was friendly.

Clubhouse is old and needs a renovation badly.

Course is in terrible shape. Tee boxes are destroyed. Fairways and greens were not much better. Management doesn’t seem to care about this course. A shame that I paid $500 for a foursome. Hot garbage. Would never go back and never recommend this place to anyone.

Worst Golf Course Staff Customer Experience Ever - Complete lack of communication before arrival, dismissive attitude from the pro shop and golf pro, and the unwillingness to take responsibility until I repeatedly pushed the issue.

I understand that golf courses have policies, including rider policies, and I have no issue with a course enforcing reasonable rules. The problem here was the complete lack of clear communication before we arrived, followed by even worse customer service once we got there.

I booked a tee time through GolfNow for three players and brought my 12-year-old daughter as a rider. When we arrived, the pro shop told us they have a no-rider policy. The staff claimed the policy was listed on their website, during the GolfNow booking process, and in the confirmation email. I reviewed the information I received, and the only confirmation email I had was from GolfNow, which did not disclose the no-rider policy. I also did not receive a separate confirmation email from Bear’s Best advising me of this policy, even though the pro shop was adamant that I had. Not to my surprise, their website doesn’t even disclose this policy either.

We drove nearly four hours round trip, arrived early, and were excited to play the course. Instead, we were told we could not play, even though I offered to pay for an additional cart or find another reasonable solution. The staff member was dismissive, unhelpful, and acted like the issue was my fault for not reading information that was NEVER provided to me. It ruined an entire Saturday for all three players.

Again, the issue is not simply that they have a no-rider policy. The issue is that a policy important enough to prevent someone from playing should be clearly disclosed before booking and before someone drives to the course. Posting it inside the pro shop after customers arrive is not enough.

I followed up by email with the club, and while Head Pro James Morra was responsive, he continued to insist the policy had been properly disclosed. He offered a discounted future round, but I did not feel that was sufficient given the poor communication, wasted day, and attitude of the pro shop staff.

It took 6 emails AND me re-booking a tee time through GolfNow for the pro James Morra to actually look into the root cause of GolfNow’s system not emailing the “clubs” confirmation email, even though the GolfNow confirmation was sent to me. Finally, he admitted there was a problem with GolfNow’s communication of the clubs no rider policy, and was unwilling to do more than a lousy discount on our next round. No way I’m driving up there again, even for a discounted round!

The layout was cool and the greens were in good shape, but the tee boxes were dirt and there were a ton of patchy spots. It would have been fine if it had cost half as much. My main gripe is they only had a tiny section of the range open for non-members. It was full, so we had to rush our warm up, despite a completely empty member's area 20 feet away that the staff told us was off limits. Not what I was expecting for a course with that reputation and fee

All the greens were in varying stages of aeration making it difficult to play breaks, judge speed for putting and chipping. Sand trap conditions varied from thin sand with hard base , to soft thick volcanic colored sand. Not worth the price in this courses current condition. Tee boxes were also in rough condition. .

After being on the course for 4 hours and still 4 holes to play we all called it a day. The saddest part is the marshal told at the cart drop off that there is nothing he can do! I have never left in the middle of a round but we had a 45 minute gab between us and the group behind us at they caught up by the 9th hole. I can't believe I paid $130 for this crap. The dumbest thing is the stupid GPS systems telling us we are behind schedule as we wait hole after hole after hole on the groups in front of us.

Course was immaculate but a bit over our head from a difficulty perspective. Glad we got to play but will save money and play an easier course next time.