Bear's Best Atlanta

We had a 3pm tee time and were unable to finish before 9 pm. The staff refused to speed up the 5 groups that were holding up the pace of play. On 5 different holes we had 3 groups backed up on the tee. They send groups off every 8 minutes which has changed the entire experience. Would not recommend this course to anyone

Bears Best is a great layout that is continually one of the best courses in the Atl metro area.
We had a heap of rain the day before play so the bunkers were washed out. The Green had just been punched and were a bit bumpy.
The range is apparently closed on Mondays per the Pro shop staff, although i guess they weren't aware that we had been on the putting green for 30 minutes prior to checking in and saw that the range was indeed open but closed just before we checked in. It was also open again as we were finishing our round. Not sure what that was about? Just tell me the truth will be fine.

Beside all this its still a great track and the $39 i paid for the round more than made up for the few issues that were present on the day of play.

Course length is an issue only needed driver on 4 holes.I played it was after a lot of rain and you could only tell in the bunkers.

The course is 'what you see is what you get, no trick shots required'. Helps to play with someone who has played though due to the need for correct ball placement, both distance and right/left.

I had the opportunity to play on a Hot Deal ($50). The course is in excellent shape. Although it was still a little wet in some fairways it was in fantastic shape. The greens were rolling smooth with subtle undulations. Several of the greens were multi tiered putting a premium on getting on the right level. Course of play was a bit slow, several groups were playing from tees outside of their ability but all in all it was a great round. Definitely a must play when visiting.

Played BB a couple days after the course got 4"+ of rain in 36 hours. Obviously, I was not expecting the course to be pristine in those conditions - I saw about 10 bunkers that were unplayable on the course, while the vast majority were still in very good condition due to the drainage system. As for the course itself, it drained exceptionally well, with only one "mushy" area the entire 18 holes. I would like to have played it after the grounds crew had a chance to repair things. That said, I would imagine that I would have rated it pristine before the rains. The greens were well-maintained (modest pace and smooth) and relatively easy to putt if you are on the correct level (over half the greens are two-tiers).

There are a five different sets of tees, so players of different abilities/length can play the course without much difficulty. Many of the fairways are "banked" on one or both sides, which makes it play even wider than it already is (I hit a couple of tee shots which probably had no business being in the fairway, but they kicked right back onto the short grass, and this was after the rain I mentioned before).

The par 3's are picturesque, and may look intimidating to mid-high handicappers because three of them are over water, and the green is angled along the water on the right sides which creates the illusion that they are a lot longer than they actually play - trust the yardage, and they aren't that hard.

I would recommend that single digit handicappers should probably play it all the way back because if you don't, you will find that many of the par 4's are 340-390 type holes (yes, you will score with wedge in your hand half the day, but it will be boring). By playing all the way back, I literally used every club in my bag. If you are a 10-15 handicapper, play the blue/green, and you will be challenged, but not so much that you won't shoot in the 80's (unless you wash it a couple times on the par 3's). As I said, it is a very playable course - if you are hitting it pretty good, and avoid the big number, you will likely score very, very well.

The food and beverage cart girl hit us twice in 4 hours (#6 and #13), which was perfect. The staff seemed friendly inside and outside.

The deal I got through GolfNow, along with the promo code from the Golf Channel, kept it under $35/inc. tax for 18 holes. That was sweet! That is really the only reason I gave an overall rating of 5 stars - Excellent. If i had to pay $45-50, given the condition of some of the bunkers, I would have rated it 4 stars overall. I should say, however, if it was $45-50, I would not have played the course at all, regardless of the course's condition, because I only play golf when I can get a great deal on GolfNow! And, let me say, as a golfer who plays as a single most of the time, and doesn't mind playing with golfers of all abilities, GolfNow is my new best friend!!!

We enjoyed the course very much. It was nice having a grill going at the turn for a hot sandwich. Course condition was good shape. Bears Best is one of the 'bucket list' type courses.

The layout is exceptional! You won't recognize that many holes as "famous", but each hole has it's own distinguishing factor. The greens have been aerated 10 or 12 days ago, but were fine. The ball rolled true except for a few bumps. Until the greens are completely back, it's still a great round if you can get a bit of a discount. Tees and fairways were excellent, rough was easy because it hasn't all grown in yet this year. The range was nice (no mats). Very good hot dogs at the turn, too. Was a bit surprised there was not GPS on carts, but that's very minor. In all, a great day of golf.

Great course! Plenty of challenges but some risk reward holes as well.

We had a Great time playing Bear's Best. It is a phenomenal course, that is Very well maintained. The only hiccup for us was the fact the greens were aerated only days prior to our round. In fairness, we knew this going in, and with the great value we received, it was definitely well worth it! I can't wait to come back and play the course in prime shape.

Fairways and tee boxes were in great condition. We played in just under 4 hours and we teed off after lunch!

The greens were aerated on 4/15 - yet the greens rolled quite well when played on 4/18. The rest of the course was in great shape. My first outing at Bear's Best --- definitely won't be my last!

First and foremost, the length of the round needs to be quantified. It took almost 6 hours from 1st tee to 18th green. Granted, I played during Master's week (on a tuesday, not even the weekend) which apparently means heavy traffic for this course, but no course should ever take 6 hours to play. Period. If I had to pay the full price of $149 (which I didn't, thanks golfnow) that would have made things that much worse.
That being said, the course has a very nice layout. The par 3's are definitly the highlight of this course. The practice facilities are, as you would expect from a course of this caliber, excellent with two massive putting greens, a short game area, and a large driving range.
Overall, I'd recommend this course in a heartbeat if length of round was not an issue.

This course is average at best. As far as courses in the $100-$150 I will never replay this one. Overall condition was average, greens need some work, unimpressive club house, golf shop & driving range. It may the worst marked courses I've played in a long time, that wasn't a pasture, yardage markers are almost non existent and no gps in the carts. I had a pretty good round, I lost one ball the entire day, played the back tees and was in the fairway most of the time.

The course was in good condition and the staff was friendly. If you play the week of the masters expect a full tee sheet.

I left after waiting 30 minutes after my tee time.
Golfers were finishing in over 5+30 hours.
Their tee times are 8 minutes apart. No wonder they were running 30+ minutes behend schedule. I haven't seen 8 minute tee times since Muni course that charge $10 green fees.
There were no grass on the driving range because of overuse and terrible service. Worst golf experience ever. I play over 100+ rounds a year.

Wow. My wife and I have played many courses in the Hilton Head / Atlanta area while on vacation over the last two years. This was the most outstanding course we have played in these two areas. The greens were great and played fast but not on the silly side of fast. Loved this collection of holes. Every hole was a challenge and unique. This is a must play course when in the Atlanta area.

A great course to play, conditions are great, they really take pride in keep the course in pristine condition. Yo can recognize many of the holes if you ever watch any golf on TV or played any of the course holes replicated. While an exact match would be nearly impossible to achieve, they've come very close. Only bad thing I can think of is that they charge you to hit a handful of balls before you tee off. Courses with class and high tee time prices offer free range balls, they seem to have dropped the ball on this point. The range balls were Titleist NXT Practice and were in good shape, so you can't complain there.

This is an excellent course that is in great condition and is a good challenge. The pace of play was pretty slow the day I played, but the course itself is a must play in the Atlanta area.

Only surprise is the fact that a couse of this caliber charges extra for range balls.