Heritage Golf Links - Tradition Nine

I wish I could keep this pithy, but HGL has a number of issues that need addressing, so I'll do it point by point per the rating system of GN. Also, I used to play here frequently as a pseudo member when it was managed by Affiniti Partners, but this place has fallen far from that lofty standard of 2010-2012ish.

Pace of Play -- pretty much always awful on the weekends and Friday, especially Heritage since it is the first nine you normally play when doing 18. Legacy thins the herd I guess as maybe several groups defect to Tradition for an easier time on their second 9. Still that is just a crutch. HGL needs to hire a marshal to go with the starter to protect their pace of play on the main 18 at least until twilight. There seems to be no commitment to such and it's just "cram as many players as you can and consequences be darned!"

Stop over-booking and duping people into playing Tradition if they want to move it along. Why not market a cheaper ($15 less) Tradition to Heritage round of 18 starting late morn \ midday that will cross over to the "back" as the morning times on Heritage are turning to Legacy? And otherwise limiting early morning and late afternoon on Tradition to 9-hole and twilight play? Then start your early afternoon 18 rounds on Legacy turning onto Heritage later. There's gotta be a way to do it, or just limit Tradition to 9-holers and beginners.

Course Layout \ Conditions -- to dovetail with the PoP issues, it might behoove you guys to tell your super to stop setting the course up with ridiculous hole locations that have no business on this tricky layout, at least not with any frequency. With nary a flat lie on the golf course, what good is it to tuck pins on shelves and humps on greens that really should have been re-designed the week after the course was opened? I love the challenge of the greens when they are in good shape and rolling smoothly, but there are too many high-handicappers on this course to be using certain portions of these greens, or tucking pins on the side of a shelf of a multi-tiered green. Certain spots should just be off-limits for pins on Fri-Sun.

For example, front right on the down slope of Heritage 1, extreme left edge on Her 3, just under the top of the spine on Her 6 where it is severely sloped, back left on Her 7 where you're just begging for pull hooks into the bunker, that stupid false front shelf on Her 8 behind the bunker (I know it's a risk / reward hole, but come on, you could hit a Jason Day high-ball with an 8-iron from 180 and have no chance of stopping it anywhere near the hole even after a heavy rain), extreme left front side of Leg 1 where to the right is a 6 foot drop-off, right behind the edge of the false front on the bottom tier of Leg 3 where you will putt right off the green from the middle tier etc. I could go on but I think you get the idea.

It's fun to have maybe one or two of those locations in a round but when you put several into the Saturday set-up and many back to back, how in the world do you expect foursomes to play in less than 5 hours??! It's just insanity. Stop setting it up on the weekend like it's a US Open Sectional Qualifier!!

Oh, conditions...I realize the course is mostly Bermuda so you get a pass on patchy grass in the fairways as it takes time in the spring for it to come into its ideal lushness and thickness. The greens could be a bit faster, but by in large, they are healthy and seem ready for a summer of heavy traffic. Obviously the poa annua makes it a challenge to keep them smooth all day, but they seemed a bit too furry for late April. Also, the Heritage side always seems 1 to 2 feet slower than the Legacy side...not sure if there is any way to get them closer in speed since there is more stress on the Heritage greens due to less ventilation and more greens with shade.

But if there is anything you can do to impress upon people to fix ball marks such as little signs near the greens as you walk up or having the starter add it to a short opening spiel like "Pin position 2 today, 90 degrees and fix your ball mark plus one more!" would be nice and might help. Sucks that so many crappy golfers disregard this and abuse the course (yet still play agonizingly slow), but again, if there is more attention paid to the little things (free pitch mark device instead of two draft beers with a greens fee!), and a roaming marshal, it might help to incentivize some folks to be more mindful.

Value for Your $ -- perceived value is dwindling fast as rates seem to be creeping up AFTER the spring ramp up to the Masters. Seriously? I know it's almost summer and people will pay a premium to beat the heat in the morning, but you had early afternoon times advertised on GN last Saturday for $73!!?? Are you kidding? Unless you get the greens in better shape, stop tucking pins and grow some grass, you might want to re-think that. The sweet spot for this course (when it's in great condition) is $55-65 in morning and $50-30 (declining towards twil) during the afternoon. Especially with the PoP issues you will have invariably from being pretty much the only good public course around for miles. But I bet you know why you've lost some afternoon business to Smoke Rise)...at least you don't have to hammer a putt from 30 feet up a slope to get it to the hole, or putt through 4 pitch marks or wait 5 minutes on a 4some to putt out to a US Open hole location.

Perhaps I'm delusional and asking too much, but I rarely paid more than $55 (for a non-member guest) when Affiniti managed this place and it was in great condition, had great staff who made you feel at home in the grill room and a Superintendent, who had the place looking pretty darn immaculate (although David did like the sneaky hard pin placement almost as much as this current guy...is that you David??)

Surely this place can make a good profit with an average of $55 peak-time rounds without having to overbook it and make everyone miserable with tedious and torturous hole locations on huge greens that are challenging on any day with 10 pins in the middle, 4 in the back and 4 in the front. Get the course in excellent shape, price it fairly for a fun day and I'm sure you'll make very good money from the golf-hungry masses of Atlanta.

Heritage is in great shape compared to the last time I played there.

This would be a great and enjoyable course if the bunkers actually had sand in them. I had to remove my ball from the first bunker I hit into because my ball was lodged in a bunch of large gravel stones. I then learned that there's never any sand in any of the bunkers on this course. It's really too bad. I'll continue to take lessons here, but plan to play elsewhere so I can keep my new clubs in good shape.

No control of people flow on the course, pace of play was awful as it took 2 hours to play 4 holes.

1:36pm tee. 1st tee backed up so tee'd off a little after 2pm. Finished 7:45pm.

This course is not for beginners. There is not a flat lie on the entire course and sand traps everywhere. Greens were very challenging. Pace of play was awful, but it was the first sunny Saturday in awhile so i understand.

Tradition course was good, other course was not in very good condition. There are some other courses around Atlanta that are better for the same price.

The problem with this course is over booking and rangers that are good people but not organized to get the course moving properly. Is the best layout in metro are. Have potential to be a 5 Star Golf course.

Green keepers are doing a great job. Need to get better in communication.

Love the layout, great staff, one of my favorite courses

Played a weekday morning fir less than $20, a steal!