The Frog at the Georgian

This is an exceptional golfing experience. The course is generous, but not without its pitfalls. The typical Fazio design has many strategically placed bunkers to catch errant or mis-clubbed shots. Tee boxes, fairways and greens were all in top flight condition, a credit to the attentiveness of the superintendent and his crew. This is a challenging, fun, layout.

This is a very underrated layout. It is far enough outside of Atlanta to not be crowded, which also probably hurts it in the Top 100 rankings, because I could see this course in the bottom 10. First, Fazio provides a layout that lends a changing variety of holes. The first two are straightforward and ease you into the round. The third is a short par 3, followed by back-to-back par 5s, the second of which is reachable by even mid-handicappers. Next are a couple of short par 4s before giving way to a picturesque par 3. The back nine offers a a tremendous scoring opportunity midway through - beginning with the brilliantly conceptualized par-5 13th. If you can avoid the pot bunker in the middle of the fairway off the tee, a tremendous risk/reward option awaits. A large pond guards the right side of the green and a large bunker guards the front, though it is a bit of an optical illusion. The green actually sits some 30 yards behind the trap, so fades carrying the bunker can actually bound onto the green and set up eagle putts, particularly if the pin is in the front. Birdie this hole and the ~300-yard 14th awaits. The par-5 finishing hole is very strong. The bent greens were near perfect, especially this time of year. My only criticism is that the dormant fairways were very thin, making my iron game a bit off. However, I love this course. It is very playable - not overly long for the higher handicapper, yet enough trouble (mostly in the form of bunkers) to keep better players focused.

The frog is a really fun course that will challenge every level golfer from the daunting tee shot on #1 untill you putt out on #18's three tiered green. The course is wide open off the tee as far as out of bounds goes, but in true Tom Fazio fashion every hole is littered with strategically placed bunkers that will more often than not result in bogey. The agronomy crew does a fantastic job maintaining the tournament conditions I've encountered every time that I've played the course. They just added sand to all the bunkers and they're always raked which definitely improves consistency and is really hard to find at public access courses. The bent greens are IMMACULATE! Every time I've played here they are rolling fast and true so staying below the hole is a must considering all of the greens have either multiple tiers or a severe slope. The only two complaints that I have about the course are that it's pretty far off the beaten path and that the summer heat and lack of rain really dried out most of the fairways. It's a little frustrating that the management has not reduced the greens fees from what they were in the spring when fairways were and rough were lush.

This course is an absolute gym... course is always in amazing condition and the staff is great... the greens always are perfect... best of all there's nobody out there... so pace of play is awesome...

For the money, I would rather play any of the RTJ Trail Courses in Alabama. They are in better shape, cost less and are more interesting layouts.