Stone Mountain Golf Club – Stone Mountain, GA,
Stone Mountain Golf Club is located in one of the most popular attractions in Georgia, Stone Mountain Park. Stone Mountain Golf Club, features two championship golf courses, Stonemont and Lakemont. Having just played both courses I can honestly tell you the two courses couldn’t be named more appropriately. Stonemont has been around the longest, designed and opened by the highly acclaimed Robert Trent Jones Sr. in 1969. Lakemont which opened 20 years later in 1989 was designed by architect John LaFoy. Before playing Lakemont I didn’t know much about John LaFoy who is better known for course renovation work rather than new designs. Much like the two architects at Stone Mountain, Stonemont garners more attention and acclaim than Lakemont. However, that’s not to say Lakemont isn’t worth the four-hour investment.
When we planned our trip to Atlanta, Georgia we didn’t stumble upon Stone Mountain by accident, as I’ve already stated it’s located in one of the most popular attractions in the state and offers visitors several things to do outside of golf. When planning our trip, we needed to be close to Atlanta for business and after a few hours of research we realized Stone Mountain Golf Club was going to be our best option. Not only did it have 36 holes of championship golf but being located less than 20 miles away from downtown Atlanta made it an ideal location. Stone Mountain Golf Club is operated by Marriott Golf which features two properties inside of Stone Mountain Park, the Atlanta Evergreen Marriott Conference Resort and Stone Mountain Inn which both are located less than 2 miles away from the golf club.
Most golfers might think an ideal day is waking up at a fabulous resort and strolling out to play 18 holes, however at Golf Aficionado we prefer 36 holes. On a recent Sunday in September we took on both courses at Stone Mountain Golf Club and with a great pace of play we had no problem making our way around even with our first tee time at nearly 10 AM on a Sunday morning. The Stone Mountain Golf Club which is located only a short distance past the park entrance, as you pull in you’ll see the bag drop area to the right, located just outside of the Pro Shop. One thing to take note of is when entering Stone Mountain Park, you will be forced to pay an entrance fee of $15, keep that in mind if you’re driving up for the day and be sure to car pool.
Stonemont Golf Course
A look at the putting green outside of the Stone Mountain Clubhouse
After checking in at the pro shop, your golf cart will be waiting for you outside of the door. From there you could walk up to the practice green and get a feel for the bent grass putting surface. If you purchased range balls, you can drive over to the range and get a few swings in before driving to the first hole. With 36 holes ahead we decided to skip the driving range and instead just spent our time warming up on the putting green. After getting a feel for the putting surface we headed over to the first tee of Stonemont where the starter was there to greet us and fill us in on the course details. Playing so much golf in Florida it’s always a nice treat to leave the state and play courses with undulation but Stonemont takes undulation to the extreme as you’ll clearly see from the view atop the first tee box. The first hole at Stonemont is a par 4 playing 435 yards from the middle tees and the tee shot is down into a canyon followed by an uphill second shot into an elevated green.
Robert Trent Jones Sr. as you would expect did a fabulous job developing the course routing. As you leave one green and head to the next tee everything seems to flow perfectly around Stone Mountain which is always in view not matter which hole you’re playing. Stonemont is a Par 70 course that plays at 6,863 yards from the back tees, however with all the uphill approach shots it plays more like a course well over 7,000 yards. With only 2 Par 5s on the course and all the Par 3s playing between 180 and 205 yards we found birdie opportunities hard to come by, in fact we finished our round on Stonemont without a birdie among the group
Stonemont Course Rating 4 Stars out of 5
The top of Stone Mountain never seems to be out of view on the Stonemont Course
We were very impressed with the Stonemont Couse and loved the course routing and the challenge that all the undulation presented, in fact I’m not sure if I had one shot in the fairway where the ball was level with my feet. In reviewing the details of our ratings, Stonemont actually accomplished a rare feat in scoring a prefect 5 across all golfers for pace of play. I don’t know anyone who loves to be held up on a golf course and during our round on Stonemont we had no complaints and throughout the round kept astonishing at how well we moved along. Stonemont also scored very well in some of our core golf criteria such as hole variety, shot making, and difficulty. Stonemont is a tough course and will force you to work the ball in all directions with a curve ball thrown in every few holes.
The factors that kept the course rating from being hire than 4 stars was related to the condition of the tee boxes and greens. Around the course we found a lot of wet spots but particularly around the tee boxes and greens, it was almost as if there was a heavy rain the day before but looking at the forecast the area hadn’t received much rain, so it seems like it might be a simple fix with irrigation system. The main factor that impacted our rating was the condition of the greens. Bentgrass is extremely difficult to maintain and that’s why a lot of golf courses have switch to a more durable and easier to maintain putting surface and might be something Stonemont should consider. For the most part the greens were healthy and just rolling slow, but we did find several greens throughout the course which had damage from a fungus and affected play. Outside of the wet areas and the green issues, we thoroughly enjoyed our round on Stonemont, and would highly recommend playing Stonemont whether you are staying in Stone Mountain Park or just visiting for the day.
Lakemont Course
From the 1st tee of the Lakemont Course you’ll notice an immediate change in course layout
After 18 holes on Stonemont we headed over to the first tee of Lakemont, it was a little after 2 o’clock and the starter had already gone home for the day, but that didn’t stop us. Lakemont has fewer tee boxes offering just two options for the men and one for women. We choose to play from the tips with Lakemont being a Par 71 playing at 6,444 yards from the back tees we felt that was well within our range. The opening hole of Lakemont is a real beauty, a Par 5 that wraps along Stonemont Lake and requires your tee shot to carry water. As we made our way to the fairway to hit our second shots we could hear the daily concert from Stone Mountain Park’s 732-bell Carillon which sits across the lake and has been played by Mabel Sharp for over 30 years. As we finished the first hole we clearly knew we were on a completely different course than Stonemont. Seeing the lake and having water in play was refreshing after spending the last 4 hours on Stonemont with nothing but the mountain scenery.
From the first green on Lakemont you can hear Stone Mountain Park’s 732-bell Carillon loud and clear
Stonemont Lake was very active as we made our way to the Par 3 2nd hole, we could see fishing boats in the lake as well as a World War II amphibious vehicle referred to as a “duck” had driven into the lake. To be honest after 3 or 4 holes on the Lakemont course we found ourselves wondering why Lakemont wasn’t the course that garnered the most attention at Stone Mountain. As we completed the front 9 and made the turn we started to realize the issue was the back 9 failed to match the excellence of the front 9. The front 9 of Lakemont was extremely enjoyable and the beauty of Stone Mountain Lake made it that much better. However, as we made the turn and headed towards the 10th and kept driving and driving I knew something was a little out of the ordinary. After finishing the 9th hole on Lakemont you end up then having to drive through the front nine of Stonemont before reaching the 10th of Lakemont. Remember Lakemont was built 20 years after Stonemont and had the courses been built at the same time I’m sure the routing would be completely different. However, as it stands Robert Trent Jones Sr. struck first, he routed Stonemont through the heart of the property. 20 years later when John LaFoy came along he was stuck building between Stone Mountain Lake and Stonemont. The good news is LaFoy was left with enough lake frontage to build a very impressive front nine, however the back nine just falls short. If you played Lakemont in reverse order you’d probably walk away with a better feeling because that front nine makes up for a lot but how it stands it’s a lot like eating desert, then moving onto your vegetables.
Lakemont Course Rating 3 ¾ Stars out of 5
Having water in play was refreshing after spending 4 hours on Stonemont
Our group enjoyed the Lakemont course especially the front nine. Even though the back 9 doesn’t stand up to the front 9 it’s still worth playing. In fact, in terms of hole variety and shot making Lakemont’s rating was very similar to Stonemont. The same issues that impacted Stonemont were evident on Lakemont, however the fungus issue on the greens was more evident on Lakemont. Several of the greens on the back nine at Lakemont were heavily damaged and impacted putting to the point we had to take relief on a few putts. If the putting surfaces are improved and the irrigation issues are resolved the course conditions would be greatly improved and I think Lakemont could garner a 4 start rating.
Compared to Stonemont we scored considerably better on Lakemont, and considering the course ratings that’s about what you would expect. On Stonemont we had zero birdies, on Lakemont birdie always seemed to be in play and we sank more than our fair share. On average our group scored 5 shots better on Lakemont when compared to our round on Stonemont earlier that day. Lakemont seemed to have the perfect amount of undulation and the holes along the lake are definitely memorable. While you wouldn’t want to run to Stone Mountain just to play Lakemont it’s defiantly worth the greens fee if you’re staying on property or want a 27 or 36-hole day of golf. After playing 36 holes at Stone Mountain Golf Club we had been properly challenged from tee to green and walked away with an appreciation of both courses and Stone Mountain Park itself.