Crystal Lake Golf and Country Club—Hampton, GA
This was the most frustrating golf course I have ever played and this frustration had very little to do with my play,
as I hit the ball and scored very well relative to my handicap. The frustration came from the course itself and how
it had moments of absolute wonderful brilliance countered by garbage of the most irk-some kind.
The course was designed by Dennis Griffiths and, to date, this is the fourth course I have played by Mr. Griffiths.
All of his courses have rumpled fairways and are on rolling terrain. They all seem to have tight fairways with
extremely penal rough and water hazards. I get the feeling that his courses are best suited for the low handicap
golfer. To try to get the full gist of what Mr. Griffith’s Crystal Lake was about, I chose to play the gold tees (not
the tips which would have been over my head) at Crystal Lake which measure 6,790 yards and are rated
72.7/140.
The first few holes were pretty solid and got my juices flowing in anticipation of a great round on a wonderful
course. Here is the approach to the 508 yard par 5 first hole.
It was pretty good. Fairly open off the tee with a strategic decision to lay up or go for it on the approach. Nice
start!!
The routing of the course takes the golfer around Crystal Lake, which is nice. But the course is obviously built to
help facilitate home sales and is clearly a residential golf course as the routing takes you through neighborhoods,
across streets, places tee boxes (essentially) in people’s back yards, and these transitions are LONG and
winding. Okay, okay, it costs only $59 for a round here and in Atlanta that is cheap.
And as the round progresses, I got overwhelmed with the penal nature of the architecture which seemed to be
designed simply for the sake of being penal. Take a look at the tee ball off of 4. The fairway is narrow with
bunkers lining the extreme right side of the fairway and tree limbs blocking the direct line to the fairway. If you hit
a nice tee ball right down the middle of the fairway, you probably will catch those limbs. Go over the bunkers and
you risk OB.
Here is the tee shot on 14. The junk creates a diagonal hazard and a skinny fairway.
Here is the 220 yard par 3 15th. Junk in front of the tee box, don’t top your ball off the tee!
Here is the approach shot to 18. This is where my ball landed off the tee. The junk is at 235 yards down the
fairway.
Junk is everywhere and at weird distances. Too much for me and very repetitive.
But the course has GREAT moments. See the above 1st hole and here is the approach to the 10th. NICE!
And the green on 5 is great looking from the side. Is this Ireland? Man, it looks awesome!
But here is the view from the tee box. Oh yeah, that is right. This isn’t Ireland. This is a residential course just
outside Atlanta.
See what I mean; so close to being awesome, but so far away.
For what it is worth, I think Mr. Griffiths may have done all he could. But alas, a golf course designed to be in the
middle of a residential development most likely tied his hands.
This was the most frustrating golf course I have ever played and this frustration had very little to do with my play,
as I hit the ball and scored very well relative to my handicap. The frustration came from the course itself and how
it had moments of absolute wonderful brilliance countered by garbage of the most irk-some kind.
The course was designed by Dennis Griffiths and, to date, this is the fourth course I have played by Mr. Griffiths.
All of his courses have rumpled fairways and are on rolling terrain. They all seem to have tight fairways with
extremely penal rough and water hazards. I get the feeling that his courses are best suited for the low handicap
golfer. To try to get the full gist of what Mr. Griffith’s Crystal Lake was about, I chose to play the gold tees (not
the tips which would have been over my head) at Crystal Lake which measure 6,790 yards and are rated
72.7/140.
The first few holes were pretty solid and got my juices flowing in anticipation of a great round on a wonderful
course. Here is the approach to the 508 yard par 5 first hole.
It was pretty good. Fairly open off the tee with a strategic decision to lay up or go for it on the approach. Nice
start!!
The routing of the course takes the golfer around Crystal Lake, which is nice. But the course is obviously built to
help facilitate home sales and is clearly a residential golf course as the routing takes you through neighborhoods,
across streets, places tee boxes (essentially) in people’s back yards, and these transitions are LONG and
winding. Okay, okay, it costs only $59 for a round here and in Atlanta that is cheap.
And as the round progresses, I got overwhelmed with the penal nature of the architecture which seemed to be
designed simply for the sake of being penal. Take a look at the tee ball off of 4. The fairway is narrow with
bunkers lining the extreme right side of the fairway and tree limbs blocking the direct line to the fairway. If you hit
a nice tee ball right down the middle of the fairway, you probably will catch those limbs. Go over the bunkers and
you risk OB.
Here is the tee shot on 14. The junk creates a diagonal hazard and a skinny fairway.
Here is the 220 yard par 3 15th. Junk in front of the tee box, don’t top your ball off the tee!
Here is the approach shot to 18. This is where my ball landed off the tee. The junk is at 235 yards down the
fairway.
Junk is everywhere and at weird distances. Too much for me and very repetitive.
But the course has GREAT moments. See the above 1st hole and here is the approach to the 10th. NICE!
And the green on 5 is great looking from the side. Is this Ireland? Man, it looks awesome!
But here is the view from the tee box. Oh yeah, that is right. This isn’t Ireland. This is a residential course just
outside Atlanta.
See what I mean; so close to being awesome, but so far away.
For what it is worth, I think Mr. Griffiths may have done all he could. But alas, a golf course designed to be in the
middle of a residential development most likely tied his hands.
