Early years The
Atlanta Athletic Club (AAC) was formed in 1898 and due to its popularity it gained 700 members in only four years. The director of the club's athletic program was
John Heisman, the famous football coach for whom the
Heisman Trophy is named. In 1904 the AAC bought property at East Lake to build a country club which included a golf course. Course architect
Tom Bendelow was asked to lay out the course. age 9 shown playing golf at his home course at East Lake. The course's first holes were built in 1906 and were initially only seven holes, then nine. In the summer of 1907, the course was expanded to 17 holes, and later that year the 18th hole was built to complete it. Also in 1907, the first significant tournament was hosted at East Lake, the
Southern Amateur, won by Nelson Whitney. In 1908,
Tom Bendelow opened his "No. 2" course at East Lake. In 1913, famed golf course architect
Donald Ross redesigned the course at East Lake. The new plan provided for each of the nine holes to conclude at the clubhouse. Ross also redesigned the No. 2 course in 1928. A tragic fire destroyed the original clubhouse at East Lake in 1925. Following the fire, famed architect
Philip Shutze, who is known for constructing the famous
Swan House in
Buckhead, was hired by the club to build East Lake's present day two-story
Tudor style clubhouse. golfing at East Lake Golfer
Bobby Jones is said to have played his first and last games of golf at East Lake. Jones won golf's
Grand Slam in 1930, claiming the
U.S. Amateur,
U.S. Open,
British Amateur and
British Open titles in the same year. Jones's father, "Colonel" Robert P. Jones, served as the president of East Lake from 1937–42 and as a director for 38 years. Bobby Jones himself also served as president of East Lake from 1946–47. Other notable East Lake players around the same time were amateurs
Watts Gunn,
Perry Adair,
Charlie Yates and
Alexa Stirling Fraser many of whom were assisted by East Lake's golf professional
Stewart Maiden. In 1963, East Lake hosted the 15th biennial
Ryder Cup where
Arnold Palmer served as the playing captain of the winning US Team.
Redevelopment East Lake began a downward slope when the surrounding neighborhood deteriorated in the 1960s and became victim to
suburban flight. The Atlanta Athletic Club became a part of this when it sold the No. 2 course to developers and moved to its current home in
Johns Creek. The original course and clubhouse were saved by a group of 25 members, led by Atlanta businessman Paul Grigsby, who purchased them and created East Lake Country Club in 1968. In 1970, the East Lake Meadows public housing project was built on the site of the No. 2 golf course and became a center for poverty, drugs and violence. Middle-income homeowners fled the surrounding neighborhood, replaced by low-income renters. By the 1980s, East Lake became a mostly forgotten golf course in a seemingly hopeless neighborhood. This all changed in 1993 when a local charitable foundation headed by
Tom Cousins purchased East Lake with the intent to restore it as a tribute to Bobby Jones and the club's other great amateur golfers. The East Lake Foundation was also created and has used the renovation as a catalyst for revitalizing the surrounding community. In 1994,
Rees Jones, son of golf course architect
Robert Trent Jones, restored
Donald Ross' original golf course design at East Lake to its current layout. In 1998
the Tour Championship was hosted at East Lake for the first time. In 2005 East Lake was named the permanent home of the Tour Championship. East Lake has hosted the tournament 23 times since 1998. The clubhouse was significantly expanded in 2008 with a 20,000 square foot addition designed to match the existing 1926 structure. The manufacturer of the original
B. Mifflin Hood roof tiles had gone out of business in the 1940s, but they were recreated by
Ludowici. Construction began in February of that year and was completed by the Tour championship that September. == Today==