Golf Course Scouting Report: East Lake Golf Club

While East Lake Golf Club is a familiar venue for the Tour Championship, this Georgian gem will be virtually unrecognizable when the top 30 players in the world descend upon it to compete for the FedEx Cup. Andrew Green's endeavor to restore East Lake to Donald Ross's early-1900s vision is an absolute home run.

The greens have been doubled in size, reshaped, and raised to create entirely different looks, approach shots, and hole locations. Bunkers have been moved, added, and restored to bring back the sharp angles and beautiful Donald-Ross sightlines. Fairways have been reshaped and pinched to not only tighten the landing areas but to add elements of strategy as players will need to decide which sand traps to take on and when to lay back with a respectful iron.

Green has returned Donald Ross's glory to East Lake.

Overall: 8.70 - East Lake Golf Club has regained the indefinable class that Donald Ross sprinkled over every blade of Bermudagrass on these hallowed grounds over 100 years ago.

Memorable Holes: 8.5

East Lake Golf Club had its fair share of stand-out holes before Andrew Green's work, and the restoration brought it to another level. The most famous hole is undoubtedly the par-three 15th, a terrifying 215-yard shot to a peninsula green. This is not the only notable hole, however, as the fearful 390-yard eighth (shortened by 65 yards) hugs the lake down the entire left side and provides an outrageously intimidating tee shot. Additional bunkers were added to tighten this fairway during the restoration, creating yet another element to ponder off the tee.

Interest: 10.0

Green's restoration adds an elite level of intrigue to East Lake. Many of the enlarged greens have been raised, creating interesting hole locations and chip shots. Tee balls are no longer played down straight fairways; rather, players must maneuver through zig-zags and well-placed fairway bunkers. An outstanding example comes at the seventh; this extremely difficult par four measures 495 yards and boasts one of the most difficult tee shots on the course; bunkers carve into each side of the rudely narrow fairway, forcing a decision on whether to attempt to carry a drive over the bunkers, thread a tee shot surgically between them, or lay back with a lesser wood and accept a 215-yard approach into this well-guarded green.

Par Threes: 9.0

As I discuss in detail on my podcast, Linksworms, Andrew Green's restoration brought life and variety back to four phenomenal short holes. The uphill 205-yard second now features two long and narrow bunkers that pinch the green's entrance. The ninth hole was lengthened to a whopping 260 yards - we'll call it a drivable par three. The elevated green was widened, and significant runoff areas were added on all sides. The 225-yard 11th has seen the green enlarged and shifted to the right with a widened front bunker and runoff areas added long and left. Lastly, the left-side bunker at the 15th was removed and the green was widened to bring the lake tight to the left side. A runoff area was also implemented behind the green. It is difficult to find any flaws in this brilliant group of par threes.

Difficulty: 8.5

East Lake will now play as a par 71 as the 14th hole was lengthened to 580 yards and restored to a par five. This adds a birdie hole, but the increased difficulty of the rest of the layout compensates. Restored contours and bunkers around the greens have both increased the requirement for accurate iron play and magnified the penalty for misses. For example, the par-four first hole features a green that was reshaped to create a shallower target with a runoff area long. Andrew Green narrowed the fairway (which was already difficult to hit) and stretched the hole from 469 to 510 yards. There is no opening-hole warmup here - it's baptism by fire at East Lake.

Finish: 7.5

This rating would be higher if the PGA Tour had not reversed the front and back nines eight years ago. The grueling 16th, the water-logged 17th, and the brutally difficult par-three 18th would have yielded a rating in the neighborhood of 9.0. But alas, these holes are now the seventh, eighth, and ninth, respectively. The current 16th is a strong 460-yard par four with a greenside fall-off that was strongly sharpened during the renovation. This was the site of Rory McIlroy's legendary eagle in 2016 before he drained the winning birdie in a playoff on this very same hole.

The 445-yard 17th has received arguably the biggest improvement of any hole at East Lake; what used to be a generic par four now features a large fairway split vertically by two long, narrow bunkers. Players can hit a conservative drive to the right of these bunkers or attempt a carry over the trees to the left-hand section, setting up a short approach.

The current 18th hole is spectacular. Long hitters have the opportunity to crank a 360-yard drive to the bottom of the hill and go for the green in two using an iron. With the lake bisecting the fairway and the historic clubhouse sitting directly behind the green, this hole puts an exclamation point on a remarkable round of golf.

For the criteria used to determine these ratings, please click here.