Top Public golf courses in Atlanta, United States

Nice hilly course, with a mixture of tight and wide fairways..

They have updated this course and it feels much better than it used to. The greens still have much to be desired. Please watch out for errant balls flying around. Nobody yells fore at this course.

On Sunday they closed the back nine and you had to play the front twice. They overbooked and it's a death trap out here, ball coming from everywhere.

The layout of the course is interesting, but the greens are slow. No food or drinks in the club house. No parking on site, have to park on the street in the neighborhood. The “regulars” need to understand they don’t run the place. We had a few unfriendly interactions. It’s a public course, not Augusta.

Atlanta native and have been playing at Chastain for over 20 years. The glory days when King was managing it are officially over. It has reached rock bottom. Either the City of Atlanta or management decided to strip any cost that was hitting the bottom line. Back in the day, they used to have food and beer for sale in the pro-shop with a PGA or LPGA tournament on TV. This week it was only bottled water and European soccer, not to mention, there are no food or drinks available anywhere while you are on the course; They used to have a great staff of cart girls. The course is in terrible shape now. The fairways on some holes are so washed out it looks like the grand canyon. The greens were actually pretty good but the pin placements are a joke, on the middle of down/side slopes. If you are above the hole, you will have an 8-foot comeback putt guaranteed. It is just silly. Tee box positions are goofy and many of them look like fairway bunkers. Tee times are also 10-15 minutes apart so expect to wait on every shot, with no marshals monitoring pace. To top it all off, on our 15th hole one of the pros came out and told us all carts were due at 5:30 (overtime pay is my guess). When we asked how long this has been a policy and why it exists, he said it has always been a policy, which is simply not true. He was a total jerk and gave no explanation or empathy to the fact that we were in the middle of our back nine. He could not have been less cordial or unprofessional. Said some jerk line to us and then drove off. It is simply a shame to witness this massive regression at Chastain.

The golf course needs help. There are no greens, just weeds. Landscapers need to get the course golf ready. However, it was a beautiful day at the park.

This course would be great with competent management but they don't seem to care at all once they have your money. We just finished a 6 hour round and didn't see 1 ranger on the course (there were 2 in the parking lot chatting with each other not paying attention).

Was looking forward to playing here again but found out they won't let you play 18 holes after 1pm... they won't even let you try to play 18 holes. I will definitely be taking my business to courses that at least let you play until it gets dark. Such a disappointment for a course that has potential, but not the commitment to players trying to play in the winter when days are short and extremely limited.... terrible management and terrible publicity for your course that isn't as known or popular as others in the area. Good luck to you because I don't see a bright future if this is how you do business.

Decent course for the price. Does not have a driving range. Fairly well kept.

Have been playing Wolf Creek off and on for at least 5 or 6 years. As others noted, there was a definitely a period between ownership changes where the course got in pretty bad shape. I went back in December 2023 and found the course to be very good shape for winter conditions and the greens probably in the best condition I've seen there. Worth a vist and convenient to intown Atlanta.

Cheap course, if that’s what you’re looking for. And you get what you pay for…Poor quality tees and greens. Overgrown fairways, to where I’ve lost balls in the fairway grass. Crowded and very slow pace of play if you come at peak hours. And at times you’ll have random people playing without even having a tee time. Aside from that, the staff are always super friendly and accommodating.

Nice public course but overpriced for the quality and the fact it’s just 9 holes. It’s a fun and scenic course but the some of the greens seriously need a lot of work, even after the recent renovation.

My foursome’s tee time was delayed 3 hours by the course because of frost. No problem, but we needed a rain check as the three hour delay simply could not work for our schedules that day. Rain check was reluctantly given for the following week…. Fast forward to the following week and it’s bad weather…staff rudely informed me that there is no rain check for a rain check. The policy bothers me, but it was the way that I was spoken to by several team members that caused the real hard feelings. Especially Demarco. I told him respectfully to have a great weekend after a discussion about the policy and he hung up on me, that’s after he spoke rudely without fully listening to the situation. This is Not a review on the course itself as my foursome never got to play but the staff made a lasting impression that will keep us away forever….

I grew up on this golf course some 50 years ago so most of my experience goes back a ways. I played yesterday and come away with these thoughts. The clubhouse now offers nothing more than a cash register and some chilled bottles of water. The greens are really pretty good. They don't hold but this IS a "muni". They do have contours that I don't recall, which adds character, and they have managed to grow grass in places I never thought they could. That being said I lost at least one ball in ruts eroded in the 13th fairway's low area. But mostly, my impression is that the course is very over-grown. Trees have grown to block tee-shots and vegetation along creeks and the lake have grown to the point that they can hardly be seen, all of which detracts from the experience. That being said, the greens fees are more than reasonable and the course layout is as good as it ever was. Just keep it in the fairway

My husband and I really enjoy this course and the staff is also super friendly. My only reservation to a 5 star review for this lovely public course is that there are multiple holes that do not have a proper tee box for the ladies. They’ve just put red markers down somewhere in front of the white tee boxes - and in most cases these ladies “tees” are on an incline and with untrimmed Bermuda grass. In those cases, I end up playing the whites w my husband.

Is this a PGA Tour course? No?
Is this a top 50 course in Atlanta? No
Is this course in great shape? No

This course is run and maintained like any lower-cost public course in any other city: the fairways aren’t great, the greens aren’t great, the maintenance isn’t great, the carts aren’t great, but if you wake up this morning and say, “I want to play golf today,” this is your course.

Tee times are readily available, the course is kept to a standard that allows for enjoyable practice-level play, and every round I’ve played, the pace of play is good –if not faster than average.

Caveat: because of the location, availability, and cost, you will encounter inexperienced golfers, so be prepared to be patient and keep your head on swivel for errant shots. I have never had a bad experience here, and reviewers publishing critical reviews have clearly never played a high-traffic public course in their lives.

It’s not Augusta; It’s a public course. Get over it and have fun.

May be the best of the courses in the Atlanta municipal golf system. It's an executive 9 hole course with a few par 4s. The layout is fair and it's nicely maintained.

If i could leave 0 stars I would. The greens were literally fairway grass. Oh and by the way 2 holes had “replacement greens” so you are literally putting on an area in the middle of the fairway. It’s pretty much unplayable. Kind of laughable. The clubhouse had a note that said holes 7 and 9 have different greens as they are being worked on and should be finished july 4th so I didn’t think to ask about it. We are literally in august and 2 greens are closed off for 30 bucks. Save your 30 dollars and take the homeless lady on the corner to Applebees. At least give me a discount on 2 unplayable holes

Booked an 11:15 tee time, showed up 15 minutes early to be told we are not being provided carts because it’s no carts from 8-11:15 even tho we paid for carts online. They still refused to give us carts. Worst course do not waste your money.

Played this course recently. It was a sad experience. This course has had its up and downs over the years. The course was barely playable. Management has let this course go to "seed". It could be a gem with a little care and maintenance. I would pass on this one.

For a $12 9 hole course you get what you pay for. The course is a field of rough with damaged greens and a flagstick. We had to search for our balls that landed in the ‘fairway’ because the grass was so high. The course design is nice but it just can’t be maintained properly at $12 per person. They should raise the price and hire an additional greenskeeper or something.

Great public short course for all level players at a very reasonable price!

As an Lawyer from india I had perfect time in the Candler Park Golf Course Decatur. Effortless shots. Greens are excellent. Fairways needs little attention. Overall wonderful experience.

Range & staff are amazing.

Greens are in worse shape than Candler. Not worth $35 - $40. Go to Brown’s Mill instead to play.

It's a simple long-range course with good price. I liked it because there are not many options for a public course that have more than 3 holes of par 5s. They should work on the signs, though.

Prettiest City of Atlanta course I play. Great layout. Some maintenance issues with low spots and standing water, and also some greens and tee boxes don’t get enough sun to grow grass. Pace of play is slow when the weather is nice, but that’s because a lot of beginners play here. They used to have some rude staff here, but I haven’t seen them in a while. The crew that cleans the carts stays later than the other CofA courses, which people appreciate (tips). Playing here at sunset is my favorite way to end the day.

May 5,2023: Tough pin locations and difficult greens, but overall a good experience. Cool views and great price. The greens were a 6/10, fairways 6/10, bunkers 7/10, pace of play was 5+ hours with no Marshall in sight. No beer or food. Park down by the Chastain Park Gym or the gravel lot between the Gym and the Clubhouse. Street parking is also available.

Atlanta city golf course. Good value. Tee box is all sandy.. but I can't complain for what I paid for. Many fun holes. Highly recommended.

Really great course with amazing staff. I recently moved to town and was struggling to find a place to golf and take my kids as I work from home and have at least one of them with me at all times. Apparently any course run/operated by the city of Atlanta will not allow kids under 7 on the course. The people at Charlie Yates were extremely kind and welcoming of me and my kiddos even offering them an extra youth club if they wanted to drop and play with me on the course. Highly recommend this place.

Played this place earlier this year when ownership was being transfer and it was in rough shape. you can tell that the new owners have been putting in a ton of money on the right things to make it better! new Bermuda greens were rolling fast and have grown in nicely, by next summer they should be pure. they are making moves to rescue some of the hardpack tee boxes and bad fairway areas. worth playing for the fun routing of this course and i cant wait to see how the conditions progress

You get what you pay for. Cheap course, some of the fairways were pretty rough. Appropriately priced. Not busy on a Monday morning. Will be back again!

Best 9 Holer I've played. Great walk, variety in holes. Take your buddies, and get out of traffic until dark! Wish this was in my home town. They need more water coolers on the course, that's the only downfall.

Awful shape after it’s under new management. No liquor license, so no beer on the course. Only 9 of the 18 holes are open which wasn’t mentioned on Golfnow. Check out the pics for the deplorable greens that they’re playing! It wouldn’t be worth $10 let alone ~$50

The course appears to be under renovation as the tees were way up and the white and red tees were at the same spot. Most of the greens had a fungus and it looks like they will lose a number of greens. They already have one temporary green. The pace of play was good and the fairways and rough were decent. If they can fix the greens it would be a 5.

I played on 10/31/23 and the course has been renovated. The greens were in great shape and the course is fun to play. I would recommend that players put this course back on their list. We played 18 in 3 hours which is another bonus.

Giving this a 3 only due to the course conditions compared to Browns Mill and Chastain/ North Fulton courses, which are also City of Atlanta Golf Public Courses and priced similarly.

Layout is fun and wide open most of the time, but with a handful of really challenging/long par 4s thrown in. Loved the elevated tee boxes on a few holes.

Front 9 is much harder than the back, and specifically the last 3-4 holes give you a great chance of ending your round with a birdie or two.

I would say the bunkers are in good shape. Definitely better than Browns Mill.

But the greens are in pretty bad shape. A bit mucky in sections and just really beat up. Hard to read when the ball is bouncing most of the way.

Fairways are also not great on many of the holes.. Sandy, patchy, weeds, uneven, etc. Similar story with many of the tee boxes.

Overall, had fun for a cheap round of 18 and will be back. Loved being able to snag a tee time before 7am (impossible at non-City of Atlanta courses) and I was finished by 10:15am. However, when I was leaving the course looked very backed up, so I'll probably only come back if I can secure an early tee time.

Fantastic Staff! I take my 10 year old daughter to the driving range here frequently and today I forgot my wallet running out of the house. I tried to pay with Google Pay on my phone and don't think they had the capability but Winston at the front counter had a 50 ball ticket on the house for her. It made her day because if I had to drive back to get my wallet we would not have had time for her to hit balls today. Great range and neat little course in the neighborhood, highly recommend them. Thanks again Winston!

For a public course, in which almost every case, they don't have very much of a budget, but this one taking that into consideration and definitely the cost, it is a great, short 9 hole track! Walking only and a bit hilly, so if you also like a small workout at the same time this one is definitely for you! Also with 360° views of the neighborhood, you can see the changes this neighborhood is undergoing. From old to new, some really bad choices, some good and then some really nicely done! So if you are someone thinking of doing something like that, you can also see what not to do and what you could do as well. I played for the first time last night and I left pleased.

Charlie Yates is always a fun course to play. It’s quick, affordable, moderately challenging and extremely convenient if you live in the city. The course is mainly par-3s with a only two par-4s. The longest hole is only about 300 yards, while the majority are in the 150 — 200s.

However, this does not mean it’s an easy course because a few of the holes come with their own unique obstacles to get you challenged. I recommend this course any day of the week, especially since it’s not nearly as crowded as Bobby Jones and definitely not as expensive in most cases.

Happy golfing!

I’m torn with how I feel about this course because the price is fantastic and the layout is great. It’s big with open/wide fairways, you don’t have to worry about hitting homes or the roads, there are plenty of fun holes; whoever designed this course knew what they were doing. But, whoever is taking care of the course doesn’t. My biggest gripe with the course is the grass. There’s no distinction between fairways, rough, fringe, OB, and on some holes even the green!! The grass is just one height across the board which makes it incredibly frustrating when you hit a great shot down the fairway and lands in 1.5” high grass. On top of that, large portions of the grass were infected with weeds that clearly haven’t been taken care of by the landscapers (see pictures below). But the icing on the cake was management deciding to dye the greens midway through the day when the course is packed. I was speechless when I was half way through hole 2 and looked on the green to see them spraying the greens mid-day. Any golfer knows you shouldn’t touch that stuff when it’s fresh, aside from the fact that there are chemicals in it, you’ll get green dye all over your hands and ball. So nobody (with a brain) was putting that day.

Grass aside, there was some other questionable up-keeping around the course. Such as bunkers that became as hard as a rock and fallen trees on tee boxes. I really wanted to like this course as it’s near my house, a great price, and a good design. But after the disastrous round that I had, I won’t be returning and will happily pay a few extra dollars at other courses.

Pretty good golf course for the price. Crowded but kept surprising well for the traffic. Would definitely recommend.