Orchard Hills Golf Club (Public)
600 East Highway 16, Newnan
770-251-5683; www.orchardhills.com
STAFF: Wyatt Detmer is the Director of Golf; Dano Korytoski is the Assistant Professional.
PAR/YARDAGE: Orchard Hills is a 27-hole layout with three nines, each having four sets of tees. The approximate average yardage is: Gold (7,000 yards); Blue (6,500); White (5,950); Red (5,200).
COURSE RATING SLOPE: (average) 73.2/132 (Gold); 70.9/123 (Blue); 68.1/115 (White); 68.7/118 (Red).
ABOUT THE COURSE: One of the most popular courses on Atlanta’s south side for 15 years, Orchard Hills has lived up to its motto of “Southern Hospitality with a Scottish Links Flavor.” While the newer Rock Garden nine has been well received by the club’s clientele, the original 18 (Orchard and Logo nines) is still the heart of the course. At just over 7,000 yards from the Gold tees and over 6,550 from the Blues, the original 18 has some length, but apart from a handful of holes, length is not a serious factor. With only a few holes featuring any elevation changes of note and mostly generous fairways without a great deal of surrounding trouble, Orchard Hills offers the opportunity to swing away with the driver.
Some gnarly native grasses occasionally pose a problem to errant tee shots, but with minimal tree lines, the course is among the friendliest around off the tee, although the Rock Garden is not quite as forgiving. There is not a great deal of water in play other than five of the six par 3s, with a few tee shots requiring modest carries and just two approach shots to water-guarded greens, both on shortish, visually appealing par 4s of modest yardage. The bunkering is also modest, but there are some well-placed traps along fairways and around greens, with the large putting surfaces producing their share of three-putts, even without a serious amount of undulation. The original 18 includes a number of unassuming but stout par 4s along with a trio of over-water par 3s of varying lengths, with the newer nine interspersing a trio of short par 4s with a few holes of significant length. The course is free of development and walkable, with its location along I-85 part of its appeal.