East Lake known as ‘risk/reward type of golf course’
It took Pat Perez 16 years to finally qualify for The Tour Championship.
Still, he wasn’t surprised seeing East Lake Golf Club for the first time this week.
“Well, I’ve seen it enough on TV watching every year, so I had kind of an idea,” Perez said. “The greens are amazing; the fairways are in incredible shape. I knew you just had to hit it straight, keep it out of the rough. The greens, depending on how much speed they pick up, could be quick with some tricky pin place- ments, but it’s pretty much what I thought it was going to be.”
Established in 1904, East Lake is the oldest golf course in Atlanta. Nine years later, revered architect Donald Ross renovated the entire layout. Amateur icon Bobby Jones is said to have played his first and last rounds of golf at East Lake, whose clubhouse is a shrine to Jones. Since 2004, East Lake has been the permanent home for The Tour Championship.
Through all the years, East Lake has stood the test of time. The 30 players in the field of the season finale will face a true test over the 7,362 yards that play to a par of 70. There are few tricks
and quirks on the straightforward track, where trees line the fairways and the greens are a defense of their own.
“It’s an old-style golf course,” said 2013 FedExCup champion Henrik Stenson, who has finished first and second the only two times he played in The Tour Championship. “You really get a premium with that Bermuda rough on hitting a lot of fairways and a lot of greens. You don’t want to be hitting second shots out of that (rough), and you don’t want to chip around the greens there.”
Billy Horschel, who won The Tour Championship and the FedExCup in 2014, said East Lake doesn’t favor any type of player.
“Yes, there are long holes, but you have to drive it straight,” Horschel said. “It requires you to play well in all facets of your game. You definitely can’t spray it around that golf course. It will catch up to you. There’s a premi- um for someone who can control their ball and think their way around the course.
“It’s a great course.”
And mindful of another great course — Augusta National.
“East Lake and Augusta National both are really well-designed golf courses where the fairways slope against the ball flight that you need off the tee. And then the greens remind me of each other with the slope, the speed and the bunkering around them,” said Jordan Spieth, who won the Masters, The Tour Championship and the FedExCup in 2015.
“East Lake has a lot more rough, which is very different from Augusta, and the greens aren’t quite as severe, but I like the shots that both courses make you play off the tee and shots into the green where you can be bold or you can play safe.
“It’s very much a risk/reward type of golf course.”
Now there is more risk/reward on the 18th hole. In 2016, East Lake reversed the nines. Starting last year, players finished on the par-5, 590-yard 18th, where birdies and eagles can be made. Before that, the tournament finished on an uphill, 235-yard par-3 where birdies go to die.
“It was nice ending on a par-3 with a big lead with no water,” Spieth said with a smile.
“I think the last six holes now provide a real tough closing stretch where a lot of drama and excitement will be seen.”