Community
No ratings yet
Sign up and review 3 courses to unlock your For You Score.
Jack Nicklaus built Bear's Best Atlanta as a deliberate greatest-hits collection — every hole on the course is a replica of a Nicklaus-designed hole from somewhere across the American West and beyond. Opened in 2002, it draws from courses like Vail Golf Club, Desert Mountain, and Bear Creek, translating desert and mountain layouts into the Georgia Piedmont. The concept isn't nostalgia for its own sake; Nicklaus selected these holes specifically because they demand strategic thinking, rewarding players who shape shots and manage risk rather than simply overpower a layout.
The setting in Suwanee, in Gwinnett County northeast of Atlanta, gives the course a lush, tree-lined character that contrasts interestingly with some of the arid originals it references. The broader Atlanta golf market is competitive and golf-hungry, and Bear's Best fits a particular niche — it's a public resort-style facility that delivers a Nicklaus signature experience without requiring a private club membership.
For a player who knows Nicklaus design, the course becomes a kind of open-book exam. Angles matter, miss-zones are deliberate, and the greens tend to be large, contoured, and unforgiving from the wrong approach position.
| Tee | Yards | Rating | Slope | Par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold · men | 6,824 | 73.6 | 144 | 72 |
| Nicklaus · men | 6,513 | 72.1 | 142 | 72 |
| Blue · men | 6,138 | 70.2 | 136 | 72 |
| Blue/White · men | 5,966 | 69.9 | 133 | 72 |
| White · men | 5,624 | 68.2 | 126 | 72 |
| White · women | 5,624 | 73.8 | 135 | 72 |
| Forward Combo · men | 5,287 | 66.4 | 121 | 72 |
| Forward Combo · women | 5,287 | 71.8 | 129 | 72 |
| Red · women | 4,725 | 68.9 | 121 | 72 |
No scores yet
Be the first to log a round here.
