So glad I found Energy First Golf. I came in with a lot of poor habits and Lawrence has helped get…read moremy swing in shape. He demonstrates and explains technique in an understandable way and then helps you effectively build it into your routine. The results speak for themselves: my accuracy and distance have noticably improved.

According to the Official Rules of Retirement, I'm required to take up golf. I'm only semi-retired…read more(whatever that means) but I've been trying to learn the game for the past year or so, with limited success. Despite a fairly decent knowledge of the mechanics and techniques of tennis, I hadn't been able to figure out why my golf swing wasn't producing desired results. So, lessons. After poking around the internet for options, I decided to go with Lawrence Sykkmon, mainly because he's affiliated with the Northcrest Driving range, where I like to practice. His website suggested he'd be a good fit for me as he emphasizes concepts like 'internal mechanics' instead of mechanical swing corrections, and swinging from your core. Lawrence is very easy to learn from - he explains things in a way I understand and can translate to my own swing. How much this will then translate to improved performance on the course is still to be determined. But after only two lessons, I've found I can hit my 3-wood a lot better on the range than I could before. For me, that's the club that has the biggest influence on whether I have a good round or not. And the key indicator that his lessons are translatable to performance is that I now have a better sense of what I did wrong when a swing doesn't produce a nice straight shot. That was lacking before. I have more lessons ahead, and I look forward to them. Reasonable prices and flexible schedule. In terms of sports instruction, this is the best I've experienced. Highly recommended.

An absolutely stunning course in incredible condition! Hands down the best public course I have…read moreplayed in the Atlanta area. The staff were all super friendly and accommodating. The facilities and practice areas are top notch and pace of play was perfect. I don't have one negative thing to say and I will absolutely be playing here again very soon.

Bears Best more like Bears Worst, they treat their members like crap. They have public signs…read moreoutside saying open to public when you aren't even allowed to use their facilities without paying, f.e. their chipping and putting green. Everytime there is junior golfers or amateur, they argue with them and try to kick them out just because they don't like people practicing. The head pro, Marty for example, seems like a jerk everytime someone talks to him, always has an attitude, and doesn't care for anyone. There has also been rumors and I've heard from others that they are racist. F.E. i know someone who asked for their last name and when they says "Kim" they replied with, "Of course it is". Overall one of the worst courses with staff and management, Invited please fix this place.

The course layout was challenging and gorgeous. The homes surrounding course were breath taking…read more The course was exceptionally manicured and the staff was welcoming and friendly. My experience exceeding my expectations.

I am not a member. I got to play as part of a fund raiser. But when I make that first million....I…read morewill join! Well maintanined, challenging, great ambiance, nice pro shop and fairly decent food.

Great service. High quality workmanship. Always ready when they promise. Highly recommend.read more

Schedules fitting season with Bob Zito. He was very helpful with finding the best club and ball…read morefor my game. I have more confidence will playing from tee to green.

For starters, the staff was really cool. It was a beautiful day for some golf too. I had an overall…read moregood experience, but there were SOME drawbacks. 1. I am the sh!ttiest golfer alive. This course was pretty hard. Back nine was hell on earth. 2. Cart paths had my breasts jiggling, and I'm a grown man. Definitely could use some re-paving and some TLC. 3. Multiple blind holes, which was scary for me. The snacks were absolute fire. Whoever decided to have "uncrustables" at the course was an absolute genius. Brought my girlfriend with me and other than wasting 4 hours of her life she had a great time too. Shot 103, possible course record. I'll drop some pics and videos for context. Definitely worth visiting. Was a little pricey, but I could see it being worth the money if you're a good golfer...

Course needs some investment. Several cart paths are seriously eroded. Bumpy, hilly, rocky…read morecourse. Rough to play in late February.

We had a great time at Sugar Hill Golf Club. I'd heard mixed things about this place, from the…read morecourse was in bad shape to the course was in good shape. For us, the course was in good shape. I really enjoyed the layout, for the most part. To me, this is an ideal example of a solid, everyday muni. The course is located in the City of Sugar Hill, a suburb about 40 miles northeast of Atlanta in Gwinnett County. From my home in Midtown, I planned for about a 45 to 60 minute drive to and from the course. For this course, the drive was worth it. I wouldn't mind playing here again. I believe Sugar Hill Golf Club is a true municipal course, meaning it's owned and operated by the City. Off the top of my head, in metro Atlanta, I believe this may be one of the best munis if it continues to be maintained at the same level as when we played it. The tee boxes, fairways, and greens were all in fine condition. They were about as good as one can reasonably expect for a course in this price range. For a Saturday morning tee time with no discounts, we paid $57 per person for 18 holes including cart. Most other public courses in metro Atlanta charge more than that. I typically expect to spend $70-80 for a weekend morning round, 18 holes with cart, so Sugar Hill's $57 was a great value to me. You can book tee times online through Sugar Hill Golf Club's website. However, you have to pay a small fee upfront. At least, that was the case for me when I was looking for tee times. Sugar Hill used GolfNow for its online booking platform. GolfNow charges convenience fees and makes you prepay a small amount. To avoid this, I recommend calling the golf shop to book. That's what I did. I spoke with Audrey and she took care of me. At the golf shop, Mike checked me in. I noticed my receipt said "Non-Resident." On the course's website as of 5/16/2023, you can pay resident rates "with purchase of Resident Card." On a busy Saturday afternoon, the pace of play was fine. We had a foursome. Due to some morning backup, we teed off 10 minutes later than our assigned tee time. Not a big deal. We teed off at 12:00pm and were done by 4:50pm. Standard pace I'd say for a weekend round on a public course. We never felt slowed down nor did we hold up the group behind us. For our group, it was a comfortable pace. Sugar Hill Golf Club opened in 1992 and was designed by Willard Byrd and Nai Chung Chang, according to GolfNow. Byrd designed one of the courses I grew up playing and still play at frequently: Willow Creek at High Point Country Club in High Point, North Carolina. Byrd also designed the course at Atlanta Country Club in Marietta. Chang co-designed the courses at Ansley Golf Club in Midtown and Dunwoody Country Club. Like a lot of courses in north metro Atlanta, Sugar Hill's course is cut into a nice tract of land in the foothills of the North Georgia mountains. So, expect plenty of elevation changes. A lot of courses in the South, outside of Florida and the coast, are already fairly hilly. This course, even more so. The hills provide for some beautiful scenery and backdrops. Something else I like about this course are all the presumably man-made ponds. There are five scattered throughout the course, which really add to the views, not to mention shot selection. The course isn't super long, but it does provide a "full" 18-hole experience. From the tips (blue tees), the length is 6,522 yards with rating/slope of 71.6/140. We played one set of tees in (white) at 5,911 yards and 69.1/129 rating/slope. Based on slope and my experience here, I consider this course to be slightly above average in difficulty. Due to the water, a decent amount of bunkers (but not a whole lot), and a lot of undulations, you will face many shot scenarios with little room for error. There are several forced carries, off tees and to greens. There may be a couple instances where you hit a great drive only to encounter a side/down/uphill lie in the fairway, making for a challenging approach shot, especially if it's one of the aforementioned forced carries. All that said, it's part of the fun. The greens were big, smooth, and rolled true. The practice facilities are adequate. During our visit, the range was mats only. I guesstimate the range can accommodate up to 15 people. They have a Range Servant and you can pay at the machine. No need to go inside the golf shop just for range balls. There are separate practice greens for chipping and bunker shots, and putting. The practice bunker is a plus. There was a food and beverage cart on the course as well as a marshal. The carts we had were older and more worn Yamaha Fuel Injection carts (not electric). No GPS. The clubhouse is sizable, though the golf shop is small. There is a bar and grill with a deck that overlooks the practice putting green and into the foothills. I was excited to see what appeared to be an air blower to clean my golf shoes, located in between the clubhouse and range, but it didn't work, unfortunately.

This is only the second review I've ever left. We had a terrible time at this course. The…read moresprinklers were on almost half the course. We waited on the grounds keeper to cut the greens on almost every hole on the back 9 just to watch him turn the sprinklers on immediately after! The greens were just aerated so they were hard to put as it was. Crazy thing was the forecast called for rain the next 2 days. I will say that the superintendent was really nice and apologized multiple times and even offered a rain check to all 3 of us. He was really nice but the reason I'm leaving the review is because the guy a the pro shop was so rude. I just don't understand why he couldn't just show some gratitude. We tried talking to him and being nice but he was just not having it. It was our 1st time playing there and it left a terrible taste in our mouths. So the guy in the clubhouse, making us wait to tee off, sprinklers on the back 9 sort of threw off our timing. It's kind of sad though because the course seemed nice and challenging (and 10 mins from me house) but I'll never go back. I just can't get over the very 1st interaction of the guy working the clubhouse. It was a terrible way to start a fun day. How hard is it to smile and appreciate your business?

Another year, another Cadillac Innovation Golf Clinic. I was invited again this year and the…read moreclinic took place yesterday at the Golf Club of Georgia in Alpharetta. Last year, the clinic took place at TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth. This year's Tour pro instructor was 2008 Masters champ, Trevor Immelman. The crowd seemed bigger this year. There were three sessions we could sign up for, two in the morning and one in the early afternoon. Complimentary breakfast and lunch were provided, buffet-style, underneath large white tents outside the back of the clubhouse. There were so many people that most of us had to park at an auxiliary lot off-site on Windward Concourse and be shuttled over to the clubhouse. Registration took a bit longer this year since there were more people and since we came in droves to the registration stations. The walking clinic with Trevor Immelman and David Leadbetter took place on the 9th hole, about 100 yards or so out. Immelman walked us through many different aspects of the game from setup and alignment to grip, aim, and strategy. Like just about any Tour pro, all of his shots seemed effortless. He even tried to do some trick approach shots by bouncing them off the stone wall behind the green. This got a good laugh out of the crowd, in addition to Leadbetter's many quips. One example is when Leadbetter chose a random person out of the gallery to show us his swing. After showing us his not-so-good-looking swing and telling Leadbetter he was a 12 handicap, Leadbetter said, "you must be one hell of a putter to be a 12 handicap!" Immelman and Leadbetter then walked us through bunker shots, shots from just off the green, and putting. The entire formal instructional session went well over the allotted 1-hour time frame -- it probably ran 1.5 hours. It was a great and very informative, enlightening, and useful lesson. After presentation was over, we separated into smaller groups and went through a series of 5 "clinics." They were: 1. Driving - with video swing analysis 2. Learning - about the latest Cadillac vehicles (they were on-site) 3. Hybrids - learning about and hitting hybrid irons 4. Putting - putting with various putters including belly putters 5. Chipping - chipping from sidehill lies onto a green All golf clubs and balls were provided by Callaway (drivers, hybrids, wedges) and Odyssey (putters). All the latest model Cadillacs were also available for test drive. The hybrid, putting, and chipping stations were manned by a local golf club pros who provided additional instruction. We all got to take swings, so a lot of personalized advice was provided. Overall, it was another very fun-filled and well-planned day on another great golf course in Georgia. I look forward to attending more Cadillac Innovation Golf Clinics as long as they keep inviting me. Thanks, Trevor Immelman, David Leadbetter, Callaway, Odyssey, Cadillac, and the Golf Club of Georgia.