St. Marlo Country Club

St. Marlo Country Club, a semi-private David Griffiths-designed course in Duluth, Georgia, is one of the favorite prized golf playgrounds in Atlanta s northern suburbs. Designer Griffiths, who may be familiar to traveling golfers for his work at the elegant, 45-hole Chateau Elan Golf Club & Resort, has created a fun, memorable course set amidst an elegant neighborhood. In the wider golf world, Duluth registers because of the private TPC Sugarloaf, which used to host the PGA Tour s BellSouth Classic and now is home to an annual stop on the PGA Tour Champions. St. Marlo Country Club, which opened in 1995, need not take a back seat. Griffith s design flows naturally on rolling terrain through corridors lined by mature hardwood trees and attractive houses. You ll be well advised to reign in your instinct to overpower this course St. Marlo Country Club puts a premium on accuracy. While your main concern will be staying out of the trees, water also enters the fray on about half of the holes. A couple of tee shots require forced carries. The course is known for its outstanding collection of par 3s. Leading the pack among St. Marlo' Country Club's memorable tests is the 8th, a dogleg-left par 4 with a creek down the left. You ll likely need to be in the fairway to have high hopes of holding the elevated green on your approach shot. The 12th is another standout--it's a tricky hole with a fairway that slopes from left to right with bunkers right and an approach shot that must carry a bunker to reach the putting surface. If you miss right off the tee, you ll likely go out of bounds and have to reload. Once you reach the greens at St. Marlo Country Club, you ll find smooth, undulating bentgrass putting surfaces that aren t too fast. The greens here give you a good chance to roll in your putts. Though St. Marlo Country Club has an active membership, public play is welcome every day. The dignified clubhouse is a nice place for a post-round bite or brew. No wonder a tee time at St. Marlo