East Lake Golf Club
Atlanta, DeKalb County, Georgia · Atlanta In-Town/Historic golf market
- Access
- invitation only
- Holes
- 18
- Architect(s)
- Tom Bendelow (1908 original layout), Donald Ross (1913 rerouting), George Cobb (late-1950s update ahead of the 1963 Ryder Cup era), Rees Jones (1994 restoration under Tom Cousins), Andrew Green (2023-24 sympathetic restoration)
- Gated
- Yes
Thinking About Living in East Lake Golf Club?
Get connected with a local real-estate specialist who understands East Lake Golf Club and the surrounding Atlanta In-Town/Historic golf market.
East Lake Golf Club is one of American golf's most historically significant venues -- Bobby Jones learned to play here and won his final competitive round on this course in 1948 -- and today is best known as the permanent host of the PGA Tour's Tour Championship, the FedEx Cup finale, every year since 2004. Founded in 1904 by the Atlanta Athletic Club, the course fell into disrepair by the 1960s-70s before real-estate developer and philanthropist Tom Cousins bought and restored it in 1993, using its revival explicitly as the financial and symbolic engine for a broader neighborhood-revival effort in the surrounding East Lake community, then one of Atlanta's most distressed.
Golf & Course
Originally laid out in 1908 by Tom Bendelow and rerouted by Donald Ross in 1913, the course was updated by George Cobb in the late 1950s, substantially restored by Rees Jones in 1994 as part of Cousins's purchase and rebuild, and most recently given a sympathetic, historically-informed restoration by architect Andrew Green following the 2023 Tour Championship, using a 1949 aerial photograph to guide bunker and green-shape work.
Membership & Access
Does buying a home here include club membership?
Membership is by invitation only and does not publish a fee schedule; third-party estimates for the initiation fee range from roughly $125,000 (2018 reporting, paired with a ~$200,000 East Lake Community Foundation donation) to roughly $250,000 plus a separate ~$150,000 Foundation contribution in more recent estimates -- these figures are not officially confirmed and disagree across sources. There is no ownership-linked path to membership: no home purchase anywhere in the East Lake area includes or requires club access.
Living in East Lake Golf Club
East Lake Golf Club sits directly across from the Villages of East Lake, a 650-home mixed-income housing redevelopment that replaced the East Lake Meadows public-housing project in the late 1990s under an Atlanta Housing Authority/East Lake Foundation partnership. The club itself does not sell or bundle real estate, but its profits and the Tour Championship's proceeds fund the East Lake Foundation, which has contributed to the surrounding community's schools, YMCA, and housing programs -- a relationship of financing and philanthropy, not membership access.
Location & Surrounding Area
Located in the East Lake neighborhood of Atlanta, DeKalb County, a few miles east of downtown.
Costs & Fees
Figures below are labeled Current only when the source itself frames them as presently accurate. Everything else is labeled Historical — a source checked today does not make an old fee a current one.
Initiation (range low)
Historical — as of 2018$125,000
2018 third-party reporting: ~$125,000 initiation plus an expected ~$200,000 donation to the East Lake Community Foundation.
Initiation (range high)
Historical — as of 2026-09-21$250,000
More recent third-party estimate: $250,000 individual membership initiation plus a separate ~$150,000 East Lake Foundation contribution. Not officially confirmed by the club -- figures reported across different years disagree meaningfully, so this is flagged as conflicting.
Interested in Homes in East Lake Golf Club?
We can connect you with a local real-estate specialist who knows the community, nearby golf communities, and the Atlanta In-Town/Historic market.
What Buyers Should Verify
- Confirm current initiation fee and dues directly with the club -- only conflicting third-party estimates were found this session.
- Confirm whether any residency preference or informal community tie exists in the membership invitation process (none was found this session).
- Confirm scope/completion status of the 2023-24 Andrew Green restoration.
Notable
- Permanent home of the PGA Tour's Tour Championship (FedEx Cup finale) every year since 2004.
- Bobby Jones's home course; he learned to play here and won his last competitive round on this course in 1948.
- Tom Cousins's 1993 restoration of the club financed and catalyzed the Villages of East Lake mixed-income housing redevelopment, Charles R. Drew Charter School, and East Lake Family YMCA.
- Since 1998, the Tour Championship has contributed more than $63 million to the East Lake Foundation and other Atlanta-based nonprofits.
Considering a Move to East Lake Golf Club?
Whether you're comparing East Lake Golf Club with another Atlanta In-Town/Historic golf community or you're ready to start looking at homes, US Golf Living can connect you with a local real-estate specialist.
US Golf Living provides independent real-estate research and can connect consumers with real-estate professionals. Golf membership, availability, fees and approval are determined independently by the applicable club.