Idle Hour Club
Macon, Bibb County, Georgia · Macon golf market
- Access
- non equity
- Holes
- 18
- Architect(s)
- A.W. Tillinghast (original design, per Wikipedia's list of Tillinghast-designed courses), Willard Byrd (renovation), Geoffrey Cornish (renovation), Brian Silva (renovation), Michael Riley / Michael Riley Design (renovation)
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Idle Hour Club is a long-standing, member-owned private club on Idle Hour Drive in Macon, Bibb County, founded in 1912 on the former Idle Hour Farms stock farm (previously owned by R.H. Plant for trotting-horse breeding) after the city's earlier Log Cabin Club, organized in 1890, was sold. It is one of Georgia's oldest continuously operating private clubs and an original member of the Georgia State Golf Association.
Golf & Course
The 18-hole, par-70 course (roughly 6,727 yards) traces to the club's founding era; per Wikipedia's list of A.W. Tillinghast-designed courses, Tillinghast -- one of American golf's most prolific and significant architects, inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2015 -- is credited with the course's design (sources vary on the precise completion year, ranging roughly 1912-1935 depending on the directory). The course has since been renovated by Willard Byrd, Geoffrey Cornish, and Brian Silva, with a more recent renovation planned/executed by Michael Riley Design (Mike Riley), per a golf-course-architecture forum discussion.
Membership & Access
Does buying a home here include club membership?
Private, member-owned club. Named membership tiers exist per the club's own 'Membership Types' page, but this session could not read that page's content (WebFetch blocked; WebSearch snippets did not surface tier names or fees). No evidence was found that homeownership in the surrounding area requires or automatically includes club membership.
Living in Idle Hour Club
The club sits on Idle Hour Drive within an established, historically affluent Macon neighborhood that carries the same name. A single real-estate blog source describes a separate, smaller 'St. Andrews' neighborhood as luxury custom homes 'situated just outside the gates' of the club -- a potentially useful residential-integration lead, but not corroborated elsewhere this session, so no community record was created for it. This reads as a historic affluent area that grew up around a century-old club rather than a developer-built, golf-bundled subdivision, though that distinction is not fully confirmed.
Lifestyle & Amenities
Amenities include 13 tennis courts, a fitness center, an aquatics facility, and full dining and banquet services alongside the golf course.
Location & Surrounding Area
251 Idle Hour Drive, Macon, Bibb County, Georgia.
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What Buyers Should Verify
- Confirm current initiation fee, dues, and named membership tiers directly with the club -- not published or found via search this session.
- Reconcile the club's 1912 founding date with third-party directory sources stating the golf course itself 'was built in 1919,' and with Wikipedia's roughly-1935 Tillinghast-completion date -- get an authoritative, club-published timeline.
- Confirm gated/access-control status at the clubhouse/course perimeter.
- Independently verify the 'St. Andrews' neighborhood's relationship (if any) to Idle Hour Club before treating it as a bundled or adjacent community.
- Confirm whether any bundled or resident-preference membership tier exists for the surrounding neighborhood.
Notable
- Founded in 1912 on the site of the former Idle Hour Farms stock farm, after the earlier Log Cabin Club (organized 1890) was sold.
- The course is listed on Wikipedia's official roster of golf courses designed by A.W. Tillinghast, a World Golf Hall of Fame architect responsible for over 265 courses nationally.
- Renovated over the decades by golf architects Willard Byrd, Geoffrey Cornish, Brian Silva, and Michael Riley Design.
- An original member club of the Georgia State Golf Association.
Nearby Golf Communities Worth Comparing
Considering a Move to Idle Hour Club?
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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.