$18 for 9 holes of golf (with cart) on a Saturday, on a municipal course that's in decent shape, is…read morea good value. This is the main reason I'm giving John A White Park Golf Course 3 stars on Yelp ("A-OK").
John A White is located in the Cascade Road neighborhood of southwest Atlanta, about a 17-minute drive from Midtown. The course is only 9 holes (par 35). It has a driving range where you hit off grass. At the range, balls cost $6 for a small bucket and $10 for a large. The clubhouse is old, small, and about as bare bones as they come. They use gas-powered E-Z-GO carts which are in satisfactory shape.
The course has three sets of tees (blue, white, red). From the tips, 9 holes measure 2,842 yards with two par 5s, four par 4s, and three par 3s. The longest hole is the 1st hole, a 524-yard par 5 from the blue tees. The longest par 4 is the 9th hole, which measures 398 yards from blue. The scorecard lists a handicap for each hole, but does not show a course slope nor rating.
The course is home to The First Tee of Atlanta, a youth development organization that teaches life skills through the game of golf. The First Tee of Atlanta's core values are confidence, courtesy, honesty, integrity, judgment, perseverance, respect, responsibility, and sportsmanship. If you see a lot of kids playing golf, this is probably the reason why.
The course itself has a simple layout with minor elevation changes and relatively flat greens. I'd say the greens, tee boxes, fairways, and bunkers are all in about equal shape, which is OK. There are rough patches here and there, but what to do you expect of an $18, 9-hole muni? My biggest issue is all the leaves, pinestraw, and other stuff that covers some of the greens and tee boxes. Unless you want to spend minutes removing debris out of your line, you'll just have to putt through it.
The bunkers have nice, white, fluffy sand. The fairways are a little thin, but expected of a course in this tier. The rough is thin too. Trees will be your biggest enemy. Water does come into play on a few holes, but in the form of a small creek and long concrete ditch. The most scenic holes are 1 and 4, which run parallel to each other. You get an elevated, picturesque view of these holes from the 1st tee, 4th green, and clubhouse/golf cart staging area.
The last time I played here, there was no soap/water in the ball washers. That was annoying. There are no restrooms on the course, only at the clubhouse. There's no food and beverage cart either, though for a course this short, one isn't really needed. Pace of play for 9 holes is 2 hours.
Good service.
At the time of writing this review, tee times for this course can be booked through GolfNow, but I wouldn't recommend it because you will actually pay more by booking online since the online rate is the same as the regular call-in rate *and* you have to pay GolfNow booking fees. Just call the clubhouse directly to book.