The official name of this course is The Creek Golf Course at Hard Labor Creek State Park. Thanks to…read moremy Yelp friend and golf buddy Robin S for introducing me to this course and opening my eyes to the world of Georgia State Park Golf Courses (http://gastateparks.org/Golfing). There are eight of these state-owned courses and The Creek at Hard Labor is the closest one to Atlanta. It's a solid one-hour drive from my home in Midtown to Hard Labor (more with traffic). The drive is worth it if you have time to spare. This is a good course with an interesting layout and a friendly staff. When we played, the course was in good condition with the greens, in particular, in spectacular shape. And the tee times are a bargain. When I booked for our foursome, I found the best deal by booking online on The Creek's website at www.hardlaborcreekgc.com. We paid $41.73 (after tax) per golfer for our Sunday morning round. I saw tee times on GolfNow, but after convenience fees, booking through GolfNow was more expensive than booking through the course directly. I did not see any tee times on TeeOff.com. The Creek is located on the western portion of Hard Labor Creek State Park. During certain times of the year, the park will be closed to everyone but deer hunters for a deer quota hunt. I remember seeing a bunch of deer grazing at the driving range during our visit. Speaking of wildlife, we also ran into a raccoon that wasn't afraid of humans near one of the greens on the back nine. So, you're way out in nature out here. Fortunately, cell service is still strong on the course in case you need to use any GPS or golf apps. The Creek has an old, but relatively spacious clubhouse with a surprisingly well-stocked golf shop with reasonable prices and good deals on apparel, shoes, clubs, balls, accessories, etc. There's a small kitchen/grill area, a TV/lounge area, a covered back patio with a water cooler and cooler full of ice, and even lockers in the men's room (though I'm not sure who can use them except for perhaps members). The driving range, located across the street from the clubhouse, is nice and big. The practice putting green, located on the back side of the clubhouse next to the 9th green and 10th tee, had five pins and was in great condition. There course has five sets of tees with the blue tees being the tips at only 6,612 yards (71.4/129 rating/slope). We played from the next set of tees in, the whites, where the course measures 6,166 yards with a 69.4/125 rating/slope. I would say this course is about average in difficulty (maybe a tad above average) and is fine for most skill levels. Each hole marker has a helpful color layout and the top of each scorecard has a pin sheet so be sure to take note of the pin position for the day. The scorecard even shows green contours which is useful. The golf carts are Yamaha fuel-injected (if I recall correctly) golf carts. They were in OK shape when we played. I've played at a lot of golf courses over my lifetime and this is the first one I've played at that does not allow golf carts to be driven beyond the tree line. Why that is, I'm not sure, but every cart windshield has a sign to remind you. The course itself is fun. Generally, there is a nice mixture of holes. The signature hole is No. 5. It's a long par-3 (175 yards from the blues, 170 from the whites). This is where you'll find the actual water wheel that is featured on The Creek's logo. No. 6 is pretty cool too as you have to walk across a bridge over a waterfall (Rocky Creek) to get to the tee boxes. You tee off parallel to a large creek. On this par-4 hole, you'll play your approach shot next to an idyllic-looking fountain, so holes 5 and 6 are fairly scenic. The 9th hole is a beauty, a dogleg-left par-5 that plays downhill off the tee, but uphill towards the clubhouse. It's a grind and one of the more memorable holes here to me. The back nine starts with a dramatic downhill tee shot towards a pond and only a couple holes later (No. 12) you're contending with another pond off the tee; this time on a medium-length par-3 (152/139 yards, blue/white) with a fairly significant drop. On club selection, you should consider dropping two clubs. While the first two-thirds of the back nine wind and weave their way through the forest of the park, the home stretch (Nos. 16-18) consists of somewhat straightforward holes that zig-zag along tree-lined fairways back to the clubhouse. Watch out for the tricky dome-shaped green on 17. All greens are Champion Dwarf Bermudagrass.

The Creek at Hard Labor is a fine, 18-hole, par 72 course on the grounds of Hard Labor Creek State…read morePark. It's one of several (I believe six) state park golf courses in Georgia and is the closest to Atlanta, being about an hour away on I-20 to the east, just past the town of Social Circle. As with all Georgia SP courses, tee times are available online and prices are quite reasonable, especially since this is a pretty decent course. I paid about $32 for a weekday round with cart and a small bucket of range balls. Range: Located across the street; balls are dispensed at the range with a token purchased at the clubhouse. The range itself is merely adequate. There are no signs indicating yards to the various flags, the chipping 'green' is basically a flat spot with long grass and I saw no practice bunker. It's good for warming up, not so much for practice. Practice green: located right next to the clubhouse. Decent, and the green seems to mimic what's on the course to an adequate degree. Carts: electric, no frills. My cart had really grabby brakes. Note that you're not allowed to drive the cart into the parking lot for some reason. So use the bag drop-off. Clubhouse: more substantial and better equipped than a lot of non-state courses. Lots of good stuff to buy and there's a small snack area. Restroom is clean and spacious and includes a locker area. The guy running the shop is very pleasant, and he has a squirrel that he feeds outside in the back. Rocky the squirrel mascot. One thing you'll find in the clubhouse is an excellent brochure with detailed hole descriptions of the course. In fact, that brochure (which slipped out of my cart somewhere on the course unfortunately) provides the best course layout and playing information of any course I've played. $3, but I got mine for free with the green fee. Note that they recently swapped the front and back nines, so #1 in the brochure is actually #10 on the course now. Course: I really like this course. There are lots of challenges while still being playable for average golfers, the holes are interesting and even visually spectacular (the waterwheel course, in particular), the fairways are decent, the greens are mostly in good shape if a bit bumpy (only one I noticed with a large blighted area). I can't really speak to the bunkers - I avoided them because of the recent rain (like a half hour before my round) so I knew the sand would be unyielding. But they look nice. I saw the marshal/ranger a couple of times while playing so it looks like they monitor pace of play. No beverage cart, so stock up on what you need. Recommended.

I wish I would have failed my certification so I can do it all over again!…read more I loved every minute of my certification. I have a busy schedule, so I appreciated the ability to complete the online learning on my own time, at my own pace. And do the pool dives in the middle of a weekday. Ben was incredibly helpful for my pool and open water dives. Obviously, he knows a ton about scuba. He always made sure I felt comfortable and safe during each of our dives. He took the knowledge I came in with and built from there. Whenever I struggled with a skill he knew how to aid and explain based on my knowledge and learning style. On my open water certification trip I had the opportunity to meet other divers from recently certified to seasoned veterans. I look forward to going on more dive trips and obtaining more certifications from Athens Scuba!

Extremely unsafe, people diving very intoxicated, pinned a person so she couldn't move her hand…read morecrushing hand causing harm which resulted in multiple surgeries. Unreliable, was left stranded with no transportation in a foreign country because of horrible planning. Unprofessional, owner isolated members of the group and bullied people making the trip uncomfortable for several people. Plus overall poor planning from owner.

We had a blast at UGA Golf Course. This course had been on our list to play for years, but due to…read moreits distance from our golf group in Atlanta, it required everyone to block off pretty much an entire day to play here. It was worth it. UGA Golf Course, also known as "University Golf Course," is the official golf course for the University of Georgia in Athens. This course is open to the public. I don't think it's technically on-campus, but it's close. From Atlanta, I would budget about a 1.5-hour drive each way. This course is home to the UGA men's and women's golf teams. I think it's neat to be able to play a college golf team's home course. Not all are public like this one. For example, Georgia Tech's home courses, East Lake Golf Club and the Golf Club of Georgia, are private. Georgia State's home course, Bobby Jones Golf Course, is public. I also live in North Carolina where UNC (UNC Finley Golf Course), Duke (Duke University Golf Club), and NC State's (Lonnie Poole Golf Course) courses are public, but Wake Forest's course (Old Town Club) is private. The UGA golf teams have a private practice facility here. I live next door to the Georgia Tech golf practice facility (Noonan Golf Facility). From what I've seen of UGA's practice facility, Tech's is nicer. Then again, the Tech facility was renovated and reopened in 2017. UGA's facility looks more dated. Speaking of which, UGA's public clubhouse felt a little small and dated. Not that there's anything wrong with it. This isn't a country club. The clubhouse definitely had more of a public facility feel. The golf shop was fully-stocked with cool stuff including Georgia college football national championship merchandise (e.g., putter covers). The dining room pays homage to the UGA golf teams' championships on various levels (e.g., SEC and national titles) with things like a trophy display and a list of years won. I love golf history and enjoy looking at things like this when visiting different clubhouses. The building could use a refresh. The dressing area in the men's restroom had Bankers Boxes stacked with what looked like extra plaques. Too many awards, I guess. Georgia's men's golf team won the national title in 1999 and 2005. The runner-up in '05 was Georgia Tech. The newest part of the clubhouse appeared to be the "Campus Market Express." It's self-serve convenience store with snacks and drinks. No staff. The golf shop and cart barn were staffed with what appeared to be UGA undergrads. The starters at the starters shack appeared to be the typical older, perhaps retired, golf enthusiasts. Everyone I interacted with was polite. UGA Golf Course opened in 1968. The course was originally designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. The course was renovated by Love Golf Design (Davis Love III and his brother Mark Love's company) in 2006. The public driving range is sizable with about 30 hitting stations (mats). There's also a large practice bunker and a separate chipping green. The public practice facility has its own parking lot and is located in its own separate area on the property, on the other side of the golf course parking lot. Heading to the course, you'll pass the practice facility on your left before dead-ending into the course parking lot and cart staging area. There's also a large practice putting green next to the starter's shack, before the 1st and 10th tees. During our visit, the course was in good shape. We started out playing the first several holes in the rain. The rain came down hard around holes 2 and 3. The course drained really well. The rain let up and we finished the round dry. I could tell the greens hadn't fully healed from their most recent aerification, but it wasn't a problem for us due to all the moisture and resulting slowness. As far as the design and layout, I liked it a lot. This felt and played like a true 18-hole "championship course." It has a fun and scenic variety of holes. The terrain and elevation changes here are very typical for a non-coastal course in the South. The routing keeps things interesting and the greens are huge. Nine and 18 share a big double green in front of the clubhouse. It looks like RTJ had a lot of land to work with when he designed this track. There are no houses on the course. My favorite stretch is holes 12 (downhill par 5 with approach shot over water), 13 (par 3 with forced carry over water), and 14 (par 4 with tee shot over water). Not only is that stretch challenging, but it's quite beautiful with the way the holes surround the pond. From the tips, known as the "Bulldog Tees" here, the course is a whopping 7,258 yards with a 75.4/141 rating/slope. We played from the white tees: 5,964 yards, 69.9/122. There are six sets of tees to choose from. I thought the Bulldog Tees, with actual cute bulldog tee markers, were a nice touch. The electric E-Z-GO carts were outfitted with GPS units with the GolfLogix app (yardages to pin, green heatmaps). We paid $77 per person for our weekend afternoon round.

Amazing trails and tracks. Dirtbike, ATV and Side by Side rentals available! Pro shop for your…read moreneeds. Extremely nice staff that will help you have a fun filled day. This place is amazing and once you give it a go! You'll be coming back for years on end. Enjoy the ride!!

This is such a beautiful place to golf! It could inspire anyone to become Tiger. It's a must see.read more

If you have an opportunity to play the Oconee Course at Reynolds Plantation take it. I am fortunate…read moreto get to play here annually as we have a work meeting at the Ritz Carlton - Reynolds Plantation each year in the fall. A great course that is very playable. Greens are extremely challenging. Helpful to have a forecaddie along for the round to help with reading the putts. A great course, I look forward to having an opportunity to play here again next year. One other nice thing is that they have nice Taylor Made Rental Clubs. I leave my clubs at home and play the Taylor Mades. They are in good shape and save you from having to transport your sticks especially if you are only playing one or two rounds.

This is a wonderful golf course for its price. You can go for 18 holes with carts for around $26…read moreduring weekdays, which is not bad at all. But if you want to check out pricing on weekends and such you can go on their website and it will tell you everything you need to know. Even though this is the only course in the Oconee County area, the course is well kept and the holes location change everyday. They also have some tournaments where anyone can sign up to play. Overall this course is amazing and it will challenge your golf game and provide you with fun challenges.

This is a nice gym. It's big, spacious, clean, and has plenty of equipment. It has a cardio area,…read moremachines, and free weights including dumbbells and barbells. I was on vacation and got a day pass to squat, bench and deadlift. It was just wist I needed. The owners were friendly too - check it out!

I had the opportunity to use Bodyplex Fitness in Eatonton while visiting family for the holidays…read more Just to provide a little background, I typically work out 5-6 days a week for 90 minutes at a time. I work all muscle groups over a two day period. I found the gym to have a good variety of equipment that covers all muscle groups and most muscle groups at multiple angles. The gym is clean and fairly well maintained. The gym has a nice layout that caters well to the varied needs of their different clients. The front of the gym has plenty of cardio equipment consisting of treadmills, stationary bikes, ellipticals, rowing machines and stair steppers. Also toward the front of the gym is lighter duty cable type weight machines. The front area serves the needs of the "older" locals and less experienced clients trying to keep themselves in shape or getting themselves back in shape. The back of the gym has the heavy duty free weight equipment that is used by the serious weightlifters. The middle section is populated with dumbbells and machines that are more crossover between both groups. If you are looking for a trendy gym with the latest state of the art gear where you can go to show off your new awesome workout clothes this is not the gym for you. If you are looking for a clean, family run gym with excellent customer service where you can feel comfortable regardless of your skills of fitness level, this is the right gym.

Definitely recommend and will be returning. I have a whole…read morehost of mental illnesses, physical illness, headaches, etc. For 2-3 weeks, I've been waking up with heart/chest pain that feels like intense heartache. It wakes me from my sleep. After a 1.5 hr long session with Kim yesterday, I'm happy to report that today I did not wake up with that intense heartache/heart/chest pain for the first time in several weeks. She was able to pinpoint it and clear it in our session. I also had a lot of physical and energetic resistances, especially in my crown chakra that was causing a headache during the session. She was able to communicate messages that my spirit guides were wanting me to know and therefore cleared the headache and resistance. I'm still getting headaches at work, so there's still work to be done on my part. Kim recommended short 45 min sessions to help get me centered, so I will be getting those scheduled!

Would you like to feel much better, not tomorrow, but TODAY?…read more My first impulse is to say quite a lot about what a wonderful and incredibly insightful experience it is to be within hugging-distance of Kim. On second thought I will be brief instead: ~PLEASE GO SEE KIM TODAY~