The Georgia Trail has been closed since 2018. This was a great little restaurant that suffered through the 2008-2010 downturn several 500 year floods and could not recover from the losses. read more

The Georgia Trail at Sugarloaf is easily the worst golf course I've step foot on and it's not even close. I thought I'd seen bad until I played here. It was hysterically horrible. It was like playing on an abandoned course. Actually, it already has been abandoned (kind of). The course opened in 2009 and plans to officially close its doors for good at the end of this year, December 31, 2017. Driving in, you can see a big "For Sale" sign showing the 43.7-acre property has been zoned for multifamily housing and approved for 290 units. The way the course and facilities look, it's evident ownership has stopped putting money into this place. We played our round in late July 2017 and it appeared just about everything was left for dead, starting with the street sign out on Satellite Boulevard. The entire property was well thought out and I could see where it once could have been (or was) a thriving golf facility. There's a 9-hole, par-32, 2,313-yard course, a driving range with about 12 grass hitting stations, a practice putting green, and an 18-hole, par-42, "to-scale replica of a 7,410-yard championship golf course." The multi-story clubhouse is spacious and once had a bar and restaurant with spacious covered patios. I asked an employee if the bar was open and he said, "No, sir. It closed two years ago." I explored the bar area and it was desolate and deserted, like a ghost town. At least the TV in the lounge was working with an active subscription to Golf Channel. There's a conference room and what remains of an outdoor cabana area with fire pits. If it was fully operational, The Georgia Trail's clubhouse would actually be nicer than a lot of other public golf clubhouses in metro Atlanta. There are references to great, prestigious, and historic courses: 1. The name The Georgia Trail makes you think of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama. 2. The official name of this course, The Georgia Trail at Sugarloaf, makes you think of another course nearby: TPC Sugarloaf. The two courses, however, could not be more diametrically opposed. 3. The Georgia Trail was once home to "chef-managed" Augusta's Restaurant, an obvious reference to Augusta and Augusta National Golf Club. 4. The logo for the Georgia Trail is similar to the Masters logo except instead of a flagstick with a red flag stuck into a yellow shape of the US, it's stuck into a yellow shape of Georgia. The course has five sets of tees and is great for all skill levels, especially beginners. We played from the blue tees which are in the middle. The course measures 1,858 yards from the blue tees. There's one par-5, three par-4s, and five par-3s. The course has a very simple, compact, and straightforward layout. There's not much to the design or creativity of the holes. Aside from minor bends or an odd angle here or there, every hole is pretty much straight. The course is relatively flat and in fact, sits on a floodplain. Therefore, the course gets flooded easily when it rains. Not good. As far as conditions, they were awful. The colors on the tee markers have come off so it was hard to tell which color tees were which. The grass in the tee boxes was so high, it was difficult to tee the ball above the grass (and at that point, the ball was teed too high). One of my friends actually "teed" his ball in a divot, just so he could see and make decent contact with his ball. The fairway grass was more like rough grass and the rough grass was pretty much a hazard or unplayable. We would hit our drives straight down the middle of the "fairway" and still have trouble finding our balls because the grass was so tall and thick. Like the rough at a real course, we practically had to be standing directly over our ball in the fairway to see it. The greens weren't even greens. We ended up calling them the "browns" because that's just what they were, large brown patches of dirt. They could in no way, shape, or form be considered greens worthy of putting on as not only did they consist of lots of dirt, but also various plants, weeds, anthills, and even a mushroom! I saw only two "bunkers" on the course and it looked like they were last maintained years ago. There was hardly any sand in them, just dirt, grass, and weeds. There were multiple bodies of water on the course, some of which were dirty and smelled disgusting. Bring your insect repellent. At least the golf carts were decent (except I noticed at least one of the tires on my friends' cart had zero tread - not safe) and every hole marker had a color layout and ball washer (didn't try them though). The best part was the staff. JR and the rest of the folks I interacted with were polite and friendly. We paid the regular rate of $16.60 per person for 9 holes with cart (tax included). Note: I played my round with Robin S. You can consider my review and Robin's review as companion pieces since they are based on the same round of golf. Rest in peace, The Georgia Trail at Sugarloaf. What could have been. read more

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Worst golf course ever, anywhere. If there was ever an argument for a zero Yelp rating, Georgia Trail is it. The Georgia Trail at Sugarloaf is an executive, par 32, 9-hole course that also features a putt-putt course. We didn't play the putt-putt course but perhaps we should have. It looked to be in merely a sad state of repair, as opposed to the golf course, which should be bulldozed. And apparently, it will be after this year. The course is closing and the property has been rezoned residential. - Cost of $16 with cart is too much. In fact, we talked to another couple of guys on the course who paid much less. As a comparison, I paid about $35 for 18 holes at Marietta City Club earlier in the week. MCC is a great deal. Georgia Trail is not. - Carts are electric and have no amenities such as GPS but work well. They are perhaps the only thing at Georgia Trail that works (even the mens room stall door doesn't work properly). - Tee boxes are atrocious. They don't get mown properly, so it's as if you're teeing off from the rough. Seriously, I caught my driver in the grass it was so tall. On some courses, you look for tee spots that aren't trampled or full of divots. Here, you look for a nice divot to set your tee in. - Fairways are worse than atrocious. They can't even be considered fairways the grass is so overgrown. I lost two balls in the middle of the fairway despite having a really good look at where they came down. In fact, it was this aspect of the course which convinced me to not keep score. There's no point. - Rough is just as bad as the fairways. You can't tell the difference. - The greens. OMG. Are you kidding me? These things are so bad I decided to chip my putts. Tufts of grass & weeds are everywhere and are so big that they can deflect your ball sideways. Ant hills, too. Big ones. Seriously, I chipped off the green even with ten foot putts. And I bladed the shorter ones with my sand wedge. No point in pulling the putter out of the bag here. - Bunkers. I can't even describe how bad they are. I'd say atrocious but that term is getting overworked. Georgia Trail. It's not golf - it's something else. Zero Stars. read more

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An ideal place for newbie golfers. Come as you are, since I have seen folks in jeans, jean shorts, t shirts, football jerseys and etc. A very casual and laid back golf experience. There are 9 holes in this course, but you can play it twice for just $10 more. Each hole is rather short, mostly par 3's. Which makes this ideal for the newbie golfer to learn iron play and the shorter distance per hole will help accelerate gameplay. The experienced golfer may be frustrated since pace of play is very slow. There will be a lot of newbies and on two occasions, nearly got skulled with an errant ball. The condition of the course is so-so. I played when the leaves are falling and that means a hard time finding your golf ball, even if its in the middle of the fairway. I am hoping they will have maintenance blow those leaves away. The greens were also littered with leaves.. making putting a challenge. The best part about this place is the new restaurant and patio outside. They have 2 bars, one upstairs with a covered patio to keep you warm.. and another bar downstairs if you can to be outside. YOu can have a beer outside while your kids play mini golf.. I think the restaurant and patio is much better than the 9 holes. read more

The Georgia Trail at Sugarloaf - Club house. Awesome patio - Golf Near Me - Duluth, Georgia

a groupon was available and purchased it, because it was local and convenient. HOWEVER, even with a groupon, this is definitely not the place you'd ever want to play at. When we first arrived, the front gate was locked. We had a 8am tee time, and the gate didn't open until 820am. The person in the shop mentioned that you will see "what you get what you pay for", as this course has not been updated in a very long time. It is also being sold at the end of the season, so it doesn't make sense for them to do any kind of updates. Because the price of the course is so low, they hit you when you want to get a cart. ($6 per person per 9 holes). since the groupon was for 2 people @ 18 holes, it cost us $24 for the cart! Many people say that this course is great for beginners., but i would have to disagree. The first 2 holes were near the driving range, so it was littered with range balls all over them. There were dead animals around the course (near the water), and a ton of ant hills all over the course. (even on the green). A lot of 'fire ant' hills as well (massive mounds of dirt in the middle of the fairway). The tee boxes had a lot of over grown grass (and onions sprouting from the ground). The out of bounds line is the edge of the fairway, as there is a fence that is nearly a foot off of it that enters into corporate buildings. The putting green had so much dead grass that the ball would not roll. when it did, it was filled with gook! The golf cart that we got had a flat tire, and when asked about it - he said that it'll get fixed (eventually) - just not by him. It looked as if only 1 person was running the place (a young guy). overall, this site was pretty dirty, and not maintained at all. it would be worth it, if it was free...but even then, i'd be hesistant to do anything. Good luck to anyone who is buying this land (something like 45 acres). prime location for a commercial building. read more

Cheap price....maybe. They charge $10 for 9 holes normally but I've caught specials at better courses in the area for $19 for 18 holes. So it's not really "cheap." Then you have the quality issue. Bumpy, ratty, patchy greens covered with geese crap aren't helping anyone's golf game. I've heard of water hazards and sand traps but feces obstacles? Booo. I caught this on a $5 special so that made me try it. I'd only play this course for the $5 special for practice. Maybe I went on a bad day? Fairways are a little tight and the grass is very long on the fairways. Finding your ball is difficult. read more

Easily the worst golf course I've ever played. And its not even close. Through 9 holes, I found four dead animals, range balls all over the course, no bunkers with actual sand in them, and two holes that were legitimately a foot deep on the green. ON THE GREEN! Theres no fairway to speak of, no grass on the tee boxes, and every hole is a straight shot because they have no maintenance or budget to actually have interesting holes. At least the shop is nice... Paid $26 to play 18 holes. Wasn't worth $5. I worked in golf for 3 years. This course was embarrassing. Hopefully they can get new management and a new budget soon. read more

Nice par 3 course . I think it will be even nicer with remodel and addition of the par 5 holes.

This place was horrible. I book my tee time a week in advanced. $20 which included green fees and cart rental. Well I got a confirmation email from them the day before changing my reservation to a walking not a cart rental. When I get there the next day, they refused to honor my original reservation..When I thought I was paying $20 total, I ended up paying $32. They charged $6 per person on a cart rental. My second issue with this place is the driving range is next to the hole on the first hole. As we were putting, we were dodging golf balls. Last the condition of the overall course was terrible. Looks like there was next to no maintenance done on this course. There were literally ant mounds on nearly ever green. I guess you ge0t WHAT YOU PAY FOR. read more

11 comments and 10 were absolutely horrible??? I was planning to come and bring my wife and son, who are also golfers to play today but when I read the comments, I knew after the first two, I'd better stay away. I would've driven from Covington to Duluth to witness that garbage. You should be ashamed of yourselves for the "FALSE ADVERTISEMENT" of your web page. I worded and volunteered for two golf courses in So. Fla. so I know a golf course should never have more bad reviews than good. This stinks! read more

Wow! What a treat. This golf corse / Restaurant is great. My father owned a restaurant on a golf course when I was growing up, so I understand how hard it can be to please everyone in this environment. They have succeeded with a wonderful restaurant with great food, A gorgeous club house, a beautiful course, and an actual scaled down mini golf of the Augusta golf course. Do not underestimate the difficulty of this "mini golf" course. I did not get to play the regular golf course but did get to take a lesson from Pro Ernie, and I actually learned something new! What a great coach. The menu is full of surprises. Everything I have tried has been wonderful. I scheduled a party for my daughter soccer team, and they handled our large group of parents and players with ease. I highly recommend the Georgia Trail! read more

I know they are doing green maintenence but do you really have to leave large rolls of sod all over the course. Terrible conditions not going back read more

These guys have done a great job of creating a complete golf setting that's accessible to the not-necessarily-hardcore golfer. The clubhouse, patio bar, and putt putt course are well done. The course itself has some challenges. Golfers who don't have control can lose balls on this course due to the water hazards and narrow fairways. I've noticed they recently upgraded holes 5 and 9, raising the greens up which requires a more precise approach shot. I've seen the greens in various states (better / worse), and I know not to play this course after heavy rains because it doesn't drain well. But, when it's dry, is there better value for the money? I don't think so. read more

We really enjoyed the food - especially the chicken salad sandwich. We also liked that you can eat outside on a deck. It would be nice if they had a children's menu though. After lunch, our whole family played mini golf. I really liked the course because it is all natural and doesn't have all those cement bumpers or plastic windmills like other places. read more

The club house is very nice, and apparently that is their main focus to book events. The actual golf course leaves much to be desired. The greens are in terrible shape and it's hard to tell the fairway from the rough! If you just want a really laid back course for inexperienced golfers, this might be the place for you. read more

The pictures provide a view of a natural, well manicured golf course, which could not be further from the truth! The course was overrun by weeds, the greens were matted and flaking from old, moldy materials, and the ant hills were an added challenge that we had to navigate around. The water features were out of commission and held murky stagnant water and a few dead fish. Needless to say, we only got through four holes before we called it a day. read more

Brand new - a little gem in the rough! This is a 9 hole golf course with range, putt putt, lessons, restaurant and a real golf club house like a country club. I was really impressed. I went there to eat at their restaurant and did not even know the other stuff was there. I met the owners and they were very welcoming. The course is beautiful - I can't wait to play it. PS Try the restaurant - the fried green tomatoes are the best! read more