GOLF: Canongate takes

over Traditions in Braselton

By Mike Blum
For the Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/07/08

The Canongate family of private golf clubs has added a fourth Gwinnett area course to its growing list of properties, recently acquiring the Traditions of Braselton.

The course, which is located between Braselton and Jefferson on Ga. 124, becomes the 18th Canongate course in Georgia, 17 of which are in metro Atlanta, with one in Macon. The company also has one course in the Hilton Head area. Its most recent acquisition before the Traditions was the nationally known Woodlands complex of five courses in the Houston area.

Traditions will be paired with Gwinnett's Hamilton Mill, whose current members also are able to consider Traditions their home course. The club, which has been semi-private since it opened in 2005, will remain semi-private until it reaches its membership limit, which is not expected to take more than about two months.

Canongate plans to make a number of improvements to the club, including a new fleet of electric carts with GPS systems and an expansion of the clubhouse and restaurant.

Traditions of Braselton opened in the spring 2005. It was designed by Mike Dasher, who also was the architect of Bentwater in Acworth and worked with Arthur Hills on the design of his Atlanta area courses, including the Standard Club, Towne Lake Hills and Olde Atlanta, another Canongate property.

The course is among the most distinct designs in metro Atlanta, with some links-style characteristics. The relatively hilly terrain is reminiscent of other courses Dasher has worked on in the Atlanta area, but there are some differences.

Traditions' layout features a number of rolling fairways with the tilt side to side rather than up and down. Some of the fairways will be leveled a bit to make them more playable, but there are not any significant changes that need to be made to the course, although there will be some work on native areas on the periphery.

The course measures 6,876 yards from the blue tees and 6,444 from the whites, with the senior tees 5,789 and the forward tees 4,761. With some hazards, tree lines and native grasses in play off the tee, Traditions is a relatively demanding driving course. The greens complexes are relatively tame, but there are some with sharp drop-offs along the edges and a few with ridges dividing the putting surfaces into tiers.

For information on Traditions or the Canongate family of courses, call 770-274-0787 or visit http://canongategolf.com/index.cfm?menu=5513.