|
East Lake Golf Club is a private golf club located approximately 5 miles east of downtown Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1904, East Lake is the oldest golf course in the city of Atlanta.〔http://www.eastlakegolfclub.com/Club/Scripts/Home/home.asp〕 East Lake was the home course of the legendary golfer Bobby Jones and much of its Clubhouse serves as a tribute to his accomplishments. Since 2004, East Lake has been the permanent home of The Tour Championship by Coca-Cola, the culminating event of the PGA Tour Playoffs for the FedEx Cup.〔http://www.eastlakegolfclub.com/club/scripts/public/public.asp?GRP=13648&NS=PUBLIC〕 The Tour Championship was first played at the course in 1998. The 2015 tournament was won by Jordan Spieth.〔http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/tour-championship-by-coca-cola.html〕 All proceeds from operations at East Lake Golf Club - more than $20 million to date〔 - go to support the East Lake Foundation, which has helped transform one of the nation's worst public housing projects into a thriving community.〔http://eastlakefoundation.org/our-mission〕 ==History== The Atlanta Athletic Club (AAC) was formed in 1898 and due to its popularity it gained 700 members in only four years. The director of the club's athletic program was John Heisman, the famous football coach for whom the Heisman Trophy is named. In 1904 the AAC bought property at East Lake to build a country club which included a golf course. Course architect Tom Bendelow was asked to lay out the course. The course's first holes were built in 1906 and were initially only seven holes, then nine. In the summer of 1907, the course was expanded to 17 holes, and later that year the 18th hole was built to complete it. Also in 1907, the first significant tournament was hosted at East Lake, the Southern Amateur, won by Nelson Whitney. In 1908, Tom Bendelow opened his "No. 2" course at East Lake. In 1913, famed golf course architect Donald Ross redesigned the course at East Lake. The new plan provided for each of the nine holes to conclude at the clubhouse. Ross also redesigned the No. 2 course in 1928. A tragic fire destroyed the original clubhouse at Eastlake in 1925. Following the fire, famed architect Philip Shutze, who is known for constructing the famous Swan House in Buckhead, was hired by the club to build East Lake's present day two-story Tudor style clubhouse. Famous golfer Bobby Jones is said to have played his first and last games of golf at East Lake.〔Where Bobby Learned to Play〕 Jones won golf's Grand Slam in 1930, claiming the U.S. Amateur, U.S. Open, British Amateur and British Open titles in the same year. Jones's father, "Colonel" Robert P. Jones, served as the president of East Lake from 1937–42 and as a director for 38 years. Bobby Jones himself also served as president of East Lake from 1946–47. Other notable East Lake players around the same time were amateurs Watts Gunn, Perry Adair, Charlie Yates and Alexa Stirling Fraser. In 1963, East Lake hosted the 15th biennial Ryder Cup where Arnold Palmer served as the playing captain of the winning US Team. East Lake began a downward slope when the surrounding neighborhood deteriorated in the 1960s and became victim to suburban flight. The Atlanta Athletic Club became a part of this when it sold the No. 2 course to developers and moved to its current home in Duluth, GA. The original course and clubhouse were saved by a group of 25 members who purchased them and created East Lake Country Club in 1968. In 1970, the East Lake Meadows public housing project was built on the site of the No. 2 golf course and became a center for poverty, drugs and violence. Middle-income home owner fled the surrounding neighborhood, replaced by low-income renters. By the 1980s, East Lake became a mostly forgotten golf course in a seemingly hopeless neighborhood. This all changed in 1993 when a local charitable foundation headed by Tom Cousins purchased East Lake with the intent to restore it as a tribute to Bobby Jones and the club's other great amateur golfers. The East Lake Foundation was also created and has used the renovation as a catalyst for revitalizing the surrounding community. In 1994, Rees Jones, son of famed golf course architect Robert Trent Jones,〔http://www.reesjonesinc.com/rees-jones-biography.php〕 restored Donald Ross' original golf course design at East Lake to its current layout today. In 1998 the Tour Championship was hosted at East Lake for the first time. In 2005 East Lake was named the permanent home of the Tour Championship. East Lake has hosted the tournament 15 times since 1998. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「East Lake Golf Club」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|