Some courses ask you to look up. At Berkeley Hills, you mostly look ahead. Greens make you pause, and a view down a fairway framed by pines and oaks that close in on both sides gets your knees excited. The core layout is non-residential, so the walk stays about the golf (and we love that).
That quiet is the point. Established in 1964 and member-owned since 1984, Berkeley Hills Country Club sits tucked away in the woods in Duluth, Gwinnett County, and offers traditional tree-lined fairways. For golfers wanting to join a private golf club in the Atlanta metro area, Berkeley Hills Country Club provides an opportunity to play a course surrounded by nature.
Mature trees frame the course at Berkeley Hills Country Club's approach to the par 4 hole, number 6
Where the Trees Close In
Trees are the course’s first line of defense. Many fairways are flanked by trees on both sides. Narrow, windy corridors frame the fairways, leaving little room to work with for driving. Accuracy is rewarded and so is the appropriate use of the different types of shots and clubs.
Narrow corridors. Small greens. Thoughtful shots over raw power.
The course is nearly 6,900 yards from the back tees and the layout is anything but flat. The routing through the rolling Gwinnett County land adds an additional layer of interest to the course. As a result, a round here feels secluded, even though the club sits well within reach of the city.
Bunkers and mature pines frame the approach at Berkeley Hills par 5, hole number 15
A Kirby Design, Seen Through a Player’s Eyes
Ron Kirby designed the course. His career ran from the Robert Trent Jones Sr. design team to a long partnership with Gary Player, and he created Old Head of Kinsale in Ireland. Player, a nine-time major champion, served as player consultant and brought his “player’s eye.”
Together, they designed a course that makes you think. Sloping greens have a real premium on line, pace and distance. Fairways are beautifully tree-lined and narrow. Strategically placed deep bunkers come into play. Water comes into play on several holes. It is traditional golf, played over rolling land.
Keith Roberts, Director of Golf, puts it this way:
Berkeley Hills offers a challenging course that rewards a sharp short game. With small, well-guarded target greens and a layout that calls for every club in your bag, it’s a course that pushes you to grow as a player every time you tee it up.
Holes That Make You Choose a Side
Tree-lined golf is a series of decisions. The club’s hole-by-hole guide shows how often the trees force one.
Start with the par-5 third—the hole the club’s own course guide makes a point of highlighting. At roughly 500 yards, it asks for more than a good swing. And it definitely requires more than just a long drive. Out of bounds runs down both sides. Water guards the drive zone and a pond sits short of the green. A clear game plan and strategy are very important for conquering this hole.
Next, the fifth plays uphill from the tee into a narrow fairway, with trees on the right. The sixth then drops downhill between trees on both sides. On the thirteenth, among the toughest par 4s on the card, pines run down the left and the second shot plays downhill.
Then comes the late stretch. The fifteenth sends the tee shot up a narrow chute of pines. On the seventeenth, an elevated tee looks through another pine chute. The fairway then doglegs right around a large water hazard, and a large oak stands left of the small, two-tiered green.
The par 3s keep the pressure on. The fourth plays about 210 yards from the back tees, with water front, left and back. The eighth presents a two-tiered green. The eleventh plays from an elevated tee to a green split by a central ridge.
The long par 5s ask for patience instead, and the third, seen below, is the first of them. The seventh is the longest hole on the course at 575 yards, with pines down the left. The tenth is a hard dogleg left, again with pines on the left.
Water comes into play on several holes at Berkeley Hills, including the first Par 5 on hole number 3
Carter Loflin knows this ground well. The Berkeley Hills member, who reached the U.S. Amateur semifinals at Merion, grew up near the 17th hole and walked straight to the course after school. His favorite stretch is holes 2 through 7, which he calls “the trickiest part of the course because it gives you a little of everything.”
Trees don’t just frame this course. They make the decisions.
Pines and strategic bunkering force risk vs. reward decision making on Berkeley Hills par 4, hole number 17
Even the quieter moments at Berkeley Hills carry weight. In spring and summer, azaleas add color behind the par-3 fourteenth green.
The round ends where it began, in the trees. Trees line the eighteenth fairway, a ridge crosses the landing area, and the green is one of the smallest on the course. It is a fitting finish.
Small Greens, Big Decisions
The greens finish the argument. The club describes them as small and sloping, among the most testing green complexes in the metro area. They feature TifEagle Bermuda and were renovated in 2022.
Jack Willhite, Golf Course Superintendent, explains why that matters:
The size of the greens make for a tight target where players have to consider where they want to position their tee shots, how much of the green they want to attack, and when it makes sense to be aggressive versus when to play conservatively. That kind of decision-making is a major part of competitive golf that you can find at Berkeley. — Jack Willhite, Golf Course Superintendent
Behind that is daily work. The team observes the greens closely, monitoring firmness, smoothness, speed, and moisture with close attention. The team also regularly fine-tunes fairways and rough heights and keeps the bunkers in shape. Conditions are then adjusted around the weather, daily traffic, and tournament play, but always with the turf’s long-term health in mind.
Small, sloping greens are guarded by deep bunkers on Berkeley Hills par 3, hole number 14
A Private Golf Club in the Atlanta Metro Area You Can Walk
Walking is part of the culture here. That stands out in a metro area where many courses restrict it.
The Membership Committee explains why:
Most serious golfers prefer to walk, yet there are many courses in Atlanta Metro that restrict this, due to either the layouts being intertwined with residential neighborhoods or pace of play requirements. BHCC prides itself on 4 hour rounds, whether walking or riding and many of our members choose to walk. — Berkeley Hills Membership Committee
Four-hour rounds, whether you walk or ride.
Conditions have improved, too. The club says the course has been restored to its former reputation and now far exceeds the conditions known between 2013 and 2021. Moreover, members say so themselves.
Ask any long-standing BHCC member, and they will enthusiastically tell you, ‘the course is in the best condition I’ve ever seen. — Berkeley Hills Membership Committee Member
Members also repeat a favorite line. In other words, if you can score here, you can play anywhere with confidence.
Berkeley’s handicap travels well.
Golfers walking a tree-lined fairway at Berkeley Hills on the first of Berkeley Hills four par 5’s, hole number 3
From a Round to a Membership
The club hopes a golf-minded prospect leaves with one thought. Here is a place to play repeatedly without finding it stale.
Practice facilities back that up. A full-length driving range offers multiple target greens. Likewise, a large putting green and a short-game area with bunker practice round things out.
Berkeley Hills has also been member-owned since 1984. That shows in the atmosphere members describe: friendly, competitive and relaxed.
The club does not try to be everything to everyone. It offers a traditional, tree-lined and quietly secluded course, kept in condition that members are proud to defend.
For anyone researching Atlanta golf membership, the next step is simple. Contact the Membership Director to schedule a property visit. Then walk the course yourself.
Explore Golf at Berkeley Hills
See the holes, the practice facilities, and what a round here looks like.