Arnold Palmer once said, “In golf, customs and traditions matter. It is a game of honor, played by individuals who respect the past.” Rightly so. At Berkeley Hills Country Club (an iconic golf club in Duluth , Georgia), that spirit runs a little deeper, where six decades of Georgia fairways have carried the grace of golf from generation to generation, one round, one dinner, one summer afternoon at the pool at a time.
Nestled in the heart of Gwinnett County, Berkeley Hills Country Club is a prestigious golf club that laid its foundation in 1964 for members who love to tee off every weekend. The member-owned institution today epitomizes a rich heritage, where the purest traditions of golf are preserved, a classic course design looks sharp, and timeless elegance continues to inspire. At Berkeley Hills, families and friends enjoy their love for golf, and an array of amenities further enliven camaraderie and community spanning generations.
A Complete Club Experience
Over the years, it has evolved into a golf course that exudes passion for the game and lifelong fellowship. Beyond the scenic fairways and precision-sharp golf swings, the club makes members feel “home away from home.” It offers exquisite dining experiences for families and friends, a modern fitness center, beautifully appointed locker rooms, and event spaces. A complete hub in its own swingful style.
The grass spans further. Premier tennis and pickleball courts, alongside a lovely outdoor aquatic center make this golf club in Duluth, Georgia the go-to choice for recreation, wellness, and community bonding. Truer than true, members have loved that over the years.
Duluth Golf Club: The Beginning
Archaic in its roots, Berkeley Hills Country Club was built in the rural, rolling farmland of North Georgia’s Gwinnett County (an hour’s drive northeast of Atlanta). The club, back then, didn’t stray away from the early rules of the rural, small town environment – a glimpse; General Rule #11 reminded members that horses were not allowed on the golf course premises, including parking lots and cart paths.
Photo of the original Berkeley Hills Country Club entrance sign, with the club's original logo and members-only parking area.
In early 1964, Mr. Larry McClure, an area landowner and developer, with the financial support of Dr. Miles Mason Jr., hired Mr. Willie Jones as project manager to construct a golf course (9 holes) and clubhouse. The club solicited membership while the facilities were still under construction. On August 15, 1964, Berkeley Hills Golf Club was officially opened. On September 8, 1964, the club sent the membership its first Bulletin (#1), containing the statement:
Prior to the formal opening of the club, a preliminary Board of Directors was formed from the membership at that time. It is the purpose of this Board to formulate the operating procedures for all phases of the Club.
From its inception, the Club had an active social calendar. Monthly dances featured a live band, alongside bingo, gin-rummy tournaments for the men, and a teen sock hop on Halloween. On New Year’s Eve 1964, the first celebration announcement in the new clubhouse summed up as:
The Moonlighters will begin playing at 9:00pm. Ham and Eggs (sic) will be served at one hour past midnight, to everyone still capable of walking to the counter.
In retrospect, the year 1965 was a year of continued growth and expanded activities for the growing number of club members. And within two years, a second nine was added. McClure seized a deal, which unlocked another growth chapter, selling the club to seven members who became its new owners. Interestingly though, membership ownership (in its fullest sense) didn’t arrive easily.
What unfolded thereafter was a tale of two not-so glorious decades. At times, sales attempts failed. Other times, committees and pledge drives sank before the members finally bought the club outright. This marked a milestone, the club finally becoming Berkeley Hills Country Club (a fully member-owned private club, built by the people who played it).
A Milestone: Member Ownership
That carries a lot of weight. Berkeley Hills Country Club didn’t inherit its identity as a member-owned club. Its members fought for it.
The year 2014 marked a double anniversary for Berkeley Hills. It was the fiftieth anniversary of its founding as Berkeley Hills Golf Club in 1964, and the thirtieth anniversary of the club’s member ownership
An Iconic Golf Club Shaped by Golf Legends
The love for golf got golfers to this golf club in Duluth, Georgia. The 18 holes members play today actually branched out in stages. In the early 1970s, Ron Kirby, a golf course architect, along with his associate, Arthur Davis, and golfer-consultant, Gary Player, designed the club’s third nine. This marked a significant leap, making Berkeley Hills Country Club one of the only private clubs in the area with twenty-seven holes.
That era also birthed one of the club’s best stories. Longtime head golf professional Luke Barnes personally coached a young Larry Mize, who went on to win the 1987 Masters at Augusta National. An inscribed photo of the two still hangs in the Berkeley Hills clubhouse: “To Mr. Barnes, I will never forget our work the week of the 1987 Masters. Thanks for all your help. We did it!”
But the club’s most defining chapter wasn’t a design win. It was an unforeseen crisis.
The Greens That Almost Ended Berkeley Hills
For the longest time, Berkeley Hills played on bent grass, the standard for premier Southern clubs at the time. Unfortunately, bent grass just wasn’t built for Georgia summers. As a matter of fact, its roots run shallow, and shallow roots absolutely don’t survive real heat. Every summer, the greens got worse. Members felt uncomfortable bringing guests. Memberships went down from over 600 golfers to 300, a club that once had waiting list was suddenly struggling to keep the lights on
The board made a decision to rebuild everything, converting every green to Champion Bermuda grass, nine holes at a time. It worked faster than anyone expected. Within a year, Berkeley Hills had greens other elite clubs wanted to study. In fact, representatives from the Atlanta Athletic Club came before hosting a PGA Championship. East Lake Country Club followed before the Tour Championship. Club member Stewart Cink, the 2009 British Open champion, put it simply: “These are the same conditions I see out on the PGA Tour on a weekly basis.”
The Cost of the Comeback
The comeback came at a cost. To fund it, Berkeley Hills put the Rolling Hills nine holes up for sale, dropping from 27 holes to 18 holes. Smaller course, better golf. A trade-off that still defines the club today, one that earned Berkeley Hills a reputation for the best greens in Atlanta.
Earnestly, Berkeley Hills Country Club (as of 2026) pleases with a masterful, walkable parkland layout. While it’s a private, member-owned club rather than a regular stop on the televised PGA Tour schedule, the course takes pride in delivering a tournament-caliber experience. The club also proudly hosts regional USGA and Georgia PGA Section events, and serves as a preferred local practice ground for major champions like Stewart Cink.
A Storm Over the Duluth Course
The greens devastation wasn’t the only crisis Berkeley Hills faced. A tornado once tracked directly through the property (across the clubhouse, down two fairways, through nearly 250 trees), crushing the pool and flooding the ballroom.
Despite the rough patches, this golf club in Duluth, Georgia was a testament to strength, community, and sticking together. The members rebuilt Berkeley Hills, and since then have continued to create lasting memories for families and friends.
Beyond the Fairway: Life at a Private Golf Club in Duluth, Georgia
There’s so much more that this golf club in Duluth, Georgia offers than a round of golf. Today’s club offers:
- Championship golf: 18 holes of TifEagle Bermuda Ultradwarf greens, playable for weekend golfers and genuinely demanding for the club’s low-handicap players
- Dining & Event Spaces: From casual family meals to weddings and corporate events, hosted in a fully rebuilt clubhouse
- Racquet Sports: Lighted hard and clay tennis courts, with a competitive tennis program going back decades
- A Country Club With a Pool in Duluth: A summer fixture for three generations of Berkeley Hills families
- Fitness Center & Locker Rooms: Modern facilities added in the clubhouse rebuild
Women’s Golf Association: A Community Across Generations
Together, golf and women painted a lovely picture at Berkeley Hills from its earliest years, and LPGA Hall of Famer Patty Berg once appeared at the club for an exhibition (an early sign of the caliber Berkeley Hills would attract).
To highlight how enthusiastic and active women golfers were at Berkeley Hills and how seriously they took the game, the following bulletin was rolled out to all members dated November 12, 1965:
The Ladies Golf Association proudly announces the appearance of Miss Patty Berg at the Club. Miss Berg is one of the greatest female golfers of all time, holder of the ‘Titleholders’ seven times, member of golf’s Hall of Fame. She has won the first U.S. Women’s Open and has a 18 hole competitive score of 64, which has never been equaled.” (Annika Sorenstam shot a 59 in 2001)
For a golf club that had only been open for one year, this was an impressive feat for the ladies of Berkeley Hills. Patty Berg had been the preeminent golfer of her day, with 29 amateur titles and 57 professional titles to her credit. She was also a co-founder of the Ladies Professional Golf Association and its first president.
Past Women Club Champions, left to right: Sue Cook, Beth Mosley, Bev Scheible.
In 1966, the Women’s Golf Association of Berkeley Hills became a part of the Dogwood Women’s Golf Association: an association with Berkeley Hills, Northwood Country Club, and Pinetree Country Club. Decades later, the club was still working through generational change, right down to a membership vote on opening the Men’s Grill to women. It passed, not overwhelmingly, but decisively.
Jack Callaham, eleven-time Club Champion, pictured beside the Berkeley Hills clubhouse.
One of the club’s original owners, Jack Callaham, won the Club Championship eleven times, with his final title coming at age 57, outshining golfers half his age. These are the stories that make Berkeley Hills’ community more like an inheritance that current members are still adding to.
Historic moments from Berkeley Hills men’s golf tournaments.
Photos from Men's Golf Association tournaments over the years, including Member-Guest and Club Championship winners
What Berkeley Hills Members Say Now
Statement from Dean Waters, President, Board of Governors
Who We Answer To
I joined Berkeley Hills in 1997, and this is my third term on the Board of Governors and my second year as President. In all that time, the thing that has never changed is who we answer to. There is no corporate office and no outside owner. The nine of us on the Board are members, elected by the membership, and every decision we make is one we live with as members ourselves, on the course, in the clubhouse, on the racquet sports courts, at the pool, and on our own statements.
How Decisions Get Made
Decisions here don’t come down from a headquarters; they come up from the Club. An idea usually starts with a department manager or a member, goes to the committee closest to it, House, Green, Finance, gets vetted there, and comes to the Board with a recommendation. The Board debates it and votes, and the significant ones are put in writing as a resolution with every Governor’s name on it. For the questions that go to the heart of how the Club is governed, the By-Laws require that the members themselves vote by ballot. That is a level of ownership a corporate club simply doesn’t offer.
Investing in the Course
A good example is our course. When we rebuilt the greens and installed a new irrigation system in 2022, and now as we plan course improvements for 2027, none of it was driven by a return-on-investment target from a corporate office. It was driven by what our members told us they wanted from their course, and by our obligation to leave the Club in better shape than we found it. At a corporate-owned club, the question is what makes the best return for the owner. Here, the members are the owners, so the question is what makes the best Club, and we get to answer it ourselves.
Don Paige, Berkeley Hills’ Member Since 1996, Shares a Glorious Experience
Thirty Years of Membership
When I look back on my 30 years here at Berkeley Hills and think about why I joined and why I have stayed a member for the past 30 years, one of the things that resonates with me is the people. I have seen a lot over the past 30 years, building a new clubhouse, changing over from bent grass to Champion and now Tif-Eagle Bermuda grass, changes in personnel and recent additions to the golf course and facilities to meet the demands of today’s families and golfers alike. The one constant during this time though has been the membership, we have a lot of great members that love the sport of golf and enjoy the other members with this passion.
Why He’s Staying
I love the fact that a four-hour round is seen as slow at the club and that you can walk anytime you like. The renaissance happening at the club right now, with new members and families joining, has brought a new life to it that I can feel every day I’m at the ‘Berk’! I love the prospects for the future at Berkeley Hills, and now being retired, I can enjoy more than the occasional weekend round with my buddies. See ya at the Berk!
Why a New Generation Is Choosing This Duluth Golf Club
A younger demographic has, over time, found a striking inclination for Berkeley Hills Country Club. The reasons are many, and they all are good. Besides the rich heritage of the club, Berkeley Hills welcomes younger members and families with junior programs, the pool and social scene, pickleball, membership flexibility, and so much more.
Lighted tennis and pickleball courts alongside the aquatic center at Berkeley Hills.
Tennis at Berkeley Hills is another reason. The club has one of the best tennis facilities in the area. With six lighted hard surface courts, two clay courts, and a covered pavilion from which to watch the matches, the club provides an excellent environment for the large number of active tennis players amongst its members. And young players love that.
Although the club had a tennis professional on staff for several years after its founding, it was not until May 1975 that Berkeley Hills hired its first Director of Tennis, Jeff Campbell. Before assuming this new position at Berkeley, Jeff Campbell had been Head Tennis Director at Druid Hills Country Club, Atlanta Country Club, and Peachtree Corners Tennis Club.
From the beginning, tennis players of Berkeley Hills Country Club aligned themselves with the Atlanta Lawn Tennis Association (ALTA) founded in 1934. This Association is the vehicle through which tennis players from throughout the five county Atlanta metropolitan area schedule league play for adults and juniors. Although there are no tennis “Club Championships” at Berkeley Hills, the club’s tennis players have been very successful at all levels of ALTA and USTA over the years.
Robby Dewling Shares His Perspective as Berkeley Hills’ New Member
“I joined Berkeley Hills because it’s a true golfer’s club. The membership clearly loves the game and invests in it first. The course is in great shape, it’s a lot of fun to play, and I love that it isn’t lined with houses on every hole like so many other courses in the area. Pace of play was another massive factor for me.”
“After grinding through 5 or 6-hour rounds at public courses for years, knowing the club enforces a 4-hour max and seeing members regularly playing in 3 hours, was exactly what I was looking for.”
“Beyond golf, the culture isn’t stuffy at all. Even during my prospective round, I noticed families with young kids out practicing and eating dinner together, which made me realize it would be a welcoming spot for my wife and our boys. Finally, you can’t beat the logistics. If you live in Midtown or Brookhaven, it’s easily the best option with a reasonable initiation fee. Just jump on 85, use the Peach Pass, and you’re there.”
Why Berkeley Hills Golf Club in Duluth, Georgia
Located just off I-85, Berkeley Hills (the revered golf club in Duluth, Georgia) is very close to Brookhaven, Buckhead, Dunwoody, Johns Creek, Peachtree Corners, and Virginia Highlands, making it a preferred golf choice for the community.
The tree-lined, walkable layout of the Berkeley Hills golf course.
With refurbished facilities, memberships, practice facilities, instruction, events, and tee times, Berkeley Hills is easily one of the best golf courses in North Atlanta today. After converting to Champion Bermuda in 2005, the club upgraded its greens again in 2022, this time to TifEagle Bermuda, paired with a new irrigation system. Its pure, newly upgraded greens (the 18-hole championship course spanning nearly 6700 yards from the back tees) give the club a strong, revered reputation for having some of the purest, smoothest greens in the Atlanta region.
Apart from golf, the club features a spacious 33,000-square-foot clubhouse, a junior Olympic outdoor pool, a very active social calendar, and eight premier tennis and pickleball courts (including Har-Tru Clay).
Mature trees and rolling hills, surrounding the course, offer a level of peaceful seclusion rarely found in modern neighborhoods. It also serves as a home practice base for the Georgia State University golf team when they aren’t travelling for tournaments, all thanks to the championship quality practice facilities.
Berkeley Hills Country Club has gone miles beyond its pristine TifEagle Bermuda greens or top-tier amenities. It provides an unmatched lifestyle to its community today, built around a shared passion for excellence.
Championship Golf and Notable Visitors
Berkeley Hills Country Club regularly hosts a number of qualifier tournaments including the Georgia State Golf Association Mid-Amateur, the Georgia State Golf Association State Amateur, and the Georgia PGA State Open Championship. Berkeley Hills also regularly hosts a qualifier for the USGA Mid-Amateur Championship. The Championship at Berkeley Hills is now an annual tournament open to Georgia PGA professionals and top amateur golfers.
Whether you are looking to introduce a friend or family member to an active social calendar, shave strokes off your handicap on a quiet, peaceful tree-lined layout, or just revel in an upscale fitness and racquet facility, Berkeley Hills Country Club ensures a premier private club experience in North Atlanta.
Discover the warmth of our member-owned community firsthand, a warmth that’s outlasted a tornado, a greens crisis, and every challenge in between, because the people here chose to rebuild it themselves. Contact our membership director today to explore our flexible packages and take a private tour of the facilities.
Schedule Your Private Tour Today or Request Membership Information