Bear's Best Atlanta

Signature Setup

I walked the first few holes here on a late-April morning, 61°F just after 8 a.m. with the Bermuda fairways still cool underfoot and the Gwinnett County hills throwing long shadows. What makes this place unusual hits you on the second or third tee: every hole is a recreation of a different Jack Nicklaus design from somewhere else in the world, so the round never settles into one rhythm — the look and the demand change hole to hole.

Bear's Best Atlanta opened in 2002 in Suwanee, Georgia, about 35 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta, built by Nicklaus Design as one of two "Bear's Best" collections (the other is in Las Vegas). The concept: 18 holes, each a replica of a hole Nicklaus himself picked as a favorite from courses he designed across the U.S. and abroad. From the championship tees it measures roughly 7,046 yards at par 72, with the rolling terrain of north Georgia standing in for deserts, coastlines, and mountains that the original holes were carved into.

Hole-by-Hole Wind & Playing Lines

Hole 9 (one of the hardest two-shotters, long par-4 ~440y). Into the prevailing southwest summer breeze this is the hole that quietly wrecks a card — a 150-yard approach plays closer to 170, and the green is built to reject a stock number. Club up, aim center, and accept a 30-foot putt.

Hole 15 (signature par-3, ~175y over water). The replica short hole. Wind off the right turns the carry into pure nerve; there is no bail-out short, only water. On a calm morning it is a mid-iron; by mid-afternoon with a SW wind into your face it can be two clubs more. Aim at the fattest part of the green, never the tucked pin.

A long par-5 on the back (~560y). With a helping SW wind the second shot tempts you to reach, but the replica greens here are small relative to their approach length. Lay back to a full wedge number rather than chunking a long iron into trouble.

Green & Fairway Characteristics

The greens are bentgrass — the north-Georgia standard for the era — and for daily play they run firm and quick in the low 11s on the Stimp, with more internal movement than the replica framing lets on; because each green imitates a different original, the contouring shifts character from hole to hole rather than following one designer's habit. The fairways are Bermuda and use the natural Gwinnett elevation change, so uneven lies and downhill kicks are common, and back-nine yardages stretch as the routing climbs and falls through the hills. Roll is generous in the warm months and almost nonexistent on a cold, damp morning.

Seasonal Weather Pattern

Suwanee sits inland in Georgia's humid subtropical zone, so it reads nothing like a coastal track. Spring (April–May) is the prime window — 62–78°F, firm turf, calm early air, though spring rain softens the Bermuda and the Atlanta pollen is relentless. Summer (June–August) is hot and humid, often 87–92°F, with afternoon thunderstorms that build off the heat between 2 and 4 p.m. and a steady SW wind of 6–12 mph by midday. Autumn (October–November) is the quiet best season: 54–72°F, dry, with still mornings. Winters are mild but the Bermuda goes dormant — 44–57°F by day, occasional morning frost delays that push early tee times back 30–60 minutes. NOAA north-Georgia records show summer afternoon gusts commonly out of the southwest, lighter than a coastal course but enough to add a club on the exposed replica par-3s.

Local Play Tips

Honest limitation first: I've walked Bear's Best on a spring morning rather than logged a full season of rounds here, so I lean on regional weather data for the summer and winter reads rather than claiming I've played them. The thing no yardage book tells you: because the holes are replicas of designs from very different climates, the wind matters more than the scorecard suggests — a hole modeled on a sheltered original sits fully exposed on a Georgia hilltop, so the "easy" replica can play hardest on a breezy afternoon. And the round is a race against the storm clock in summer; the thunderstorms here form off the afternoon heat, not a front, so a morning group finishes in dry calm while the 1 p.m. wave gets chased in.

Pre-Round Weather Workflow

Use the 7-day G-Score on this page the way I do. Three days out, check whether your summer tee window clears the 2–4 p.m. storm build — on a 7,046-yard par 72 with exposed replica par-3s, beating that window can move your score 6–10 points and save the round outright. The morning of, read the windExposure panel: a SW or W reading means the 9th and the over-water 15th both play longer, so club up one and aim at the fat side. And if it reads below 50°F with overnight rain, expect the dormant Bermuda to give back almost no roll — take an extra club into every green and let the firm bentgrass surfaces, not your driver, be the part of this round you respect.