Bobby Jones Golf Course, managed by Bobby Jones Links (BJL), a client-centric, boutique management company in the golf industry, saw the Atlanta, Ga., course be selected as the 2025 Jemsek National Course of the Year.
Regional winners were chosen from the East, Midwest, South and West sections of the United States. Bobby Jones Golf Course was named South Region Course of the Year, and from these regional winners, the NGCOA Board of Directors chose the acclaimed Georgia property as the 2025 Jemsek National Course of the Year.
The NGCOA‘s Jemsek National Course of the Year Award recognizes a facility that epitomizes exceptional course quality, shows management excellence, makes important contributions to its communities and the game and is a model of operations to its peers.
“Through the leadership and hard work of president Marty Elgison and the nonprofit Bobby Jones Golf Course Foundation, the BJL management and leadership and our staff who works tirelessly to make the golf experience here unforgettable and truly accessible to everyone, this property has become a tremendous source of pride for our team, the city of Atlanta and the golf industry,” said Bobby Jones Golf Course General Manager Joshua Deal. “Our entire staff is proud and humble — it is an incredible and meaningful honor to be able to deliver every day on the Foundation’s mission to ‘Make a Difference Through Golf.'”
As the result of a $33 million redevelopment project that began in 2011, the course was transformed from a poorly conditioned and underutilized property into a facility that not only features a reversible 9-hole layout designed by the late Bob Cup and a driving range, but is now an integral part of the local golf community and aims to enrich the lives of people throughout a community, according to the company. For example, through its PGA Hope program, a free initiative that teaches golf to active-duty military and veterans, BJGC aims to impact in the lives of countless service people.
The Foundation’s focus on junior golf is exemplified by BJGCs’ PGA Junior League program, which had more than 250 children participate last year. The weekly matches were on Sunday afternoons, which is prime real estate for tee times, demonstrating the course’s commitment to junior golf. More than 6,000 juniors have come through the course in the past five years, and the Youth on Course program allows juniors to play the course at any time for $5.
The facility’s Dan Yates Putting Course and Cupp Links, a 5-hole par-3 course, can both be played free of charge, as can the practice putting green and chipping green. Bobby Jones Golf Course also has the only outdoor publicly accessible range in Atlanta using Trackman Range technology, which debuted there in 2024. The property’s centerpiece — the Murray Golf House — serves multiple roles. It is the clubhouse and is home to the Georgia State Golf Association, Georgia PGA Section and Georgia Golf Hall of Fame.
“To take a property from an underutilized, virtual afterthought in the local golf market to a prototype of how public golf courses everywhere should function and serve their surrounding communities is just incredible,” said Steve Willy, founding partner of BJL. “The programming there has galvanized a community, brought more people into golf, and the clubhouse, course and practice facilities are genuinely a desirable and fun place to spend time. No matter how many lunch and dinner meetings we have in Boone’s restaurant, it’s still exhilarating and humbling to walk into the Murray Golf House and appreciate the splendor of it all, how far this place has come and what it now means to so many golfers in Atlanta.”
Each year, the NGCOA recognizes the most outstanding members of the past year, and the individuals and organizations that have helped preserve the tradition of the game while embracing the challenges and opportunities of the golf business. The winners will be recognized throughout NGCOA’s Golf Business Conference 2025, being held Jan. 20-22, 2025, in Orlando, Fla.
“We will be recognizing an outstanding lineup of golf industry leaders during NGCOA’s Golf Business Conference 2025,” said Cathy Harbin, owner of Pine Ridge Golf Course and board president of the NGCOA. “All of our award recipients have made incredible impacts on golf, especially within their communities, and we’re thrilled to celebrate such a deserving group.”
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