After years of planning, neighborhood debates and massive real estate deals, it’s time once again to play at Bobby Jones Golf Course. Atlanta’s first public golf course, dating to 1932, reopens Nov. 5 with a dramatic redesign pitched as “revolutionary and spectacular.”

The $23 million remake of Bobby Jones, located off Northside Drive in Buckhead’s Atlanta Memorial Park, includes a total reconstruction of the course. Instead of the previous 18 holes, it’s now a “reversible” nine-hole course that golfers can play in two directions. The brainchild of the late famed designer Bob Cupp, it’s one of only two reversible courses in the nation. And that’s just one of many big changes, from a rebuilt tennis center to the inclusion of a state golf hall of fame.

Standing on a manicured green during a recent preview tour, General Manager Brian Conley said he’s seen quite a few courses in his time — including the championship set-up at Lanier Golf Club, which he formerly ran — but nothing like the new Bobby Jones.

“This really doesn’t compare with anything,” he said.

Marty Elgison has been working on Bobby Jones improvements for at least seven years, at first as a member of the Atlanta Memorial Park Conservancy. Now he’s head of the Bobby Jones Golf Course Foundation, a private group overseeing the reconstruction on behalf of the state, which now owns the course.

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