THE KEEP

LOCATION: Lookout Mountain, Georgia
PURPOSE: 18-hole Golf Course & Private Golf Club
ACRES: 180

The Keep is an 18-hole golf course located 1.5 miles from the McLemore Resort entrance on Lookout Mountain, Georgia. The 200-acre site is a mountain plateau 2,300 feet above sea level with 1.5 miles of uninterrupted cliff-edge and five natural streams. Careful thought went into preserving sensitive natural areas and mountain wetlands that form the headwaters of mountain streams below.

Designed by Bill Bergin and Rees Jones, The Keep is scheduled to open to limited play in September 2024.

CHALLENGES

While the Highland’s Course at the McLemore Resort was able to accommodate Members, their guests, and the 40K-plus Friends of McLemore program, the developer expected that an additional 18-hole golf course would be needed to accommodate guest traffic from Cloudland, the 245-room Curio Collection hotel opening in in February 2024.
The developer needed to locate and secure property suitable for a second 18-golf course within close proximity to McLemore Resort on Lookout Mountain, Georgia.
Environmental considerations threatened to halt construction for up to one year, which would limit hotel guest’s availability to McLemore’s golf program.

SOLUTIONS

The developer secured a 400+ acre parcel of land 1.5 miles from the entrance to McLemore Resort. The property allowed for over one mile of cliff-edge to be utilized for the design of the resort’s second course.
The developer was able to identify environmentally-sound solutions, as well as dedicate areas of the site to preserve the original natural environment.
The second course, named The Keep, added 40,000 rounds to McLemore Resort’s golf capacity.
Overly 50 percent of the 125 membership available for The Keep were purchased within six months of the announcement of the new course.
Due to prior success with Rees Jones and Bill Bergin on the Highlands Course at McLemore, the pair of architects were invited to return to McLemore and design The Keep.