The Rose opens in Georgia: Tripp Davis unveils a new private course on 588 acres

A notable new chapter in Georgia golf architecture has begun: The Rose, a private club near Athens, has opened its 18-hole course designed by Tripp Davis after a period of preview play. Golf Course Architecture reported the opening on 19 October 2026. Its report does not specify the precise date on which the first full round took place, so that publication date should not be mistaken for an official opening-day tee time.

The course sits on roughly 588 acres, or 238 hectares, near Hull in Madison County, about ten minutes from downtown Athens. Access is a fundamental part of the story. The Rose is an invitation-only private club, not a public course. Travellers should not assume that an announcement of opening means that outside visitors can book a normal round.

Brothers Nick and Dimitri Cassini founded the project. Nick is a former collegiate All-American and a member of the US team at the 2001 Walker Cup. Three PGA Tour winners with University of Georgia connections are associated with the club as founding members: two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson, Brendon Todd and Chris Kirk. Davis devised the course's strategy and routing, while Duininck Golf carried out the construction.

Rather than impose an artificial landscape on its site, the design follows the natural ridges, knolls and gently rolling topography. Davis has said that around 80 percent of the holes required primarily shaping, with relatively little major earthmoving. The point of the routing is not simply visual drama. Lines of play, approach angles and the relationship between pin positions and the preceding shot are intended to matter. Wider conservative routes should remain practical for ordinary golfers while stronger players are encouraged to weigh tighter, more aggressive choices.

The course's par-five 12th illustrates this approach. The tee begins on a knoll, with a landing area about 30 feet below, before the route passes between a mature oak and a large pine towards a subtly elevated green. The short par-three 17th places a dramatic drop to the left of its green. At the 510-yard 18th, measured from the back tee, playing safely to the right produces a long approach, whereas challenging the corner near a creek at roughly 300 yards can offer a shorter route.

Golf Course Architecture also identifies Better Billy Bunker liners in the fairway bunkers and an integrated Rain Bird irrigation control system featuring CirrusPRO. The construction contractor, Duininck Golf, independently describes the project as a completed ground-up course build, covering earthwork, construction and irrigation. That does not necessarily mean every associated building is finished: clubhouse fit-out and other property work have separate project timelines.

The significance of The Rose lies in the pairing of a high-profile founding group with a design centred on decisions golfers make from the tee and into each green. It will take sustained play to assess how that strategic ambition translates across seasons and skill levels, but Georgia now has another distinctive new course to watch.

Sources: Golf Course Architecture, report dated 19 October 2026; Duininck Golf, the course builder's first-party project account: https://www.duininckgolf.com/portfolio/the-rose-athens-georgia/

Illustration notice: the accompanying 2018 archival photograph shows Atlanta Country Club elsewhere in Georgia. It does NOT depict The Rose. Photo: Thomson200 / Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0, permitted for commercial reuse.