The Piedmont Driving Club (previously the Gentlemen's Driving Club) is a private social club with two club houses in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. Founded in 1887 originally as the Gentlemen's Driving Club, the name reflected the interest of the members to "drive" their horse and carriages on the club grounds. The club later briefly used the adjacent grounds as a golf course until it sold the land to the city in 1904 to create

Piedmont Park Piedmont Park is an urban forest and park in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, located about northeast of Downtown, between the Midtown and Virginia Highland neighborhoods. Originally the land was owned by Dr. Benjamin Walker, who used it as ...

. The club admitted its first black member in 1994. The club's facilities include

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

padel Padel () is a racket sport typically played in doubles on an enclosed court slightly smaller than a doubles tennis court. It has the same scoring system as tennis, but different rules, strokes, and technique. The balls are similar but softer. ...

squash Squash most often refers to: * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (plant), the fruit of vines of the genus ''Cucurbita'' Squash may also refer to: Sports * Squash (professional wrestling), an extr ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

, exercise facilities, massage, casual and fine dining, and event space for larger gatherings. In May 2000, the club built a

Rees Jones Rees Jones (born September 16, 1941) is an American golf course architect. Life and career Born and raised in Montclair, New Jersey, the son of legendary golf course designer Robert Trent Jones and the younger brother of golf course designer ...

-designed 18-hole championship golf course and executive par-3 course several miles from the main clubhouse on Camp Creek Parkway. In 2014, the club hosted one of two 2014 US Amateur Qualifier golf tournaments in Georgia. In 2018, it also hosted the Georgia Mid-Amateur Championship. From July 2008 through December 2009, it underwent a renovation to its informal dining and athletic facilities. The squash program was expanded to include two international hardball doubles courts and two international singles courts. The club hosted the annual cross-border, US versus Canada, Lapham Grant competition for the second time in 2012. The club previously served as one of several host venues for the Peachtree Invitational platform tennis tournament. In 2024, the club became the first private club in Atlanta with a padel court.

References

1887 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Golf clubs and courses in Georgia (U.S. state) Squash venues in the United States Sports venues in Atlanta Sports clubs and teams established in 1887 {{Atlanta-sport-stub Gentlemen's clubs in Georgia (U.S. state)

See also

References