Statham, Ga. ? Members and residents-to-be of a golf course community under construction near the Georgia campus probably will have at least one thing in common: their diplomas.

The long driveway to The Georgia Club looks like a typical golf course community. But inside the white-columned clubhouse are sculptures of beloved Bulldog mascot Uga, framed art of the stadium and campus, and a golf shop awash in red and black accessories.

The Georgia Club and The Georgia Tech Club are two of several communities across the country seeking to reconnect college alumni through lectures, sporting events and the spirit of their good ol’ alma mater.

Developers partner with alumni associations, which provide names of contributors and lend the school’s name to the project in exchange for a percentage of the revenues and sometimes help with community plans.

Alumni associations are able to boost their coffers through relationships with members and residents, who are likely to give money to the university. Although the communities target alumni, developers say a degree from the university is not required.

The Georgia Club already has attracted high-profile alumni such as former football player Don Leebern, now a member of the Board of Regents, and Dan Parker, head of the search firm hired to identify candidates to replace athletic director Vince Dooley.

“Never did I believe I would have the opportunity to live in this environment,” said Parker, the club’s first member who is building a home in the community. “That school spirit will evolve over time as alumni and employees of the university buy property there. It’s clearly something we look for and we expect.”

Similar clubs have been built or are in the works at schools including Alabama, Kentucky, Louisville, Penn State, Kansas State, Texas A&M and South Carolina, where a golf course bunker is embedded with a full-color Gamecock claw.

Most developments have done well, but the success depends on many factors.

“It certainly has to do with the economy. Sometimes it has to do with whether the football team is winning or losing. It probably has something to do with the company and how good they are marketing,” said Ed Paquette of the Council of Alumni Association Executives.

Jim Vanden Berg, CEO of The Georgia Club, poses in front of the clubhouse on the golf course Nov. 15 in Statham, Ga. The Georgia Club, in Statham, Ga., and the Georgia Tech Club are two of several communities across the country that seek to reconnect college alumni by offering lectures, sporting events and the spirit of their alma mater.

Some schools also end up getting a facility out of the development.

That’s the case at the planned 800-acre Georgia Tech Club in the Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta. The Melrose Co. approached the school four years ago with the idea of a community for alumni, complete with a golf course and facilities for Georgia Tech’s golf team.

When complete, club will have a Rees Jones-designed course, a locker room, offices for coaches, a learning center with a larger-than-normal driving range and hitting bays, and study areas with computers for student-athletes. The community will also have cottages to be used as second homes and 200 single-family homesites, a swim and tennis center, a clubhouse, and a spa and fitness facility. Founders’ memberships are $60,000 and charter memberships are $30,000.

The alumni association will receive 10 percent of the operating revenue, which Bob Kolb, chief executive of The Melrose Co, estimates will generate $10 million a year. It will also receive 5 percent of actual sales of memberships and homesites.

The financial benefit to the alumni association was a “big part of our pitch,” Kolb said.

“If it’s done right and well, you’ve really added a nice jewel to the crown,” said Joe Irwin, director of Tech’s alumni association.

The University of Georgia’s alumni association will receive $1 million from its partnership with The Georgia Club, said club chief executive Jim Vanden Berg.

The connection to the school will be evident in its antebellum architecture and activities. A meeting house will be modeled after the university’s Phi Kappa building.

When complete in eight years, the club will boast 800 homes, a 27-hole Denis Griffiths golf course, tennis courts, a fitness complex, swimming pools and the now-open clubhouse with a restaurant and meeting space on 1,200 acres.

“We’ve created the air of a UGA spirit out here,” said Dave Muia, executive director of Georgia’s alumni association.

“The alumni association is in the relationship business. What better place to engage alumni and cultivate relationships than in a gorgeous setting like this,” he said, sitting in a suite with sweeping views of the golf course.