I'm not an expert. Perhaps they developed a drainage problem and this is how the fixed it.

A drain following the contour of the drainage line in the grass would be a larger project. Makes sense, though.

I thought the same. Then I looked closely at the first picture, and it appears they are trying to get it to drain towards the lower area in the distance.

All the dirt and clay may have gone into the drainage system, mucking it up.

You might have shot yourself in the foot, amigo.

We live in California in the Central Valley where it is generally flat. Our soil is sandy and drains very well.

We don't have rain gutters on the house. We have a metal roof.

I left an empty trashcan in the driveway, happened to have it under the eave of the roof.

After a day of rain, the plastic trash can had 24" of water in it. It all makes total sense when you think about it, that the rain that falls on the roof has to go somewhere. None the less, I was amazed.

So, here are my thoughts on your problem...

The steep driveway is draining into the corrugated pipe covered with stones. It follows the walkway, then the planting bed in front of the house, and towards the lower area in the distance in the first picture.

Not exactly sure where you are, you say NW Georgia. Chattanooga is close. The annual rainfall in Chattanooga is 55 inches. I'll assume your driveway is 20 ft. by 30 ft. That means that, over a year, you have 2,750 cubic feet of water flowing through that drain. That is 20,570 gallons a year, on average. That is a lot of water. I'm not a specialist in this area (drainage), but you Need to become one, or find a very good one locally.

What I read into your description makes me think that you may not have appreciated the magnitude of your problem that they previous owners were faced with when they installed this system.

PS: I have not even mentioned all the water coming off the roof via the downspout.

You've got some good advice in this forum.

Sorry all I can do is put some numbers on the magnitude of the problem.

Another way of looking at it is this:

I know more than 3 people. Probably 100 people, give or take.

Of the 100 people I know, 3 of them have had expensive plumbing problems.

Two were from using Sharkbite connectors.

One had PVC water lines in their home, installed by the builder.

Better?

I've had two people I know have flooding damage from Sharkbite type plumbing.

Not gonna ever use it.