ANNISTON / GADSDEN | _ | | _ | | | Silver Lakes Course
Set on rolling terrain at the edge of Talladega National Forest between Anniston and Gadsden is Silver Lakes, home to some of the most scenic golf you can find. The Heartbreaker nine is dubbed by many as the most challenging nine on the Trail from the championship tees. Consider the eighth hole, a par 3 that plays over 200 yards across water and uphill to the green, or the 450 yard par 4 ninth with water rippling down the entire left side of the hole. The beauty of Silver Lakes is the multiple tee selections (up to 12 on some holes). | | | _ | | _ | | | Silver Lakes Short Course
The Short Course at Silver Lakes is arguably the most demanding collection of one-shotters on the Trail. There is a forced carry over water on seven of the nine holes, including a 12-foot cascade in front of the sixth green. | | | | | | AUBURN / OPELIKA | _ | | _ | | | Grand National Short Course
The Short Course, while overshadowed by the two main tracts, is a thing of beauty, with more than half the holes touching the lake. This 18-hole course of one-shotters might be the finest anywhere in the country. | | | _ | | _ | | | Grand National Lake Course
Grand National, by all reports, was the single greatest site for a golf complex Robert Trent Jones, Sr. had ever seen. Built on Lake Saugahatchee, 32 of the 54 holes drape along its filigreed shores. With 12 holes hugging the shore, Grand National's Lake Course is every bit as scenic as the Links. Not only is the quartet of par threes as good as any in the nation, the 230-yard, island green 15th may be the single prettiest hole on the Trail. | | | _ | | _ | | | Grand National Links Course
Grand National, by all reports, is the single greatest site for a golf complex Robert Trent Jones, Sr. had ever seen. Built on Lake Saugahatchee, 32 of the 54 holes drape along its filigreed shores. The cornerstone of the complex is the Links Course, which is without a single weakness. The par-four 18th might be the strongest finishing hole on the Trail. The drive must carry a corner of the lake, while the approach is played to a shallow pedestal green shored up by boulders. | | | | | | BIRMINGHAM | _ | | _ | | | Oxmoor Valley Short Course
The Short Course at Oxmoor Valley is a delightful collection of 18 pure one-shotters which offer severe elevation changes and almost every hole playing downhill. The Short Course is listed by Golf Digest's Places to Play as one of the nation's Great Value courses. | | | _ | | _ | | | Oxmoor Valley Ridge Course
Sculpted from the peaks and valleys of the Appalachians, Oxmoor Valley offers scenic forests, numerous creeks and challenging elevation changes. The Ridge Course, with its rolling fairways, heavy tree cover and precipitous 150-foot elevation changes, is incredibly photogenic. As a reminder of the site's former use as mining land, the green at the par 5 twelfth is buttressed by a shelf of exposed shale rock. | | | _ | | _ | | | Oxmoor Valley Valley Course
Sculpted from the peaks and valleys of the Appalachians, Oxmoor Valley offers scenic forests, numerous creeks and challenging elevation changes. The Valley Course is dotted with picturesque lakes and stretches two miles downrange along a slender valley. The 18th hole, a 441 yard par 4, nicknamed "The Assassin," rises to a dramatic finish at the signature clubhouse just behind the green. | | | _ | | _ | | | Ross Bridge Course
The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Ross Bridge is just two miles from the existing 54-hole complex at Oxmoor Valley in Birmingham, but it is light years away from the expected or ordinary. A big, muscle-bound course, its 18 holes sprawling over 330 acres and stretching almost 8,200 yards from the back tees, Ross Bridge is big and brawny, yet inviting to golfers of all skill levels. Ross Bridge has played host to the annual Regions Charity Classic presented by Bruno's Supermarkets. The course meanders through indigenous landscape and around the 262-room Renaissance Ross Bridge Golf Resort and Spa. Designed for tournament play, Ross Bridge is symbolic of an old parkland style course. Ten holes play along the banks of two man-made lakes connected by a spectacular waterfall dropping 80 feet between the ninth and eighteenth greens. A gristmill added to the waterfall reflects the history of this old mining site. The beauty and challenge of each hole leads many to believe there is not one signature hole but possibly eighteen. | | | | | | GREENVILLE | _ | | _ | | | Cambrian Ridge Short Course
The Nine Hole Short Course is a marvelous collection of par three holes laid out beautifully between the ridge and Sherling Lake. | | | _ | | _ | | | Cambrian Ridge
Known by avid golfers as one of the most beautiful and most challenging stops on the Trail, Cambrian Ridge in Greenville lies just 50 miles from Montgomery. It is well worth the ride for any golfer looking for 36 holes of jaw-dropping golf.The Sherling/Canyon combination was named by Golf Digest as the third best new public course in America in 1994 and 13th in their list of America's Top 50 Affordable Courses. This combination was also named by Golf Digest's Places to Play as one of the nation's 40 Super Value Courses. Cambrian Ridge was immortalized on the 2003 Microsoft golf game, Links, and was the subject of an extensive ad campaign in Golf magazine promoting the game. | | | | | | HUNTSVILLE | _ | | _ | | | Hampton Cove Highlands Course
At the northern terminus of the Trail in Huntsville is Hampton Cove, a 54-hole facility with terrain that drastically changes from one side of the property to the other. The Highlands Course, which emulates a Scottish Links, is one of the gems of the Trail. Thousands of Japanese black pines, oaks, dogwoods, and crepe myrtles have been planted to enhance such features as an old mule barn beside the fifth hole. | | | _ | | _ | | | Hampton Cove River Course
At the northern terminus of the Trail in Huntsville is Hampton Cove, a 54-hole facility with terrain that drastically changes from one side of the property to the other. The only Robert Trent Jones layout without a single bunker, the River Course is laid out on former soybean fields in the flood plain of the Flint River. The River is a throwback to the way courses were built long ago - the dirt was merely pushed up to create the greens and tees, leaving all else, including massive oak trees, as is. The enormous black oak behind the 18th green is reputed to be the third oldest in the state at 250 years. | | | _ | | _ | | | Hampton Cove Short Course
The Short Course at Hampton Cove is very open and links-like, with water in play on 11 holes and a large double green accommodating the 10th and 17th greens. | | | | | | MOBILE | _ | | _ | | | Magnolia Grove Crossings Course
The property at Magnolia Grove in Mobile includes creeks, marshland, and lakes, with each of the 54 holes carved from a thick forest of hardwood and pine. Magnolia Grove was recently voted into Golf World Magazine's Reader Choice Top 50 Public Courses. The Falls and Crossings courses were also named by Golf Digest's Places to Play as two of the nation's Great Value courses, and both courses were listed in America's Top 50 Affordable Courses. The Crossings course plays host to the Bell Micro LPGA Classic held each May.The Crossings course, which doubles across railroad tracks, is a shotmaker's layout. The course was renovated in 2009 with newly designed green complexes and extensive tree removal. Several holes were entirely redesigned with new water features, including the par-3 fourteenth hole.Mobile, a top ten golf area according to Golf Digest, offers year-round golfing weather, delicious seafood, and trademarked southern hospitality. | | | _ | | _ | | | Magnolia Grove Falls Course
The property at Magnolia Grove includes creeks, marshland, and lakes, with each of the 54 holes carded from a thick forest of hardwood and pine. The main tract is The Falls, which is characterized by large, liberally contoured greens and massive, cloverleaf bunkers. On the 10th, a 570 yard par 5 and possibly the best strategic hole on the course, a waterfall cascades across stair steps just beneath a contoured green that falls eight feet from front to back. | | | _ | | _ | | | Magnolia Grove Short Course
Most of the holes on the Short Course, recently named the best par 3 course in America, call for forced carries over marsh to liberally sloped, bulkheaded greens and are equal to any of the one-shotters on the full-length courses. | | | _ | | _ | | | Grand Hotel Marriott's Dogwood Course
The eighteen championship holes of the Dogwood Course wind in and around marshes and features a spectacular collection of par-3 holes. The green on the seventeenth hole is surrounded by water on three sides so the tee shotmust find the green. The course features 7,063 yards of golf from the longest tees for a par of 72. The course rating is 72.6 and it has a slope rating of 124 on Bermuda grass. Designed by Perry Maxwell, ASGCA/Joseph L.Lee, the Dogwood golf course reopened in 2004 after a complete renovation.First built in 1947, the Grand Hotel Marriott's Golf Courses showcase fairways lined with 200-year-old oaks and a dramatic signature hole, the 14th on the Azalea course. Recently restored, the new designs lend themselves to superb conditioning year round. With the addition or expansion of ten water features over the span of the 36 championship holes as well as other interesting architectural features, golfers are faced with decisions at every corner.Funded by the Retirement Systems of Alabama, the renovation of both courses brings them on par with many of the great resort golf courses in the country. The Grand Hotel Mariott and the Lakewood Golf course have several times beennamed to Golf Magazine's Best Golf Resorts in America. | | | _ | | _ | | | Grand Hotel Marriott's Lakewood Azalea Course
The Azalea Course gets its name from the Azalea bushes that line many of the course's fairways. The signature 14th hole has an island green surrounded by a four-acre lake which makes your approach shot to this par-5 very demanding. The course features 6,770 yards of golf from the longest tees for a par of 72. The course rating is 72.5 and it has a slope rating of 128 on Bermuda grass. Designed by Perry Maxwell, ASGCA/Ron Garl/(R)Bobby Vaughan, the Azalea golf course opened in 2006 after a complete renovation.First built in 1947, the Marriott's Lakewood golf courses showcase fairways lined with 200-year-old oaks and a dramatic signature hole, the 14th on the Azalea Course. Recently restored, the new designs lend themselves to superb conditioning year round. With the addition or expansion of ten water features over the span of the 36 championship holes as well as other interesting architectural features, golfers are faced with decisions at every corner. Funded by the Retirement Systems of Alabama, the renovation of both courses brings them on par with many of the great resort golf courses in the country. The Grand Hotel Mariott and the Lakewood Golf Couses have several times been named to Golf Magazine's Best Golf Resorts in America. | | | | | | MUSCLE SHOALS / FLORENCE | _ | | _ | | | Shoals Fighting Joe Course
The Shoals lies between the Wheeler and Wilson dams on the Tennessee River. Wheeler Dam is named in honor of General Joseph "Fighting Joe" Wheeler, the only Confederate General to attain the same rank later in the United States Army. General Wheeler's intense desire to show that Southerners could be counted on as citizens of the U.S. prompted him to volunteer, at age 62, for service in the Spanish-American War.The east championship course at The Shoals is named after General Wheeler. Fighting Joe was the first Trail course to break 8,000 yards, measuring 8,092 yards from the Black tees. It's long, really long, and this links style course is simply good straight-forward golf. Some say the spectacular 17th hole is the signature hole on the course, but the 18th green overlooking Wilson Lake on the Tennessee River will distract you with its beauty, if not its treachery. | | | _ | | _ | | | Shoals Schoolmaster Course
The Shoals lies between the Wheeler and Wilson dams on the Tennessee River. Wheeler Dam is named in honor of General Joseph "Fighting Joe" Wheeler, the only Confederate General to attain the same rank later in the United States Army. General Wheeler's intense desire to show that Southerners could be counted on as citizens of the U.S. prompted him to volunteer, at age 62, for service in the Spanish-American War. The Schoolmaster, named for President Woodrow Wilson who was responsible for getting Wilson Dam built on the Tennessee River and who was known as "The Schoolmaster of Politics", may be tougher than Fighting Joe. This tree lined course is traditional golf with every hole keeping with the natural topography along the Tennessee River. It's wooded, rolling, and spectacular. | | | | | | PRATTVILLE | _ | | _ | | | Capitol Hill Judge Course
The Judge Course plays alongside the 200 acre glistening backwaters of the Alabama River. The first tee lies 200 feet above the fairway overlooking the Alabama River and the skyline of Montgomery. With 14 holes adjoining the water and a stunning bulkhead island green, the Judge is described as simply magnificent and provides some of the most spectacular scenery and golf holes in the world. | | | _ | | _ | | | Capitol Hill Legislator Course
The Legislator Course is a more traditional course, plays in and out of pine trees along a bluff. The view riding down the "Sky Bridge" for six holes laid out in a native cypress swamp will impress as you are led back up the bluff to finish the course at the spectacular clubhouse. | | | _ | | _ | | | Capitol Hill Senator Course
The Senator Course is a traditional Scottish-style layout. Over 150 pot-hole bunkers are situated through out the 18 holes, and mounds 20 to 40 feet in height engulf the landscape, cleverly hiding the cart path or any other hole from the fairway. The Senator's bent-grass greens provide exceptional conditions every month of the year.The Navistar LPGA Classic, will be held during October each year and features a full field of players. The tournament will be played on the Senator Course at the Capitol Hill. | | | | | | DOTHAN | _ | | _ | | | Highland Oaks Golf Course
Located in the southeast corner of Alabama, Highland Oaks features some of the longest and most classically designed holes on the Trail. Highlands 9, the core nine, is relatively open, with several lakes in play. The Peninsula green at the par 3 sixth has an elusive, beckoning quality. Marshwood 9 has been made famous (or notorious) by its behemoth par 5 sixth, which stretches to 701 yards from the tips. The 422 yard par 4 ninth, a left to right dogleg, is arguably the best hole at the site and has a tilted green elevated above a swathe of wetlands. The Magnolia 9 is well named: specimen Magnolia trees dot the higher ground, which is reached via a 1,000 foot long wooden bridge spanning a marsh filled with lichen-dappled trees. The feature hole is the ninth, a 451 yard par 4 that brings you back to the clubhouse and is guarded by a large pond. The nine-hole Short Course, has demanding bunker placements, three water holes and possibly the best putting Bermuda greens in the South. Highland Oaks has played host to notable events such as the 1999 NIKE Tour Championship, 2000 Buy.com Tour Championship, and the 2001 Golf Channel Drive, Chip & Putt Regional Finals. | | | | | | |