You may not think golf when you think Alabama, but the state’s Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail features more than 450 holes at ten different sites, making 100 miles of golfing bliss in total. What began as a pragmatic plan to help boost Alabama tourism and beef up the state pension fund’s bottom line now lures travellers from all over the globe to this idyllic corner of Dixie.
In the late 1980s, Dr. David G. Bronner, CEO of Retirement Systems of Alabama, came up with the idea to develop a golf course system that would attract retirees and visitors. Renowned golf architect Robert Trent Jones Sr. was tapped for the ambitious state-funded effort, in what would become the largest construction project of its kind in American history.
The trail, which opened in 1992, is diverse in topography and difficulty. In addition to honing your skills at the sport, playing the Robert Trent Jones Trail also lets you enjoy the state’s natural beauty. You can tee off in the hazy Appalachian foothills of its northernmost reaches, play t
You may not think golf when you think Alabama, but the state’s Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail features more than 450 holes at ten different sites, making 100 miles of golfing bliss in total. What began as a pragmatic plan to help boost Alabama tourism and beef up the state pension fund’s bottom line now lures travellers from all over the globe to this idyllic corner of Dixie.
In the late 1980s, Dr. David G. Bronner, CEO of Retirement Systems of Alabama, came up with the idea to develop a golf course system that would attract retirees and visitors. Renowned golf architect Robert Trent Jones Sr. was tapped for the ambitious state-funded effort, in what would become the largest construction project of its kind in American history.
The trail, which opened in 1992, is diverse in topography and difficulty. In addition to honing your skills at the sport, playing the Robert Trent Jones Trail also lets you enjoy the state’s natural beauty. You can tee off in the hazy Appalachian foothills of its northernmost reaches, play through the enchanting cypress-rich swamps of the south and wind up on the beach by the crystalline coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The trail ends at the elegant Grand Hotel Marriott in Point Clear, where you can sneak in some seaside R&R.
Scattered throughout the state, the trail sites—such as Highland Oaks in Dothan, Capitol Hill in Prattville and Grand National in Auburn-Opelika—are all located with easy highway access, and no two are more than a two-and-a-half hour drive apart. Flexibility is another attraction of the trail. All courses offer multiple tees, and most have a separate short course to vary the challenge. One of the newer courses, the 18-hole Ross Bridge that opened in Birmingham in 2005, stretches almost 8,200 yards from the back tees, making it the third-longest golf course in the world.
Golf Digest named the Short Course at Magnolia Grove in Mobile the best Par 3 course in the nation. The New York Times declared that the entire trail offers ‘some of the best public golf on Earth’, while The Wall Street Journal said the trail may well be the biggest golf bargain in the country.
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