Every spring seven golf buddies and I take a five day golf trip. We have been alternating between the South Strand of the Myrtle Beach area and the Pinehurst/Southern Pines area. This year I decided to branch out and sample the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama. I have heard great thing about it and I knew that this would be an opportunity to play two additional courses that have been ranked on the Golf Digest Top 100 Public Course list. The two courses that were on the must play list were The Judge at Capital Ridge (#100 Last Ranked in 2009) in Prattville and Limestone Springs (#74 Last Ranked in 2007) in Oneonta. In addition to these fine courses, we also played Ross Bridge and The Ridge at Oxmoor Valley near Birmingham. I totally enjoyed all of these courses and was very impressed with their conditioning, the variety of holes and the friendless of all the staffs. We were all quite surprised by the elevation changes and the hilly terrain in the Birmingham and Oneonta territories. It made for very interesting and challenging golf.
Limestone Springs is not part of the RTJ Golf Trail, but since it was fairly close to our hotel in Birmingham, and had been previously ranked, it had to be included. This course, which is located quite a few miles from any city, is worth your drive. The elevated tees and greens on many of the holes, in addition to the tree lined fairways, made for a terrific day. The fairways were generous enough to allow you to go after most holes with your driver without too much fear of trouble off the tee but it was important to examine the holes to determine which side of the fairway to favor. The greens were also large and interesting with just enough bunkering and water hazards to add to the interest. Most holes did not require a forced carry which is a nice option for most amateur golfers that tend to be short on their approaches. Playing this course is a very quiet and peaceful experience. There are some large homes that sit back in the trees on some holes but nowhere do they intrude on the beauty of this layout. This course is also a great value and was just $49 on the day we played. Don’t forget about Limestone Springs as you head north out of Alabama. This Jerry Pate design is a very worthy track. Too bad it is so far from the city and has so much competition in the RTJ Trail. Give it a try. You will love it!
The Judge is about 80 minutes south of Birmingham in Prattville and is just one of three courses at the Capital Ridge facility. After a very scenic drive from the elevated first tee, the topography of the remainder of the course was nowhere near as hilly as the three previous courses played. Robert Trent Jones, Sr. still made this layout quite intriguing by having water hazards on 14 of the 18 holes. Despite all the hazards, it was a very fair and enjoyable test of golf as he mixed up the placement of the water hazards so every hole was a new and different experience. The Judge is a very enjoyable course and its conditioning was excellent. The more Trent Jones, Sr. courses I play, the more impressed I am with the variety from course to course. If you include The Judge at Capital Hill in your next Alabama trip you will not be disappointed.
The other two courses we played on the RTJ Trail deserve a mention in this post even though they have never been rated in the Top 100 Public courses by Golf Digest. The Ridge Course at Oxmoor Valley was a joy to play. Interesting holes, hilly terrain and outstanding conditioning made for a great day. There is a second 18 hole course plus a par 3 course at this facility which makes it convenient for a second round but unfortunately, there was no time in our schedule to check out these two courses. I had not read much about this course in advance so it was a very pleasant surprise. The staff was friendly and helpful at this terrific facility.
Despite never cracking the Top 100 rankings, Ross Bridge was at the top of our list. This course is very near Oxmoor Valley and it is amazing. Sitting next to the Renaissance Hotel, it was impressive as soon as we arrived. A very friendly staff greeted us and then a delicious lunch in their clubhouse dining room made for a great start to this day. From the opening view at the elevated first tee to the walk up the fairway to the 18th green, this was a most enjoyable golf course. The conditions were immaculate, the elevations changes dramatic and the variety of holes kept the round quite interesting. I feel that this course has all the ingredients to make a Top 100 list. As we left Ross Bridge, we all agreed on one thing, we want to play this course again.
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