A slightly deeper look at The Shoals on the RTJ Trail

[Jason Thurman]

My recent visit to Alabama included a 36 hole day on the RTJ Trail at The Shoals. Searching this site prior to playing, most of what I found were general posts about the Trail in general, and not particularly focused on The Shoals itself vs other courses on the Trail. For a place that gets so much play, and especially as destination for buddy trips, I thought a closer look was warranted.

The opinions I found on this site before visiting largely fell into two camps, which I’ll call Haters and Likers. For the Haters, the Trail mostly showcases Dark Ages-style penal, bloated, unwalkable golf, on courses that weren’t even designed by their namesake. And I mean, I get it. Difficulty abounds. For instance, while I liked each of Fighting Joe’s par 3s individually, the abundance of punishment available on each might be a little too much collectively.











There’s also the matter of each course stretching to roughly 8000 yards from the tips. From the tees most will play, however, the length isn’t nearly so ridiculous. I played from about 6600, and found the courses very manageable as a ~10 handicapper. They certainly didn’t play longer than their stated yardage, and for the most part they offered an abundance of width off the tee. The wide corridors at Schoolmaster’s 13^th and Fighting Joe’s opener below, respectively, are pretty typical of the available room to play.



The penalty for missing can be large in spots, both off the tee and on approaches, but the trouble is “all laid out in front of you” and comes in varied forms. The back nine of Fighting Joe probably gets a little too waterlogged, although there’s almost always a safe route available for the bunter, as at the approach to 15.

Schoolmaster features far less water, but uses it attractively in several spots. I liked the 8^th, with plenty of room to bail to the right off the tee but a discernably better angle of approach rewarding the player who hugs the tighter left side.

More often, though, the challenge comes in the form of sand along the ideal line. The tee shot at Schoolmaster’s 7^th rewards the player who gets close to the bunkers right.




As does the tee shot at Fighting Joe’s 8^th.

And the second shot on Schoolmaster’s 600+ yd 9^th fully captured my interest after a good drive played to the crest of a hill. Reaching the top reveals the view below. The huge bailout area right leaves a miserable approach angle, so I tried to carry the shortest bunker straight ahead. Instead I pulled my 3 wood a smidge, and failed to carry the left bunker by about a foot.

I also found the tee shot on Fighting Joe’s 14^th attractive, especially with the setting sun. Hug the bunkers left to create the best angle of approach.

The Likers cite the RTJ Trail as a good destination for affordable, enjoyable golf, especially when the weather gets a little cold further north. I agree, at least as it pertains to The Shoals. Sure, there’s some stuff to nitpick. A lot of the trouble lurks on the right, and that probably beats some slicers up. The tips are stupidly long, although I suspect that’s more of a marketing ploy than something that actually affects the average player. Certain themes become a bit repetitive, especially on Fighting Joe where a series of greens set at an angle against water right become redundant - you can see it above in a few of the photos that look almost like the same hole a few different times. Walkability doesn’t seem to have been any part of the design consideration, but I was surprised to hear that my uncle typically walks when he and his friends visit, which they do about once a month, and he pointed out several shortcuts that make the walk easier than you might imagine. We played Limestone Springs a day later, which gets much more love on this site. Unc thought it was a tougher walk than either course at The Shoals, and based on what I saw at The Shoals and what I endured at Limestone, I think I’d probably agree with him.

Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed the day and the golf probably exceeded my expectations a bit. I wouldn’t build a trip around The Shoals, but I’d happily tack it on to a trip as we did this time around. It’s a good day of golf in a beautiful setting, with a lot of interesting shots and holes on hand, even if it gets a little repetitive along the way.

[Bernie Bell]

Thanks for that, Haters gonna Hate, but looks fun to me.  I'd like to see Muscle Shoals Sound Studio some day.

[Steve Lang]

   So how would you split 10 rounds?

[Tommy Williamsen]

I have not played any of the courses but what a great thing Alabama did. Folks can plan a trip to relatively good courses for a decent price and just have at it. For most players the courses are probably at least as good as the ones they regularly play.
The Shoals look fun, albeit a bit penal for high handicappers.

[John Foley]

Jason - thanks for the details. I am a big unabashed fan on the Trail. It will be more penal than many places we all love, but its no where near as bad as people make it out to be. Yup your going to take a cart, don't have too. The short courses are very good. From a price standpoint it's a rock solid value. I wish it would get more love on here I think people would be surprised.

[Jason Thurman]

Thanks for that, Haters gonna Hate, but looks fun to me.  I'd like to see Muscle Shoals Sound Studio some day.

Agreed there. I wish I had a little more time on this trip to explore things, but I'll be back. The Sound Studio would've been right near the top of the list.

  So how would you split 10 rounds?

Let's go 6-4 in favor of Schoolmaster. I just think it had slightly better terrain, and Fighting Joe's back nine just gets a touch too repetitive with all the approaches that need to navigate water short right.

I have not played any of the courses but what a great thing Alabama did. Folks can plan a trip to relatively good courses for a decent price and just have at it. For most players the courses are probably at least as good as the ones they regularly play.
The Shoals look fun, albeit a bit penal for high handicappers.

Bingo.


A dichotomy I thought about a lot on this trip: I played Heritage Hill in Kentucky on the way down. I know my way around Kentucky's public golf scene pretty well, and I enjoyed Heritage Hill very much. I think it firmly belongs on the list of Kentucky's top 10 publics, and contends for top 5 status. It was clearly the weakest course of the trip for me though. I played four Alabama publics, and the only one that anyone on this site has ever spoken of in detail is Limestone Springs. But if the courses at The Shoals are somewhat indicative of what's available on the rest of the RTJ Trail, and if Point Mallard is in any way a reflection of what you might find at Lagoon Park in Montgomery, and if Farm Links and Kiva Dunes and Ol' Colony and all those places are as good as advertised, then Alabama might have 20 publics that would contend for top five status in Kentucky. Maybe none of them would reach the level of a Doak 6, but that's an awful lot of pretty good golf courses that just about anybody who loves to play golf can happily play.


Just don't tell the average player that they're playing socialist golf when they visit a lot of those courses.

Jason - thanks for the details. I am a big unabashed fan on the Trail. It will be more penal than many places we all love, but its no where near as bad as people make it out to be. Yup your going to take a cart, don't have too. The short courses are very good. From a price standpoint it's a rock solid value. I wish it would get more love on here I think people would be surprised.

Agree totally. I don't mind penal-school architecture when done well, and I thought these were pretty well done. Plenty of strategic elements sprinkled in, and the shots called for are manageable - penal in school, but not punishing. The great thing about penal architecture is you don't have to be an archidork to understand it. So my 30+ handicap, 3x/year golfing cousin got to taste a lot of challenging shots that were still manageable, and feel a sense of accomplishment when he kept his ball clear of hazards. Subtler strategic golf is great, but the interest can be lost a bit on a less savvy player. Everybody gets a thrill out of splitting a fairway with water tight to the right though, or carrying a looming hazard on an approach. I get why people take buddy trips to the Trail - you don't have to be a golf nerd to love it, and the bang-for-buck is solid whether you're a golf nerd or just an occasional dabbler.