Isle Dauphine Golf Course: Dauphin Island, AL

[Tim Gavrich]

While fiddling around with Google Earth, I came across this golf course, situated right on the Gulf of Mexico.  It looks like there'd be some spectacular scenery out there.  The golf course looks pretty rudimentary...is it much to speak of, other than its setting?

What other less well-known golf courses enjoy such a setting?  Are they diamonds-on-the-beach, perhaps?

[Phil McDade]

Tim:

I've played this course! You're right -- there is some very good terrain there.

The story behind this course is quite bizarre -- I don't have all the details, but there has been a long-simmering fued between the club and some nearby property owners (perhaps condo folks who bought shares in the club?) and the island about the proper ownership of the course. My sense in reading up on it a few years, in preparation for a family vacation down to Dauphin, is that the dispute has hampered efforts to improve the course (Dauphin is a lot less touristy than the nearby Gulf Shores area, and in talking to locals there are on-going debates on the island about keeping it quiet and local and low-key vs. opening up the doors to upscale tourism-oriented development, and that has played a role in the dispute over the golf course, which right now is fairly rudimentary, not really upscale in any way.)

It's pretty true links terrain, esp. near the coastal area, with some areas probably similar to coastal Florida golf. There is a lake/lagoon in the interior of the course that plays a role in several holes -- one memorable par 4 (lower right-hand corner of the golf course aerial) is a dog-leg left with a Cape-like drive over a branch of the lagoon, with a tiny green sitting amid sand and native grass. The landing area for a typical 200-225-yard drive is about 20 yards wide! (The tee is just behind the little north-south path crossing the lagoon lower right of the aerial.) There is also a very good par 3 (upper right of the google aerial of the course) that is a tee shot through a chute of trees over a valley to a Redan-esque sited green perched on a small knob.

I thought, playing it a few years ago, what it could be in the hands of a solid architect. I don't have information on who designed it -- it looks somewhat home-grown, with no obvious sense of architectural design other than some bunkers pinching some greens and a few uses of terrain movement to incorporate some challenge. It's not difficult, and could be greatly improved.

Dauphin Island really got pounded by Katrina and a hurricane or two before that. I don't know how the course came through that, but the island lost numerous buildings and houses, including the one our family stayed at a few years ago. Still, it's a neat out-of-the-way place on the Gulf shore.

[Criss Titschinger]

The wife and I are looking into taking a trip down down to Dauphin Island later this year.  Anybody else have a chance to play this course?  Has the island/course bounced back from Katrina?  I'd probably be flying into Biloxi.

Anything else within a reasonable drive?  I see Kiva Dunes is across the ferry and would think that's a must play.

[Bill_McBride]

This is pretty interesting.  I live an hour east in Pensacola and have never heard of this course!  I've driven almost to the tip of Dauphin Island since Hurricane Ivan in 2004, and there is virtually no elevation, the entire island was overwhelmed with hurricane-driven salt water.  Our course in Pensacola was wiped out by Ivan so I have idea how a course on even lower-lying Dauphin Island could have survived.

Has anybody actually seen/played this course?

Without driving east to Pensacola, the best course in South Alabama is the Ross/Forse course at the C. C. of Mobile.  It's private but not hard to access - just have your golf pro call theirs, Woody somebody or other.  It's well worth a play.  Kiva Dunes is good too, with a couple of exceptions, but all the way across Mobile Bay on I-10 and then half an hour south on US 59.

[Jason McNamara]

A year ago I mentioned the muni at Gulf State Park.  It's not a world-beater, but it  was right next to Gulf Shores, cheap ($25 to walk), in good shape, and zero "WTF?" holes.  Don't know how the hurricane affected it, but it was a great value before then.  And it's an easy walk assuming it's not an August afternoon.

Also Criss, Mobile is a closer airport for Dauphin Island if your carrier of choice flies there.  If going to Gulf Shores, the Mobile and Pensacola airports are equally inconvenient.

ps.  Sorry, don't know anything abt Dauphin Island golf.

[Chris_Blakely]

Isle of Dauphin GC was designed by Charles Maddox.   He started out in Chicago and had a design company with Frank MacDonald.  They also built courses and the firm name was MacDonald and Maddox.  Their firm designed many courses in the Chicago area including Beverly Shores GC in Indiana that is now a state park along the shores of Lake Michigan with the course going to seed.

Chris

[Phil McDade]

The wife and I are looking into taking a trip down down to Dauphin Island later this year.  Anybody else have a chance to play this course?  Has the island/course bounced back from Katrina?  I'd probably be flying into Biloxi.

Anything else within a reasonable drive?  I see Kiva Dunes is across the ferry and would think that's a must play.

Criss:

Dauphin Island is slowly coming back from Katrina, which really devastated parts of the island. It's a very low-key place -- not nearly as touristy as the Gulf Shores stuff on the eastern side of the Bay. A bunch of beach homes were swept into the gulf by Katrina, but there is still a decent array of homes available for rent if that's how you're going. I'd second the idea of flying into Mobile if that's an option -- it's a fairly quick and straight shot south on 163/193 down to the bridge that crosses over to the island.

The course is fairly rudimentary -- not kept in the best of shape, and nothing stands out save the terrain, which is quite sandy and linksy in feel. A few decent holes, and worth playing if you're on the island for a low-key round. Kiva Dunes is readily accessible via the ferry that crosses from Dauphin to Fort Morgan (although sometimes the ferry fills up, the line can be long for cars, and the trip over on the ferrry doesn't set any speed records).

Make sure you stop by one of the shrimp shacks on the side roads around there (mainland moreso than on Dauphin Island) to get some Gulf shrimp. Nearby Bayou La Batre is shrimp-boat central; parts of Forrest Gump were shot there.

[Criss Titschinger]

Thanks for the insight everyone!  I'd prefer to fly into Mobile, but since I'm changing a destination from a previous flight, that would cost me a lot more than flying into Biloxi.  I'll check other airports around there and see what kind of deal I can get with my current constraint.

We're looking for something beach and very low-key, so it looks like we're looking in the right place.

[Criss Titschinger]

The course is fairly rudimentary -- not kept in the best of shape, and nothing stands out save the terrain, which is quite sandy and linksy in feel. A few decent holes, and worth playing if you're on the island for a low-key round.

I'd agree 100% with the comments above after having a chance to play this last week. Incredible scenery, but not the best course. Unfortunately didn't have a chance to play Kiva Dunes, but did tour a couple of holes. Quite a difference in operations between the two!