Need some Alabama advice

[Harvey Dickens]

Four guys going to Birmingham, Al. and I am looking for 3 courses to play. I have looked at Limestone Springs, Capstone, Ross Bridge, Farm Links, Ballantrae and others. Anyone have any advice on where to play, eat and stay in that order. Wondering about course conditions. Probably go in early March. Thanks in advance.

[Matt_Ward]

Harvey:

Try to avoid early March for any courses north of Birmingham. Can be dicey - often times wet and slow turf elements to handle.

Best bet is play only those in the trail closer to the Gulf for the time you have mentioned.

[Jeff Shelman]

Harvey,

If you are going to be in Birmingham, it is worth it one day to make the 40 or so minute drive toward Tuscaloosa to play the Gil Hanse-designed Capstone Club.

It is very fun.

[Fred Gray]

Farm Links and Limestone Springs are nice courses. Early March is high risk, might be 70 and nice and might be 40 and so muddy you will never be able to wear those shoes again. I am not a Ross Bridge fan or any of the trail courses really.

If you have access Old Overton is very well maintained and nicely run with some interesting holes.

Limestone and Farm Links are 45 minutes+ out of town.

Hope this helps

Fred

[Fred Gray]

Also,

You can stay at Farm Links but it is far from anything. The Frank Stitt places, Highlands, Chez Faun Faun, and Bottega are good choices for food.

If you are setting up a trip, go further south, gulf coast will be warm and there is lots of ok to good golf.

Fred

[John Foley]

Fred,

Why no love for the Trail?

[Bill_McBride]

Fred,

Why no love for the Trail?

John, living in Pensacola I have played all but the farthest north courses on the RTJ Trail and find them to be a mixed bag.  None are walkable.  I had an awful 27-hole day at Cambrian Ridge at Greenville last August, but it could have been the 96* heat and the 2" of rain during the day.  If I had been driving it would have been a 9-hole day...

I like the original 36 holes of RTJ in Birmingham, but hear the Ross Bridge course is too difficult to be much fun.  My favorite is the Auburn-Opelika duo of Lake and Links, but that's a haul from B'ham.

[John Foley]

Bill,

They are all cart ball courses with many long walks in between. It is what it is. IMHO I don't down grade it for that at all.

Why would you golf in Alabama? In October the three times I have been it's been incredible.

To each his own - I recommend it to any who will listen.

[Bill_McBride]

Bill,

They are all cart ball courses with many long walks in between. It is what it is. IMHO I don't down grade it for that at all.

Why would you golf in Alabama? In October the three times I have been it's been incredible.

To each his own - I recommend it to any who will listen.

Do you mean August?  I live on the Gulf Coast, fully familiar with Alabama weather!  If you don't like to play in poor weather, you stay home most of the summer, sort of like the Yankees are doing now.

That was an 8-man outing organized by an architect buddy.  He does something like that to us every year.........

[Derek_Duncan]

I'd like to hear from anyone that's played Capstone recently. Over the last few years the conditions have been terrible. Any improvement?

In order for me (only public):
1. FarmLinks
2. Capstone (only if they're maintaining it)
3. Oxmoor Valley Ridge
4. Ross Bridge (not as difficult as reputed, choose the correct tees)
5. Limestone (overrated IMO)
6. Oxmoor Valley Valley
6. Highland Park

As Fred said, can't go wrong with Frank Stitt's restaurant empire. I personally love Highlands and would start there.

[John Foley]

Bill - Sorry I meant to say play golf in August in Alabama when it's 95 /95 - it's tounge in cheek - I know you have to play when you play.

Playing in October was glorious though.

[Bill_McBride]

Bill - Sorry I meant to say play golf in August in Alabama when it's 95 /95 - it's tounge in cheek - I know you have to play when you play.

Playing in October was glorious though.

In my experience October is glorious everywhere!  And May's not bad.  In between we grin and bear it - and hope Melvyn doesn't find out about the carts!

[Chris Flamion]

Concerning the trek to Tuscaloosa....  If you make it to Capstone Club you could also stop at Ol' Colony.  It is run by the park district now so conditions could be crap, but it is on a tremendous piece of property that is a whole lot of fun.

Birmingham also has a bustling foodie scene(especially for such a small city) so make sure you enjoy it.

Chris

[Jeff Shelman]

Oh and about Birmingham, go drink beer at Dave's Pub Southside in Five Points.

Good beer selection and a cool vibe.

[Ben Sims]

Farm Links was a neat experience.  The par 5's are okay, the par 3's borderline atrocious (but good views), but the par 4's may be one of the best sets in Alabama.  Some really solid golf holes to be seen, IMO. You pay your fee and you get lunch in between 2 rounds of golf.  As I remember, it was $100 or so for that.  As many apples from the barrels around the course as you can eat.

The other cool thing is that it's an agro research facility and many holes have different grasses on them.  One fairway may be zoysia, one may be hybrid bermuda.  The greens are all bent and maintained at a moderate pace.  The tee boxes all differentiate in grasses as well, so try to play a composite of tees.

It's a cartball course and some will call it everything that is wrong with American golf (I may have said that before).  But in the end it's a solid deal for a solid Doak 5 golf course.

[Fred Gray]

Fred,

Why no love for the Trail?

I have played about 9 of the trail courses and all share the same 3 problems.
1) Hit it here or else (I like to actually think about how to play a hole)
2) Almost all greens are pushed up and made of multiple sub areas so every pitch is a lob wedge with no ground game and putts outside of 10' are just luck.
3) The conditioning does not match the cost. I have no problem paying $100+ for a round but I want $100+ conditions when I do.

I live 45 minutes from the Hampton Cove set of courses, among the worst, and play them less than 1 time every 2 years. I play Ross Bridge about once a year just because some buddies want to run down there but I do it to be social.

In no order, the Alabama course I know and am always happy to play are

The Ledges
Turtle Point
Limestone Springs
Kiva Dunes
Farm Links
Old Overton (The people are just so nice)

I have not played the Tuscaloosa courses, the Auburn area courses, or some of the Birmingham privates.

Fred

[Jason Elwell]

Fred hits the nail on the head wrt the RTJ Trail courses. If you're in Birmingham, and have no inside connections, your best bets are Farm Links to the southeast, and Capstone Club in Tuscaloosa to the west. If you're in Tuscaloosa, Ol' Colony is worth a look too. Like Fred said, it's a municipal course, but it has some good holes. We really enjoyed it when I was in school there. The Capstone Club is probably the best of these three.

[Mark Pritchett]

I will also throw in a good word for Farm Links, Ben pretty much nailed it with his review-solid course and a unique experience at a fair price.  I think Limestone Springs is a solid choice as well.  Glad to see Derek listed Highland park, which is an old course in Birmingham that I believe Bob Cupp redid several years ago, some fun holes right in the city. 

I also agree with the positive comments about Old Overton, a really fun course and a great staff combine to make a wonderful experience. 

[Harvey Dickens]

Thanks for all the advice. I had Capstone listed near the top of the list, but I hear concerns over playing conditions. I was hoping someone had played it recently and could comment. I also had Ballantrae under consideration and nobody mentioned it.

[Bruce Hospes]

Golf in Birmingham in early March can be iffy due to the fact that it's aerification season and the greens might be punched if they are bentgrass. You won't have an issue with that at Ol Colony and Ballantre,as they are bermuda. If I had to choose three public courses, I would say Ol Colony, Farmlinks, and Limestone Springs.  You will have to accept that all of the courses will be coming out of dormancy and conditions could be dicey  due to the weather.