Robert Trent Jones - Birmingham

[Bravo]

None of my golfing buddies like our club Championship tournament so we played at one of the three Birmingham Robert Trent Jones Trail courses today... I won't narrate this much...just a few quick snaps...here's the clubhouse - they are all the same at every complex in Alabama...Then the practice green and first hole with 200 foot drop in elevation...

[Bravo]

More of the same....first tee descending down into the valley. Course is parched from the drought...

[Bravo]

Here was a free flowing creek...long since dried up...

The next three pix show the same design elements on course after course...lots of bunkers everywhere....undulating greens...

[Bravo]

More photos of the back side of the Valley Course....we played it at 6500 yards today....

[Bravo]

Wrapping up the final holes....the last goes up in elevation about 200 feet. It's brutal....climbing back up the mountainside that we descended on the first...and the interior of the clubhouse...needed a bigger flash for the big hall...

These courses are a bargain for state residents....$49 today for greens fee and cart. This time of year we have very few tourists and the Oxmoor Valley/Ross Bridge complex is almost completely patronized by residents of the Birmingham metro area...

The RTJ Trail is now 15 years old and they continue to do a great job. We are all private club members and love to play here. The service is top notch, great clubhouse with good food and full bar....

[Bravo]

I know this is out of sequence but this is the tee shot on the last...the camera cannot capture the uphill nature of the shot...I smashed a good drive short of the fairway bunker and had 185 uphill from there...if you block your ball - you are on a goat track hill on the right...if you hook it left, you'll be lost in a deep wooded ravine left...a test of golf!

A 411 yard hole and I hit a good driver and hybrid to the front deep rough and settled for bogey....

[VtDivot]

B - that course is in great shape, especially with the weather you've had down there.

50 bucks with cart is a steal too... maybe next winter

[zaphod]

I've played at Prattevile (Capital Hill) and Opelika (Grand National) 2 more of thre RTJ sites. Looks like I going to have to make a trip to Oxmoor and Cambrian Trails. Great deals had on RTJ Trail.

[chemboy2]

Thanks for the pics. I agree that the course looks to be in fine shape, esprcially considering the lack of precipitation.

I must say though, that seeing pics like these simply just depresses me because it makes me realize that I pay entirely too much for sub-quality courses...

[Bravo]

Originally Posted by VtDivot

B - that course is in great shape, especially with the weather you've had down there.

50 bucks with cart is a steal too... maybe next winter

The good news is the prices in the winter are the same as the summer - both are considered 'off season'....spring and fall rates are higher when the weather is the best...

[Clugnut]

Looks nice. Thinking golf vacation in the winter....

[janzaruk]

Played there about 4 years ago. beatuiful, especailly for the money

[clemsonhacker]

wow that looks great