The Robert Trent Jones Trail takes up most of the spots for best public-access golf courses in Alabama, but the No. 1 spot is elsewhere.
The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail grabs much of the spotlight for best courses in Alabama, and rightfully so. The Trail operates 26 courses at 11 sites across the state, and eight of the top 10 public-access courses in the Yellowhammer State are on the Trail.
FarmLinks at Pursell Farms in Sylacauga grabs the top spot on Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play list for Alabama, and alongside Kiva Dunes is one of only two non-Trail courses on the list.
Constructed as a living laboratory of sorts by Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry in 2002, with various types of grasses in use around the property, FarmLinks features one of the prettiest holes in the state. The 210-yard, par-3 fifth plunges 172 feet off the side of a small mountain to a picturesque green, providing views for miles. Most of the other holes feature wide fairways with sometimes hilly terrain before descending into gently rolling landscapes.
Golfweek’s Best offers many lists of course rankings, with the list of top public-access courses among the most popular. All the courses on this list allow public access in some fashion, be it standard daily green fees, through a resort or by staying at an affiliated hotel. If there’s a will, there’s a tee time.
Conecuh Sausage has taken over Alabama. You’ll find it at breakfast next to the eggs on your plate and in the white gravy. It’s there again on your lunch flatbread. You can wrap up a long day of golf with a serving of sausage in your shrimp and grits. Name a recipe, and the cooks in Alabama will find a way to inject a little Conecuh Sausage. Vegans beware.
The sausages are made in the small town of Evergreen in the southern reaches of this very Southern state, and the brand has become an icon of civic pride. Judging from my recent week of golf in Alabama, it would be safe to say the little bundles of meat make up a sizable percentage of the entire state’s total caloric intake. I sampled nine meals on the trip that didn’t come through a drive-through window, and seven of them included at least one Conecuh Sausage concoction on the plate.
About the only thing more prevalent in Alabama than the sausage is the tasty golf along the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. With 26 courses at 11 sites stretched across the state – 468 holes in all – the Trail pretty much dominates the golf scene in the state. Eight of the top 10 courses on Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play list of top public-access layouts in the state are part of the Trail.
Many of the best of those stretch across the middle of the state, beginning with the Lake Course at Grand National in Opelika, which ranks No. 4 on Golfweek’s Best 2021 list for Alabama. Take Interstate 85 southwest to Prattville near Montgomery for the Judge at Capitol Hill, which is No. 3 in the state. Then jump onto I-65 for the ride north to Hoover near Birmingham for 36 more at No. 2 Ross Bridge and No. 6 Oxmoor Valley’s Ridge Course.
That was the majority of my itinerary in early January as I set out to lay eyes on the best of public-access golf in the state, all with the burning intent of settling this question: Where should I play golf in Alabama? There were scenic mountain holes, lakeside par 3s, incredibly long layouts for those foolish enough to play from the wrong tees, even a few birdie putts that found the cup. Did I mention the Conecuh Sausage? It really is everywhere.
About the only thing missing from the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail is the No. 1 public-access layout in the state.
FarmLinks at Pursell Farms in Sylacauga tops the list for Best Courses You Can Play in Alabama 2020.
Mention golf in Alabama, and most players’ minds go directly to the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. That’s completely understandable, as eight of the top 10 public-access courses in the Heart of Dixie are part of that famed collection.
Those courses, owned by Retirement Systems of Alabama, deserve much of the attention. But to focus on those eight only – or even the 26 courses with 468 holes that comprise the entirety of the Trail across the state – would be to miss the top-ranked public-access course in Alabama.
That would be FarmLinks at Pursell Farms, a privately owned 18-hole layout in Sylacauga, about an hour’s drive southeast of Birmingham.
Golfweek ranks courses by compiling the average ratings – on a points basis of 1 to 10 – of its more than 750 raters to create several industry-leading lists of courses. That includes the popular Best Courses You Can Play list for courses that allow non-member tee times. These generally are defined as courses accessible to resort guests or regular daily-fee players.
Pursell Farms is No. 1 on that list in Alabama. Constructed as a living laboratory of sorts by Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry in 2002, the course features many types of grasses that were included to show off the products of the Sylacauga Fertilizer Company to course superintendents from around the world. The fertilizer company was sold by the Pursell family in 2006, while the course and adjacent amenities – graceful hotel, wedding destination, restaurants, shooting range and more – have since been further developed.
The course itself, even aside from the various playing surfaces, is unlike anything else in the state. Simply put, FarmLinks plays wide – very wide, in fact, as might be expected for a destination built to show off the ability to grow grass. The most notable of its 18 holes is the 210-yard, par-3 fifth, which offers long views of surrounding countryside before plunging 172 feet off the side of a mountain to a picturesque green below.
Several other holes on the front nine take advantage of that mountainous terrain, while the most of the rest play wide through flatter landforms, offering golfers of all levels the chance to keep swinging without losing too many balls while playing over perfected turf to interesting greens and chipping surrounds.
The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail’s Lake Course at Grand National in Prattville, Alabama. Photo courtesy of Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail/Michael Clemmer
After Pursell Farms in the top spot, the rest of the state’s top five courses are part of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail: No. 2 Grand National’s Lake Course in Opelika, No. 3 Ross Bridge near Birmingham, No. 4 Capitol Hill’s The Judge in Prattville and No. 5 Oxmoor Valley’s Ridge Course near Birmingham.
These courses share a common designer in Robert Trent Jones Sr., as well as a common thread of general excellence – and, frequently, a back-tee length that should be avoided by anyone who doesn’t pay a Tour caddie to carry the bag. Terrain varies from course to course, but any of these four make for an incredible golf experience, especially dotted as they are with memorable par 3s.
Together, they make one of the best buddies trips in North America, stretching from Auburn across central Alabama to Montgomery and up to Birmingham.
The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail’s Ross Bridge Golf Resort & Spa in Birmingham, Alabama. Photo courtesy of Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail/Michael Clemmer
And with multiple courses at each facility – or in the case of Ross Bridge, five minutes down the road to Oxmoor Valley – there are plenty of opportunities to keep swinging for days. Add into the mix a variety of accommodations – from presidential suites to standard guest rooms to cabins and lodges – and it’s easy to focus entirely on the Trail.
Just make sure to take that side trip to see Pursell Farms.
Alabama also is home to a strong list of private clubs. No. 1 on the Golfweek’s Best Private Courses state-by-state list is Shoal Creek Club. Just southeast of Birmingham, Shoal Creek has a history of top-tier competitions – including the 1984 and 1990 PGA Championships – and ranks No. 82 among all Golfweek’s Best Modern Courses in the U.S. built in or after 1960.
No. 2 on the state’s private list is the Country Club of Birmingham’s West Course, followed by No. 3 The Ledges in Huntsville, No. 4 Turtle Point Yacht and Country Club in Killen and No. 5 Old Overton in Birmingham.
The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail’s The Judge at Capitol Hill in Prattville, Alabama. Photo courtesy of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail/Michael Clemmer
The members of our course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them based on our 10 criteria. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings on each course are averaged together to produce a final rating for each course. Then each course is ranked against other courses in its state, or nationally, to produce the final rankings.
