Golf in decline: Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail

[klebs01]

That's what I was thinking. Maybe do it the middle of that week though. Any suggestions on which courses are worth play (especially that time of year)?

[tiderider]

it's alabama ... there's not a ton of tourist destinations ... probably should not have been anything built below the center of the state, yet they've got 3 sites ...

[jvincent]

I've been to Grand National and Capitol Hill and I've enjoyed all the courses at both sites to be honest. Conditions were good both of the last two years.

This year we're going to Hampton Cove and the Shoals.

[tiderider]

silver lakes is fantastic ... those greens can be truly treacherous ...

[BloctonGolf11]

Silver Lakes is by far my favorite of the sites. Best two courses and just the right mix of challenge. Wonderful courses.

[Roadking2003]

"People don't sit there from other areas of the country and go man I really want to play Ross Bridge."

Some do. After I played it four years ago I recommended it to some of my friends. Some then planned a RTJ trail trip around Ross Bridge.

 

I you want a budget minded golf trip there are very few better choices than the RTJ trail (Myrtle Beach ??). Not everybody can afford a golf trip to Kohler or Pebble or Bandon. Most golfers don't have the $5000 - 8000 needed for a week of golf at Bandon.

 

It's possible that the RTJ Trail is more famous among "golf trip" golfers than you realize.

 

PS: I obviously cannot speak to the local support portion of this discussion.

[Roadking2003]

Exactly! Like me, most golfers go there for the golf, not the Slip N Slide.

Just like Bandon Dunes. NOBODY goes there for anything other than golf.

[Roadking2003]

Golf Shores is a very nice tourist destination with two RT Jones courses and only an hour from Mobile where there are three more.

[Roadking2003]

BTW, if you haven't seen this it might be useful for planning your visit.

https://www.rtjgolf.com/trailguide/RTJTrailGuide-2020.pdf

[Chanceman]

I have been putting together a golf trip from Australia to play the RTJ Trail.

The bonus for us is Nashville and Memphis being in the region, we can include them in a 2 week trip.

So we would go

Nashville,

Sweetens Cove,

Silver Lake,

Ross Bridge,

Pursell Farms

Grand National,

Capitol Hill,

Dancing Rabbit,

Mossy Oak,

Memphis.

Some good golf courses in that lot.

[Bushwood Country Club]

You making that assessment from “St Louis, mark”? Because from where I sit, the trail does a robust business. I live within 100 miles of more than half of the courses - they are steadily busy Friday - Sunday year round and they do plenty of week day business during spring and fall.

[Argonne69]

Very nice. Consider adding Fallen Oak or Grand Bear in Southern Mississippi.

[Chief Illiniwek]

My group goes down late Feb early March every year. Friendly staff that cares, fun courses, inexpensive prices. A few in our group are budget conscious. For our group from central IL it’s hard to beat!

[tiderider]

i'm not a fan of rb, though i will admit i usually play it once a year since i get a discount ... don't like the layup for some reason, but it's usually in very, very good shape ... mark crossfield's youtube of it is interesting, and one of them said it was in their top 5 that they played all year on some "end of the year" discussion ... and it is a very good deal in the winter/early spring for midwesterners/northerners (the first couple of tee times are taken by a package foursome every now and then, which i grumble about some because i have a bigger window for reservations than everyone except packages, but then quickly realize i need to shut up) ... yeah, but the mobile ones don't get a lot of play ... they're an hour 1/2 from gulf shores, more than an hour ... the lakewood site is one of the two resorts, so the prices are bigger, though i'm sure a decent deal can be had ... that mobile site is one of the larger "wastes", i imagine, if you wanted to look at bottom line ... the decatur site over in the southeast is similar ... i don't have any numbers, but i've been there once in the summer and once in the winter, on the weekend, and it was not packed at all ... i haven't played the short course, which i've heard is pretty good, but 54 holes is a lot of maintenance ... b'ham is packed both 18 every weekend, sans below 40 degrees ... which is why i like the early tee time reservation with my membership ...

[braincramp52]

I've never played a RTJ course but when Pete Dye passed away they were talking on Sirius Golf channel about designers and the RTJ trail courses and it seemed like the consensus from Pros and callers was that once you played one, you've played them all. Like I said, never played one but I was surprised at the opinions on the radio about them.

[tiderider]

eh, bit of truth to that ... but, a lot of the sites have at least one 18 that has some fairly dramatic elevation changes, and the holes aren't as weak as one might think ... but you get playable weather and very decent courses at a very decent price, if not great price ... and alabama's state flag is a st andrews cross, so there's that ...

[nitram]

If you're gonna play Mossy Oak, you MUST play Old Waverly.

[BloctonGolf11]

Golf Digest Top 10 in Alabama RB didn't make the cut yet three other RTJ courses did. I have never seen RB beat out Capital or Grand National on ratings. Typically when you ask golfers who have played the entire trail it is always behind Prattville, Grand National, and Silver Lakes yet costs almost twice as much since you can't use most discounts there. That is my point of why many of us who live here don't frequent Ross Bridge which hurts it as a whole. Better options from a course standpoint within easy driving distance. Are people coming to the play the Trail going to play it, sure, but repeat business goes to Oxmoor, Timberline, Bent Brook, and Ballantrae in the area because they are comparable courses for much less cost. Not hating on Ross Bridge as it is a lovely course that is very well maintained but as someone said it is typical of other RTJ courses, just more expensive.

Also my point was not that you can't make a "golf trip" out of the RTJ's, you absolutely can and it is a great and affordable trip. However, it would have helped if they were located in better touristy areas because that brings in additional money of families where there are other things to attract people and you get ancillary business. Kiva Dunes is a great example. I have numerous friends who play Kiva Dunes on the regular because they bring their families who can go to the beach and other things. I promise you if we pulled numbers Kiva Dunes kills the RTJ courses down there.

[Roadking2003]

I've only played three and they were all different.

 

"once you played one, you've played them all" , well, yes, they all have lots of trees and hills and were designed by RTJ.

That's like saying about Scotland or Ireland "once you played one, you've played them all". That's a pretty ignorant putdown.

[braincramp52]

Not my words. I know nothing about them. I think they were talking about them from a architectural view.

[jvincent]

I've played 5 RTJ Trail courses now and they were all definitely different. Are they architectural masterpieces? No. Where they fun and challenging to play? Yes.

My only beef against the Trail courses that I have played is that they are not walking friendly with some big, sometimes very big, distances between holes. But they were designed in the era where the cart was king.

[raynorfan1]

I don't think the concept was a bad bet; the winds of high-end travel golf just changed (and relatively quickly).

If this were instead the Coore Crenshaw trail...the golf world would be falling all over itself to visit and spend $1,000+ per day of golf.

[duffer987]

Played 5 and there is a sameyness there IMHO, there just is. That's what happens when you see the same design firm's work for 3/4 days straight in a row and the guy in charge of building them was required to/didn't want to stray from the company's M.O. Drive down, approach up, to a green only accessible via the air, see a dogleg or green you think you've played before, but it was during yesterday's round. It's only natural; however, it is a lazy characterization by that Sirius golf show to say one = all. Go anywhere with a concentration of one firm and you'll see it, go play Talking Stick N/S and We-Ko-Pa in Scottsdale and you'll see similarities, it's just really reinforced with so many linked together on the RTJ Trail.

We talked about it on our last day there, that if we returned we'd want to mix in Pursell Farms or a private, just to break up the styles.

One plus, is folks can go to Alabama and get the same golf (minus the first 5 holes) as coming all the way to Monterey and shelling out for Spyglass ;-)

 

[Roadking2003]

And we still don't have any facts about the financial status of the trail. Just one person's opinion.

[jvincent]

I'm usually pretty sensitive to that kind of thing and didn't notice it. Doesn't mean it wasn't there. I might just have been too happy to actually be playing to notice. Which courses did you play?

[PostandGhost]

I've played most of the trail and the courses are on beautiful pieces of land. They'll make great housing developments.

[BIG STU]

Man you sound too much like these cats in the Myrtle Beach area---- houses houses and more houses

[az2au]

It’ll likely be far nicer than the courses. I’ve somehow been suckered into playing all of them on golf trips with friends. I agree with duffer that there’s a lot similarities. I also think they are a terrible value and have zero interest in going back.

Maybe the courses would make money if they were actually interesting?

[smashdn]

Ask TN how the Bear Trace or Bear Trail or whatever they call their version is going. I understand the premise (try and create a tourist destination in a relatively rural area, usually tied to a state park, buoyed by state funds to an extent) but tax payers aren't real keen on subsidizing golf boondoggles especially when you pay a truck load for the design and the designer's name.

I can spit into TN from my house and be in Nashville in 35 minutes but I have never played one of those bear trace courses because they are so far off the cut.

[Argonne69]

On my last trip I played 6 courses at 3 sites for $360. I thought it was a decent value. You also don't get gouged on the hotels. I believe I've played 13 of the courses. A few are meh, but generally they're very good. I don't think any are great, but at less than $75 I'm not complaining.