26 courses, 11 stunning locations & one top-tier golf getaway.
Weaving its way throughout Sweet Home Alabama–from the Appalachian foothills in the north to the shores of Mobile Bay in the south–the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail is comprised of 26 golf courses in 11 stunning locations around the state.
When the first course opened in 1993, the golf vacation experience was changed forever. Honored as one of “top ten trips in the world” by the former Frequent Flyer Magazine, playing the RTJ Trail affords golfers the opportunity to explore multiple unique cities around the state of Alabama. The courses themselves are “some of the best public golf on earth” according to the New York Times.
World-class golf along The Trail is accompanied by world-class resorts and hotels, as well.
The Marriott Shoals in Florence offers 36 holes across the Tennessee River and the opportunity to visit the Fame Recording Studio and Muscle Shoals Sound in the “Hit Recording Capital of the World. Renaissance Ross Bridge Golf Resort & Spa in Birmingham boasts an RTJ Trail golf course, luxurious spa, delectable dining and the Barber Motorsports Museum and Racetrack. The Marriott Grand National Resort & Spa, located just 90 minutes southwest of Atlanta in Auburn-Opelika, has 54 holes on site where visitors can check out the coolest college town in the South and sip on lemonade at Toomer’s Drugs. The Marriott Capitol Hill just north of Montgomery houses three championship golf courses and site near many civil rights landmarks. The century-and-a-half-old Grand Hotel, A Signature Collection resort on Mobile Bay is considered the “queen of Southern resorts” and features two fun yet challenging courses. Plan to spend some time at Mobile’s Mardi Gras Museum or tour the USS Alabama Battleship if this stop along The Trail makes your list.
There are also resorts located along the Gulf of Mexico in Coastal Alabama. Kiva Dunes Golf & Beach Resort in Gulf Shores is Alabama’s only gulf-front golf resort and offers a Jerry Pate-designed 18-hole course, clubhouse and fairway condominiums as well as beach homes to rent. Both the Peninsula Golf & Racquet Club (27 holes of golf) and the Craft Farms Resort (36 holes of Arnold Palmer-signature golf) can accommodate golf groups in on-site condominiums. Non-golf activities include several water sports, walking trails and relaxing beach time.
With so many courses and resorts sprinkled around the state, Alabama’s one-of-a-kind RTJ Trail of affordable and challenging golf is a top-tier golf getaway. If The Trail doesn’t satiate your golf appetite by itself, Alabama’s other stay and play destination in Gulf Shores-Orange Beach provides yet another golf opportunity nearby.
Visit AlabamaGolfTours.com for some sample itineraries and information on how you can make Sweet Home Alabama your next golf destination.
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