Shoal Creek and the West course at the Country Club of Birmingham have once again ranked as the top two golf destinations in Alabama in 2021, according to Golf Digest. They were followed by other noteworthy courses at The Ledges Country Club in Huntsville, Killen’s Turtle Point Yacht and Country Club, and the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Capitol Hill’s Judge course in Prattville. In addition, the Vestavia Country Club, also in Birmingham, made its debut on the list as the state’s seventh highest-rated course for the 2021-2022 golf season.
The course at Shoal Creek is a 7,400-yard par 72 with a course rating of 60.5436. Designed by Jack Nicklaus in 1977, the course ranks No. 119 in the United States. While scouting locations for the course throughout swaths of Alabama forest, Jack Nicklaus initially feared the mountains and trees would not allow for par 4s or 5s but ultimately settled on a small valley that could support a more diverse course.
Jack Nicklaus and former design partner Jim Lipe joined forces once more nearly four decades later to update the course at Shoal Creek. Jack Nicklaus and Jim Lipe dug up every hole at the course rather than touch up a few greens or modify some of the routing decisions. They removed several large fairway bunkers in favor of small groups of traps and recontoured several greens. Most notably, the 12th hole now maintains a front-to-back flow, a rarity in 1977.
Two Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Championships have taken place at Shoal Creek. In 2018, the updated version of the course was the US Women’s Open site, culminating in Ariya Jutanugarn’s four-hole playoff victory over Kim Hoo-Joo. Shoal Creek ranked among the top 100 courses in America from 1981 through 2014, peaking at No. 14 for the 1985-1986 season.
Meanwhile, the West course at the Country Club of Birmingham was created by Donald Ross in 1929, though Pete Dye and son P.B. Dye have made significant contributions over the years. The course, ranked No. 200 in the nation, was a fixture in the top 100 between 1967 and 1984, peaking at No. 10 ahead of the 1969-1970 season.
After falling out of the top 100, revered designer Pete Dye discussed returning the course to its former glory with club members. However, Pete Dye handed the project over to his son, P.B., who quickly set to work on bulldozing every tee and spreading clouds of grass-killing chemicals. The result was a complete dismantling of the classic Donald Ross design so controversial that many club members refused to speak to Pete Dye. Fortunately, Pete Dye managed to win the club back over and returned to the course, mitigating a number of his son’s more abrasive design decisions.
Other top-rated courses in Alabama range from the Links course at Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Grand National in Opelika to Kiva Dunes in Gulf Shores. FarmLinks Golf Club in Sylacauga joined Vestavia as a new entry on the list, debuting at No. 10.
from WordPress https://ift.tt/3rok41O
via IFTTT
