Golf Escapes 2009 - (Page 41) Off-cOurse attractiOns AlAbAmA bureAu of Tourism & TrAvel/ DAn broThers AlAbAmA bureAu of Tourism & TrAvel Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum. Ol’ Colony is a public course by Jerry Pate in Tuscaloosa. Other courses Pick of the bunch is FarmLinks Golf Club in US Space and Rocket Centre in Huntsville. Limestone Springs is another Pate course, in the Appalachians. Other courses Among courses in the north is 18-hole Oak Mountain State Park, part of the state park system. Besides golf there is horse-riding plus biking and hiking trails through nearly 10,000 acres. Limestone Springs is a Jerry Pate course in the beautiful Appalachian Mountains near Oneonta. The Metropolitan region takes in Alabama’s largest city, Birmingham, which offers lots of spectator sports, shopping, nightlife and museums, including the world’s largest motorcycle collection, at the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum. Witness the Mountain region’s spectacular autumn foliage in October and November. You can follow a fall colour trail scenic drive along the Natchez Trace, which runs for 33 miles in the state’s north-west. Huntsville boasts the world’s largest space attraction, the US Space and Rocket Centre. The mountains also offer unspoilt nature and outdoor activities galore, including rock climbing, hiking, biking and caving. Golf ESCAPES 2009 41 AlAbAmA bureAu of Tourism & TrAvel AlAbAmA bureAu of Tourism & TrAvel This area takes in Birmingham, Alabama’s largest city. There is a plethora of good golf close to the city, including three Trail sites. RTJ Trail courses: Oxmoor Valley (54 holes, Birmingham), Silver Lakes (36 holes, Anniston/ Gadsden), Ross Bridge (18 holes, Hoover). At almost 8,200 yards from the championship tees, Ross Bridge is the Trail’s longest course and features a waterfall between the 9th and 18th greens. The luxury Renaissance Ross Bridge Golf Resort & Spa is adjacent. Former slate mine Oxmoor has two championship-standard 18-hole courses. The par-4 18th hole of the Valley course, dubbed The Assassin, rises to a dramatic finish by the clubhouse. Silver Lakes, on the edge of the Talladega National Forest, comprises three championship nines – Mindbreaker, Heartbreaker and Backbreaker – and a par-3 short course. The Backbreaker’s elevated tees offer great views over the Appalachian foothills. Heartbreaker is rated by many as the Trail’s most difficult course. Metropolitan region AlAbAmA bureAu of Tourism & TrAvel Other courses Co-designed by legendary Byron Nelson, Cottonwood Golf Club’s Montgomery National opened in 1977 and is just six miles from the city centre. The parkland-style municipal Lagoon Park course is also close to the capital. Magnolia Grove, near Mobile. Alabama’s four regions offer different experiences with lots to see and do in each. You will find strong reminders of its music heritage everywhere, and you can follow the Hank Williams Trail, celebrating Alabama’s King of Country Music, from his birthplace in Mount Olive. The Gulf Coast has 32 miles of pristine, white-sand beaches and wildlife areas full of flora and fauna. Go on a dolphin-watching cruise from Gulf Shores or take a fishing trip from Dauphin Island, and enjoy fresh seafood in restaurants in Mobile and on the coast. Dine and listen to live music on the coastal waterway in Gulf Shores at Lu Lu’s restaurant, owned by singer Jimmy Buffet’s sister, Lucy. History comes to life at Fort Morgan, site of the Mobile Bay Civil War battle. The River Heritage region encompasses state capital Montgomery, where Martin Luther King launched the Civil Rights Movement. Trace the momentous events leading up to his assassination in 1968 at the Civil Rights Memorial Centre in downtown and follow a trail from Selma to Montgomery which links key sights and museums. The region also has eight state parks and many lakes and rivers where you can go canoeing, kayaking and fishing. Sylauga, a challenging course with stunning views over wooded hills from its elevated tees. They even provide binoculars by one tee box. The 7,400-yard course is part of a family-owned estate featuring a working farm and acts as a “living laboratory” test base for different grasses, with residential course maintenance and grass management programmes run for golf superintendents. Jerry Pate-designed Ol’ Colony Golf, run by the Tuscaloosa County Park & Recreation Authority, opened in 2000. Mountains region The far north of the state, it encompasses cities including Florence, Huntsville, Madison, Decatur and Cullman. Here you can find two more Trail courses. RTJ Trail courses: The Shoals (36 holes, Florence), Hampton Cove (54 holes, Huntsville). Close to the Tennessee and Mississippi borders, The Shoals has two courses alongside the Tennessee River. The links-style Fighting Joe course measures a gruelling 8,092 yards. Hampton Cove’s three 18-hole layouts include the River course. Laid out on former soybean fields, it is the only Robert Trent Jones course without a single bunker.
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