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A Stroke of Genius
By Gareth Clary

These are the kinds of shots you always remember, the ones that give you that extra zing of adrenaline before and after you swing.

Stand on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Tennessee River and hit a tee shot over what seems to be a bottomless ravine. Stand on a bluff hovering above the Alabama River and watch your drive seemingly sail through the clouds, then fall to a ribbon of fairway 200 feet below. Stand in the fairway and aim at twin greens dissected by an 80-foot waterfall.

These are the kind of breathtaking shots you'll find up and down the world-famous Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama.

The Trail, which receives rave reviews each year, helped transform the state into one of the most popular golf destinations in the world. Other states have tried to copy the concept, but Alabama's Trail is the unrivaled original.

Hoover's Ross Bridge, the Trail's crown jewel, opened in 2006 and became the home to the Champions Tour's Regions Charity Classic. Nestled in the peaceful valley of Shades Mountain, the wide-open layout gives golfers a lot of variety and options, including the chance to play an 8,200-yard course if you're feeling feisty. It is just down the road from Birmingham's Oxmoor Valley, a 54-hole facility.

Other Trail sites with 54 holes include Capitol Hill in Prattville, Grand National in Opelika, Magnolia Grove in Mobile, and Hampton Cove in Huntsville. Several others have 36 holes like The Shoals in Florence, Silver Lakes in Anniston, Highland Oaks in Dothan, Cambrian Ridge in Greenville, and Lakewood in Point Clear.

The Trail stops are spaced conveniently along the state's major roads, so you are never far away from one of those memorable golf shots. Most Trail sites are now associated with luxury Marriott hotels and spas, making stay-and-play packages easy and affordable.

While the Trail gains a lot of worldwide attention for its quantity and quality, the state is blessed with many other golf treasures.

Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail The Gulf Shores Golf Association, an affiliate of courses in southwest Alabama, can help arrange vacations that include world-class golf, sugar-white beaches and charter fishing expeditions. Kiva Dunes, consistently one of the state's top courses, is part of the GSGA, as is Cotton Creek and Cypress Bend, the only layouts in the state designed by the legendary Arnold Palmer. Peninsula, Rock Creek, Glenlakes, TimberCreek, and Soldiers Creek are other popular coastal golf retreats.

Limestone Springs in Oneonta and FarmLinks Golf Club in Sylacauga are two relatively new courses that consistently garner rave reviews. Old favorites like StillWaters Golf Club in Dadeville, Point Mallard in Decatur, and Goose Pond Colony in Scottsboro remain as popular as ever.

Alabama's state park system also offers some fun and inexpensive golf options like Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores and Oak Mountain in Birmingham. Montgomery's Lagoon Park and Mobile's Azalea City are challenging municipal layouts.

Whether you stay on the Trail or venture to some of the state's other hideaways, it's definitely worth the golf trip to Alabama.

For more information about golfing in Alabama, request a copy of the Golf Alabama brochure or view our Online Alabama Golf Guide.

Gareth Clary is the golf writer for the Mobile Register and Southern Breeze magazine.