RTJ Trail Question

I went on three consecutive years about 10 years ago -

 

Favorites were

 

Grand National in Opelika (near Auburn)

 

Cambrian Ridge

 

 

 I also played Capital Hill - but preferred the others listed above. We did Highland Oaks one year, too.

We did our first RTJ trail trip last October.  I did the planning and here was our schedule:

 

We played the Capitol Hill and Grand National Courses and made Capitol Hill our "headquarters".

 

All got there on the first day late morning and played the Senator at 2PM.  We stayed in a hotel just one mile away (Country Inn and Suites, HIGHLY recommended).  The hotel came with a hot breakfast and it was $63 per night per room, so it worked out to just $35 per night per guy with breakfast.  Nice clean and relatively new hotel.

 

The next day we drove over to Grand National and played those two courses.

 

The last day we played the remaining two courses at Capitol Hill (The Judge and then The Legislator).

 

We really enjoyed the trip and the golf was incredible.  We bought the 3-day unlimited package and it worked out to $233 per golfer (4 of us) for all green fees, cart fees, etc for 90 holes of golf.

 

The weather in October was perfect.  Got a little cold on the trip to Grand National in the mornings, but most of our trip was weather in the 60's and 70's.  If I could change anything, I would try to tee off a little earlier as we were quite rushed the first day trying to finish our round before dark.

 

This year we'll probably go ahead but might go to Birmingham and do the Oxmoor Valley and Ross Bridge sites, not sure yet.  I highly recommend the RTJ!

I went on the Trail about 10 years ago, we planned our trip.  We flew into Atlanta on a Wednesday evening, drove to Greenville and spent the night.  Played both courses at Cambrain Ridge, then drove to Prattville and spent the night.  Capitol Hill only had two courses at that time, we played both of them, drove to Auburn, spent the night.  Then we played Grand National's two courses and then drove back to Atlanta, spent the night and played a course in Atlanta on Sunday morning and flew out Sunday afternoon.

 

As far as planning yourself, it really depends on how much effort you want to put into it. We found some good deals on motels and saved a little money, as we flew in and rented cars for the 4 days.  If I was driving and didn't have the expense of airfare and car rental, I probably wouldn't be to concerned about saving a few bucks on a hotel and would go with the ones in the packaged deals.

 

This is a tough question as all three courses that you've mentioned are great. I think Ross Bridge is a must-play, so that leaves either Fighting Joe or the Schoolmaster as the odd man out. I've played both courses and although both are great I think if I only had to play one it would be Fighting Joe. You really can't go wrong with either one though. Enjoy your time on the trail, I think it's an amazing set of golf courses for a some very reasonable prices.

 

Matt

I live in N. Alabama and have played all 3 of those courses and agree with Matt...if you make the trip Ross Bridge is a "must play"! Beautiful course and great amenities all around. I would also choose Fighting Joe over Schoolmaster, but you can't go wrong with either. Fighting Joe is a very tight and challenging course! There's also a 700+ yard Par 5 on the Fighting Joe that is a great challenge. Whatever you choose, you'll have a great time!

Josh

You can check out which golf courses in Alabama (and within the RTJ Trail specifically) are recommended as "must-plays" on a recently launched website called Like2Golf. See: http://like2golf.com/location/robert-trent-jones-trail-alabama/. For each course, you can then also see which golf resorts are suggested to stay the night.

 

Hopefully this will help you in selecting the right courses! Enjoy your trip!

 

Anthony