Destination Guides
Golf courses and travel options in the Gulf Shores area of coastal Alabama
SEC football is ordinarily the first thing people think of when it comes to Alabama, not beautiful, sugar-white beaches. But a quick look at a map shows there is a little bit of south Alabama that caresses the Gulf of Mexico, not to mention Mobile Bay. The Gulf Shores area of coastal Alabama has attracted some of the world's most sought after golf architects to utilize the sandy terrain and seaside beauty in developing a top Gulf Coast golf destination. Plus, a moderate climate makes it possible to hit the fairways of Gulf Shores' best golf courses year round.
"We have felt like golf in the Gulf Shores area has been a secret, but we feel like we stack up against golf destinations anywhere," said the president of the Gulf Shores Golf Association, Mark Stillings.
Kiva Dunes is clearly the crown jewel, a nationally acclaimed course designed by Jerry Pate. It's among the top-rated courses in Alabama, unfolding through sand dunes, lakes and natural wetlands.
Bordered on the north by Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, the course is routed with the near-constant gulf breezes in mind, as few holes have crosswinds. "Routing is so important in any design," Pate told TravelGolf.com. "I tried to make Kiva Dunes a golf course that not only gave you a lot of options, but one that tested all the shots."
Cypress Bend is the newest course at Craft Farms Coastal Resort, designed by Arnold Palmer. Golf Digest previously ranked it the "No. 1 most playable new course in the U.S." Its big brother is Cotton Creek: 6,484 challenging yards of lakes and bunkers.
Cotton Creek is another Arnold Palmer design. It's over-seeded in the winter, ensuring a lush look and feel. It boasts rolling fairways and large, undulating greens, as well as plenty of risk/reward opportunities.
Soldiers Creek is owned and operated by the Woerner family, located at the Woerner Preserve. Designed by Scott Clark, it opened in 2001.
The Woerners are in the sports turf business, so they know their grasses. The course has spacious, rolling fairways and is surrounded by trees and wetlands - including the headwaters of Soldiers Creek - with plenty of wildlife. The greens are TifEagle, a rarity for Alabama courses.
Timbercreek is a 27-hole complex architect Earl Stone carved from a forest of dogwoods, pines and magnolia trees. Measuring just over 7,000 yards, it boasts elevation changes, wetland preserves and a lot of wildlife. It's a solid round of golf for the average duffer. "Players can thank their lucky stars that there is still an architect who doesn't mind you shooting some pars on his course," Jason Scott wrote for TravelGolf.com.
Lost Key Golf Club is yet another Palmer design. It's on the barrier island of Perdido Key, which falls on the Florida-Alabama border. It isn't overly long at 6,810 yards, but it's nevertheless a ball buster: It's slope rating is 144.
Rock Creek sits on some of Baldwin County's highest elevations, overlooking freshwater wetlands and the Rock Creek basin. Tall pines and hardwoods line nearly every fairway of this Earl Stone design.
Stone is a believer that golf courses should be designed for 18-handicappers. Rock Creek goes a little beyond that, with several holes featuring tough water carries.
"Rock Creek ... has a fun, forgiving side to please the bad swing in all of us, yet the teeth to challenge anybody on their best day," Scott wrote in another review.
Peninsula Golf & Racquet Club is 27 holes on Mobile Bay, on a secluded 820 acres sandwiched between the Bon Secour Wildlife Preserve. Designed by Earl Stone, the Lakes, Marsh and Cypress courses meander through live oak, cypress and natural vegetation, with more than 30 lakes. Watch out for the large, white-sand bunkers.
Glen Lakes Golf Club is another 27-hole facility many consider among the better value plays in the area. The "links-style" layout features spacious fairways bordered by mounds and large, undulating greens. Glenlakes is very playable at 6,938 yards with a slope of 126.
Gulf Shores hotels and lodging
Gulf Shores has plenty of accommodation options. Depending on your taste and budget, you have a choice of hotels and motels, inns, resorts, bed and breakfasts, beach houses and even RV and camping facilities.
If you go
For more information on Alabama Gulf coast golf packages, call (866) 395-4607.
Latest Alabama articles & reviews
The Arnold Palmer that started Alabama Gulf Shores golf, Craft Farms still shows its love for golfers
Arnold Palmer single-handedly made the Alabama Gulf Shores a golf destination by designing two excellent courses at Craft Farms. You don't go on a golf vacation for a history lesson, though. Craft Farms succeeds today because it recognizes its history while concerning itself with the product golfers are experiencing now. It's a well-run operation that's never lost its passion for golf and the people who play the game for fun.
... full article »Banking on golf fun: Rock Creek G.C. an Alabama Gulf Shores blast
If you play golf to enjoy yourself, you'll want to work Rock Creek Golf Club into an Alabama Gulf Shores trip. You make golf trips to have the kind of days you have at Rock Creek. This is the type of course that leaves a golf group with plenty of stories to tell - probably for years to come, Chris Baldwin writes.
... full article »Beyond your old, tired golf vacation: Alabama Gulf Shores brings design thrills, beach parties
You'd find distinctive white sugar sand beaches in the Alabama Gulf Shores along with everything else you need in a golf destination. That's the thing about the Alabama Gulf Shores: it's not one of those haphazardly clobbered together want-to-be poser golf destinations, Chris Baldwin writes.
... full article »Kiva Dunes Golf Course is a seaside course you'll never forget in Gulf Shores, Alabama
Kiva Dunes Golf Course is the type of course you travel to play, the kind of showpiece that is a great impetus to come to the Alabama Gulf Shores and discover the other outstanding golf courses and 32 miles of beaches with white sand that looks like its special ordered from a postcard.
... full article »Kiva Dunes Golf Course in Gulf Shores, Alabama
Kiva Dunes Golf Course doesn't do anything typical. It's not your average resort course. Certainly not one you expect to see in Alabama. It's a seaside links-style design that's between both the Gulf of Mexico and Mobile Bay. Located in the Alabama Gulf Shores, Kiva Dunes is one of the more relaxed golf escapes you'll ever find.
... full article »Lakewood Golf Club In Point Clear, Ala.: Tee off among the Civil War ghosts
The two courses at the Lakewood Golf Club sit right across the street, and are part of, the Grand Hotel in Point Clear, Ala. A little cemetery lays near the 18th tee box on the Azalea course. In it, lay the remains of 300 Confederate soldiers wounded in the Battle of Vicksburg. It puts that drive you shanked on No. 18 into perspective.
... full article »TimberCreek Golf Club in Mobile, Ala.: a course to soothe your nightmares
TimberCreek Golf Club outside of Mobile is one of those Alabama golf courses where the wind always seems to be at your back and all your tee shots are downhill. That isn't to say it's a ridiculously easy course, but it is a good antidote in the Mobile area after you've played Magnolia Grove's tough layouts, for example.
... full article »Go mano a mano with Robert Trent Jones at Magnolia Grove in Mobile
If you find yourself struggling to make par at either of the two golf courses at Magnolia Grove, take comfort in that you're playing the golf course the way its inventor intended. "Robert Trent Jones' philosophy was hard par, easy bogey," Magnolia Grove Director of Golf Paul Martino said. Magnolia Grove, part of the much-publicized Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, is a good example of that stern outlook.
... full article »Golf Podcast: There's life after Hurricane Katrina in Mobile, Ala.
The golf courses in the historic city of Mobile, Ala., which sits on Mobile Bay, have completely recovered from Hurricane Katrina. Lakewood Golf Club, Magnolia Grove (a Robert Trent Jones Trail facility), Azalea City, Rock Creek Golf Club and Timbercreek Golf Club each offer Gulf Coast golfers a mix of challenge and playability. Listen to a podcast about the current state of Mobile after Hurricane Katrina.
... full article »There's life after Katrina for golfers in Mobile, Alabama
Mobile, Ala. took a hard right hand from Katrina. The good news is that the city has pretty much completely recovered from the storm, and business has returned to normal. All this is great news for golfers, who have known for years Mobile has a number of excellent golf courses.
... full article »
