RTJ Golf Trail info

[skyryder]

So, it has been a long time dream for me and my best friend to make a tour of the RTJ trail, but the old excuse "we will do it next year" kept creeping into the plan.

This past winter he developed liver cancer and it looks like the best outcome for him is not going to include golf for a very long time if ever.  We've had a number of long discussions about all the fun we have had including 22 consecutive member/guests with one runner up finish and other fun times on the course.  He said to me that he would really like for me to go play a few of the RTJ courses and let him know how it goes and hopefully we will make it there "some day"

So my question is directed at those who have played the courses and which ones they liked and why.  Did you stay at the resort hotels when you could or somewhere else, and are there any you wished you had not played.  I will be driving, as it is only about 6 hours from home.  Planning to play 5 days, probably consecutive days, but a 3/1 off/2 days is an option as well.  I will try to stay away from weekends and play Mon-Friday or afternoon on a Sunday to Friday with a break in the middle.

Thanks in advance for all the input and if this is the incorrect forum, let me know and I will delete it or repost somewhere else.

Happy Holidays and stay safe!

Sky

[Mtbryant01]

I think there is a thread on the US courses for potentially more information than what I’m about tell you. 

One of my home courses is an RTJ. I have a couple buddies that we like to take weekend trips and visit them. Below are some that you can bunch together and do in a day or two. 
 

1) Oxmoor Valley (my home course) and Ross Bridge. These are within 5 minutes of each other. Ross Bridge is a must and a stand alone course that used to feature a Champions Tour tourney. Maybe try to play a course from OV and then RB. Definitely doable in one day if you’re up for playing 36 holes?

2) Capitol Hill has 3 really cool 18 hole courses. Can’t go wrong with any of those. The Judge might be my favorite, but is the toughest. Not too far of a drive is Cambrian Ridge and Grand National from this one. Grand National has held a PGA tour event on its Lakes Course.

3) North Alabama has two locations (The Shoals and Hampton Cove). I haven’t been to these yet, but I heard the Shoals is worth it.

4) If you go down to the coast, there are two locations there as well: Magnolia Grove and Lakewood Club. Lakewood is the one you’d want to go to if you had to pick.

I wouldn’t bother venturing out to Silver Lakes. It doesn’t compare to some of these others. 
 

Top 5 courses I’ve played, in no particular order, I’d suggest you play:

1) Ross Bridge

2) Capitol Hill, Judge Course

3) Capitol Hill, Legislator Course

4) Grand National, Lakes Course

5) Oxmoor Valley, Ridge Course

I haven’t played the Shoals courses or Lakewood, or I’d put those on this list too as I’ve heard great things.

[fixyurdivot]

Sorry to hear about your friend.  Another example to all of us not to put off things too long - life throws some wicked pitches at times.  The RTJ Trail is on my list too.  A year ago I had planned to do a x-country trip from MT down through the SE to possibly include a meet-up with @Mr. 82and another spy.  I got the Jones to do this from another spy who had recently retired and scratched it off his bucket list.  He posted a thread on it and you should be able to find it with the search function.  Here's hoping you and your friend make the trip! 

[Mr. 82]

19 minutes ago, fixyurdivot said:

Sorry to hear about your friend.  Another example to all of us not to put off things too long - life throws some wicked pitches at times.  The RTJ Trail is on my list too.  A year ago I had planned to do a x-country trip from MT down through the SE to possibly include a meet-up with @Mr. 82and another spy.  I got the Jones to do this from another spy who had recently retired and scratched it off his bucket list.  He posted a thread on it and you should be able to find it with the search function.  Here's hoping you and your friend make the trip! 

Whatever happened to that?

[fixyurdivot]

Just now, Mr. 82 said:

Whatever happened to that?

Life.  Plus, it coincided with the inaugural PNW Spy Meet-up and that just worked out better with the calendar.  Real happy it did though as I've added several new friends to my list and we held our second meet-up this summer.  We hope to do 2021's event in Boise, ID or Bend, OR.  Maybe some of you east coast and heartland spies can participate .  I haven't given up on the RTJ trip... so you're not out of the woods yet .

[private_snowball]

Thank you @Mtbryant01. End of Jan, I'm playing Ross Bridge(8am) and Oxmoor Ridge (1pm) both on the same day. Sunset will be at 5:01 pm! You think I'll be able to get in all 36? I'm willing to skip lunch and head to Oxmoor right after Ross and see if the pro shop can let me tee off a little earlier than 1pm...

[MC3157]

A group of my friends and I have made this trip for the past 2 years with #3 coming up this coming May. Since most of us live in Florida, we started in 2022 with the southern courses which included Lakewood Club, Magnolia Grove, Cambrian Ridge, Capitol Hill, Grand National and then Highland Oaks. Our 2023 trip consisted of Cambrian Ridge, Capitol Hill, Oxmoor Valley (Ross Bridge was closed for the year), and Silver Lakes. This next trip we will play Oxmoor Valley, Ross Bridge, Hampton Cove and The Shoals, then maybe one of the other more southern courses again on our way back to Florida. So once it's all said and done, we will have played every course on the trail over a 3 year period. Last year and this year, we stayed at hotels arranged through RTJ however this year we decided it is cheaper to rent a house through VRBO for a week and then drive to the courses on our list. It's always been a great trip. So far our favorite is the Capitol Hill courses. I'm happy to give my opinion on any of the courses. All of the staff at every course is always so friendly and helpful with anything you ask of them. It's always a great experience and a trip I would highly suggest!!!

[Fred Mitchell]

On 12/21/2020 at 7:48 AM, Mtbryant01 said:

I think there is a thread on the US courses for potentially more information than what I’m about tell you. 

One of my home courses is an RTJ. I have a couple buddies that we like to take weekend trips and visit them. Below are some that you can bunch together and do in a day or two. 
 

1) Oxmoor Valley (my home course) and Ross Bridge. These are within 5 minutes of each other. Ross Bridge is a must and a stand alone course that used to feature a Champions Tour tourney. Maybe try to play a course from OV and then RB. Definitely doable in one day if you’re up for playing 36 holes?

2) Capitol Hill has 3 really cool 18 hole courses. Can’t go wrong with any of those. The Judge might be my favorite, but is the toughest. Not too far of a drive is Cambrian Ridge and Grand National from this one. Grand National has held a PGA tour event on its Lakes Course.

3) North Alabama has two locations (The Shoals and Hampton Cove). I haven’t been to these yet, but I heard the Shoals is worth it.

4) If you go down to the coast, there are two locations there as well: Magnolia Grove and Lakewood Club. Lakewood is the one you’d want to go to if you had to pick.

I wouldn’t bother venturing out to Silver Lakes. It doesn’t compare to some of these others. 
 

Top 5 courses I’ve played, in no particular order, I’d suggest you play:

1) Ross Bridge

2) Capitol Hill, Judge Course

3) Capitol Hill, Legislator Course

4) Grand National, Lakes Course

5) Oxmoor Valley, Ridge Course

I haven’t played the Shoals courses or Lakewood, or I’d put those on this list too as I’ve heard great things.

I havent played the others but the Shoals courses are not far from my house in Muscle Shoals lol. 2 courses on 1 property is a plus both are challenging and for those traveling the cost of living as far as hotels food etc. should be much more reasonable than a lot of places. Another big benefit is even in town unless rush hour traffic and getting around should be more pleasant. There is a almost 2 week music festival that has live bands in nearly every bar and restaurant in the area called Handy Fest in July  or August cant remember that would be a good time to combine the 2 if like music. Also FYI some serious small mouth bass and catfish fishing on the Tennessee river which flows right past the courses.

[Samuel09152]

19 hours ago, private_snowball said:

Thank you @Mtbryant01. End of Jan, I'm playing Ross Bridge(8am) and Oxmoor Ridge (1pm) both on the same day. Sunset will be at 5:01 pm! You think I'll be able to get in all 36? I'm willing to skip lunch and head to Oxmoor right after Ross and see if the pro shop can let me tee off a little earlier than 1pm...

I played oxmoor valley during the summer. Absolutely loved it, however it took forever due to the crowd. It being the end of Jan you might be able to pull this off! I want to play Ross Bridge pretty bad. I’ve been saving my point for about a year now, and have enough to do it plus another RTJ course. May have to do something similar to your plan here! Best of luck! 

[vandyland]

16 hours ago, Fred Mitchell said:

I havent played the others but the Shoals courses are not far from my house in Muscle Shoals lol.

 

I have been interested in checking those out as I live in Nashville. I have only played the Oxmoor Valley courses, Ross Bridge and one of the Capitol Hill courses. My only complaint about the RTJ courses that I have played is that, in my opinion, they are a little bit penal and not as "fun" as I would hope for. I am all for there being challenging golf courses but when I think of resort/buddy trip golf I typically don't want to be looking for lost balls all the time (hello Capitol Hill). I am going to check out the Shoals courses on google earth and see how they look. 

[Samuel09152]

1 hour ago, vandyland said:

 

I have been interested in checking those out as I live in Nashville. I have only played the Oxmoor Valley courses, Ross Bridge and one of the Capitol Hill courses. My only complaint about the RTJ courses that I have played is that, in my opinion, they are a little bit penal and not as "fun" as I would hope for. I am all for there being challenging golf courses but when I think of resort/buddy trip golf I typically don't want to be looking for lost balls all the time (hello Capitol Hill). I am going to check out the Shoals courses on google earth and see how they look. 

Fight Joe is tough links style imo. Was very hard on me when I first started playing. I live 5 mins from Hampton cove, and would say out of the ones I’ve played, these are the easiest. Might be biased as well since I’m 5 mins away and love the short course.  I would rank my experiences of hardest RTJ courses I’ve played like this:

1) fighting Joe ( shoals also first 4 months of playing golf, and was shook at the beauty of it. My first real course)

1b) oxmoor- valley course ( tough, fun, and very challenging. Loved the signature hole ) 

2) silver lakes- mind breaker( fastest greens I have ever played on)

3)silver lakes- back breaker ( again fast greens but layout was a little easier)

4) highlands- Hampton cove( it’s fun kinda challenging, has nice scenic views of a neighborhood. Has bunkers and water) 

5) river- Hampton cove ( lots of water not really any bunkers, little more open, tough pin locations but a good time when not flooded)

6) short course- Hampton cove ( right now this is my favorite mainly because I’m working on iron play and I can get 9 holes in a hour. It’s fun but challenging. Tough pins, elevated greens, thick roughs)