Best golf courses near Birmingham, AL

Towering pines and two large lakes frame many holes on this expansive layout just south of Birmingham. Significant elevation changes dictate a layout that plays up and down the banks that surround the two lakes, which are connected by a stunning waterfall that separates the ninth and 18th greens. With wide landing areas and large greens, there is ample room for wayward shots. The course tips out over 8,000 yards, but there are five sets of tees to accommodate all players. Note: The course is temporarily closed due to green damage caused by misapplied herbicide.

Starting 40 years ago, the Country Club of Birmingham’s West Course, one of two Donald Ross designs at the club, was repeatedly ranked on Golf Digest’s 100 Greatest. Then it fell off in 1984. Pete Dye convinced the club that he could restore the Ross glory to its West Course, but sent his younger son, P.B., to the course. P.B. proceeded to turn the turfgrass black with grass-killing chemicals, then stirred up clouds of red dust gouging his bulldozer into every tee, fairway and green. When he was finished, the West had become a P.B. Dye design, and some members were so unhappy, they didn’t talk to Pete for years. A decade ago, Pete finally talked his way back into the club’s good graces and promised “to fix things.” He brought in a new crew, toned done some of the more outrageous features of P.B., and made it more playable. Today, Birmingham West is still not back to being a Donald Ross design, but it sure is an authentic Pete Dye design.

Interestingly, Greystone’s Legacy course is three miles from its sibling layout, giving the Legacy a more secluded feel. The rolling Rees Jones design sits in the valley of Double Oak Mountain, and similar to the Founders Course, features meandering streams that can pester players and force thoughtful decision-making throughout the round.

The 54 holes at Oxmoor Valley were built on former mining land owned by U.S. Steel. Nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, the Valley course is a tree-lined layout with rolling fairways and modest elevation changes. The first tee is perched high on a bluff, offering scenic views of the surrounding hills. The course extends two miles down a narrow valley before returning to the clubhouse. Large bunkers and several imposing lakes demand precise shot placement.

Standing on the first tee looking down at the fairway below, golfers will get a sense of the dramatic elevation changes and undulating fairways in store for their round. The “roller-coaster” fairways are aesthetically appealing and create many shots from uneven lies. A heavily wooded track flanked by imposing pines, the Ridge course features several dramatic elevation changes, including at the downhill par-3 eighth. Given the topography, taking a cart is recommended.

Greystone’s Founders Course is the longtime host of the PGA Tour Champions’ Regions Tradition, one of the tour’s five major championships. This tree-lined Bob Cupp design opened in 1991 and winds through foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Meandering creeks lurk on many holes on this otherwise playable layout.

Asked if a course could be built in a Birmingham forest, Jack Nicklaus scouted the site from lumber haul roads and said of the mountainous terrain, “Well, there are a lot of par 3s out there, that’s for sure.” But then he discovered a gentle valley in which to put par 4s and 5s, so he took the job. It became one of his great early designs. But as it neared 40 years of existence, Shoal Creek needed some reconditioning, so Nicklaus and his former senior designer Jim Lipe (now operating his own firm in Louisiana) literally ripped up every hole and rethought strategies and options. The result was not a restoration but an updating. Gone are huge fairway bunkers, replaced by smaller clusters of traps. Greens have been recontoured, with one, the 12th, actually flowing front to back, unheard of back in the late 1970s when the course was first built. Shoal Creek has twice hosted the PGA Championship and the remodeled layout hosted the 2018 U.S. Women’s Open, won by Ariya Jutanugarn in a four-hole playoff over Hoo-joo Kim.

Between Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, Bent Brook is a 27-hole public facility that underwent an extensive renovation in 2016, switching to a hybrid AU Victory bent grass on the greens. The course has hosted three Alabama State Amateur Championships, including in 2022, when the Brook and Windmill nines hosted the championship. Each nine is named for its defining feature, and the Brook and Graveyard combo is the toughest of the three 18-hole combos, with the Graveyard and Windmill the most playable. Still, all three layouts are great for the average player, with generous landing areas.