Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail
The Oxmoor Valley Course in Birmingham. Uploaded by mancertified.com.
Here’s your bold vision. Here’s your thinking out of the box. The CEO of the Retirement Systems of Alabama said to himself, “Dave,” (for his name is David Bronner) “how can we diversify our holdings and help the state of Alabama?” Maybe he said it in a meeting. Maybe he said in the shower. Or maybe I just made the whole thing up. Regardless, this man conceived the idea of building 26 public golf courses across his state, and enticing – no, daring – golfers from around the country to try them out.
Uploaded by fairwaysgolfvacations.com.
They came, and still they come. Picture the end of Field of Dreams when all the cars are lined up for miles, their headlights twinkling as they head for the ballpark. Okay, maybe that’s overly dramatic. But consider this. The trail has expanded from eight sites to ten and now to eleven. Must be a lot of guys in plaid pants loving their Alabama vacations.
Okay, the plaid pants thing was a cheap shot. Golfers are good people who take their sport seriously, but who know how to have a good time. And they definitely have a good time from Huntsville to Mobile, playing courses designed by the master, Robert Trent Jones. File under “Big idea works.”