Round One- Robert Trent Jones Trail

Magnolia Grove The Crossings course – Mobile, Alabama

Our first round of nine to be played on the famous Robert Trent Jones Trail in Alabama.

The weather was perfect for golf, clear blue skies, 23C and a slight breeze. It’s early spring here so there were a couple of wet areas at the front of a couple of greens but overall soft rather than muddy. Coming from home where we are at the end of a long dry summer it was a bit of a shock to not get much forward roll, but once we realised the heavy humid air and the soft fairways meant the ball would land and stop, we adjusted to our winter game mindset.

The course is a very open parkland resort style. The fairways were wide, there were very few blind landing spots and plenty of options to avoid the water and bunkers.

I play off a fairly average ladies handicap of 22 so I played off the Teal tees which has a slope rating of 113. Distance 5,261yards or 4,811metres. My husband Scott plays off a 7 handicap so played the orange tees, slope 123, distance 6,652yards or 6,083metres. https://www.rtjgolf.com/magnoliagrove/

When we arrived, the carpark was already very busy but the round moved at a steady pace with minimal waiting and everyone was respectful of other players keeping appropriate distances in order not to add pressure. The course was dead flat and probably walkable but I think on a busy course like this one where everyone is in carts walking might be viewed as holding things up.

The greens putted well, not a lot of turn or borrow on most. If anything, a bit slow but that was fine by me on our first round. They are all large with plenty of space to land if needing to hit out of a bunker.

The bunkers were immaculate, soft, fine white sand. Lovely to play out of. Yes, I went in a few. None were steep and deep. The courses at Magnolia Grove have been renovated recently and made more playable without compromising the design and in my humble opinion this has been achieved.

What were the best holes? For visual interest the #14, par 3. Lake in the front of the green and covered bridge to the right.

For challenge. #5, par 4. It has a lake to the front left of the green and a very narrow entrance to the green if you are not confident to take on the lake. My tee shot landed mid fairway with the lake between me and the green, I sensibly sent my second to the slight hill marked by a large tree on the right so that it ran left to the safety zone just short of the green, chipped up onto the green and 2 putted for a 5. Very happy.

#18, par 4 is also a great finishing hole with water at the front of the tee, fairway bunkers on the right and bunkers surrounding the green. If you’re tired by this stage you need to dig deep to score well. Hubby will tell you the best hole on the course is the #17, par 3 but that’s because he was less than half a foot from the hole after his tee shot.

Everyone at the course was welcoming and friendly. Finding our way around was very easy with thanks to the pro shop attendant who pointed out the important things like bathrooms, carts, practice areas and most importantly the 1^st tee. The martial who met us on the first hole and talked us through who was in front, who was coming up behind, speed of play, local rules and how to find the 10^th when we were through the 9^th. Very valuable as there is quite a drive between the front and back nine, over a railway crossing.

We both got coffee and cart sandwiches to go when we arrived, the sandwiches were fresh and big so lasted the 18 holes, however there was a refreshment cart circling the course and fresh water along the way.

The Magnolia Grove team made the whole experience easy and relaxing….what more could you want from golf? Oh yeah! A good score. Well I was happy with my 99gross so tick.

The summary

When I decided to start a blog I had lady golfers on mid handicaps in mind. I thought what would I look for in choosing a course to play?  This led to my personal rating checklist;