Heartbreaker/Backbreaker at Silver Lakes

Nine golfers enjoyed a great golf trip to Silver Lakes. We were able to play all 3 nine hole courses and the short course. All the courses were great. The entire staff was very friendly and helpful.

The greens are elevated and undulating. Speed of the greens was fast. Highly recommend this course.

We played the Mindbreaker/Heartbreaker as part of our RTJ Trail trip and loved everything about the experience. The staff is so friendly and welcoming and these courses (along with the Backbreaker) are all terrific layouts in very good shape. The greens are large and challenging, but fair, and the terrain firm and well-maintained. In addition, we had a great lunch at the eatery between playing these two and then the Backbreaker.

I played Heartbreaker / Backbreaker Courses with a friend on 11/04/20. These courses offer a variety of different holes from uphill par 3’s to downhill dogleg par 5’s. There are some elevation changes, but the fairways are generous in width, with water on 5 holes. There are some holes where you need an accurate tee shot to avoid trouble, otherwise you may have to lay up for the following shot. The course offers 6 sets of tees and plays long. You should take one more club than you normally would hit. The greens were firm and fast. There are 3 nines available to play at Silver Lakes, but I am not exactly sure how the rotation of nines is determined for play for that day. I’m guessing the other nine hole (Mindbreaker) course not played is subject to routine maintenance that particular day. There is a nice restaurant / bar area and they do serve breakfast. The entire staff was very friendly and helpful. I wish they had would be a yardage book, since this was our first time playing the course. But I guess with three nine hole courses it would be difficult. I would definitely play this course again.

After playing the Heartbreaker / Backbreaker Courses we played the 9 Hole Short Course (Par 3’s). This is not your run of the mill par 3 course. This course offers 6 sets of tees with elevation changes and water in play on most of the holes. Any one of these holes could be used on the Heartbreaker / Backbreaker courses. The greens were firm and fast and have sand traps. This course is no pushover and was a blast to play.

We picked a perfect day to play this course. Every year we come down from Indiana and try to play at least one RTJ course and this year we played all 27 holes on Friday. Very beautiful course that is in top notch condition, our only problem was once on the greens we couldn't adjust to how fast they were but overall a very good experience.

I have played several of the RTJ trail courses and this one is as good as the rest. Great conditions, great greens, challenging holes. This site has 3 nine hole layouts plus a short course. They rotate the nines each day for an 18 hole round. I was told you can;t play all 3 nines in one day.

If you are driving in to visit the Trail from the North and East (down I-59), this is a logical place to start before you travel on to Birmingham (about 1 hour) or Huntsville (1.5 hour) for the other fine RTJ courses. It is worth a stop.

just a fun challenging golf round..very par-able if you play pin to tee with your favorite irons. And you need to be within 20 feet on approach shots for good put.

RTJ are just great , not too tight, deff not wide either.

Wow!!!

We played all day....8 am to 7 pm on Friday & Saturday for $125 each day.

The courses are daunting when you step to the tee, but once you figure out that the design gives you a large area that is "flattish" to play to on every hole.... The greens are massive. You have to think when you are chipping because a bad chip leads to a quick 3 putt.

The staff was exceptional. We couldn't sit down on the porch due to the Wuhan virus, but next trip...I'm going to enjoy the sunset after a 45 hole day.

Speaking of 45 holes. We played the 3 - 9 holes tracks, Backbreaker is a Beast! Move up 1 set of tees is the best advice I can give you!

We finished off our days by playing the 9 hole short course...twice!!

The only bad part is the 30 minute drive to the closest hotel. Would love to have found a condo or something close to the course to rent for the weekend.

We are already planning our next trip back.

Silver Lakes is in the best condition I’ve ever seen it, and that is despite all the rain and storms we’ve had recently.

Best value in greater B’ham/NE Alabama right now.

My father & I have talked about paying the trail for a long time. I finally got us going with a Christmas gift & took him to silver lakes to start us off. It was about a 4 hr drive for me in western Nc and around 2 hrs for him from Atl. Well worth it to get our RTJ journey started.....also quite scenic and very little traffic. My dad commented on how nice it was without the traffic of the city. I arrived an hr or so early and was picked in the parking lot by a cart and driven to the clubhouse. I met jack in the pro shop and told him about our trip. He was very appreciative and gracious, offering to help us with anything we needed. I putted and chipped on the spacious green just behind the clubhouse. Until my dad arrived. Greens were immaculate with lots of contour and very fast. The weather was pretty cold, starting out under 40 and never getting above 50., and was very windy. The cart attendant went out of his way to help me put on my cart cover. Good thing we did as the front nine were freezing & it seemed like the wind was gusting in our face on every hole. They had several prior days of rain and there was some standing water here and there. They did a good job of dealing with it from a maintenance standpoint but most of the course was really wet and muddy, making the heartbreaker, at the longest length of all 3 nines very challenging. I played from the orange tees and, with the wind in my face, had trouble reaching the greens in regulation. My dad played from the silvers and the length and wind weren’t as much of an issue for him. The layout was great, course conditions considering the weather were also great, and the views were spectacular! We played the mind breaker on the back and it was much more enjoyable for me. I took a triple on what looked like a pretty simple par 3 by finding a bunker on the left of the green with a 15 ft wall as it turned out. If it weren’t for that, I would’ve had a sub-40 back nine and broken 90. But that wasn’t to be. Hopefully the back breaker will be easier on us today and we will try to stay clear of the heartbreaker all together! Stay tuned for our next installment tomorrow! Weather looks a bit better today and we can’t wait to get back to silver lakes this AM!

Played on an Alabama football day and the course was nearly empty. Only had a couple of guys in front on the Heartbreaker course. The fescue was cut down, so finding those wayward shots was a little easier. Greens were very fast, almost not fair for a high handicapper like me. As is usual with a RTJ set-up, there are very few flat spots on the green and almost all putts break one way or the other or both ways.

I have played this course several times now, and even when I play poorly, it is still a good time.

This course continues to outperform its peers on the RTJ Trail. Greens are immaculate. Course is in tremendous shape. If you want to challenge yourself, play here. Your putting acumen will be put to the utmost test. Is there a better value in northeast Alabama?

I’m no professional golfer, but when you’re on a course as immaculate and well kept as this one you can’t help but feel like you’re on tour. The fairways are plush. The greeens are fast and easy to read. The only thing wrong was parts of the fairway seemed to collect water. But that’s a minor thing. Another thing about this course is it makes you hit good shots. I love it. I’ll be back for years to come.

Reasonable greens feed. I thought the club rental rate was to high ($47.00)

I’ve been playing here for years and I have never seen the course in better condition.

Everything is green. Fairways are lush. Greens are perfect. Fast as they’ve ever been rolling. You can see why this place was used for U.S. Open sectional qualifying.

This continues to be a best value on the RTJ Trail. As a Trail Card holder, the special Silver Lakes is currently running got me 18 holes and a cart, range token and a sleeve of Pro V1Xs. If you can beat that for exceptional value On a course of this caliber then I’d like to hear it.

Extremely challenging but fair.

This course kicked my butt. Most holes are uphill. Par 3's are par-able. Don't get me wrong, it's a lot of fun, but it's a very hard course for a person with less than a year of golf-playing under my belt. Most holes are wide open, especially going out and coming in.

Excellent layout. Seems every par four had an elevated green. Area had received a lot of rain so Course was a little wet. Greens had sand spread on them but they putted great. A lot of the greens have at least two rises running the entire width.

Would love to play this course during the late spring or summer.

A harsh winter comprised of colder-than-normal temps and a seemingly daily precipitous forecast has hampered golf and the maintenance of golf courses in this area. Yet, Silver Lakes has navigated it better than most.

Despite overseeded fairways, the lies are still a bit thin. We need some warmer weather and they will come in quickly.

The greens were a bit slower than normal (they had just been top-dressed and verti-cut), but still putted extremely well.

Bunkers were in excellent shape.

Silver Lakes was recently named a 2018 U.S. Open qualifying site (as it was in 2017).

The greens are as pure as ever. Say it every time, but they are the best I've played in the state. Fairways have been overseeded, which makes for excellent lies and good optics off the tee.

Had been 17 rears since I’d visited Silver Lakes. While the greens had changed and the trees were gone it’s just as I remembered it, fun, challenging and beautiful! Staff is great and it won’t be that long between visits next time. A must is to challenge the par 3 course. If you think it’s gonna be a walk in the park you’d better think again. Great day of golf