Sherling/Canyon at Cambrian Ridge

Had been over 20 years since I played the Trail (Grand National, Silver Lakes, Oxmoor Valley). Played a 3day/2night unlimited package. Even though 23 May was wet, 24 & 25 were fine. All 3 nines were in pristine condition! Best conditioned courses & layout I have played in a while. Director of Golf Brian Reynolds was first class! We had a nice conversation about where I was from, condition of the course, etc. His staff of Rachel T, Preston, Caroline W. were very courteous and very helpful - good ole southern hospitality. I have already notified all my golfing friends that Cambrian Ridge is a must!! I can't wait to return but I have some other bucket list courses to play as well.

Cambrian Ridge is kind of in the middle of nowhere, compared with the RTJ Trail sites located closer to larger cities. But it's worth a stop, as its course is one of the Trail's best. My strong recommendation is to play the Sherling and Canyon nines - both of them work their way around the lake at the base of the property before meandering back up to the clubhouse. The Loblolly nine is fairly forgettable by comparison; play it you have time but don't feel too bad about skipping it if you have to.

I played this site over two days with a friend on 11/9/22 and 11/10/22. Instead of reviewing each course individually, I will try to explain the similarities and differences between the three courses on site. The similarities of all the courses are the greens are huge and very undulating, but they rolled very true. All the courses were in excellent shape, from the tees, fairways, and bunkers. Each course has plenty of doglegs. The entire staff was very friendly accommodating and professional with an excellent practice facility. The golf range here is very dramatic. The Loblolly Course is the flatter of the three courses, but still has plenty of rolling terrain. My favorite holes on this course would be #3, 5, 8 and 9. The Sherling and Canyon courses offer more dramatic elevation changes than Loblolly. Both the Sherling and Canyon courses “share” a canyon on the finishing hole. My favorite holes on the Sherling Course would be #3, 4 and 9. My favorite holes on the Canyon course would be #4, 5 and 9. When you finish you round have a couple drink on the “patio” overlooking the Sherling and Canyon courses. I would play any of these courses again in a heartbeat.

Not much was going on at RTJ Cambrian Ridge. I‘ve got a tee time right away on a sunny Monday. Teeboxes, fairways, bunkers and greens were all excellent. Great course layout, too. It‘s very worthwhile to play here. I‘ll come again.

Played the Sherling/Canyon combo today. Both are absolutely immaculate. It was like my own private course. I can say with full confidence one won't find a better 18 with a sub-$50 green/cart fee.

Another spectacular outing. Our foursome played all three 9's. The greens were perfect and rolled true on all of the courses. One couldn't hope for any better. The Canyon and Sherling fairways are still a bit damp allowing the overseeded fairways to come in, roughly 3/4" length now. However, the intermittent growth didn't affect the fairway lies. The Loblolly was also great condition. Well worth our 1.5 hour drive. This may well be the best 27 south of Birmingham the Trail has to offer.

One can't overstate how well-maintained and enjoyable is this venue. Fairways are perfect, greens are receptive and true. Absolute perfect golf!

Great course, diamond in the rough. $72 GOLFNOW made the rate worth it. Great views. Beautiful day. Amazing pace of play

No doubt my favorite place in the world to play golf! I’ve been playing here since they opened and it has never disappointed me.

The staff, the general course areas, the fairways, the greens, and the overall course was great. my friends got individual carts and we loved the seriousness of the staff with the covid-19 explanation. not family, not living together and not relatives then individual carts...great great great...pace of play was better and faster with individual carts...as my retirement is paying for this, i would love to at least get a discount to promote loyalty among state employees

First time playing this fun little course. We decided to add a few more holes to our day trip after already playing 36 between the three tournament courses. One can't help to feel the excitement and exhilaration of looking down to the green from the first tee box on this Short Course. Overall, the course is set out well. The greens weren't as cared for as the tournament courses, and this was clear on the first 4 holes; the greens on the latter 5 holes were in better shape with no bare spots. The greens are considerably smaller than the tournament courses, but I felt this added to the challenge of the short course. The most disappointing aspect of the course was the lack of variation in yardages; we had hoped to see a better mixture of short and mid iron requirements. The yardages did seem to slowly increase for the final 3 holes. The most immediate maintenance required on this course is the recovery of the first 4 greens, as well as trimming the overhead branches impending the tee shots over the #6 tee box. Until the #6 tee box is cleaned up a bit the hole demands a draw that starts over the lake and must be turned back into the green. I need to be clear that these conditions are only minor distractions and in no way will dissuade me from playing this fun little 9-hole the next time I visit the site.

We played 36 and all three courses were in great shape. We started with the Canyon/Loblolly and after lunch played the Sherling/Canyon. All courses are in equally great condition. The staff was great and very accommodating to get us out ahead of our afternoon tee time as we were playing at a swift pace. Other than the BYOB tourney in December, I haven't seen as many players on the course in any of the several trips I've made to the site. However, the pace of play was very good and well managed. Cambrian Ridge is always a great time!

Myself and my friends have booked a round at this course multiple times over the last few years. We have used golf now all of those times and never had any issues. When we arrived at the course there was an older man that accused me of lying saying the rate that I booked was fake and that was not what they charged people. I explained how golf now worked and how many times i had used it at this course. It was extremely frustrating and finally after 20 minutes another man came and helped him understand and then we were able to pay and go play. This course is beautiful and a blast to play aside from the staff being a little annoying.

We played the Sherling/Canyon as part of the BYOB tournament. The course is perfect. Great greens with a bit of speed, perfect fairways that were a little damp from the previous couple days of rain, and great staff. You couldn't ask to play a course in better condition. Well worth my two hour drive, well worth the RTJ Trail Card, and why I keep returning to this gem.

I wanted to play the Canyon nine but it was closed due to heavy rains the day before. I was extremely satisfied with the two nines I played as they were beautifully maintained despite the previous heavy rain. The staff was helpful and courteous. Everything was up to what is expected on the Jones Trail.

The Sherling/Canyon was our 4th 18 in two days after we finished at Capital Hill. I would put this 18-hole combination up against the others I've played on the trail as the most scenic. The generous fairways are balanced by the demaning shots to score. The greens were considerably slower than normal but rolled well and true. The staff, as always, was as courteous and hospitable as you could ask. There were only four groups booked the entire day so we had our own private golf complex. It was a great conclusion to our road trip. Can't wait to return again!

We played the Loblolly/Sherling. The Canyon course was closed for aerification and the Loblolly course had been aerated the previous week. The Loblolly greens had almost fully recovered and rolled so well we didn't notice any impact from the previous week's maintenance. We played 36 holes and other than maybe six or so groups, we had the entire course to ourselves. We stopped between rounds for lunch that was included with the all you can play special we purchased and all of the meals were delicious - the clubhouse facilities and restaurant are very nice. The course conditions were excellent, even immaculate. The only gripes I would express, and these are minimal, is (1) the rough was barely distinguishable from the fairway, maybe cut to 1" tall so there was practically no penalty for missing the fairway, and (2) the end of play horn sounded approximately 6:10pm, even though sunset was more than an hour afterwards - we were hoping to play a few holes on the short course but the early horn ended our day, which was otherwise very enjoyable, challenging, and well worth the two hour drive each way.

Staff was friendly and helpful. Course was a lot of fun

Immaculate, beautiful, grueling, awesome. Perfect greens, lush fairways, amazing elevation changes. A must play!