The Links at Grand National Golf Course

The Lakes course was in great shape! The staff was very helpful with pairing me with some better players. We were allowed to play from the tips without slowing down the groups behind us. The course has some amazing views and I had plenty of time to relax and enjoy them. Overall I had a great experience and will be telling all my friends that this is a must play. Not he only recommendation I would make for people playing the course for the first time, buy one of the yardage books for $8 in the pro shop. It was a stroke saver!!

Overall the course is beautiful and in great shape. The par 3 course was a fun challenge and I look forward to going back to play the regulation courses. Range was nice too. Student discount a plus.

The course is in great condition but one of the most challenging courses around. The greens were super fast.

A superb course in design and playability. Well maintained and ready for the Barbasol Open in July 2015. I can't believe how many whiny people there are in golf these days. Driving range is closed for 2 hours. Slow play when I booked my tee time at 1:30. Call the whambulance. The RTJ Golf Trail is the best value in golf in the USA.

We had high hopes for playing the links course earlier this week; unfortunately, those were not realized!
First, the good things: The course is beautiful and in great shape! Facilities are nice and the cart service was friendly and adequate. Jim, one of the marshals on the course, stood out and was responsible for salvaging our day. Thank you, Jim!
Now, the other things: Our tee time was at 1:30. We arrived a few minutes after noon and the place is packed! We check in and are greeted with a semi- warm response. We ask for some range balls as we arrived in plenty of time to warm up and are informed that the driving range is closed in the middle of the day on Tuesdays… We are disappointed because that offers us no chance to work the kinks out after driving 3 hours to get to Opelika. The person checking us in barely offered us a smile. Not what I expect from a pro shop employee at an expensive golf course (or any golf course for that matter). Oh well, we go to the bar and have one beer, them mosey down to the putting green which is nice. The views are beautiful. We go to the 1st hole we find out that there are two outings being played that day (a Tuesday). Unfortunately, our tee time placed us directly behind one of those outings. The starter hopes that we are not in a hurry as it is going to be a long afternoon. He is right. Two hours later, we are on the fifth hole, after having to wait for every shot. We are about to quit because the pace is so slow. That’s when Jim shows up and asks if we would like to move ahead of this outing, play the course out of order but not have to wait! Yes! We skip ahead and play #15-18, then drive to #6 and catch up with the group again on #12. The outing had not completed 12 holes in over 4.5 hours. We quit playing at that point, but at least got to play 15 holes (thanks to Jim). The pro shop should not schedule tee times that close to an outing!
Even if the pace had not been so painfully slow, I did not really enjoy playing the course. It is very hilly and the majority of approach shots are severely uphill, leaving you with a blind approach. The greens are large with several levels and in good shape but often surrounded by large mounds so missing the green by 5 yards might result in a 30 yard pitch after the ball bounces hard away from the greens. The course plays very long, even from the white tees!
After we quit and passed the outing in front of us, we were surrounded by a group of guys waiting on us to finish. Almost before we can stop the cart, a young man is behind us placing our head covers on clubs, etc. Please let us get our, keys, wallets etc. out of our bags without having to reach around you! I hate when that happens! He never said hello, asked about our round, or anything. The only thing he said was when he asked if we wanted to carry our bags to our car or if he should leave them at the bag drop. We tipped him and got the car, only to find that he had not even bothered to clean our irons. Wow!
Overall, a big disappointment! Things seemed to be more about getting our money than us enjoying our experience. This was my first time at one of the R.T. Jones trail courses. Not sure I will ever try another.

We booked an early afternoon t-time on a Tuesday. We arrived early to have time for lunch and practice range. We were informed that the driving range was close on Tuesday from Noon-2pm (our t-time was 1:30). We also became aware there was a large group outing. In fact there were two large groups our t-time followed one of them on the Links Course. A twosome following a scramble event is miserable. The only positive experience of the entire day was when the starter (Jim) came and found us finishing the 4th hole (1.5 hours into our round!!). He offered to take us to a hole on back nine that would place us in front of the group and we could circle back around and hopefully complete 18 before dark. It worked great until we caught up with the group again when we circled back around and were only able to finish 15 holes. What made this disappointing day worse was the poor customer service and bad attitude of all staff members with whom we interacted except for the starter (Jim). From check-in (being informed about the closed driving range and oh, by the way, you're behind a group outing) to our lunch in the grill, to our unloading our bags at the end, no one exhibited friendly or customer service oriented attitudes. It is a great course, but based on the poor customer service, I would not go back and do not recommend Grand National to any of my golfing friends.

Fine course, complex, and lodging close-by (Marriott) as you would come to expect from any RTJ trail facility. Pace of play ruined our experience last weekend. It was a problem in each of the 3 rounds we played. Each was a 5.5 hour experience. Usually stacked groups on every tee box. Very little to no marshal involvement. When we did see a marshal in our final round they told us the pace of play issues were caused by a large group of 20. They could not ask them to speed up or skip a hole because they had been there since Thursday and had spent a lot of money. Not what you would expect from a resort course. Very disappointing.

Challenging course though not a true links layout. The greens were excellent the fairways had been punched earlier in the week so they were not a their peak. Lots of bunkers, tough undulating greens. First time playing adds 7-10 strokes.

Really was impressed with the facilities, friendliness of the staff and outstanding course conditions. Thank you for the beautiful day.

Dale

ps: See you again next year!

Like other RTJ Trail courses, this one is an excellent value and was in great shape. The greens had been top-dressed following an aerification, but needle times were used and they rolled true and not too slow. I had 28 putts. Every hole has unique features. 8 holes border or cross inlets on the huge lake, and there's water on two more, a small pond alongside the double green for 1 and 7. The 15th and 16th holes are worthy of a "signature" label, but I like the 12th, a risk-reward par 5 along the lake. If you want to go for the green in two, you have to hit over more water and aim at some fairway bunkers. The 15th is an "island" green par 3 much like 17 at TPC Sawgrass, but it's 230 from the tips and the green is wide and shallow like the 12th at Augusta. 16 is a short dogleg par 4 with the lake in the dogleg, another risk-reward hole for big hitters. Nice clubhouse and pro shop, friendly staff, beautiful natural surroundings.

Friendly and helpful staff. I had a tee time or 8:30 but they advised going a half hour earlier to play by myself for speed. I am a speed player anyway. I finished in just over 3 hours. I took my time and enjoyed the beautiful scenery today. The fairways were well groomed and soft dirt so divots were easy to take. Two buckets of sand on the new carts was well used. The greens held shots well and the flag locations at position 3 today were very accessible, yet hidden conveniently behind a lot of hazards. They say these greens are like fortress', But RTJ seems to leave a drawbridge down for the player if they are willing to sacrifice going for the stick every time. The Bermuda rough around the green was like velcro. Although it was cut short, putting out of it was still nasty. Chipping provided better results.Would definitely recommend and will return.

The fairways were over seeded, greens were in great condition, and all traps had fine sand & consistent. I've played many courses throughout the southeast and would rate it at or near the top of my list. I look forward to playing other RTJ Golf Trail courses in Alabama.

Played during Thanksgiving vacation week in Nov 2013.
Course took 4hrs to navigate on a very lite day.
Course definitely will take a few rounds to learn how certain holes have to be played relative to lay-ups and placement of approach shots. Course fairways were overseeded (rare for this area) Definitely plan to schedule a visit back in the spring when the course is in summer condition.

For course in winter kill shape, it was still in better shape than a lot of courses I play during the summer.

Really enjoyed my weekend of golf at RTJ Grand National courses. Looking forward to returning to the course. The staff was extremely friendly and the course was in great condition. A Golfer's paradise!

very scenic and challenging one of the best courses i have played

Great course! Friendly staff. Awesome facilities. One of the best public courses in the SE.

Many places on this property to remember why we play the game! One more rjt masterpiece

The Lake course was uncrowded, even for Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. My wife and I finished in under 4 hours, even with waiting on groups in front of us on the last three holes. Having never played the course, the starter was very helpful with pointing out a few "be careful" spots around the course. Practice facility is very nice, but a long cart drive from the clubhouse. We will definitely go back to try out the Links course.

It is amazing how they offer these pristine courses and country club service at these prices. This facility is beautiful, and expertly maintained. Everything is close to perfect, and the staff treat everyone like honored guests.

This course was in wonderful shape and was a pleasure to play. The variety of Tee boxes makes this a very playable course for golfers of all skill levels but be sure to choose the appropriate one for your skill level. I think the slope needs to be recalculated - it seems too low!!