Ballantrae Golf Club

This place is by far one of the nicest courses I’ve played. I’m new to the sport of golf and really enjoyed it.

First time to play this course. Very friendly staff. Course was in great condition. There was an annoying plastic barrier in between the 2 riders in the carts. Hoping they get rid of those soon. Would definitely return.

It’s one of the best in the best public course in the Birmingham and surrounding area. The course offers a lot of variety and gives you a chance to use all the clubs in your bag. The best part of the course was the greens. The greens were in outstanding shape and a little faster than your typical course in this area. Definitely enjoyed the course and would highly recommend it.

I’ve played Ballantrae many times. Mostly in good shape but today it was awful. Traps were hard and lacked any real raking recently

The tee boxes were the worst I’ve ever seen! Holes, divots, uneven everywhere and on every box

The greens were ok but the fairways had very little grass and scalped! Hitting a normal divot from an iron shot brought out mud and/or dried mud. You had to pick it clean in the fairway or you would hit an errant shot

This condition is what I expect from a country course that charges $28 but for what you pay to play there, it’s truly unacceptable , especially from a city course with tax payer subsidies.

I hope they get their act together soon but I would NOT recommend wasting your money there at this time!

Ballantrae’s greens are the best I’ve ever seen them. They are firm and roll beautifully (pay attention to grain) yet hold well-struck approaches.

Course drained well despite a good bit of rain the night before and off and on rain during the round. Never encountered standing water.

Liked the pink flags in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness. Nice touch.

$40 afternoon rate w/ cart is one of the best values in Birmingham right now. Brilliant move by management in a highly-crowded and competitive public golf market.

The course’s greens are in the middle of healing from aerification a week ago. They still were a little bumpy, but all in all they were fine and should be normal in a week or so.

Course was very wet from overnight rains, so it was CPO, which made for a lot of walking. Fairways were in really good shape otherwise.

Cupp really gets crazy with a couple of the green complexes, particularly Nos. 2, 8, and 12. The par 5s are not overly long from the III tees.

Good mixture of straight holes and ones that move from left right to left, so right-handed players that draw the ball will enjoy this layout.

The course is taking $10 off the rate through the end of the week in lieu of the recent aerification.

Course was in excellent condition. Staff was friendly and attentive. Not a lot of roll on the fairways (starter mentioned this) which challenged my distance a bit, it greens were excellent - not super speedy, but quick and rolling true.

Saw a negative review about that the course had “gone down” - I saw no evidence of that. Seems to be well taken care of and was quite fun to play. I will return.

Since the city of Pelham bought this course it has gone steadily down hill. Plastic mats on concrete on the driving range, Thin grass and crab grass in the fairways. Thankfully the greens are still kept in excellent shape but the rest of the course reminds of a cheap inner city course. NOT worth $54.

Ballantrae is a hidden gem in the Birmingham area. The course is not tricky, but will keep you honest. The layout winds through the Ballantrae community and uses the format of 3-par 5's, 3-par 4's, and 3-par 3's per 9 holes. Course is owned by city of Pelham and is well maintained. Staff is excellent. Enjoy!

I seem to say the same thing to myself after finishing every round here: why don't I play here more often? Probably because it is across town from me, and in the peak season it is very crowded and can make for long days. However, this is an excellent upscale public option in metro Birmingham. The Bob Cupp design is simply fun. Fairways are generous, but the rough can be thick in the summer, though it was much more benign today in its' dormancy. Tees were overseeded and lush. Greens are grainy but rolled good. Highlights: No. 2 is a really well-designed par 5, offering the opportunity to reach the green in two if you hug the left side of the fairway off the elevated tee. There's plenty of room out to the right, but because the hole plays in a semi-circle (think tee off at 7 o'clock and play your way around to 11 o'clock) it will play longer. The back nine is stronger, beginning with a short par 4, followed by the reachable par-5 11th. The two par 3s on the back are remarkable. The 14th plays longer than it reads on the card and looks from an elevated tee. No. 17 is decidedly shorter and plays to a peninsula green fronted by water. The 18th is one of the tougher closing holes in town. You won't find a water hazard to distract you, just a long, deceptively uphill journey toward the clubhouse. It was wet, but this course drains better than neighboring Timberline. Impending rain also kept many away, which made for a quick round.

Ballantrae is owned and operated by the City of Pelham, but this is not your typical municipal golf experience. This is a modern, semi-private club that is nicer than many private clubs. The clubhouse is new and clean, and literally looks like a castle. The staff and service is outstanding.

The course winds through a housing development that has some gorgeous homes. The fairways are wide and forgiving. These three holes are my nemesis (#2, #15 and #18). Hole #2 is a par 5 that has a tiered green with lots of slopes. #15 is a par 3 that has a pond that is a ball magnet. And, #18 is a long uphill hole where bogey is a good score.

Ballantrae is hard to access. From interstate I-65, you wind through residential neighborhoods with multiple stop signs. But, it is definitely worth the trip.

very fun course, 5 par 5's and 5 par 3's, so lots of birdie opportunities. course is in good shape and price is very good. great course!!

Nice course...problem was it was so slow that it would have taken us appx 6 hrs to finish 18 holes. Teed off at 2:30 (2 golfers) and at 6:30 we had 5 holes left to play. Had to wait a stupid long time on each t-box. When I asked the staff if I could get a raincheck for the 5 holes, They chuckled at me. Clubhouse was closed so I couldn't talk to a real person or even get a coke or a water. (they wont let you bring your own) ... I wont be going back , nor will I recommend the course to Anyone!

This is by far my favorite course in the state of AL. i like it more than the RTJ's around Alabama. Play here, you will see what I mean

fairways are perfect and generally pretty wide open. There are lots of choices for tees, so you can pick what works at your skill level. There are some very interesting and challenging holes, and in some cases some pretty dramatic changes in elevation. The one complaint I might have, and it's minor. is that the greens are really firm, so it's hard to hold the ball sometimes. But they are nearly perfect and roll very true. I'll be back to Ballantrae, and very soon!