FarmLinks at Pursell Farms

Just played today and I was put together with two other players. Pretty full roster of players but pace of play was really good. I didn’t wait more than 2 minutes at any time today and we were sandwiched between two foursomes. The conditions here are second to none on this meticulously maintained course. A real showplace of greens and predictable speed of greens. Cant recommend more highly.

Beautiful presentation of golf on a great piece of land with elevation changes. Enough said.

The late Jim Nabor's golf course lived up to its advance billing. The fairways are wide open and as good as any I've ever played. Hardly any rough to speak of...maybe in rough once all day. Sand traps are strategically placed so you just can't bomb away all day.

Greens were a little slower than what I am used to, so I had a hard time getting downhill putts to the hole. Other than that, they were in great shape.

The par 3's were great and the signature #5 maybe the weakest of the bunch as the 175 foot fall makes it a little gimmicky for my tastes. #18 a great finishing Par 5 and #6 is a true Par 4 1/2---something every course should have.

My only complaint is that the range was beat up. With all the land that is available, please put in more hitting areas.

Great course and beautiful tee to green. People need to quit being lazy and replace their ball marks.

It was cart path only so there was way too much walking required. The course was in good shape except for the sand traps which were in bad shape because of recent rain. It is very difficult to get proper yardages to the hole because there is no color coded flag system in use. You will definitely need a range finder. My chief complaint is the price. My hot deal price was $65 which has increased to $74. I assume the rack rate is even higher. In my opinion, the course should be priced around $45. The course is in the middle of nowhere.

I have a few buddies that made the trip from ATL to play the course. They all said gave the same response when i asked them about their experience, "YOU HAVE TO GET OUT THERE". I finally had an opportunity to see what the hype was all about and it didn't disappoint! The clubhouse overlooks the 18th & a massive practice facility. I arrived in plenty of time to check in with the proshop and hit a few balls to warm up. I would definitely recommend getting there early enough to check out the practice areas as it gives you a preview of how plush & tightly mowed the fairways on the course will be. The bent greens rolled true but were alot slower than what i'm used to putting on at my home course. The layout is super forgiving off the tee(BOMBERS PARADISE) but there are a few holes out there you can take on trouble to shorten and create a better angle on your approach shot. The view on the teebox at #5 is unbelievable and #12 is a fun driveable par 4 and a good shot at birdie/eagle. The conditions from tee to green were spectacular! Will definitely be returning!

Great time playing golf. Beautiful grounds surrounding the course. Wide fairways and manicured grass. So much fun!

Great course.. When I called, the person on the phone said the greens were perfect. He wasn't kidding. To see greens that perfect this time of year is a testament to the greens keepers. Great job guys. Keep up the good work. It doesn't go unnoticed.

Don't pass up an opportunity to play at this wonderful course.

The course is located about 1 hour from Birmingham on the grounds of a lovely resort (with more to do than just golf). The course is very well maintained as it showcases grass varieties and fertilizer made famous by the namesake owner, Jimmy Pursell and family. It is a pleasant design with wide fairways (some are easily 50-70 yards wide) on many holes. Standing on the tee of the 1st and 10th holes, for example, I can't imagine how you could miss the fairways-they are that wide.

The course has two very dramatic par 3 holes-the 5th and 17th. The 5th has a sizeable drop (see the photo) and the 17th has a smaller drop but is all carry over water. All the par 3 holes has signs designating the distance using laser and slope reading, so it takes the guess work out of distance decisions.

The greens are bent grass and even in late February, they rolled true and were in nice shape. But despite all the hype it gets in these reviews, there are some drawbacks.

First, the bunkering is simply penal on almost every hole. Both the fairway and greenside bunkers have high lips which makes getting out very difficult, especially from the fairways. Now I don't mind a few penal bunkers where getting in will almost certainly cost you more than a stroke, but I can recall only a few where this wasn't the case. Having some creates a challenge, having too many is downright penal (and no, I am not complaining because I found too many).

Second, the pace of play was awful. On the first day, I had a 4:54 round. I was in a group of 4 behind a group of 5 with two groups of 4 in front of them. I know this because all 4 groups were often found on the same hole-- one on the green, one in the fairway and two on the tee. After a marshal apologized on the 6th hole, then again on the 10th. I never got the impression that they would ask the offenders to allow groups to play through. I played again the next day with a group of 3 and had a pleasant 3:40 round.

The course is well worth a visit but I know for me, it could be so much better. Slow play takes all the fun out a round and caused me to take away one star in the rating.

A few closing words. Excellent practice facilities. Range balls included. Overnight accommodations on-site. Arringtons is a great meal.

Treated very well course well laid out challenging but still forgiving two picturesque par threes

FarmLinks is a phenomenal place. Practice pitching/chipping area looked like Augusta with the closely-cropped over-seeded rye. Titleist chipping balls were a cut above most courses. Large, smooth putting green. Great pace of play, attentive beverage server, perfect fairways (though damp from recent rains and therefore cart path only). The only disappointment was with the bunkers. Many appeared to have been washed out and were not groomed. This is uncharacteristic of FarmLinks and I suspect only a temporary condition driven by the weather. Great experience overall.