Magnolia Grove Golf Club - Falls Course

Great course poor communicaion with golfnow.com . I was told not to go though golfnow.com for better deals. Staff was nice but was not versed in golfnow.com reservations.

Another great stop on the RTJ! I almost wish I lived in Alabama...Just so I could play the trail every day. That's all I have to say about that! I found Magnolia Grove to be a little more forgiving than some of the other stops on the "Trail". Don't let that lull you into a false sense of security though. Anything less than quality shots and good course management will put some crooked numbers on your card.

Lots of uneven lies requires shot making to be more precise. Elevation changes are constantly a factor and the bunkers are perfect.

Only had a chance to play The Crossings & The Short Course. Enjoyed both. Can't wait to go back and play again.

Enjoyed the course and found it to be a real value for the caliber of the course

Like the Crossings course, also at Magnolia Grove, this one is impeccably maintained and bargain-priced. They say:

“Magnolia Grove, the most southern location on Alabama’s
Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail was recently named one of the
“Top 50 Public Courses” by Golf World Magazine readers. The
Crossings and Falls courses are also listed in Golf Digest’s
“Places to Play” as two of the nation’s great value courses and
as “America’s Top 50 Affordable Courses.”

There are design differences that make the Falls course more fun and challenging for the average amateur at the same time they make the Crossings a better venue for the LPGA Tour, who visit every year. The grass on the Crossings greens is quite grainy, and seems always to grow down the slopes, not, as the conventional wisdom says, toward the setting sun, making downhill putts faster and uphill putts slower, and adding more break to breaking putts. It may have been because of the overseed when I played The Falls course, but there the putts seemed to always break less than they looked, and the grain seemed to have no effect at all. For this reason the Crossings greens are comparatively flat, with subtle slopes, and the Falls, although the speed is about the same, can have much more contour in the greens.

On the Falls, the view from the tee can often make the amateur quake in his spikes, because you almost always can see a place you can easily hit the ball that will turn your bogey into a sure triple. The Crossings has relatively few visually terrifying tee shots, and wide, open-looking fairways, but there are limited places to hit tee shots, and more importantly approach shots, if birdie is to be a possibility. Miss an approach by 10 feet, and your birdie putt might be 30 feet longer. Go for a tight pin position and miss by 10 feet, and par can become a challenge.

Thus the Crossings can appear somewhat boring to the amateur, while forcing the pro to have his A-game if he wants to break par; and the Falls is more interesting, and can appear scary to the amateur while not challenging the pro, who is confident that he can avoid the obvious hazards. The Falls has a variety of looks, with 7 true dogleg par-4s (vs. 2 on Crossings), well-placed fairway bunkers to create narrow landing areas, and water hazards which, while not requiring excessive length, almost always require a forced carry.

The facilities at Magnolia Grove are comparable to more pricey daily fee courses, or private clubs. The pro shop is large and well-stocked, the grill and bar large and richly decorated, and the staff is friendly and courteous.

If you can play here twice, play each course once. If you can play here every day for a week, you'll likely enjoy the replays on the Falls more than the Crossings.