Grand National Lakes - RTJ Trail (Opelika, AL)

It all started here thirty years ago. Alabama came up with an ingenious plan to boister the state employee pension fund by building a series of golf courses. That number has grown to 26 but the very first one was the Lakes at Grand National. RTJ Sr stated it was the finest piece of land he’d ever seen for golf! With 600 acres on Lake Saugahatchee, the Lakes has twelve holes on the water. 

The Lakes is a good representation of RTJ Sr’s design philosophy in the later part of his career. The greens are a combination of bowls and plateaus. Ridges divide each section which emphasizes the ability to hit the proper area. Large bunkers guard each green and the spine that comes off the back is the ridge that divides the putting surface. The player can use the slope to work the ball towards the flag. Of course, missing your spot leaves a challenging putt or chip over it. The PGA Tour used the Lakes to decide the 1997 Web.com Tour Championship and it was the site of the inaugural Barbasol Open in 2015 and hosted the following two years. 

(The par four fifth plays downhill with three bunkers crossing the fairway diagonally. Multiple options exist for the driving line. It’s a bit of a white rhino since it’s the only hole with such a feature. It does make it more interesting.)

(The par five seventh is the best hole on the front. It doglegs right around trees and sand before playing towards the lake. Anything right will bounce into the water so left is the safe spot for the layup. It’s a very picturesque hole!) 

(This view of the par three eighth is all you need to know about the shots required. The pin is directly behind the trap with water right and long. A high cut off the trees is the shot but one must control the spin so it doesn’t carry to the hazard.) 

The par threes are the standout holes here. Each one is on the water. The fifteenth in particular gets a lot of attention. It’s a 230 yard shot to a peninsula green. The lake is in play on two of the par fives, but the crescent shaped twelth is the best of the quartet. For the longer player, it’s a gambling hole that pays dividends should you cut the corner. The par fours are all solid but my favorite is the short sixteenth. There’s a few ways to play it but I think a low cut off the hill will run to a short wedge range. When the tees are moved up, it’s a great do or die hole with the long hitter attempting to drive it! 

(The uphill ninth has a great view looking back to the tee. The pin is on a plateau with a bowl short of it.)

(The downhill par four eleventh has two bowls. One is front right and the other is short left. Pin position is so vital when deciding your approach.) 

(The par five twelth is arguably the best hole on the course. It curves around the shoreline with multiple lines available from the tee and on the second shot…
…the green sits alongside the water with terrific views in the background. The prudent play is to stay right, but the left side opens up more pin positions.) 

Obviously in a setting like this, the lake holes are going to shine. The real litmus test is the quality of the inland holes, and here they’re a mix bag. I felt the uphill par five fourth was really good followed by the par four fifth and it’s three bunkers that split the fairway. The par four tenth had a great green site that sat on a knoll. However, the opening hole was awkward at best. I’m not a fan of starting the round off when a hybrid or iron because the green sits at an angle that makes hitting down the fairway useless. The opening hole shared a green with the par four sixth which was the only interesting thing the sixth had going for it. A couple other random thoughts include the restrained routing RTJ Sr used by limiting the number of times one hits over the water. As a public course, pace is key and too many heroic shots could cause a logjam so good decision. Also, how many combinations of bowls and plateaus can be created? Some greens seemed to work better than others. 

(The long par three fifteen is all carry over the lake. When we played it, it was 190 yards into a crosswind that was strong enough to bend the flagstick. I hit three wood to fifteen feet!) 

(The short par four sixteenth was my favorite hole. It’s in a great location and it’s a fickle shot with the ball off a slight sidehill lie to a green across the water.) 

Here’s a question I ask. Does hosting a PGA Tour event elevate a course’s stature? The obvious answer is yes but I think a “one and done” probably hurts it. The Lakes has hosted four professional tournaments which gives it a bump in my opinion. It’s more playable than I thought it would be. Note that I didn’t say easy. The Lakes is considered one of the best courses on the trail and I agree. I give it a 7 (great)(worth driving 3-4 hours to play). Think about this. It was the first course on the trail, so it was extremely important to design a great course out of the box. Mission accomplished!

(The par three seventeenth is against the water’s edge with a pronounced bowl behind the front left bunker. Note the expansive bridge in background. One goes over it to begin the back nine and again to finish the last two holes of the round.) 

(This is the uphill eighteenth. See how the spine of the bunker forms this small target for the approach. Also note how the aerial game is in full effect.) 

(Sorry but the slope and course ratings are ridiculously low from the orange and white tees!)!