Welcome Y’all

It was almost 25 years ago to the day that I escorted 11 men from Saskatchewan, Canada on a 7-day golf holiday to the Robert Trent Jones Trail commencing in Mobile, Alabama.

Now in its silver anniversary I am very pleased to come back to The Trail with my wife lovely Myra and begin our own 7-day golf trip, this time with the pleasure of reviewing some of the courses I didn’t play back in 1992. Starting in northern Alabama at Muscle Shoals, and yes as that famous song states they do have the Swampers they also possess a great place to stay, the world class Marriott Shoals Hotel and Spa.

This is the fantastic view from our 3rd floor room that welcomed us.

From our 3rd floor room overlooking the magnificent outdoor pool we have an incredible vista of the Tennessee River and Wilson Dam and a mere 20 minutes away our golfing destination for the first two days, The Shoals with the Schoolmaster and Fighting Joe courses. Now as far as recounting the history of this incredible undertaking and providing countless amounts of valuable data as to rounds played, global visitations, revenue made and perhaps even the number hot dogs served to date I defer you to their fantastic website www.rtjgolf.com. It’s probably the most comprehensive golf website you could peruse and if like me you love receiving something great in the mail about golf order a free copy of The Trail Guide, it’s their bible of all things golf on The Trail in Alabama.

If you really want to go captivate the entire dossier of information in the greatest amount of detail I implore you to buy a copy of the amazing hard cover book written by Mr. Mark Fagan entitled The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail “Its History and Economic Impact”. At over 320 pages it is the most comprehensive account of a golf project ever written and my chosen reading material during our 7-day Trail review, copies of it are in each room here at The Marriott Shoals Hotel and Spa. So far it’s a compelling and fascinating read and very current as it was released in 2016.

One amazing book

Myra and I are here to provide our personal insight from the point of view of 2 avid travelling golfers, one who plays it from the forward tees one about midway back. We appreciate good service, friendly people, meeting new golfers, comfy beds and tasty food. We know a great hole from a bad one, fast tricky greens compared to slow, bumpy ones and what it means to walk off a golf course feeling grateful enjoying this amazing pastime. On the course we set moderate goals, Myra shoots to make a par on both nines, for me one birdie does it and 79 is my new magic number.

You will see we mention lots of people by name, we feel it is an important part of our reviews to make this based on personalities and individuals and this amazing southern hospitality. We have been checked in by Ja’Nae, our bags brought up by Jarrod and our delicious meal at supper time in The Swampers Bar and Grille served by Kayla and all have been as polite, friendly and courteous as you would wish for. Further recognition of people impacting us here will follow over the next couple of days.

Enjoy our week as we spend time at a piece of Mr. Robert Trent Jones’ mastery and first up will be our day playing Schoolmaster.