Grand National

Golf Travel Guide To Auburn-Opelika, Alabama

An Interview With Robyn L. Bridges, Vice-President

By Brian Weis

Looking to plan the perfect golf trip to Auburn-Opelika, Alabama? Planning a buddies trip or a romantic golf getaway can be a full time job not to mention pressure filled to deliver a memorable experience. Below is an interview with Robyn L. Bridges, Vice-President who shares some insider information about golfing and traveling to Auburn-Opelika, Alabama, must play courses, a sample itinerary and where you can go for more planning tools.

Give our readers an overview of your destination and why they should consider it for their next golf trip?
Auburn-Opelika is the proud home of Auburn University, Alabama's biggest, and the Robert Trent Jones Trail, the world's finest. It's the coolest college town in the South, according to us, and one of the top 10 cities in the US for small businesses, according to Forbes. Centrally located near Atlanta, Birmingham, and Montgomery, Auburn-Opelika is easy to get to and easy to love. With lodging facilities to suit any taste and budget, Auburn-Opelika is a perfect choice for a relaxing getaway. Opportunities for affordable and incomparable dining abound: sample the pecan-smoked chicken wings at Acre, the famous fried green tomatoes with shrimp at Hamilton's, or the grass-fed beef tenderloin at Amsterdam Café. Or maybe the 50-year-old secret family recipe of Mrs. Story's famous chili dogs is more your style! Complete your evening with cocktails at the sophisticated and intimate Avondale Bar & Tap Room in downtown Auburn or a craft beer at Red Clay Brewing Company in historic downtown Opelika. Plenty of shopping and diversions are available for the non-golfers in your group, or if you just need a break from the links. Both Auburn and Opelika feature downtown shopping districts full of eclectic boutiques offering assorted clothing, arts, and gifts you won't find anywhere else. Come experience our clean, safe, and vibrant community, where you can get toilet paper, lemonade, fine art, and foie gras all on the same block, and where it's still ok to walk downtown after dark.

What are the must play courses in Auburn-Opelika, Alabama?
ROBERT TRENT JONES GOLF TRAIL AT GRAND NATIONAL Built on 600-acre Lake Saugahatchee, 32 of the 54 holes drape along its filigreed shores. Grand National was ranked as the top public golf course in the 2009 Golf World Readers' Choice awards. The Links course was named by Golf Digest as the 2nd best new public course in America in 1993, followed by the Lake course as the 4th best. Both courses have also made the top 10 of Golf Digest's list of America's Top 50 Affordable Courses. The three courses at Grand National are also listed among the nation's 40 Super Value courses by Golf Digest's Places to Play.
Two 18-hole championship courses, Par 72; one 18-hole short course, Par 54

THE AUBURN UNIVERSITY CLUB
Home of the Auburn University Golf Team, this 18-hole, 7,326 yard championship golf course is situated on 225 acres of beautiful rolling hills and woodlands. Designed by Bill Bergin in 1999, the course surrounds the 25-acre Yarbrough Lake and is partly bordered by Saugahatchee Creek.
18-hole championship course, Par 72

AUBURN LINKS AT MILL CREEK
Auburn Links features large TifDwarf Bermuda grass greens and rolling fairways along Parkerson's Mill Creek. By taking advantage of the natural beauty already in place, Auburn Links has a scenic, yet fair layout for every golfer.

In February of 2008 Golf Digest recently presented Auburn Links with the 4 star award and Links Magazine once ranked the course third best among public courses in the Southeast Region. Also recently voted one of the "Best Golfing Values" in the South.
18-hole championship course, Par 72

MOORE'S MILL GOLF CLUB
Nestled in Southeastern Alabama's countryside is one of the South's most picturesque golf courses - Moore's Mill Golf Club. Designed by Day-Blalock, the golf course is carved throughout the rolling terrain, mature hardwoods and towering southern pines native to Eastern Alabama. Adding to the serenity and beauty of the course is the Moore's Mill Creek, which twists and turns throughout 15 of the 18 holes.

Moore's Mill features a versatile layout, offering just enough challenge for advanced golfers, while remaining player friendly for novice golfers. Strategy and placement are the keys to managing your game. Numerous bunkers and elevation changes along with the Moore's Mill creek will pose one hazard after another. You'll find pristine TifEagle greens, many with severe slope and undulations along with superbly conditioned, tree-lined fairways. An extensive practice area completes the facility with a chipping and putting area to fine-tune your game. 18-hole course, Par 72

INDIAN PINES GOLF COURSE
Indian Pines is an exciting 18 hole regulation course featuring Bermuda grass in the summer and Bent/Rye mix in the winter. From the longest tees it presents 6,213 yards of golf for a par of 71. The course rating is 68.8 with a slope rating of 119.

What is the hidden gem and/or best value course?
The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Grand National is by far the best golf value in the US. Avoid the crowds and peak-season rates of spring and take advantage instead of our best-kept secret: the lowest rates and best weather of the year happen in the fall! With mild temperatures year-round, we even find Northerners taking their December-January rounds in shorts!

Where can golfers go for more information to research and plan their trip?
Visit www.aotourism.com.

Revised: 04/08/2013 - Article Viewed 34,255 Times

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.