For those of you that like to torture yourself by spending hours on the golf course, I have an unsolicited plug for you - I just spent 5 days playing the Robert Trent Jones golf trail in Alabama, and it is a great time. While the weather and some of the nightlife could have been better, the courses are in excellent shape. All told, my group squeezed in 7 rounds of golf in 5 days, playing in Huntsville, Florence and Birmingham.
The worst course we played was the River Course at Hampton Cove in Huntsville, and that is still better than a lot of what you find up North. The course I enjoyed the most was Ross Bridge outside of Birmingham. The views and the greens were absolutely spectacular. It's a true stadium course and was in fantastic condition (it also helps that I played really well there).
While I'd never recommend anyone spend time watching the Champions Tour (formerly the Senior Tour) on TV, they are playing an event there in May, if you're so inclined you can flip over to the golf channel and check it out yourself. All told, if you are into golf and looking to get out of town anytime soon, the trail is a great place to spend a few days hacking away, and since we love to make lists, here are a few more random observations about Alabama from someone who had never been there before:
* There are so many mustaches down there that I'm surprised the guys from the Sport Hump haven't permanently relocated.
* There is a ton of fast food chains and fried food in that state.
* Sonic has a better marketing campaign than they do actual food.
* Every bar that we were in that had live music (and trust me, this was more than one place) had a band that was really good - maybe we just got lucky, but there's some musical talent in Alabama.
* Alabama drew 78,000 for their Spring game - which is 76 K more than SU will draw on Saturday. Needless to say, the course wasn't crowded on Saturday. Also needless to say, the head shot of the columnist in the link above is absolutely terrifying.
* And if you're ever in Florence Alabama - avoid the 360 Grill - the place sucked - they wouldn't know a good steak if Tommy Callaghan himself was the one looking up a steer's rear.
While I'd never recommend anyone spend time watching the Champions Tour (formerly the Senior Tour) on TV, they are playing an event there in May, if you're so inclined you can flip over to the golf channel and check it out yourself. All told, if you are into golf and looking to get out of town anytime soon, the trail is a great place to spend a few days hacking away, and since we love to make lists, here are a few more random observations about Alabama from someone who had never been there before:
* There are so many mustaches down there that I'm surprised the guys from the Sport Hump haven't permanently relocated.
* There is a ton of fast food chains and fried food in that state.
* Sonic has a better marketing campaign than they do actual food.
* Every bar that we were in that had live music (and trust me, this was more than one place) had a band that was really good - maybe we just got lucky, but there's some musical talent in Alabama.
* Alabama drew 78,000 for their Spring game - which is 76 K more than SU will draw on Saturday. Needless to say, the course wasn't crowded on Saturday. Also needless to say, the head shot of the columnist in the link above is absolutely terrifying.
* And if you're ever in Florence Alabama - avoid the 360 Grill - the place sucked - they wouldn't know a good steak if Tommy Callaghan himself was the one looking up a steer's rear.
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