Loved the courses. Being from Florida, the elevations were a welcome change. Starters and rangers were great. While the cart guys were helpful, I felt as though some improvements could be made such as providing towels - especially when there is rain. A couple of our rounds we had to ask for things (such as towels and getting our clubs cleaned since we were leaving our clubs for the next day). Maybe the process is different from the expectations based on experiences in other states. While the clubhouse is nice enough, the food is pretty mid. We had lunch the first day but decided we would not eat there any of our other 2 rounds. Pro shop personnel were cordial and communication was great. We booked our tee times thru a group service which entitled us to additional discounts on any merch. read more

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Of all the RTJ courses we played, this was by far my favorite. We played the Links course. The pace of play was a bit slow as there were some extremely slow golfers ahead of us. I think they spent most of their time talking on the tee box. We had to keep reminding them to keep playing. I had my best score of the trip on this course and would gladly play it again. Fairways in great condition, beautiful scenery and views as well as nice greens. read more

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Fourth golf course on the RTJ golf trails - Grand National. Links Course - challenging, fun and peaceful. Greens are fast. Everything seemed easy after Ross Bridge, lol. Short course - It is all about the short game. It was December, so it got dark very quick. I did not get to finish all 18 but I had a blast. RTJ rankings, in terms of challenges: 1st: Ross Bridge and Silver Lakes 3rd: Grand National (Links course) 4th: Oxmoor Valley (Valley course) read more

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We loved playing the Lake Course. Only drawback for us--it was cart path only which made the play longer and so much more exhausting. But the course is beautiful. We loved having breakfast before play in the Grille at the Pro Shop. read more

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I absolutely love the Spa at Grand National! A friend and I booked a message and enjoyed a glass of wine while waiting for our massages. I've been to several places across the US and enjoyed the spa experience of the venues. This one is second to none! Seriously, visit Grand National and get a message while you are there. You deserve it! read more

This is my favorite RTJ Trail site. It is a huge property with picturesque views. There are two championship courses (the Lake and the Links) and a par 3 course (The Short Course). The golf meanders around Lake Sougahatchee, has moderate elevation changes, and is surrounded by dense Alabama woodlands. It is a tranquil setting that is removed from commercial and residential development. Both courses are challenging tracks, but I prefer the Lake course. The Lake starts off with a short, quirky par 4, but it gets better after that. There are some beautiful holes that will test every club in the bag. The island green on par 3 #15 is especially memorable. Another highlight is the trip between #9 and #10. You cross Lake Saugahatchee on a long iron bridge that is designed specifically for golf cart traffic. The name Links is a misnomer for this course. It is not a traditional "links" style course. It is a traditional parkland course with lush tree lined fairways, deep bunkers, and water hazards. #18 is perhaps the toughest finishing the hole I have ever played. It is a par four. The approach shot is over water to an elevated green that is wide but very shallow. The Short course is fun to play. The greens are Bermuda and putts roll much slower than on the Lake and the Links. #7 and #12 are beautiful holes that require shots over parts of the lake. read more

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Yeah, so my siblings and I got cut off at the empty hotel bar for being "drunk" after one drink and they actually cut us off and threatened to call the police on us (still not quite understanding what the charge would have been?). The manager said that the server was having a bad day. That was the reason that she threatened to CALL THE POLICE. There was no belligerent behavior or anything like that from me or my party. We were trying to order dinner? Very confusing and very disappointing. Motel 6 has more class. PS They are at 9% capacity this evening, per their bartender. Bad experience all around...obviously for more than just us. read more

If anyone at Sunbelt golf Corp. is reading this you must fire Joe McNally IMMEDIATELY. He has completely run the place into the ground by being completely disrespectful to all of his employees. Every single person that works here genuinely despises him and it shows in the way the employees work! The course is in rough shape as of the last year or so and everyone in the pro shop constantly seems depressed. I can't stress how much Joe is the reason for this he is one of the worst most miserable human beings I have ever been around. He is impossible to work for and really needs to be removed ASAP. read more

Beautiful courses. Brutal staff and service. The guy in the pro shop (riding ariund on a hurt knee) was out out and offered no answers or guidance. Really coukdnt get them to look up when i came back to shop for a shirt. Then...the marshalling... on a friday 12:30 it took over 5 hours yo play 18. Waited on every hole. Yelled over to the beverage cart girl and she ignored us and drove on. When we caught up to her later. She said she cannot deviate from her route and that I was 100 yards away on a different hole. I kid you not..in 5 hours no beverage cart but they were seen all over. Then a few days later, we called back to the pro shop because one of the guys lost his rangefinder, and the pro wouldn't even go look for it and had to be coaxed into taking a phone number. This place absolutely positively is full of guys who don't give a crap about golfers having an experience. Oh, and sat at the bar and staff was everywhere except serving beer. I don't know I belong to the middle of the road club that's not half as nice course as this read more

Trail card system online is very bad. Password always invalid even new password with links. Wasted worth of $55. They will let you to book in 7 days advance just like public or guests. Restaurant closed at 4 pm. Very disappointed. Not cheerful or friendly. read more

All I can say is wow!! From the time you pull up, to the the time you pull out, it's full service. Staff is laced up with the sickest polarized blue lensed Costa's with Auburn Tiger croakies and is extremely friendly. The greens are lightning fast, reminding me of my days at Bethpage Black and the trees had bark that resembled Augusta National Golf Club. The most interesting part of the round was the squirrels that looked like it's was a hell of a night for a raccoon and a field mouse resulting in a Myspace status of "not sure". Joking aside this was the nicest course I've played in Alabama and can't wait to come back! read more

Grand National Golf - Golf Near Me - Opelika, Alabama

I am not great golfer. But I am a great fan of golf and beautiful golf courses. I played both courses this week and yes lost a few balls but also had some wonderful shots and memories. Like other reviews the service at all the RTJ courses I have played are exceptional just like this course. And if you want to whine about how hard it is then maybe goofy golf is more your speed anyway or wait for the short course to open up and play the ladies tees. enjoy the scenery and challenge. read more

This is definitely one of my favorite courses on the trail. I hate that the staff are assholes. The guys checking you in behind the desk absolutely suck. Other than middle aged men staffers, the young girls and guys are very nice. Still, great course. Just asshole management. read more

Absolutely the worst customer/guest experience I have ever had! Fellow Yelpers say it all, while the Lake course may be nice it doesn't come close to making up for the terrible, not poor, terrible service, management, and Links course at this property. I would recommend that no one waste time, money, or energy here. The "draw" is the PGA Barbasol Championship plays here. What a joke! We are members at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, FL and I'll be sure to mention something the next time I'm there. I'm also in the process of contacting Barbasol to share my experience with them as well. Do yourself a favor and play RTJ Silver Lakes, Ross Bridge, or Capital Hill. Hopefully you've read enough and will NOT GO HERE but if not, you can continue to read about my experience there on 8/5/17 & 8/6/17..... We teed off at 9:10 AM on Links for our morning round (played Lake in the afternoon) and couldn't finish our afternoon round. I can't recall seeing a Marshall on the Links course. They must've been hiding cause we finished our round at 2:35. Zero pace management. At least a third of the tee boxes and greens on the Links course were diseased, big patches of black, and every green had at a minimum of 100+ ball marks. It was unputtable. Not to mention it isn't a Links course; false advertisement! At the clubhouse we ordered food and beer; party of four. I was refilling my cup at the water station there and the waitress comes up and hands me two of the four beers. Uh, our table is half way down the dinning room? So I bring these two beers back to my table and go back to finish filling my cup with water. Before I can grab the cup, she hands me the other two beers and turns around to chat with her friend behind the bar. We finally get to tee off on the Lake course at 3:30 and are already waiting behind a foursome on hole #2. I'm not a great golfer (14 handicap) but these people had no business being on the course. They couldn't get off the tees. We watched them hit multiple balls from the same spot as they went OB. It took up until hole #7 for the Marshall to finally ask them to skip a hole. We had spoken to him two times previously (once on #3 and again on #4). He even watched them with us from the #4 tees play like this. We were not surprised when we caught them again on hole #11. At this point it was about 7:30 and starting to get dark. I assume the group quit on #12, since they were gone when we got on the tees. We decided to skip the next few holes so we could play #18 with the little light that was left and come to find seven, not four, but seven people on the #18 green. We wait and finally play up to only then have the sprinkles come on and spray us! By the way, this is the same Barbasol Championship course. Joke! We then proceed to the cart return and come to find that they hosted a fraternity there. The cart attendants were pissed because they had been cleaning vomit out of the carts. They even said one individual was so intoxicated he physically couldn't get up out of the cart. And you'd think by now it'd be over. Wrong... As I walk up to my car I catch the smell of something bad. I sort of brush it off and get into the driver seat. My father goes to get into the passenger sit and then realizes that someone has urinated on the passenger side. It was fresh, still dripping, with a big trail running down the parking spot. I was parked in the middle section of the lot. We were also staying at the Marriott on the property and my dinner experience that night was WORSE although I won't post about it here. You can read that review at "Auburn Marriott Opelika Hotel & Conference Center" or under my profile. The next morning I go back and speak with Jim Bishop, Head Pro, at check-in and share this experience with him. He says maybe ten words and tells me that Scott Gomberg, Director of Golf Operations, would love to hear my story. Really? No offer to refund our round, no offer to prorate back the holes we didn't play in the afternoon, no offer to clean my car, no offer even to give us a discount on something in the store (which we would've have bought anyways). I then speak with Scott the following day. Same thing, no offer to do anything to remediate this situation. What he does offer however is more shocking.... He tells me, well sir I'm not sure what you think but the fraternity here was class of '80s. Like that helps me somehow? He then asks me what I meant by poor course conditions on the Links. You're telling me the Director of Golf Operations isn't aware of the course condition! I tell him to get in a chart and drive the first three holes and if he can call me back and tell me he'd play that course... Surprisingly he hasn't called me back. What's most frustrating you ask? 3/4s of the reviews here say the same thing I am and they date back to 2013. JOKE! STAY AWAY! read more

I am an 8 handicap and have been playing golf for 35 years. I have played great courses all over the world. Some famous and some you have never heard of before. The Grand National courses are not great courses. The courses are beautiful but not playable for anyone with a handicap over 10. The Links course is the most unforgiving. Off the tee there is typically enough room for a good drive to find the fairway. If you wander off the intended line you will have very few recovery options. The design of the greens is what makes the course so difficult/unplayable. Most are elevated and on the lake edge so there is no bailout area. Even a well struck shot can roll off into the lake or an unplayable lie. Many of the greens are multi-tired which makes the putting resemble goofy golf without the windmills. Unfortunately there is no way to correct these design faults without a major overhaul and some major changes to the greens. If you decide to play bring an extra couple of sleeves of balls and throw away the score card. Just enjoy the view. read more

Really nice golf course. Our home base for the trip was over in Prattville but we did a day trip over to Grand National in Opelika and we had a blast. We played the Links Course in the morning and the full 18 short course in the afternoon. The condition of both courses was unbelievable. The short course especially. It felt like we were playing the par three at Augusta. We had both courses to ourselves and the weather was nice too. All in all, this golf course and it's amenities are phenomenal. Nice professionals and F&B people, good golf, great practice facility. We highly recommend Grand National if you are doing the RTJ Trail. Awesome place! read more

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Absolutely one of the best facilities in the State of Alabama. I don't know who was working when the other guys played Grand National but the staff has always been over friendly to me. The cold towels the marshals bring to your cart are wonderful and the beverage cart girls are knowledgeable about the game and waited for us to hit before they carried on. The Links course is my favorite but the Lakes course is no slouch either. The hamburger over at the hotel might be the best in Auburn and we sat outside and listened to live guitar from a guy named Tony Brooks and he was fantastic. read more

Beautiful golf courses great staff and even better views. Best public golf course around.

Excellent golf/played Lake course today. Course & staff are 5 stars. Great elevation change with tees well above most fairways/fun to bomb the 150 yard markers. Greens were fair and held basic shots from 150 +/- yards. Viewed the Links course and this is definitely designed for the low handicap golfer/very difficult. read more

Played both courses once on 3/30/2013 Price: Not sure, part of an RTJ Trail Golf Package These are two very nice golf courses. The problem is they are just too difficult. I'm a 5 handicap and it's not a country club handicap. I play new courses blind all the time. These courses have highly elevated, firm greens with slopes of essentially no rough so even well-struck shots that landed on the front of the greens would usually still roll into a hazard or the woods. The Lake Course is definitely the more fair of the two, but even there you have a HIGH degree of difficulty - especially when playing for the first time. There are hidden hazards (like #6 - lay up short of the 150 yard marker there) and shots that are just too difficult for the amateur golfer. Case in point the signature par 3 15th with the island green. Think #17 at TPC Sawgrass but 30-100 yards longer depending upon the tee you play. It played about 180 into the wind from the Orange tee. The green was WAY too firm for any of us to hold the green with a mid-long iron so all 4 balls ended up in the water. The only way to make a par for us mortals who can't carry a high 8-iron 180 into the wind was to hit one of the bunkers and try to get up and down (I tried but failed - that's my fault). The Links course, unfortunately, played even less fairly than the Lake Course. Very similar, just less real estate and more severe hills. Please understand I enjoyed the golf courses. And when there is some rough to stop a ball that trickles off the green from rolling into the water and/or the greens that aren't too firm to hold anything longer than a wedge these courses are probably very playable - especially when you know where to hit the ball. Definitely courses that require some local knowledge. We enjoyed the facility quite a bit. Very interesting and welcoming clubhouse (FAST food service!) and interesting course layouts. Just too tough for early season, one-off golf! read more

Beautiful golf course; horrible marshal(s). We spent the front nine on Links butt up against the group in front of us and everything got behind. When the group ahead skipped a hole to catch up, it was suddenly our fault. The marshal began riding us; measuring our time per hole to the minute. Come to find out, many others in our large group had the same problem. What a great way to run off your customers. Would suggest you play somewhere else. read more

Course good shape- the staff could care less they do not know who is playing the course after they take your money