Course Highlight
December 2005

Golf Course Spotlight  I  Superintendent Spotlight  I  Vendor Spotlight

 

Shoal Creek Golf Club
Birmingham, Alabama

Club Status: Private

Contact Number: Supt. 205-991-9012

Golf Course Superintendent: Jim Simmons (Interview)

Assistant Superintendents: (1st) Will Wilbourne, (2nd) Blair Hughs

Course yardage: Par 72, 7,145       Holes: 18

Greens: Penn G2 Bentgrass

Fairways & Tees: Bermuda 419 (some tees are Penncross Bent)

Irrigation System: Toro Site Pro v2.1 (1650 Flowtronix-1976 version, Toro 690's in Fwys, Toro 670's on Tees, Toro 750's on Greens, Toro 780's in Woodlands

Date Opened: 11/1/77

Course Architect:  Jack Nicklaus w/ Jay Morrish & Bob Cupp working with Jack

Contractor:  Shoal Creek

Jim Simmons Interview

Paying the Price for Success: An Open Letter to Aspiring Turfgrass Professionals (by Jim Simmons, CGCS)

Shoal Creek Highlight

Jim Simmons, CGCS, of Shoal Creek Spotlight

2005 Donnie Arthur Tournament Set to Return to Shoal Creek

Last Month's Highlight: Highland Park Golf Course

 

 

 

 

 

Shoal Creek's clubhouse and various out-structures are fashioned in the timeless Williamsburg style, detailed down to the authentic Flemish Bond brickwork. The clubhouse, pro shop, town meeting hall, and guest cottages, are arranged around a common greensward in village fashion reminiscent of Williamsburg itself. And the crest over the clubhouse front door is a replica of that of the Governor's Palace in Williamsburg.

The Jack Nicklaus-designed eighteen-hole golf course is internationally renowned, and has played host to two PGA and one US Amateur Championships. The course is noted for a design that makes for challenging, yet fair play. And towering Double Oak Mountain offers a backdrop of beauty from any vantage point on the course, especially so when it radiates with color in the fall.

Designed by Jack Nicklaus, Shoal Creek golf course is tucked between the slopes of the Oak and Double Oak Mountains outside of Birmingham. Jim Simmons says that when the building work started back in 1975, “there wasn’t one open area of ground on the entire 1,500-acre property. The construction crew got lost the second day and we had to send out engineers to lay out the course the way Nicklaus designed it.”

Everything about the course and surrounding grounds is strictly top drawer. Jim says, “We tried to do everything right. We didn’t just start off without goals, but have slowly worked up to where we are now. And we’re still improving.”

Shoal Creek is consistently listed in the top 50 golf courses in America by golf publications and associations alike.

 

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