ALAPINE, Ala. Is it still possible to save it? What would it cost to reopen?
There are hundreds of closed courses in America after the 2008 market crash. Many of these properties have been neglected, including many layouts by well-known designers. Many of these properties are void of memories, but there are a few dreams of a golf renovation.
Rarely do dreams of restoring an abandoned building become a reality. It takes only the right person to make it happen.
Tony Parton is a former federal corrections officer who lives in rural Alabama. Parton had no plans of taking over a failing course. He loved golf, but only one layout.
It was originally called Alpine Bay. It was unknown to the majority of Alabama golfers. The few who did know about it didn’t bother to play. They could not tell you how to get there, or if it was still available.
Alpine Bay Golf Club, Alpine, Alabama after the course was saved and reopened (Golfweek).
The Alpine Bay Golf Club is located in east-central Alabama, 44 miles east from downtown Birmingham. It is situated near Logan Martin Lake (part the large Coosa River waterbasin). Originally, the club was to have two 18-hole golf courses. The funds needed to develop a major resort were not available so only one of the courses was opened in 1972.
The course featured a par 72, 6,518 yard championship layout, designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and named after Alabama’s Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. Jones also built the course with the help of his son Rees Jones (in his 30s), who was a prizewinning course designer. He would later become a brand name and a winner in his own right. Young Roger Rulewich, an architect, would design the majority of the Trail’s courses two decades later.
Alpine Bay, with its single course and sparse population, was financially troubled from the beginning. It struggled to remain in business year after year. Alpine Bay, despite its beautiful layout and stunning natural setting, was difficult to reach from Birmingham. The drive took at least half an hour on lonely, winding two-lane roads. It was finally shut down in 2014 after barely surviving for decades.
There was not a ripple in the golf industry, not even in Alabama, when Alpine Bay closed. The place had a loyal following. Namely, Tony Parton. Parton’s love affair was not over with Alpine Bay. Parton and Jan took a stroll along the abandoned course one summer evening in 2016.
Robert Trent Jones Jr., course architect, and Tony Parton, owner of Alpine Bay Golf Club (Jim Hansen/Golfweek).
He recalls that he was shocked by the condition of the course when he reached the eighth green (a par-3 over a small lake). It was just horrible. The original grass was dead and weeds were growing up to the waist.
Partons pledged to remove all weeds from just one green. “We returned several nights in succession, trying to find what was left of the course we loved.”
Tony received a call from Mark Calhoun, a friend and a former regular at the course, during one of their first visits to the abandoned layout. Parton recalls that Mark asked where I was. Parton recalls, “I replied, “You won’t believe me, but, I’m at Alpine.”
Calhoun drove his pickup truck to the spot Tony was power-mowing grass and weeds. Parton stated, “Mark and I looked closely at the green and tried to figure out how we could fix it.” Parton and Mark realized that there was still hope for the course after the old green’s tall grass was cut to a manageable length.
Alpine Bay Golf Club, Alpine, Alabama (Golfweek).
The property, which included the practice range, small clubhouse, and golf course, was on sale for months. It covered 144 acres. Parton called the realtor quickly and made an offer. The asking price was $144,000 It took just a few months. Parton, who was then a retired federal prisoner, had enough money to purchase the course in early 2017.
Alpine Bay was purchased, but getting it ready to be used by golfers was another. Next was getting more people involved. Parton created Alpine Group LLC with Calhoun’s assistance. The company’s limited liability value was increased to $520,000 by a few investors. It’s still not enough to manage a golf course.
The course was ready to play after five months of hard work and meticulous restoration. Parton stated that there are no words to describe the excitement of seeing golfers play on the course for the first-time.
The semi-private Alpine Bay Golf Club gained 60 members in the twelve months that followed its reopening in summer 2017. It now has 60 members, almost all from the surrounding areas of Talladega, St. Clair and Vincent, Coosa pines, Harpersville, Childersburg and Coosa Pines. In the last two years, the course has seen over 15,000 rounds. Peak green fees have reached just $46 on weekends or holidays.
Alpine Bay is still the Rodney Dangerfield golf course in Alabama – it deserves no respect. It is rare for anyone from Birmingham, Montgomery, or Huntsville to make the effort to drive down and play. The majority of golfers in the state have never heard of Alpine Bay. Those who have have dismissed it as not being in business or not worth their time dismiss Alpine Bay.
Alpine Bay Golf Club, Alpine, Alabama (Golfweek).
Golfweek featured an Alpine Bay day in their 2021 Architectural Summit near Birmingham to highlight the long-forgotten, but often overlooked virtues of the Alpine Bay course. Golfweek Best’s course rating experts attended the summit. The 44 course raters from Golfweek Best, some even from Northern Ireland, felt Alpine Bay was more than worthy of their time. Although the course needed some work to be properly conditioned, the course’s bones are excellent. It is in many ways a better example of Robert Trent Jones Sr.’s classic layout than any other Trail courses.
Robert Trent Jones Jr., Jr.’s eldest son, and Trent, Jr., Jr., were special guests at the event. Trent is the chief operating officer of Robert Trent Jones II, Inc. Trent and Jones Jr. were the first to visit the course Jones Sr. had built half a century earlier.
Alpine Bay Golf Club, Alpine, Alabama (Golfweek).
Parton and Jones Jr. walked the course together, reminding Jones Jr. of the traits that were characteristic of his father’s designs. He said that Alpine Bay “deserves a better fate than what it has received, so he gave an informal talk after the round.
The truth is that Alpine Bay could be a unique and remarkable golfing destination if it were to become part of the Robert Trent Jones Trail.
It might be better to keep it hidden as Parton loved it.
