A show of hands, please. Did anyone consider Alabama a golf destination before the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail drew so much attention?
Thought so.
The intent here is not to poke fun at the Heart of Dixie. But even Jason Callan, the head golf professional at Hampton Cove Golf Club, admits the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail put his course on the map. Fortunately, a pamphlet for the RTJ Trail includes a good map because Hampton Cove is located in tiny Owens Cross Roads, Ala., about 25 miles of winding roads from Tennessee.
“We don’t have a motel near here, so we wouldn’t get as many visitors as other places,” Callan said. “The Trail has been great for us.”
Callan estimated at least 30 percent of the tee times purchased by golfers from outside the area come from those who discovered Hampton Cove after researching the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. That figure escalates to about 35 percent referrals along the entire Trail, which includes 10 public venues, most designed in the early 1990s by Robert Trent Jones Sr. Courses along the RTJ Trail are spread throughout Alabama, some almost 300 miles apart.
The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail features a central reservation system (website and toll-free number) and a cooperative marketing strategy that has spawned similar associations, including a string of Jack Nicklaus-designed courses in Tennessee called “Bear Trace,” and the Audubon Golf Trail in Louisiana. Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday in South Carolina and Reno-Lake Tahoe’s “Golf the High Sierra” are long-standing coalitions. Countless other golf trails have been developed nationwide, but there has been no such statewide initiative in Colorado.
“We’re missing an opportunity,” said Ed Mate, executive director of the Colorado Golf Association. “Golf in Colorado is exceptionally good compared to what you find in other states. It’s a matter of getting the word out.
“The first reaction among golf courses is to compete against each other. Maybe the first reaction should be to cooperate.”
The best organized and most convenient golf co-op in Colorado is Grand County’s “Golf the Grand” (golfgrandcounty.com) which advertises a $220 “4-Pack” that includes a round of golf, cart and range balls at each of the county’s four courses. Vail Golf (800-445-8245) offers golf packages for nine courses, most of them resorts that require a room reservation.
Jim Meyers, tournament director for Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday, said he believes golf trail promotions would help raise the profile of just how good the courses are in Colorado. Meyers played basketball at Otero Junior College (La Junta) and Western State (Gunnison) in the early 1960s.
“There’s such beautiful scenery in Colorado and elevation changes on its golf courses that those on the East Coast would kill for,” Meyers said. “If courses grouped together, they would discover a synergy that develops. But they’d have to be patient.”
The Denver Post isn’t waiting for the CGA to move the idea forward. We’re proposing five Colorado golf trails outside the Fort Collins-to-Colorado Springs corridor that residents and tourists alike should get to know. Although only the Grand County golf trail is organized with a central reservation system, golfers can call for individual tee times and piece together their own trip.
The Post did not include golf facilities with restrictive tee-time policies or resort courses stipulating that golfers stay in one of their hotel properties.
Advanced planning is recommended, especially during the heavy tourist season.
Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-820-5456 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
