Hampton Cove - Highlands

Robert Trent Jones Sr.'s 1992 Hampton Cove Highlands Course sits in Owens Cross Roads just east of Huntsville, Alabama, and was substantially reworked in 2008 when the RTJ Trail team re-shaped it into a quasi-Scottish links layout, bentgrass fairways, exposed bunker faces, and fescue-framed landing zones replacing the original parkland feel. It's the odd link-in-the-woods of the Trail, and it plays unlike any other sister course. A restored mule barn sits in the elbow of the par-4 5th, a relic from the land's pre-golf cattle-farm days. Creeks, spring-fed ponds, and lakes touch 13 of the 18 holes, so ball striking matters more than power. Champion ultradwarf greens run firm and fast after the 2008 rebuild. Peak green fee runs around $95. Pair with sister course River (a flatter RTJ parkland design on the opposite side of the Flint River) for a 36-hole Huntsville day trip.