Dateline May 12, 2012, RTJ Trail Alabama, The Shoals
Leaving Henderson Beach, we drove six hours up to Joe Wheeler State Park in Rogersville, Alabama, on the Tennessee River, just above the Joe Wheeler Dam on Lake Wheeler. Pete and Bunny Warenski, our friends from Walkabout in Alaska, were already there. Joe Wheeler is part of the Alabama State Park System and we will be staying at several of these parks over the coming weeks.
A word about the man whose name keeps showing up around here. Joseph Wheeler was born in Augusta, Georgia in 1836, graduated from West Point in 1859, and resigned from the US Army in 1861 to join the Confederacy. He rose to Lieutenant General by age twenty-six, one of the youngest in either army. After the war he moved to Alabama and represented the state in Congress for seven terms. Then in 1898, at age sixty-one, he came out of retirement at President McKinley's invitation and rejoined the US Army as a Brigadier General for the Spanish-American War. He later served in the Philippines and rose to Major General. He is one of very few men to have worn both Confederate gray and Union blue stars, and one of even fewer buried at Arlington with full honors after a Confederate commission. The dual service is what made him a legend.
The first round was The Fighting Joe, the long links course at the RTJ Shoals complex, named for Wheeler.
The Fighting Joe is a links-style layout across acres of open country, and was one of the first courses anywhere to play eight thousand yards from the tips. It is long and it is honest, no tricks, just straightforward golf in front of you. Many call the seventeenth the signature hole. We thought the eighteenth, with its green perched over Wilson Lake on the Tennessee River, was the most beautiful, if also the most treacherous.
John and Pete won the match. We then decided that since we were going to be playing twelve courses with rotating partners, we needed a simpler scoring system than usual. The winning team would receive one point per player per match. End of story.
For the curious, the Nassau bet is the source we borrowed from. The format dates back to about 1900 at Nassau Country Club on Long Island, where the local newspapers used to publish the day's scores. To lose by some embarrassing margin in print was a real problem for a club member, so the bet was split into three: front nine, back nine, and the overall eighteen. The worst you could lose was three ways, the best you could win was three ways. Modern golf is still full of Nassaus. Ours, on this trip, became a one-point team match. No embarrassment.
Off to the nineteenth hole. Christine, the assistant food-and-beverage manager, kept the conversation going with stories from the Muscle Shoals and Florence area. The whole staff and the regulars at the bar were good company.
Back to Joe Wheeler for cocktails and dinner. The weather forecast for Wednesday morning was bad, so we called The Shoals and pushed our second round to Thursday. No problem. We spent the rain day in Rogersville, which turned out to be a fun little town with some good shops. A bakery there had a chocolate pastry that we are still thinking about, and a coffee with it set up the morning. Then over to the antique shops on the outskirts of Florence. Bunny found a few things she could not live without. Pete smiled and we moved on. Janice found an old iron frying pan that, of course, the RV needed.
By then it was time for lunch and we wanted barbecue. Yelp pointed us to Brooks. Looks aren't everything.
The food was outstanding. We mentioned it to Christine after Thursday's round and she confirmed Brooks was the best in the area. Another point for Yelp.
Thursday brought us back to The Shoals for the second course, The Schoolmaster. Named for President Wilson, who taught school before he taught countries. Not our favorite president, but a name is a name. We were there to play golf.
The Schoolmaster is the more traditional course of the two at The Shoals, tree-lined, rolling, every hole tucked into the natural country along the Tennessee River. Beautiful, wooded, the kind of golf that pays attention to the land it sits on. The par-four eighteenth, on the high bluffs over the river, is unforgettable. Janice and Bunny crushed John and Pete by five holes. One point each.
Bunny has now missed two hole-in-one shots on par threes this trip and added two birdies. We are watching her.
A few years before, Janice had played for the Florida team in the SWATCA (Southeastern Women's Amateur Team Championship), a Ryder Cup format between five southern states. The course was Turtle Point Country Club in Killen, Alabama, a private RTJ Sr design with a story.
In 1946, Stanley Robbins bought substantial acreage east of Florence on Wilson Lake, at the mouth of Shoal Creek, and built an estate home there with his wife. In the early 1950s the couple began talking about putting a lakeside course on the property. Mr. Robbins eventually donated two hundred acres of back property and sold sufficient water frontage to host the course, and Robert Trent Jones Sr. was brought in to lay it out. The Turtle Point clubhouse, marina, and the original tennis court opened on December 17, 1961. The old trees are still there. The magnolias were in full bloom when we drove up.
Janice called the Turtle Point pro to ask about playing as a non-member, and he graciously said yes. We had our Friday round.
A wonderful challenge and a great afternoon. New teams. Bunny and John beat Janice and Pete by six holes. One point each. We hope you are keeping score, because we are not.
When we finished, Janice learned that Turtle Point will host the Southern Women's tournament next year. A return trip looks likely.
Joe Wheeler State Park, by the way, was exceptional. Every site has full hookups, with trees between sites for some real privacy. We of course parked near Bunny and Pete so that dinner and cocktails could happen each evening.
The park has its own marina, lodge, cabins, and golf course. Worth a stop if you are ever in northern Alabama.
Next stop, Huntsville.
Standings: Janice 1, John 2, Bunny 2, Pete 1.
